Introduction

In the United States, a large and growing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have the potential to develop bilingualism and biliteracy if supported in their immediate environment. Throughout this book, we adopt the term emergent bilingual to more accurately describe the realities of young children who have been in the process of developing two (or more!) languages from a young age or who speak a language other than English and are in the process of acquiring English as an additional language (Garcia et al., 2008). We see so much promise in children who grow up with two languages and cultures and become biliterate – sometimes supported by, but often in spite of, an educational system that has little understanding of the linguistic and cultural resources they possess (Reyes & Halcon, 2001) – and contend that they are intellectually capable and serve as true models of the potential for all children to become active, engaged, and successful bilinguals and biliterates.