Over the past 40 years, Jim Cummins has originated theories which have had a profound effect on the education of multilingual learners across the world. In this book he traces the development of these theories, and addresses the critiques they have received and their subsequent impact on his thinking and the application of his theories in schools.

Jim Cummins is Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, Canada and has spent the past 40 years researching and working with multilingual learners across the world. His controversial theoretical distinction between conversational versus academic language proficiency is a key topic in pre-service and professional development related to the education of minority group students who are learning the language of instruction.