The contribution of Jim Cummins to bilingualism and bilingual education has been substantial and profound. This reader provides a comprehensive compilation of his most important and influential texts. The book also provides a detailed biographical introduction and a commentary on the growth of ideas over three decades.

Colin Baker is Emeritus Professor of Education at Bangor University. He has three bilingual children and has given talks for over 20 years to parents and teachers on bilingualism. His many publications on bilingualism include Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, which has been translated into Japanese, Spanish, Latvian, Greek and Mandarin and is now in its 5th edition (2011).

Nancy H. Hornberger is Professor of Education and Director of Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Recent three-time Fulbright Senior Specialist, to Paraguay, New Zealand, and South Africa respectively, Hornberger teaches, lectures, and advises on multilingualism and education throughout the world and has authored or edited over two dozen books, including most recently Can Schools Save Indigenous Languages? Policy and Practice on Four Continents (Palgrave Macmillan 2008), and the ten-volume Encyclopedia of Language and Education (Springer 2008).