rlying Proficiency Model" (CUP). According to the CUP theory, the individuals' development of the primary language will also contribute to their acquisition of the second language because they possess a cognitive capacity that allows them to transfer their knowledge of their language skills from one language to another (pp. 18-9). Therefore, minority students who participate in bilingual education programs will be able to acquire the English language successfully, even though they receive instruction in other subject areas in their primary language.
According to most researchers studying the phenomenon of language transfer, the individual's development of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) in the primary language will have a determining role in their acquisition of the second language (Jiang & Kuehn, 2001). Basically, individuals will transfer their language skills and knowledge through their exposure to the primary language to their learning of the second language. These language skills and knowledge include reading and writing skills, as well as language learning strategies (Jiang & Kuehn, 2001). Their frequent experimentation with transferring their cognitive knowledge from one language to another will thus enhance their "metacognitive ability andà mental flexibility" (Roberts, 1995, p. 372). As bilingual individuals, minority children can thus hone their skills in processing and analyzing two different types of language systems through their shifts between the two languages (Cummins, 1994, p. 25).
Ideally, the bilingual education program format can be highly effective in helping minority students achieve literacy in subject areas for obvious reasons. First, students are able to utilize their native language as a resource to help them in their learning (Ruiz, 1984; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000). Second, English is still considered to be a top priority and is taught to the students as a second language from t...