**1. Introduction**

In this work, the basic characteristics of the Bilingual Program of the Community of Madrid (hereinafter, C.M.) will be analyzed, the factors that can influence the success of the bilingual programs will be presented, and the limitations and proposals for improvement in relation to this program will be shown. Finally, the conclusions that have been considered most relevant are indicated.

In the context of the European Union, language learning is one of their concerns. In this way, interest in the implementation of bilingual programs in schools in Spain has been growing in recent years, demonstrating that this fact is the proliferation of different programs in the autonomous communities. However, there are not so many studies that evaluate, analyze, or compare them and hence, the importance of studying the limitations and proposals for improvement in relation to these programs.

The Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) defines "bilingual" in reference to a bilingual school as one that provides its education in two languages. Article 17 of the Organic Law of Education (LOE) establishes that Primary Education (hereinafter, P.E.)

helps to develop in children the skills that allow them to acquire, in at least one foreign language, the basic communicative competence that allows them to express and understand simple messages and to deal with everyday situations. Order 796/2004 refers to bilingual education as the one that allows teaching in English at least one third of the weekly teaching schedule. In this way, the purpose of the C.M. Bilingual Program is not that the students are bilingual but that the students reach the highest possible level of linguistic competence in the second language.

The C.M. Bilingual Program was implemented in the 2004/2005 academic year in 26 public schools. Currently, more than 300,000 students, ranging from preschool to Baccalaureate and vocational training, benefit from these teachings. In the 2008/2009 academic year, it was also implemented in charter schools.

It is based on the Integrated Content and Language Learning approach, which is characterized in that the student not only learns English as a foreign language but also learns some of the subjects in English in order to acquire content in that language. The English language becomes a vehicular teaching language or learning language. The subject of First Foreign Language-English is taught in English, along with two other areas of the curriculum, social sciences and natural sciences preferably. All areas of the P.E. curriculum could be taken in English; however, an exception would be granted for mathematics and Spanish language and literature. The areas taught in English will follow the curriculum established by the C.M. and will be taught entirely in that language. The objective of communicative competence is to obtain an A2 level at the end of P.E. (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, hereinafter CEFR).

Teachers who teach subjects in English at Primary and Secondary Education must be qualified (with a C1 level of the CEFR) and the teachers who teach the Advanced English curriculum in Secondary must be accredited. These teachers receive a productivity supplement and are assisted by conversation assistants, who are native university graduates. There are specific foreign language training plans for teachers, coordinators, and management teams that include courses that are taught both in Spain and abroad, as well as online. There are also European training programs such as Erasmus + or Etwinning, international programs such as Global Scholars, the Twin Schools program…

The objective of this study is to analyze the limitations of the Bilingual Program of the Community of Madrid and present improvement proposals to solve them. The methodology used is based on the collection of information through different sources.

#### **2. Factors influencing the success of bilingual programs**

Below are a series of contributions from different authors regarding the factors that influence the success of bilingual programs. Thomas and Collier [1] indicate, among these factors, the potential quality of the type of program, the quality of the type of program in relation to its implementation, the breadth of the program's instruction focus, the quality of the school's learning environment, and the quality of available instructional time.

Lewelling [2] emphasizes factors that promote or inhibit success in the second language: cognitive development and linguistic competence in the first language, age, uninterrupted academic development, attitude, and individual differences.

Cummins [3] notes that the outcomes of bilingual programs can be improved by understanding the nature of the English language and its links to Spanish by teaching for L1/L2 transfer through bilingual instructional strategies, which promote L2 mastery and literacy, active promotion of literacy engagement, exposure of students

#### *Limitations and Proposals for Improvement of the Bilingual Program of the Community… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93578*

to creative activities in both languages, and encouragement of reading at school and at home (L1 is a speaker's first language and L2 is the second).

Thomas and Collier [1] point out a series of factors for a successful reciprocal immersion (a kind of bilingual education), which could be applicable to the C.M. Bilingual Program: A development over time of the bilingual instruction program of at least 6 years; focus on the core academic curriculum; quality teaching in reference to the four basic skills in both languages, in addition to integrating them into thematic units; curricular separation of the two languages of instruction without performing translations or repetitions of the subjects; representation of a single language for each teacher; reinforce the concepts worked through both languages in a spiral curriculum; use of the non-English language for at least 50% of instructional time; an additive bilingual environment that adds a new language at no cost to the first one; support an active collaboration between management teams, teachers and parents; promotion of positive relationships between classmates and between teachers and students; and highly qualified and competent teachers in the language of instruction.

Madrid and Roa [4] states:

*Studies on the evaluation of the effectiveness of bilingual education have been proposed from various points of view and have been developed around different groups of variables related to students, family, community, school, types of program, coordination and organization of the programs, teacher training, teaching and learning processes, exchanges and stays abroad, materials and resources, assessment techniques, and the results obtained by the students. Therefore, it is the success of bilingual programs that depends on the integration and harmonization of several factors that interact appropriately (Pérez Cañado, 2016; Ortega Martín, Hughes and Madrid, 2018). (p.85).*

In the study by Madrid and Roa [4], teachers pointed out the importance of didactic preparation in CLIL, training in curricular content, and having sufficient human and material resources.
