The Supreme Court case of Lau v. Nichols in 1974 affirmed the concept of language rights when a group of Chinese students in San Francisco demanded, and won, instruction in their native language. This case marked an official recognition of multilingualism in the United States. Schools were required to offer the curriculum in a manner understandable to the non-English-speaking child. The federal Bi- Lingual Education Act, which had been in effect since 1967, had as its primary goals "cultivating ancestral pride, reinforcing native languages, and cultivating inherent strengths of students." However, during the decades following the Lau decision, two competing philosophies of bilingual instruction emerged. In the early days, the goal was successful integration of the students into the culture as a whole; the competing view that emerged during the 1970s was promotion of cultural differences as a valid educational goal. Advocates of...