Biligual
The world is changing and recent influxes of immigrants into America have presented a dilemma for educators. Some believe the bilingual education is necessary for those that do not speak English as their first language; others feel that bilingual education gives people an excuse not to learn English. The purpose of this discussion is to provide a casual analysis of this issue. The discussion will begin with background information about bilingual classes. The paper will also contain a current evaluation of the situation. The discussion will also present a casual argument of the topic and a counterclaim. This discussion will seek to prove that bilingual education in its current form must be reformed or eliminated.
Background/History Bilingual Classes book entitled Bilingual Education: From Compensatory to Quality Schooling explains that bilingual education refers to "the education of children whose home language is not English." (Brisk) According to an article in the journal Policy Review, bilingual education was first adopted in American schools 30 years ago. The article entitled "Adios Bilingual Ed" explains that the initial purpose of bilingual education "was to ease thousands of non-English-speaking children into the educational system and prepare them for instruction in regular, English-language classrooms."(Amselle 52)
The author explains that prior to the advent of bilingual education students were simply placed into English speaking classrooms. Initially, these students had to either learn the language or fail in school. There were some exceptions made for students who struggled to learn the language and they were place in special classrooms. In some school districts student were even punished if they spoke their native language.
Bilingual education programs were designed to allow students to learn the language in a gradual way and still enable them to complete assignments without falling behind their classmates. (Paulston) The programs are also designed to preserve the students native language and culture. The article explains...
Since three-quarters of all LEP students are Spanish speakers, bilingual programs in practice stress Spanish-language teaching. (Amselle)
An article found in ERIC digest explains that bilingual classes can be classified as either late transition or early transition classrooms. The classification depends on the students' ability to learn in English speaking classrooms. Programs that are classified as early exit are based on the students' ability to speak English proficiently. In the late transition programs the students must be able to read and write English proficiently to be place in a mainstream classroom. (McKeon)
Initially, it was believed that bilingual education classes would sid these students academically and increase the number of graduating seniors. Various school districts felt that this was the only way of dealing with the problem of educating students that did not speak English as their first language. In some areas, bilingual education has proved successful, when properly implemented.
Current situation
Bilingual education courses are most prevalent in states where there are a large number of immigrants. These states include California, Texas and New York. According to the article "Adios Bilingual Ed" a number of states now have bilingual education that exist in some form or another. The article explains,
Today nearly a dozen states with large numbers of "limited English-proficient" (LEP) students force schools to teach children in this manner... In these states, Hispanic children spend up to 80% of their day being taught exclusively in Spanish in a segregated classroom. They hear English only during recess, lunch, P.E., and music periods. (Amselle 52)
There is also a huge debate over the need for bilingual education programs and if they serve their original purpose. An article in The New York Times explains that many parents are disturbed at the…
Bilingual Education in Los Angeles According to the Los Angeles Times articles, "Hundreds Wait for Bilingual Education," by Louis Sahagun and Nick Anderson (October 23, 1998), there are hundreds of students awaiting arrangements for bilingual classes; these students' parents have petitioned the Los Angeles (LA) school system to provide the resources and facilities their children need to learn the English language outside of total immersion classrooms. This article examines the impact
Bilingual Education Predicting the effect of bilingual education on student outcomes with the work done by Huddy and Sears, "Opposition to Bilingual Education: Prejudice or the Defense of Realistic Interests?" is problematical. The authors investigated the bases for parental prejudice against bilingual education; they did not investigate in any detail what the educational outcomes might be for the children involved. They made only incidental reference to the possibility that Latino, African-American
According to Malfaro, just a single year of English is not essentially sufficient to effectively make the initiative to reading and writing. (Tozzi, 1998) Supporters give an instance of a study undertaken in the year 1991 approved by the National Academy of Sciences mentioning that the children who have are able to speak a foreign language are able to comprehend English more quickly and perform better educational development on the
But in any case, a shortage of qualified bilingual teachers usually makes it impossible. For example, public schools in California enrolled recently arrived immigrants from 136 different countries in 1994, but bilingual teachers were certified in only 17 languages - 96% of them in Spanish. To the extent that LEP [ESL] children received help in other tongues, they received it almost entirely from teacher aides" (Crawford, 1997, "Babel' in
The factors affecting cost are numerous and not always easily identifiable; in addition to the purchasing of bilingual textbooks and other instructional supplies, there is often a perception that bilingual instruction leads to a greatly increased workload and number of class hours, and therefore a greater overall strain on the often-tight budgets of public education institutions and districts (Mora 2006). It is primarily the transitional costs, however, that many
Perhaps, here, the most telling words seem to be "the more intelligent class," "the better class," and "those of their countrymen who come here with good intentions." Indeed, one has to wonder which groups of immigrants would not wish to be considered as representatives of these words. Certainly, if an avocation against bilingual education will allow them full membership into a class of people who are "intelligent," of "better class,"