Bilingual education: approaches and outcomes

Education, especially bilingual education and its evolution in the United States, has paved its way in every state with differences in approaches and choices of language being taught. A part of US schooling history is its rich history and practice of native language teaching and bilingual education. Ovando (2003), in his study, found that it was about two hundred years ago that American communities first started assembling large numbers of young children to educate them. Instruction typically took place in languages besides English, and in two or more languages (e.g., Dutch and German in Pennsylvania, German and Spanish in Texas, and the French language in Louisiana). The toleration and use of several languages for education and interaction suggest a wide linguistic pluralism ideology in this era (Ovando, 2003). Keeping in mind the variations and interactions of the different languages, one sees a rich and vibrant culture of bilingual education that seems unique to the United States.
One of the driving forces of this pluralistic ideology was the influx of migrants into the United States, most of whom had different demographics, came from different backgrounds and spoke different languages. This unique philosophy was manifested through public policy that facilitated teaching in native languages and bilingual education, multilingual theatrical productions, and newspaper printing and circulation in several languages. But, Ovando (2003) found that the aforementioned linguistic pluralism didn't imply equal acceptance of every language. Several Mexican, Asian, and Native American languages underwent systemic segregation and devaluation in this period. Over a hundred years ago, the concept of the English language as a mark of the national identity of America and its sole language cropped up in response to the huge inflow of migrants from European countries that didn't speak English. The growth of this linguistic ideology was accompanied by novel restrictive migration policies and compulsory free education in the nation. One of the key goals of these novel \\\"common\\\" American schools was: \\\"Americanization\\\" of students under a broader attempt at assimilating Eastern and Southern European migrants (Ovando, 2003). The development of this linguistic ideology become the cornerstone whereby all bilingual education tactics had to turn.
The ideology of having English as the native language became a barricade for the expanse of bilingual education. Ovando (2003) explains that resistance against the non-English- speaking Europeans and the move for \\\"Americanizing\\\" common schools formed part of an overriding, nationalistic \\\"English language only\\\" ideology which remained dominant in American mainstream society and educational system for the major part of the 20th century's former half. Despite this deterring, assimilationist atmosphere, several individuals still spoke their mother tongues in flourishing multilingual communities. Migrants of 19th- century America were largely believed to have been speaking two languages almost the moment they came into the nation. However, evidence suggests Wisconsin's Germans remained monolingual speakers of only the German language well into the next century. Twentieth-century migrants' success may not be attributed to their instant and willing move to the English language, since several communities maintained their mother tongues and firmly resisted the prevalent English- only system (Ovando, 2003). It was this, the resistance towards the nationalization of the English language, that carved the biggest breakthroughs in the history of bilingual language.
How Bilingual Education Affects Cross-Cultural Issues
The formation of English didn't just taint the history of bilingual education as the bilingual ideology. Still, there were many other short terms and long term factors, social, political, and cultural, that had their impact as well. Saravia-Shore & Arvizu (2017) reveal that these challenges hampered comprehensive bilingual education implementation in America. Since the start of the twenty-first century, federal- level policy has conclusively maintained that the rationale behind bilingual education adoption in the nation is better teaching the English language to students, and not for providing instruction in two distinct languages. Further, other modern challenges exist to bilingual initiatives' complete implementation, including evolving linguistic- minority community demographics, novel monocultural, monolingual CCSS (Common Core State Standards) adoption, chronic educator dearth partially attributable to the last twenty years' English- only instructional policies, and a novel, English- only, concomitant high- stakes examination system for gauging CCSS accountability (Saravia-Shore & Arvizu, 2017). These and many other aspects came and went across different societies and shaped the methods and interactions of bilingual education within the United States.
The historical trend of bilingual education has led to many educational reforms that have transformed the teaching methodologies in the education sector. At present, most American bilingual programs are targeted at so-called \\\"English Learners.\\\" Saravia-Shore & Arvizu (2017) argue that these models function based on sequential bilingual development models in that academic content and literacy are first developed in another language, with the learner learning English as his/her second language. The above structure is adopted by most dual language and TBE bilingual courses. The models are effective in the case of learners coming to school with no or scant exposure to the English language (Saravia-Shore & Arvizu, 2017). The above bilingual structures have also led to educational structures on teaching English and nationalizing it across different societies in the United States.
Impact of Cross-Cultural Issues in Bilingual Education
The main pattern with bilingual education in the United States is that it has been focused on teaching English to non-English speakers as opposed to anything else. Hence, defining American bilingual education necessitates an understanding that is contrary to most other nations across the globe, American bilingual education is largely a program attempting to teach English instead of developing biliteracy/bilingualism. Gándara and Escamilla (2017) explain that almost all American bilingual initiatives are targeted at learners from non- English speaking backgrounds and who learn English as an additional or second language (ESL). In the last two decades, novel bilingual education or dual language forms have been formulated and adopted within the nation. Such dual-language initiatives aim to develop cross-cultural skills and biliteracy/bilingualism, integrating into school student bodies, both monolingual English speakers and ESL students (Gándara & Escamilla, 2017). Thus ESL has dominated the spread of the bilingual language across the non, English speaking societies in the United States.
The structures of bilingual education are both transitional as well as developmental in character. These structures lead to further diversity in the teaching approaches used in either format and also lead to further variations in bilingual history. Gándara and Escamilla (2017) argue that bilingual initiatives aiming at English- language learning are commonly called transitional bilingual initiatives and are marked as \\\"subtractive\\\" within the literature. In contrast, dual language initiatives (marked as \\\"additive\\\") aim at biliteracy/bilingualism development. These diverse kinds of bilingual education are described and explained below. A critical point to comprehend is that considerable variability exists within a dual language and transitional bilingual initiatives, with some utilizing the same labels through implementing highly diverse practices. In contrast, others employ diverse labels though similar practices. Almost all American bilingual education initiatives come under the category of TBE (transitional bilingual education), which can serve all non- English language groups. But most TBE initiatives cater to Spanish speakers (Gándara & Escamilla, 2017). Since Spanish serves as the most widely taught educational language besides English, it can be said that most transitional growth in the education industry within the United States has been within the Spanish community.
The TBE structures for Spanish language education have been primarily successful. They have led to many current teaching trends for language learners, whether they are English language learners or non-native language learners. TBE initiatives are divided into early- and late-exit initiatives. Wei (2013) asserts that these initiatives were formulated as a means of reacting to multiple federal, state, and local mandates demanding that American schools offer equal educational opportunities to enrollees who aren't proficient in the English language. The courses are targeted at ELLs (English Language Learners) or enrollees with such low English proficiency that they cannot profit from English-only instruction and, as indicated by their label, aimed to utilize the mother tongues of students for facilitating their English transition (Wei, 2013). Thus, bilingual education for English Language Learners is more about transforming and practicality then technicality and transition as it aims to make them understand the language and effectively communicate in it.
Multicultural Perspectives for Students
The transformation approach within bilingual linguistics means understanding the social norms of the native language being studied. It is safe to say that the transformation educational approach brings information on cultural and ethnic groups to the mainstream school curriculum from the margins. In an earlier study, Banks (1995) reveals that this approach facilitates learner understanding of information construction and its reflection of creators' experiences, views, and beliefs. Here, curricular structure, views, and suppositions are altered to facilitate a view of ideas, content, and events taught to students from the experiences and point of view of various cultural, racial, and ethnic communities. Multicultural education aims at actualizing the e Pluribus Unum concept (that is, creation of a society which acknowledges and has regard for its diverse members' cultures, integrated into a structure of common, shared democratic principles) (Banks, 1995). Hence, in transforming the linguistical understanding, what educational structures essentially do is instill ideas and transform personalities according to the culture of the language one is learning.
Through the history of bilingual education, we also observe personal growths aimed at the learners whereby they become better community members who are aware of not just their own needs but also the demands of those less fortunate than them. A key multicultural education goal is helping learners gain the necessary knowledge and cultivate dedication for reflective decision- making, in addition to taking individual, community, and societal action for promoting a democratic living and democracy. Wei (2013) found that opportunities to take individual action aid students in developing a sense of individual and community efficiency, belief in their capability of effecting changes within their respective institutions, and in situations for applying their acquired knowledge. Action projects and activities ought to be adapted to learners' ethical and cognitive levels of development. Action on the part of primary-level children may involve committing to not laugh at derogatory ethnic jokes. Action on the part of early to middle-grade students may include reading books on other cultural, racial, and ethnic groups. Students at the upper elementary level may cultivate friendships with students belonging to other ethnic and racial groups, in addition to taking part in cross-racial projects and activities with students attending other schools within their city. Lastly, upper- grade enrollees may engage in projects which offer comfort and support to special- needs community members. Further, they may take part in school board elections, local program elections, and other local political events (Wei, 2013). This personal growth experienced by students in bilingual education structures is also a testament to the awareness of various cultures and norms that the students innately learn and grow to respect.
References
Banks, J. A. (1995). Multicultural Education: Its Effects on Students' Racial and Gender Role Attitudes. Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education (pp. 617-627). New York: Macmillan.
Gándara, P., & Escamilla, K. (2017). Bilingual education in the United States. Bilingual and multilingual education, 1-14.
Ovando, C. J. (2003). Bilingual education in the United States: Historical development and current issues. Bilingual research journal, 27(1), 1-24.
Saravia-Shore, M., & Arvizu, S. F. (2017). Cross-cultural literacy: An anthropological approach to dealing with diversity. In Cross-cultural Literacy (pp. xv-xxxviii). Routledge.
Wei, L. (2013). Integration of Multicultural Education into English Teaching and Learning: A Case Study in Liaoning Police Academy. Theory & Practice in Language Studies, 3(4).