Bilingual Education in the US: History and Cross-Cultural Impact

Historical Roots of Bilingual Education in the United States

Education — and especially bilingual education — has evolved differently across every US state, with variations in approach and in the languages taught. A part of American schooling history is its rich tradition of native-language instruction and bilingual education. Ovando (2003) found that it was approximately two hundred years ago that American communities first began assembling large numbers of young children for formal education. Instruction typically took place in languages other than English, and sometimes in two or more languages simultaneously — for example, Dutch and German in Pennsylvania, German and Spanish in Texas, and French in Louisiana. The tolerance and use of multiple languages for education and daily interaction reflected a broad ideology of linguistic pluralism during this era (Ovando, 2003). Considering the variety and interplay of these different languages, one can observe a rich and vibrant culture of bilingual education that seems unique to the United States.

One of the driving forces behind this pluralistic ideology was the influx of migrants into the United States — most of whom came from different backgrounds and spoke different languages. This philosophy was expressed through public policies that facilitated instruction in native languages and bilingual education, multilingual theatrical productions, and the printing and circulation of newspapers in several languages. However, Ovando (2003) found that this linguistic pluralism did not imply equal acceptance of every language. Several Mexican, Asian, and Native American languages underwent systemic segregation and devaluation during this period.

Over a hundred years ago, the concept of English as the defining mark of American national identity — and as the nation's sole language — emerged in response to the large influx of migrants from European countries where English was not spoken. The growth of this linguistic ideology was accompanied by new restrictive immigration policies and the establishment of compulsory free public education. One of the key goals of these new "common" American schools was the "Americanization" of students, as part of a broader effort to assimilate Eastern and Southern European migrants (Ovando, 2003). This ideological shift became the cornerstone against which all subsequent bilingual education efforts had to contend.

The ideology of English as the national language became a significant barrier to the expansion of bilingual education. Ovando (2003) explains that resistance against non-English-speaking Europeans, together with the push to "Americanize" common schools, formed part of a dominant, nationalistic "English-only" ideology that remained central to American mainstream society and its educational system for much of the first half of the twentieth century. Despite this assimilationist climate, many individuals continued to speak their mother tongues within flourishing multilingual communities. Migrants of nineteenth-century America were largely believed to have adopted English almost immediately upon arrival. However, evidence suggests that Wisconsin's German communities remained monolingual German speakers well into the following century. The success of twentieth-century migrants cannot simply be attributed to their swift and willing shift to English, since many communities maintained their native languages and firmly resisted the prevailing English-only system (Ovando, 2003). It was this resistance to the nationalization of English that carved out some of the most significant breakthroughs in the history of bilingual education.

References

Banks, J. A. (1995). Multicultural education: Its effects on students' racial and gender role attitudes. In Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education (pp. 617–627). 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).