A child who is bilingual uses two or more languages in their everyday life (Wiles, as cited by Smyth, 2003). Literacy acquisition is much more than being able to read and write, it is also about the skills that are gained that enable one to read and write. For example, a bilingual child whose home language is Polish is learning English, and therefore learning to read English. Through his literacy acquisition, the focus would not be on the language being learnt but on the reading and the cognitive skills required to do so (Bialystok, 2002).
Krashen (2000) maintains that educating children in their first language can aid their acquisition of their second language. When education programmes have the following three components they are successful in educating bilingual learners: subject matter teaching in the first language, literacy development in the first language, comprehensible input in English (Krashen, 2000).
Baker (2006) states that within the early development of bilingualism there are two types: ‘simultaneous’ and ‘sequential’. The differences between the two are the age which the child is introduced to the second language and the circumstances behind it. Simultaneous bilingualism is when a child learns two languages from birth, at the same time, e.g. a language from each parent. Sequential bilingualism is where a child learns one language in the home then learns a further (second) language at school, where their home language is not the spoken language.
Education Scotland, (Scottish Government) (n.d.) state that the learning environment in which a bilingual child is taught is very important in promoting literacy acquisition. It should promote their home culture and include resources and materials that they reco...
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...part 8). Somerville MA: Cascadilla Press.
Ma, J. (2008). 'Reading the word and the world' - how mind and culture are mediated through the use of dual-language storybooks. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, 36(3), 237-251.
Multilingual Resources for Children Project . (1995). Building bridges: Multilingual resources for children. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Scottish Government. (n.d.). Supporting the development of EAL in primary schools. Retrieved from Education Scotland: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/supportinglearners/additionalsupportneeds/eal/primary.asp
Smyth, G. (2003). Helping Bilingual Pupils to Access the Curriculum. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Sneddon, R. (2008). Young bilingual children learning to read with dual language books. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 7(2), 71-84.
Bilingual education is defined as involving the use of two languages as media of intrusions (May, 2008). It is an educational process that aims to promote and “maintain longer-term student bilingualism and bi-literacy, adding another language to, but not subtracting from the student’s existing language repertoire” (May, 2008, p. 19-20). Simply, bilingual education is the use of more than one language to deliver curriculum content.
Jost, Kenneth. “Bilingual education vs. English immersion.” CQ Researecher. 11 December 2009. 19, 1029-1052. Web. 17 Feb. 2011
Bilingual education allows for an emotionally safe transition. This program lets children communicate in their native tongue, while being exposed to a new language. It's hard enough to be "the new kid" in school. It is easy to imagine the difficulty children have not being able to communicate with anyone and not understanding what is going on around them. Many argue that children will use the bilingual classroom as a crutch and will never learn English because of it. In actuality, it has been proven that children learn English faster if they are taught in their native language first. The goal of bilingual education is for students to learn while not falling behind. Without bilingual education programs, children come i...
A smooth transition into society is a necessity that only a few institutions like bilingual education can offer. Every year, hundred thousands of students enter the United States from all over the globe: in the 2008/09 school year, over 672,000 international students came to this country. While many are here to pursue higher studies in college, a great number of international students enroll in primary education. It is during these elementary educational years that developing speaking and social skills are vital. Language barriers present a hindrance in doing this effectively. Hence, public schools have instituted bilingual programs like ESL...
When visiting just about any school across America, students who attend come from all over the globe. This raises the question across America about bilingual education. This can create many challenges in and out of the classroom. The classroom should be a safe place for all students regardless of what native language they speak. In the essay Lost in translation written by Eva Hoffman, describes a foreign student who tries hard to fit in. Instead, Eva begins to feel angry, hurt and confused because people laugh at her. In Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education by Elizabeth R. Howard, Julie Sugarman, Donna Christian Center for Applied Linguistics Kathryn J. Lindholm-Leary San José State University David Rogers Dual Language Education of New Mexico. Guiding principles gives great ideas to educators to stop kids from making other students feel the way that Eva felt. After reading several articles about bilingual education, it is evident that all children in school should learn English but never lose their native language. When all the students speak one language, students will be less likely to make fun of each other. A good educator should learn enough foreign languages to aid them in effective communication in their classroom although; if an educator does not speak a foreign language, they should recruit within the classroom students to be peer mentors. However, a teacher should be willing to listen and encourage the students. Above all a good educator should be a good role model to their students by respecting their heritage and their language.
Naturally, bilingualism needs to be taught from birth to be most effective, yet schools ignore this (Meisel).Moving right along, our current teaching methods take some amount of inspiration from ancient romans teaching greek in schools, ways that are extremely outdated (Porter). Much research is focused primarily on bilingual learners who have grown up bilingual, and exclude children who had only begun learning their second language in school (Meisel). Usually, the fears of the people directly involved in bilingual education are ignored by researchers of the subject (Meisel). In Byers-Heinlein’s article they state “A one-person-one-language approach is neither necessary nor sufficient for successful bilingual acquisition,” but later proclaims “In situations where each parent spends equal time with a child, one-parent-one-language can be a great way to ensure equal exposure” (Byers-Heinlein). Generally, the teachers who disagree with the current method of bilingual education are often afraid to speak out because they will be labeled racists, haters of foreign languages, and critics of immigrants (Porter). Moreover, despite the various differing opinions present in the communities of bilingual educators, debates on whether to keep it are not tolerated (Porter). Although, the difficulty with which current bilingual education would be changed would provide one of the few legitimate incentives for teachers to advocate their system; they don’t want to put in the effort to do so (Porter). As a matter of fact, ethnic education politics are one of the only reasons that the current methods are not already abandoned (Porter). Finally, “The case for the effectiveness of Transitional Bilingual Education is so weak that
It is important to maintain children’s home language as it may help them learn and understand a second language. Barratt-Pugh (2000) discusses the benefits of bilingualism and maintaining it through early childhood settings, also mentions the concerns families have for their children maintaining two languages through schooling. Research within the article states that children who speak more than one language will have a higher level of understanding literacy content, form, genre, as well as understand the differences and translating within both languages. This demonstrates a contrast of strengths and experiences with literacy (linguist...
From my experience, bilingual education was a disadvantage during my childhood. At the age of twelve, I was introduced into a bilingual classroom for the first time. The crowded classroom was a combination of seventh and eighth grade Spanish-speaking students, who ranged from the ages of twelve to fifteen. The idea of bilingual education was to help students who weren’t fluent in the English language. The main focus of bilingual education was to teach English and, at the same time, teach a very basic knowledge of the core curriculum subjects: Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Unfortunately, bilingual education had academic, psychological, and social disadvantages for me.
...n language and the development of literacy. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13(2), 175-186. doi: 10.1080/13670050903474085
Earlier this year, Singapore’s former Prime Minister, Lee Guan Yew told the press (SinChew Daily, 2013) that he would like to urge all the parents in Singapore to let their children to receive bilingual education as soon as possible as it deliver more pros than cons for the development of the children. Traditionally, bilingual education was perceived by experts as “damaging” to children early language development as it may cause them to confuse between two languages and affect their learning (Chitester, D.J., 2007), but as more recent researchers begin to uncover the advantages of bilingual education (Cognitive Development Lab, 2013 & National Association for Bilingual Education, n.d.), people around the globe are now accepting and encouraging their children to receive bilingual education, picking up additional languages like: Spanish or Mandarin. The bilingual education indeed offers several priceless advantages to everyone like helping in the development of brain, providing wider job opportunities and making more new friend.
...thousands of years. Generally, bilingual education can mean any use of two languages in school, by teachers, students, or both – for a variety of social and pedagogical purposes. It also refers to the different approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of English language learners (ELLs) for instruction. These approaches include teaching English, fostering academic achievement, acculturating immigrants to a new society, and preserving a minority group’s linguistic and cultural heritage. Building on, rather than just discarding the students’ native-language skills, create a stronger foundation for success in English and academics. Also, if students learn languages at a younger age, it will be easier to remember and learn them, rather than if they were older. It helps to learn another language for students, and can later be useful in the future.
BILINGUALISM have both Positive and Negative effects on the Child’s linguistic, Cognitive and Educational Development.
“Learning a second language not only has cognitive and academic benefits, it also supports a greater sense of openness to, and appreciation for, other cultures” (Tochen, 2009). For many students in the United States, English is not the primary language spoken at home. There are several options for getting these children to reach proficiency in the English Language. However, there is only one model that preserves the child’s first language, while also gaining literacy in English. This model is Bilingual Education. Bilingual education is not new to the United States. It in fact started in 1968 under title VII. However, there is still a lot for the general public, and parents of language learners, to learn about this form of education. Bilingual
Early Childhood Care and Education, UNESCO (2007) points out the overlooked advantages of multilingual education in the early years. When children are offered opportunities to learn in their mother tongue, they are more likely to enroll and succeed in school and their parents are more likely to communicate with teachers and participate in their children’s
As time goes by and as the global community develops, the world grows more and more international, making second or third language acquisition become necessary to the majority. With the growing importance of multiple language ability, more and more parents think of bilingual or multilingual education, which means acquisitions of two or more languages, for their kids. In fact, we do have many reasons showing why multilingual education is important and beneficial, such as aspects of interpersonal relationship, employment, brain health, and so on.