As she sits down, she starts smiling. It is an innocent smile, but I can’t quite understand whether it is for excitement or nervousness. She covers her face and giggles underneath her hands. She waits for me to start asking questions. She states her full name, Maricel Yvette Montalvo Rodriguez, moved to the United States from Puerto Rico in 2010 at the age of six. She was already fluent in Spanish when she came to the states . As she started school, she was enrolled into the English immersion program. The program was to help her learn English as a second language. She took the program for about two years to enhance her skills of speaking, reading, and writing English. After finishing the program, she was enrolled in regular classes. Maricel did gain enough skills to be a fluent English speaker but, she lost her ability to read and write in her native language. She finishes talking, and stares at her friend.
Her friend stares back at Maricel, confused why she was looking at her and not me. She states her full name with a serious face, Hannah Kabura Kariuki, born and raised in Kenya, a country with Swahili speakers. In 2009, Hannah moved to the States; at the age of five, she was also enrolled in the English Immersion program as a kindergartner. Hannah was fluent in Swahili, with a year and a half of the program, it provided her the English skills she needed in order to be enrolled in regular classes. Unfortunately, today Hannah cannot read, write nor speak fluent Swahili.
English has always been a unofficial preferred language in the United States. Historically it has never been a, “monolinguistic country” (Driscoll 1). Over the years United States has experienced a lot of cultural diversity even though it, "has not appreciated l...
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...l education. Most colleges and career stress on the idea of bilingual education, because of the skills one will eventually need in the real world.
Works Cited
Clouthier, Kris. "English Immersion: Creating Equal Opportunity for Immigrant Students." Point of View: Bilingual Education. Point of View Reference Center, 21 Nov. 2003. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
Driscoll, Sally, and Geier B. Denise. "Counterpoint: America 's Future Depends on Bilingual Education." Point of View: Bilingual Education. Point of View Reference Center, Jan. 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
Lee M., and Maureen McMahon. "English Immersion Is a Proven Instructional Method." Point of View: Bilingual Education. Point of View Reference Center, 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
Stokely, Anne. "The Benefits of Bilingual Education." Point of View: Bilingual Education. Point of View Reference Center, 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.
“Should all students be bilingual.” NEA Today 20.8 (2008): MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
The Civil Rights era fostered a rejuvenation of the movement toward bilingual education. Amid with the desire of the nation to eliminate discrimination, the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 came into being. Certainly this act was at least in part the result of a growing num...
childhood and renewed life style were she learned how to distinguish one language to another
Many people have gone through what I went through, which is not knowing English when arriving to the United States. Tan wrote a story about her mother called “Mother Tongue” in which she describes her experience with her mother and
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.
Dual language is a form of education in which students are taught to read and write in two languages. The majority of dual language programs in the United States teach in English and Spanish, although there are emerging programs that teach in Mandarin, Japanese and Hindi. The programs start of mostly in kindergarten sand 1st grade and continue throughout primary education, in addition some dual language programs depending on the grade continue through middle and high school. Even Hayward’s own Burbank elementary and Winton middle school are offering dual language programs. Each level of teaching uses a different language ratio in which class is instructed the classes start off with a 90:10 ration and later as years pass the ration becomes a steady 50:50 (Lindholm-Leary, Kathryn J,2001). The goals of dual language immersion programs are to get children to become both bi-literate and bilingual, in other words, they will be able to speak and write fluently in two different languages. Dual language programs are becoming more and more common most of them are in public school but there are some beginning to become present private and charter schools. Dual language education should be introduced in all elementary schools beginning in the Kindergarten to boost achievement for English language learners, benefits it will bring to the community, outstanding brain benefits and lastly cost efficiency in education across the United States.
Opinion Editorial By Hassan Abdi In the article written by Richard Rodriguez, Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, he conveys an opinion that Bilingual education doesn’t work. He conveys it through his personal experience. Published by the Phi Beta Kappa to the American Society in 1981, the audience and his message are a broad and important now as it was thirty five years ago. As the amount of children that don’t speak English as their first language continue to rise, bilingual education has become a polarizing topic like most things, and for me, I am neutral on the topic. A form of bilingual education has failed me, but, for most students it benefits in the long term, and it 's not right to dispel one side of the topic to push your own
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.
Bilingual education is a method to teach non English speaking students. Also it may used to teach English speaking student a foreign language. There are various initiatives in the country towards the abolition of bilingual education as a method of instruction in schools as most of the states such as Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and even Colorado campaign against it (Rossell, 2003). However, critical analysis of the propositions indicate that they are culturally biased, politically unsound, pedagogically inaccurate, and in violation of the federal legislative acts because bilingual education entailing the instruction in one’s native language either as a transition to English language or total bilingual fluency is an ideal educational
...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.
Two-way bilingual education programs in practice: A national and local perspective. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/ed379915.html
Angelica wanted to learn English so she could teach her children before they entered pre-school, and so she could find a job. We usually did lessons in her home, but when there was care for her children we took our lessons outside of the home and in to stores she frequented to practice her English skills and to improve her self-esteem. Angelica and I are still in touch and she has become comfortable with speaking English in public settings. Her first child in now in kindergarten and is fluent in English, and her second child is attending pre-school. She now has a part time job working in a bakery back in Richmond, Indiana. Working with Angelica has taught me the importance of gaining self-esteem when learning English and compassion for immigrant families seeking a better life for themselves and their
This solution would have been an option for Rodriguez to help him and his parents understood English but also not forgetting where they come from. However, it would could helped them not losing communication between them. In the article “Bilingualism; When Education and Assimilation Clash” Anderson states how in public school none English speakers lonely in their classroom when she says, “middle-schoolers relate feeling isolation as younger children solely based on their attainment of the English language” (2). Rodriguez says in his article how he was just waiting in his classroom for the bell to ring to escape from this loneliness. Although, Rodriguez’s parents should been had social workers to educated Rodriguez in home; they should teach him to speak their native language and talk to him about the importance of his culture language. Also, parents’ orientation would have been a good idea for them too. Meeting at home programs in publics school would have been a good help for Rodriguez’s
Bilingual education has been used in many ways and different countries. In the US, however, it can be more specific and complex. It is the way their native languages are used by English language learners for instruction. There are many views concerning bilingualism. This paper outlines different views people have on this type of program. From personal views, pros and cons, the positive or negative outcomes, and the overall different perspectives people have in bilingual education.
America, a country built on immigration dating back to the early 1600s Mayflower voyage, continues to thrive as a melting pot full of various cultures and ethnicities. In the past, many immigrants came to America due to the offered freedoms and equality, yet today, many naturalized citizens suffer with injustices, including with educational practices. The use of bilingual education, which teaches students in both English and their native language, has become a controversial topic. In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act, which recognized and offered education to students who were lacking English, was passed, yet the topic still seems questionable to some. Bilingual education provides a variety of beneficial attributes to help foreigners by improving their lives as native speakers, with education benefits, health benefits, and future opportunities.