2. Review of Literature
2.1. Language choice in education
2.1.1. Language as an aspect of ethnicity and nationality
Language is usually defined as the ability of humans to use complex systems of communication and is often considered as an important part of the nationality and/or ethnicity as it depicts ones group identity. Ethnic groups consider that a language is the best medium to express their cultures and traditions and may attempt to make themselves distinct on such dimensions. Therefore the survival of a language is often correlated with the continued existence of a nation or an ethnic group (Hoffman, 1991). Therefore it is clear that there is a strong relationship between language, ethnicity and nationality.
2.1.2. Language and politics
Language of a nation is greatly related to the policies exerted by a government. The groups that have some economic and political power exert linguistic influence over the minority of a country or a country that has superiority over another will have a linguistic influence over the latter. Educational policies are the major factor that is imposed by a government that decides the basic framework of a country’s education system and moves the society towards bilingual or multilingual attitudes. Also any threat to a linguistic identity of a nation may arise sentiments of hostility across them or their countries which may also viewed as a political issue. Therefore it is clear that the language is essentially related to the politics of a country (Spolsky, 1998).
2.1.3. Language policy
Language policy or language status is a very important aspect of education where it involves the choice of languages in bilingual or multilingual systems. Therefore it is strongly related to the political decision...
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...ve /Academic Language Proficiency on the other hand occur in context reduced academic situations where higher thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation are needed. This involves the “language of learning”, which includes problem-solving, building hypothesis, imagining, reasoning and focusing into situations with which they have no previous experience (Cummins, 1984).
An instructional implication of Cognitive /Academic Language Proficiency has been described in two areas including cognitive and academic. Cognitive means that the instruction should be cognitively challenging with higher order thinking skills ( e.g. evaluating, inferring, generalizing and classifying) and Academic means that the curriculum content should be integrated with language instruction so that the students learn the language of the specific academic area (Cummins, 2000).
Most people who grow up with a foreign language spoken in there house grow up with an advantage in society. This advantage can only occur once the individual learning that foreign language also learns the dominant language spoken in that country. Once both of these languages are learned and mastered, the individual has now placed them se...
America’s educational system is home to an increasing number of English language learners. Some research indicates that by the year 2030, over 40% of elementary and secondary students served by schools in the United States will come from homes where a language other than English is spoken (Thomas & Collier, 2001). In an effort to accommodate these students, the United States has adopted policies at both the federal and state levels. Generally, the direction taken to meet the needs of English language learners has depended on the climate of the nation. During times of peace and prosperity, policies reflect the nation’s tolerance of other languages and cultures. However, during times of war or conflict, policies have reflected intolerance or fear of anything deemed “un-American.”
Bilingualism, a very controversial topic to debate in today’s United States. People generally define bilingualism as the ability of using two languages that individuals have. However, this is not the reason why that bilingualism becomes such a debatable issue. In this case, bilingualism is defined as the government’s use of languages other than English for public services in order to support the immigrants’ lives in the United States. People who support bilingualism want the government to continue having this kind policies. They think that bilingualism helps immigrants to assimilate into the American culture and moreover, it will unify everyone who are on this land. Although bilingualism provides some kind of benefits toward immigrants, they cannot solve the problems in the deep root. Bilingualism should not be continued in the U.S. Why? It reduces the immigrants’ incentive to learn English, threatens national unity, and costs so much.
Crawford, James. “A nation divided by one language.” Guardian.co.uk. 8 Mar 2001. Web. 11 October 2014
Howard, Elizabeth R., and Kathryn J. Lindholm-Leary. Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics, 2007. Print.
Bilingual education in our schools is crucial: but still there is talk about banning the use of foreign language in the instruction of our young children. We have to work to change that kind of attitude. We have to proceed from the assumption that bilingual
United States is a nation accommodating multi-ethnic groups of almost 500000 Americans. Since 1960s, America has received an increasing number of newcomers and immigrants from all over the world. However, language communication has somehow become a latent problem, whether in economical, political, or social aspects. Although English has been the common language of America for over two hundred years, it has never become the official language. Therefore, question like "Does America need an official language?" has been raised and argued in recent decades. Both sides hold very strong arguments on this controversial issue. In the articles "English Should Be Official" by Bradley S. O' Leary and "Language Cements Nationhood" by Ron Saunders, two authors uphold to make English the nation's official language, while the articles "English Shouldn't Be Official" by Victor Kamber, and "Does America Need an "Official" Language" by Tuben G. Rumbaut and Alejandro Portes are opposed to this resolution. The different attitude toward common language, money, and communication are the major arguments discussed in these four articles.
“It costs taxpayers too much money to provide government services in languages other than English” (Teaching Tolerance, 2011). The use of a language other than English can not only make it easier but also more beneficial to serve taxpayers. For example, it is easier, quicker, and more economical for claim representatives who speak and communicate in the client’s native language to collect information. Not only does ELL teach bilingualism or help make a job task easier, but it also has been proven that a person who is bilingual he or she receives a better pay, scores well academically overall in the long term, and moves freely in an English language dominated society (NLCI, 2013).
Before proceeding to further discuss the basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS), and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), it may be helpful to
The debate regarding the role of foreign language education in the public school system leaves much to be considered—from the role foreign language learning plays in our cognitive and cultural development, to the study of what it takes to become fluent in a foreign language in terms of time, energy and opportunity cost, compared with the application of the language later in life. With many stakeholders, including academics, journalists, and politicians, lending their perspectives to the argument, it’s important that we understand how the leader of our country values foreign language education, in order to better understand how foreign language will be effected in education legislation. During President Obama’s campaign run in 2008, he advocated for foreign language education, as demonstrated by CNN.com’s campaign footage, “Sen. Barack Obama on Learning Foreign Languages.” Speaking directly to his constituency as well as undecided voters, he proclaimed the value that bilingual abilities can provide Americans, as well as his own embarrassment for not being fluent in another language. Obama uses ethical appeals to express that we need to be less worried about immigrants learning English, “They’ll learn English,” and more concerned with teaching our children Spanish because having such a skill will enhance their lives; logical appeals to advocate teaching our children a foreign language early in life, while its easier to learn; and emotional appeals by proclaiming “it’s embarrassing” in regards to Europeans coming to our country speaking multiple language, including ours, whereas when we go to Europe, “all we can say is merci beaucoup.” Because Obama’s intended audience is moderate-to-liberal, or more progressive, he is able to delive...
In conclusion one can see that bilingualism in education can have its pros and cons. Many tests have been conducted to prove whether it is beneficial or not. In some cases it does have a positive affect on our intellectual and academic achievements and in other cases it doesn’t make much of a difference. Therefore due to the variation of individuals, it is fair to assume that it is dependent on the individual and age at which they have acquired or learned their languages to predict their success in school.
To commence this discussion, it is first essential to establish an understanding surrounding the role of language in relation to national identity. Theoretically, the more power language has in this relation, the more powerful language planning may be when creating a national identity. However, the role language plays in this respect is somewhat problematic to define and has proven to be a debatable topic among nationalists, sociologists and sociolinguists. For instance, May demonstrates that ‘sociological commentators, unlike sociolinguists, have generally been loath to apportion a prominent role to language in the explanation of minority ethnic and national identity claims’ (2001: 8). Consequently emulating distaste from sociologists to credit language with significant power in a national identity. In a similar sense, de Vries notes that, in relation to a language community, ‘social scientists have generally ignored the systemic properties of language’ (1991: 39), thus, concurrently suggesting with May, a disagreement from the social sciences over the role of language in terms of identity and national identity. Similarly, circa the French revolution, the concept
An individual is constructed through many aspects , whether it be their likes/dislikes, personalities, goals or self assigned origin(s), etc. One of these aspects that help build up and sketch an individual is the language they choose to speak. This does not simply include choosing between English or French but choosing or learning to speak high/low language, or the type of slang one uses, and even the rules that are set up with that language the individual has obtained.
Currently there are about 6,000 languages (Language Loss). “10,000 years ago, there may have been 12,000 languages (Cancio).” In the next century about ninety percent of all world languages could go extinct, because “languages are no longer being learnt by children” (Law). Some of these languages are also being lost because people move to the United States in search for a better life. Another cause would be that “the United States is failing to graduate enough students with expertise in foreign languages” (Saiz, and Zoido 523). In 2009, there were 38,517,234 immigrants in the U.S. (Batalova and Aaron). In 2011, 23 percent of children from elementary school and secondary school in California had LEP, or limited English proficiency (Percent Limited English Proficient Student). Bilingual education is one way of teaching a child in his or her own native language while learning English at the same time (Bilingual Education). Schools should teach a child in their native language while teaching the child English because it helps preserve his or her culture, secure a better employment future, and bilingual students perform better in school.
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.