Bilingual Education Argumentative Essay

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Over the course of many years numerous different laws have been put into place within the educational system in order to help ESL students learn to the best of their abilities. As a result of these laws the teaching world has seen benefits within the lives of ESL students that attend school across the United States, and school has become a positive place for ESL students to learn and be immersed in a new language. In 1954 the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education voted segregated schools unconstitutional. This not only gave African American students to attend school with Caucasian kids, but it also provided permission for ESL students to attend those same schools. This introduced the beginning of multiple languages being used …show more content…

The Bilingual Education Act was passed in the year 1968. This act helped aid ESL students and integrated them into English speaking classrooms. Students of other national descents began to learn English acquisition within the classroom and they were introduced to reading and writing in English as well. However, this act did not require bilingual education so students were submersed into English with little to no help from outside sources. This act also only accepted certain students from particular socioeconomic statuses, which took the ESL opportunity away from children of a lower class. In the year 1974 the Bilingual Education Act was revised and as a result allowed students of any socioeconomic class to be included in the program. Now more kids had the opportunity to learn English and succeed along with their peers in school. In 1978 the act was revisited again and lawmakers decided to assist students with limited English proficiency as well as students with limited English speaking abilities. With this revision to the act students were assured help in learning a second language within the school setting and the pedagogy of the language was left for the instructors to …show more content…

Some use the Pullout Method while others fully immerse their students into English and expect them to learn. No matter what method is used the No Child Left Behind Act, passed in 2002, states that ESL students have to meet a certain requirement on standardized testing in order to be seen as proficient in the English language. Whether this means pulling kids aside for extra teaching or fully immersing them in a language, the school’s destiny depends on their test scores. If the school scores below a certain level and does not show educational improvement within two - four years that school can be shut down or restructured in order to help ESL students

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