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bilingual Aboriginal Education Australia
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Introduction
Despite Australia’s ever-growing multiculturalism, it has been found that ‘monolingualism is extraordinarily common in Australia throughout the general population and all occupational levels (Bostock, 1973).’ With such an array of cultures present, one would assume that Australian education systems would have endless bilingual programs in place. However, this is not the case. Despite the successes of bilingual education on a global scale, little effort has been made to preserve any Australian languages, meaning that language death has become an everyday factor that Indigenous individuals have to deal with (Wurm, 1991). This paper discusses the concept of bilingual education and its faults in the transition from theory to practice, the political and social reception of bilingual education and the bilingual education programs which have been resurrected internationally and nationally. In examining these areas, hopefully some clarity will be gained as to why bilingual education programs of Australian languages have been so unsuccessful.
Bilingual Education as a Theoretical Concept.¬¬¬¬
Bilingual education - in theory - is a concept that would enrich learning, especially under a constructivist teaching method, as well as students, parents and teacher’s lives (Rossi, 1999). In encouraging children to learn under a self-directed method, the enriching nature of ‘learning-to-learn’ allows youths to further the positives of constructivism even further (Rossi, 1999). Consequently, not only do they become independent, confident students, but have bilingual language competence, rather than just language performance. Harris (1978) states that language performance ‘is merely a speaker’s production of the words, sounds and phr...
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...iarity with English. Consequently, this displays yet another positive of bilingual education in the family unit, reinforcing that the positives are restricted only to an educational means but stay with them as they continue to grow in society (Jaggs, 1975).
International Bilingual Programs
Internationally, bilingual programs have proven to be a success in enriching students academic and social lives and their quality of life overall. The bilingual program closest to Australia on a global scale is that of Maori-English bilingual education in New Zealand. Although the Maori language was evidently stronger and had a fair chance of threatening the assimilationist movement of English, the main driving force behind their fight to preserve their language was to fulfil the ‘psychological needs central to the well-being of Maori individuals and groups (Durie, 1997).’
In Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, the author Richard Rodriguez argues that since there is a lack of bilingual education taught in American schools, many students face a loss of intimacy to their native language, leaving them identifiable-less. He makes this claim by expressing that although native language can cause divisions in communication, it is the basis structure to a person.
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
Bilingual education offers a completely different world for students of different ethnic background and thus creates a comfort zone limiting the risk-taking factor necessary for the maturation of a child to an adult. Rodriguez argues supporters of bilingualism fail to realize "while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality" (Rodriguez 26). He explains that the imperative "radical self-reformation" required by education is lost by offering bilingual education and such a program suggests a place where the need for a sense of public identity disappears. A bilingual program gives a student the opportunity to be separated from real life and institutes a life that leaves out an essential understanding of the world. Bilingual students do not know the complexities of their world, including emotion, ethics, and logic, because the bilingual program secludes the eager minds to a much simpler, more naïve idea of how the society works, leaving out the confidence of belonging in public. This situation not only limits the education experience for non-English speaking students, but also hinders the further education of English speaking students by erecting a communicat...
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.
Individually, when bilinguals bear in mind the fact that their ability to speak two languages helps their cognitive skills in strengthening development and function of attention, their self satisfaction should escalate. This is a blessing, not a hindrance. In America, people wrongfully look down upon foreigners as they arrive in the States, learn a second language, while also cling to their native language and cultural values. Monolingual Americans unjustifiably believe they have the advantage over these future bilinguals. What they do not know is when bilinguals master two languages and put into practice brain plasticity and cognitive development they will surpass and excel monolinguals with flying colors. It is proven through research that bilinguals outscore their monolingual peers again and again by more quicker, attentive, and accurate results. They should take pride in their hard work and consistent pressing motives to master a new language, hold onto their first, and do not compare themselves to the native monolinguals surrounding them. The Associated Press reports that up to 66 percent of the world’s children are raised bilingual (2001). Consequently, with those numbers society is humbled in understanding the bilingual advantage. It is comforting to be reminded of such an enriched advantage in bilingualism, even though monolinguist society disputes otherwise. Honestly, respect and acceptance in understanding the role of bilingualism plays an influential performance in bringing individuals and society
Padilla, Amado. "Bilingual Education: Issues and Perspectives." From Community to College, New York, St. Martin's Press 1992
Hammers, J.F., & Blanc, M.A. (1989). Social and psychological foundations of bilinguality. In P. Mardaga (Ed.), Bilinguality and Bilingualism (pp. 110-133). Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.
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.
This essay will demonstrate the research that is implemented on children with bilingual ability; discussing three main issues in bilingualism which is: the maintaining children’s first language, social and cognitive benefits, also why bilingualism should be in cooperated into school programming/curriculum.
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.
Often, families back home cannot speak english and it is up to those who have immigrated to maintain their language to continue their relationships with their families. Too many children have lost touch with their extended families because they cannot understand one another and they are left with false affections towards each other simply because they are related. This has become a strong point of advocacy for bilingualism amongst people of color in the United States. Many parents have expressed concern on this subject as mentioned in the article "Latino Immigrant Parents ' Views Of Bilingual Education As A Vehicle For Heritage Preservation” by Pete Farruggio, who reports, “Many of the heritage parents explained the importance of Spanich fluency for conversing with relatives, often complaining that children’s limited Spanish skills hampered cross border family unity” (Farruggio). Evidently, this quote brings forth the issue that children lose focus on their native language and as a result lose that critical aspect of themselves. For this reason, bilingual education is needed to preserve diversity in the United States. Foreign language classes allow children to voluntarily devote more attention to their own languages while also developing their skills in English. Knowing both English and their native language grants people connections to their world around them, opening
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