Structured Immersion and the truth
Structured Immersion is an ESL (English as Second Language) program designed to be a bilingual instructional tool for students who are in a sense none native English speakers. Even though this program is still used in some US states as well as in other parts of the world, it is to my point of view a masked excuse of a program created to control the essence of a language by teaching on a need to know basis the true sense of bilingualism.
This Program is a really bad copy of a program used in Canada. In Canada their bilingual immersion is introduced through strong instruction in two languages for grades k through 12, the United States copied it but failed to implement the most crucial element which was that the students native language was not included in the instruction and teachers only taut in English.
The United States failed to recognize the importance of an English language learning student's first language. The program was based on teaching the language in a step by step structure, the source of its name, "Structure Immersion." This was leaving out the fact that the natural language acquisition process is more complex than just following the SI program, and that students were doing bad and just moving through the classes but were not able to adapt their English skills in later grades.
The material clearly states that even today some schools in the US still favor this program lacking the sense of reason, not knowing that ESL content classes using something called discovery learning has proven to be very effective.
This is telling us that there is more than one way to go through teaching ESL students, and that there is not really a "best way" to do it, but it helps if the teacher or instructor takes the time to correctly assess his or her students considering the students best interest and not the other way around.
Neglecting the student's native language is not the way to teach a second language; these students will not be bilingual but prisoners of an instruction that truly restricts them from it. To impose is not to teach, I guess that this is telling us to be original and to be considerate of our students this way they'll actually learn something and as teachers we would have accomplished our goal.
The United States is filled with many different ethnicities, cultures, customs, languages, etc. Supposedly, our public schools are equipped with classes, teachers, curriculums and materials in order to educate that part of the student population whose first language is something other than the English language. Bilingual classes, transitional classes, ESL classes are just a few of the programs that have been developed to instruct non-English speaking students in order for them to acquire the English language.
The legal and historical rationale of Bilingual Education has been around for quite some time and appears to a continuous issue with educators and political figures. Numerous articles have been written in favor and against Bilingual Education. The articles I read and summarized relate to some of the issues that have evolved from various proponents and opponents of how education should be presented to ELs in the United States. Summaries and a brief timeline of legislation up to the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) follow.
Secondly his strategies are the same for all of his students. English Language Learners.(ESL) and the rest of the mainstream classmates need different techniques for learning the English language. The same is also for ELL group. Every child is unique and that is not exception for ELLs. Mr. O’Malley falls into the misconception that all ELL students who proficient in one domain they are proficient in another domain. That is if Mikhail is good at speaking he should also be good at writing,
Because America is such a diverse country, public schools are faced with the challenge of providing students from all over the world with a quality education. As Chen points out “public schools have embraced the linguistic challenge presented by immigrant students” (¶1). Then, No Child Left Behind law was approved, and it required every public school should have an English Secondary Language (ESL) program that will provide the “academic support” for English Language Learners (ELLs). ELL parents are happy that their children are getting education help from the school, but it has raised the question of how successful are the ESL programs? Do ESL programs provide enough “academic support” to all ELL students? Do ESL programs have enough tools to help students learn English? Some ELL parents complain that ESL programs do not help their child learn English. A successful ESL program is not based solely on the test scores, but also the ability to connect parents, teachers, and students together to strengthen tools that will help ELL students to learn a new language in reading, writing, and speaking.
The implementation of Proposition 227 in 1998 made California an English-only state and mandated English-immersion language instruction for all ELs. The available evidence on the impact of this policy shows that this approach to instruction of ELs did little to close achievement gaps, caused a sharp reduction in the number of bilingual educators in the state, and further segregated ELs students into the poorest and lowest performing schools.
There are a lot of students being placed whose primary language is not English. Students walk into a mainstream classroom not being able to speak English. Students in this situation are call English Language Learners(ELLs). These students are not receiving appropriate language support to succeed in their language development which is causing them to not have the ability to acquire language.
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...
The debate now is whether there is sufficient studies proving the effectiveness of Bilingual education and the need to continue it in many states. In 1998 Los Angeles County passed Proposition 227 to create bilingual education programs. (LA Times October 23.1998) Because of the passing of this bill many students were left in limbo waiting for teaching plans to be made. As well as the budget to be reformed to accommodate the extra expenses of a bilingual education programs, books, and to hire the proper teachers and aids to assists in the new bilingual classes. Often there are only a few children in a classroom being taught in their native language whil...
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). English as a Second Language (ESL). Limited English Proficiency (LEP). English Language Learners (ELL). All of these are programs for students who did not learn English as their first language. Every day, students face many different challenges while going to school. Some struggle to grasp the concepts of math. Some struggle to manage their time wisely. Many struggle to get up in the morning. Many also struggle to fit in. But many of these struggles would be a little easier for those who have learned English as their first language. Those who did not, juggle learning English while trying to learn new concepts that are taught in English. It starts to sound like a catch 22, which is part of the
There are several key ideas that are crucial to understanding the best way to teach young, ELL students. The first idea is the importance of recognizing ELL’s feelings of isolation and alienation. When a teacher recognizes this, they are more capable of helping the student feel a part of the class. The student will struggle to participate if they do not feel like they belong with the other students. There is not only a language barrier, but also sociocultural differences that prohibit them from feeling accepted. Tiffany emphasizes the importance of acknowledging this problem and being aware during classroom activities. She suggests that you get a deep understanding of their cultural background, not just a “touristy” one.
I completed my field experience observing third grade at Centennial Elementary in Nampa. While any chance I get to work with students is rewarding, this particular field experience seemed like a waste of time, in my opinion, as there is not a proper English Language Learning class in place. The teacher, Mrs. MK, I observed was great with the students. However, I felt there needed to be more emphasis on background building as I learned from the SIOP model discussed in class. I was incredibly surprised at the curriculum content of the ELL program at Centennial. Also, I was baffled that the teacher did not hold a teaching certificate merely a district certification much like that of a Para Professional only a slight bit higher. Granted she is
Bilingual education involves teaching material in two languages. In America, this includes ESL (teaching English as a second language) for students whose native language is not English. Bilingual education simply helps those students who would otherwise be helpless in actually learning the material in their English-only classes. It also helps English-speaking Americans learn another language, like Spanish. This is useful to them because America’s demographics are indeed becoming more diverse and thus, better language skills should be employed. Implementing bilingual education in the school curriculum is due to the passing of legislation at the government level. As of now, English immersion programs exist because of the Bilingual Education Act (a.k.a Title VII), which was passed along with the Civil Rights Act in 1964. (Cerda; Hernandez, 2006) At that time, it was expected to change ethnoc...
In Miami, an eight year old girl from Barcelona, Spain, started school not knowing a single word of English. For half the day, she received half of her classes in Spanish and the other half in English. In five months, she learned English, and in seven months, she was the most active participating student in her class. Because she was placed in an English Language Learners (ELL) program, learning English was easy for her (HPL, 2013). There are many benefits of bilingual education in public schools for children of all ages, and many schools in the United States are fighting to keep ELL programs in the school systems.
...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.
In 2009, teachers of a New Jersey school banned foreign languages and stated, “any language other than English will not be tolerated" (Debaron 1). This situation was soon no longer allowed. While over ten percent of the total adolescent education systems contain emergent bilinguals, a whopping sixty percent of those students are educated in only English (Bale). Maria Estela Brisk, a Boston College Education professor, believes, “schools has wasted much energy in the search for a "perfect" model and the best way to learn English” when they could just focus on proving “quality education” to every student in the system (1). Teacher’s main priority should consist of effectively teaching their students to prepare them for the future, but currently there are a lack of certified bilingual education teachers. When students are taught more in different ways, they can educationally benefit their cognitive abilities, involving the brain with “mathematics, problem solving, logic and memory”, can be improved to create an overall better student. Even by learning another language at a earlier age can contribute to __________. Learning another language will be