The Roots of Bilingual Education
A historical perspective on bilingual education is written in the article "Bilingual Education Traces its U.S. Roots to the Colonial Era" in the magazine Education Week. The author begins by writing, "Bilingual education has been part of the immigrant experience in America since the Colonial periods, when native-language schooling was the rule rather than the exception" (21). When immigrant groups settled in the United States they taught their children in their own languages, despite some attempts to impose English instruction. Many do not believe it but bilingual education was started before 1800 when German, French, Scandanavian, Polish, Dutch and Italian schools were established. From 1839 to 1880 French was the medium of instruction in Louisiana and from 1848 Spanish was the medium of instruction in New Mexico. In 1880-1917 German-English schools were established in Cincinnati, Baltimore and Indianapolis. The article mentions, "A resurgence of nativism in the late 19th century- a backlash against the foreign born, led by such organizations as the Know-Nothing Party- marked the beginning of a decline for bilingual education" (22). Bilingual education decreased significantly following World War I through the 1950’s. This decrease was due in large part to the intense nationalistic mood of the country during this period. President Roosevelt told immigrants, "There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.. Any man who comes here… must adopt the institutions of the United States, and , therefore, he must adopt the language which is now the native tongue of our people, no matter what the several strains in our blood may be. It would not be merely a misfortune, but a crime to p...
... middle of paper ...
...eton:
Princeton U Press, 1986), 98-134
Fernandez, Ronald, "The Disenchanted Island", (Praeger,
Westport, Connecticut London) 1996
Figueroa-Martínez, Luis. ed. Hist. 247 Reader. (January 1998).
Pagan, Armando. "Puerto Ricans in Hartford and the legacy of
the Underclass." Undergraduate Senior Thesis submitted to the
Department of History, Trinity College, May 1999
Interviews from Park Street residents (5/5/99): Francisco
Acevedo, Liz Perez-Balesky, Epifanio Garcia
Interviews with Bilingual Education faculty at Hartford Public
Highschool (5/6/99): Mrs. Aida Ramos (Vice-Principal), Ms. Clara
Velez (Bilingual Math Teacher), Mrs. Irene Killian (TESOL), Ms.
Zoraida Ortiz (Bilingual Science Teacher), and Ms. Nancy Harrison
(TESOL/Bilingual Computer Lab Teacher).
Rapidly evolving throughout the late Pleistocene to the early to mid Holocene, hunter-gatherer-fisher societies hunted megafauna creatures in a systematic and ethical way. When one species migrates to a different ecosystem, that species is not usually recognized as a threat to other species. Survival, during the late Pleistocene and Holocene era, was one of the most important aspects to life. Any organism, regardless of size, living within their environment had to stay alive and reproduce. During these two eras, it seems...
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.
Fossil preservation has always been the most accurate way to determine what species lived during a specific time period. Through correlations and radiometric dating, time periods have become more accurate and being able to tell what lived during those times became possible. Although conditions have to be correct for fossilization, Pleistocene fossils are widespread and often well preserved. In the La Brea tar pits of present day Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of preserved bones have been found that give a good idea of the animals that were present during this time. Many of the animals preserved are animals that can still be found today and would be found in the Los Angeles area if not for urbanization. Animals that were present during this time include camels, mammoths, and saber-toothed cats among others (Harris and Jefferson, 1985). Below is a picture of a saber-tooth fossil found in the La Brea tar pits.
Some definitions of heroes are people, who have noble qualities, and put the lives of others before their own life. They are expected to be reasonable and calm, during scary times, like when a shooting is going on, looking out for
Bilingual education in public schools has been the topic of much discussion over the last several years. This discussion has been prompted due to the ever increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking persons emigrating to the United States, especially in those states that border Mexico--California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. What the debate seems always to overlook is our country’s other non-English speaking members. This country is now and has always been the “Melting Pot” for the world with persons emigrating to this country from most every country in the world; however, we commonly gear the focus of bilingual education toward our Spanish-speaking citizens.
Cesar E. Chavez, born on March 31st , 1927 , was a Latino farm worker, labor leader, civil rights activist, and to this day a hero. Chavez was antiquated with prejudice and injustice from a young age. He would work part-time on the field with his parents, there he was exposed to the hardships and injustice of the farm work life. Chavez only achieved an eighth grade education due to his father getting injured. Since then he had to work full-time on the fields. Later in his life, Cesar Chavez joined the CSO, an outstanding Latino civil rights group. He became the CSO's national director; however his dream was to form an organization that protected and served migrant farm workers. He resigned in 1962. Chavez left the security of a regular paycheck and found The National Farm Workers Association (later changed to The United Farm Worker Union). He led the successful first farm worker union for more tha...
When we asked these teachers whether they supported or were against the bilingual education system, they each shouted their answer as if it were instinctive. Although they had different reasons why, each and every one of the teachers said they supported the system without a doubt. We were given a multitude of reasons why bilingual education is advantageous. Ms. Velez stated that she supports bilingual education because, first and foremost, she is a product of it, and second because she believes the program allows the children to earn credit and learn the language at the same time. She said that if the non-English speaking child were immersed in the English mainstream classes they will fail, and as a result the already high drop out rate of Latinos would increase. Ms. Harrison felt that the bilingual education program would be even stronger and more effective if it served more of the ethnic groups in Hartford. The Vietnamese, Lao, and Albanian students are often put in transitional classes because there are not enough in that particular ethnic group to create a bilingual class that will help them to learn English, while maintaining their primary language. Presently, the state requires twenty students who need assistance in the same language to hire a teacher to create a class for them. She also stated that the students in bilingual education classes have just as many difficulties in academics as do the students in mainstream education, and that the bilingual education program is often used as a scapegoat for those students not achieving.
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.
William accumulates these ideas to suggest that conventional thinking and traditions should be used solely as a guide, being changed and refined as society progresses. This idea is revealed through the shift from the aristocratically and pretentious society old south possessed, embodied by the Blanche and Belle Reve, to the industrialized New South, which is represented by Stanley. While Blanche tries to cling to the past, relying on her manners and pretensions, Stella adapts to the changing times, committing the taboo of marrying Stanley, a polish immigrant who is a whole social class lower than her. This social pyramid is shown to lose value, as the brutality of the new world, as shown in Stanley’s dominant physique and actions, overtakes the politeness and gentleness of the old, with Blanche’s departure from reality signaling the death of the Old South.
As America’s demographics become more diverse and the issue of whether or not we should accommodate minorities arises, bilingual education has become a hot topic. Bilingual education has been discussed and connected to other controversial topics such as nationalism, racism, immigration, and adoption of English as the official language of the United States, along with minority rights, cultural diversity, and the goals of education itself. Here are some questions to be discussed:
Bilingual Education began in the United States in the mid- 60’s. The time that the bilingual movement started coincided with the height of the civil-rights movement for African Americans. During this time there was a great outcry from Latino activist that protested against discrimination that led to a high drop out rate for Spanish speaking students. In 1968 congress approved a bill to aide in equal education opportunities, this was the Bilingual Education Act. Its intentions were merely to help Limited English Proficient (LEP) students become literate in English, today goals of Bilingual education have advanced (Porter 2003). On...
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.
Heroes are brave people who overcome their own pride and insecurities to face the complex conditions presented to them. They put themselves on the front line to defend a moral cause. Dr. Martin King Jr. is an example of a hero because of his bravery for speaking out against racism during a time when this was considered very dangerous. He kept fighting because he believed it was something that had to be done for the good of his race and the entire country. He con...
...on. It is important to understand the history and mechanics of Greek architecture in order to fully appreciate it. The ancient Greeks were very well known for their beautiful temples. They were able to devise several different ways to create beautiful buildings and implement those designs. The ancient Greeks set the architectural foundations for the rest of the world with their three orders. The three styles, or orders, are the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The three distinctive styles are referred to as orders because they display proportionate, ordered, and coordinated parts. The Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders serve a functional purpose, as well as lend so much beauty to structures. “All the world’s culture culminated in Greece, and Greece in Athens, all Athens in its Acropolis, all the Acropolis in the Parthenon” (Nardo, 61).
The sixties in America were a time for significantly shaping the current nation into what it is today. Through the good and the bad, and many hardships, America became a melting pot and grew tremendously with immigrant populations. Many of the immigrants lacked the ability to speak English, so the war on bilingual education began. Bilingual education is defined as teaching students in both English and their native language. In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act, which recognized and offered education to students who were lacking English, was passed. Currently, bilingual education is a controversial topic. While keeping bilingual education in American public schools, the citizens of the nation are affected with cultural homogeneity, student education, federal spending, and child development.