Controversies regarding the issue of language to be used in education in California are gaining public attention. A significant proportion of the population in California, being one of the states adjacent to Mexico, is comprised of Hispanic. This enriches, but also complicates the educational system of the state. Specifically, the range of different racial background causes language problems in school today. Therefore, especially in terms of the formulation of educational policies as well as in the classroom setting, the Hispanic population must be taken into consideration. Although bilingual education seems like a positive way to educate Spanish-speaking students, it is actually detrimental because it makes no difference in their grades, there is a limited amount of bilingual speakers to teach them, and the parents of the Hispanic students support the ban of the bilingual education system.
As of yet, there are still varied opinions as to whether the use of both the native and the local language is constructive or distractive to the Latino students’ learning of the English language and of the school subjects as a whole. A recent study by Branum and other authors of “Contextual Effects of Bilingual Programs ” in 2010 shows that, in a test for comprehension of English passages, the average scores of first graders under the English Immersion program and those under Spanish Maintenance programs did not vary significantly (341). This proves that the bilingual educational system does not really benefits the students when it comes to grades.
For all the parties involved in the educational system, from the policy-makers and the educators to the students (and to some extent the students’ parents), bilingualism brings forth further comp...
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...nd the students. Amidst the discussions, the proper education of every student, without exemption, remains the ultimate goal, and we must not lose sight of this.
Works Cited
Branum-Martin, Lee et al. “Contextual Effects of Bilingual Programs on Beginning Reading.” Journal of Educational Psychology 102.2 (2010): 341–55.
Farruggio, Pete. “Latino Immigrant Parents’ Views of Bilingual Education as a Vehicle for Heritage Preservation.” Journal of Latinos and Education 9.1 (2010): 3-21.
Monzó, Lilia. Latino Parents’ “Choice” for Bilingual Education in an Urban California School: Language Politics in the Aftermath of Proposition 227.” Bilingual Research Journal 29.2 (2005): 365-86.
Necochea, Juan, and Zulmara Cline. “Effective Educational Practices for English Language Learners within Mainstream Settings.” Race Ethnicity and Education 3.3 (2000): 317-32.
The author points out a number of factors that are key to the prosperity of the Hispanic people in America. He does not just focus on the cultural belonging part as the other liberals are claiming, but Greg puts his main focus and consideration on the future of the Hispanic people, and the prosperity of their generations to come and not just their personal short lived desires. If bilingual education is established in the American system of teaching, then it would be a mean that most of them will un...
It is important to maintain children’s home language as it may help them learn and understand a second language. Barratt-Pugh (2000) discusses the benefits of bilingualism and maintaining it through early childhood settings, also mentions the concerns families have for their children maintaining two languages through schooling. Research within the article states that children who speak more than one language will have a higher level of understanding literacy content, form, genre, as well as understand the differences and translating within both languages. This demonstrates a contrast of strengths and experiences with literacy (linguist...
...roughout his autobiography, Rodriguez illustrates the problematic conditions revolving around bilingual education programs and affirmative action, pointing out that both policies tend to negate their intentions. Rodriguez scathingly criticizes both programs correctly identifying the first as an obstacle to what he sees as the keys to success in America--a solid education and learning to speak and write English well--and the second as promoting socially crippling labels--"disadvantaged minority." Through countless arguments that a bilingual program hinders English and non-English students' education and that affirmative action accommodates only "privileged" minority students rather than the students most in need, Rodriguez's life story, Hunger of Memory, serves as a political publication meant to raise concern for the function of government in the education system.
The technique relies on a holistic approach that adopts instructions that allow students to actively participate in the learning process. This is easier for children that feel that the society appreciates their diversity through bilingualism and biliteracy. The society and parents need to encourage children to take up bilingual classes because they offer a lot of benefit to the society through favoring critical thinking, rationality, and sensitivity to other cultures, empathy, and detached or balanced awareness. However, Sonia Nieto mirrors a society that is made to fake being American and become ashamed of their family. It helps appreciate that it is not by choice that anyone speaks any other language as the first language and that the society and community influence the language of choice. Therefore, bilingualism cannot be detached from any community that freely promotes and accommodate the language spoken by the other community. Children and community members learn each other’s language without disregarding each other favoring effective learning that influences bilingualism and biliteracy in the long
Cummins, J. (1992). Language proficiency, bilingualism and academic achievement. The multicultural classroom: Readings for content area teachers (pp. 15-26).
The number of English language learning (ELL) students in the U.S. has grown dramatically in the last decade. According to a 1991 national study, there are over 2,300,000 students in grades K through 12 who are English language learners (August & Hakuta, 1997). This number has grown by over 1,000,000 since 1984. The majority of these students are Spanish-speakers (73%), followed by Vietnamese-speakers (3.9%). Because the overwhelming proportions of ELL students are Spanish speakers, the issue of bilingual education is largely a Latino one. No other language group makes up more than 4% of limited English proficient students. What complicates the issue of education for language minority students is their low socioeconomic status. 80% of ELL students are poor, and most attend schools where the majority of students also live in poverty and are English language learners. There is some difference in the level of poverty among language groups. Here, again, Latinos are disproportionately represented: 57% of Spanish-speaking families earn less than $20,000 compared to, for example, only 35% of families where Asian/Pacific Island languages are spoken (McArthur, 1993). Poverty has many implications for educational achievement, for example, parents' educational attainment mirror income levels, and parents' educational achievement is highly linked to that of their children's.
I grew up in a small South Texas border city, Laredo. In Laredo, most individuals, including myself, spoke Spanish as a first language, and gradually learned to speak, read, and write English in grade school. Another characteristic of Laredo was the distinction between families who were well off and those who were not, but there was never really an “in-between.” After attending private catholic school for 10 years, pre-kinder through eighth grade, my parents decided it was time for a change. My public high school, John B. Alexander, was a rather large school with each class averaging around 700 students. It was quite a change compared to my eighth grade graduating class of 48 students, but I was both ready and anxious for that change.
In the article, “Public and Private Language”, Richard Rodriguez argues that bilingual education delays learning a “public language” and developing a public identity”. I can relate to Richard’s story because my family and me moved to America when I was young and we also had the same struggle learning a new language. I agreed with Rodriguez when he expressed that he didn’t feel like a true American until he mastered the English language because English is the first and main language in America.
“After the Immigration Act of 1965, legislation law was passed to contribute the public schools in dealing with the arrival of non-English-speaking students. Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 supported programs for educating these students with English as a second language, including transitional bilingual education programs” (Echevarria and Graves 2011, p.350). This Act did not completely articulate how to go about educating these students. An unclear message was received or not received in whether there was going to be a process of their first languages or a complete transition to English. “The outcome of Title VII was that most ELs were consigned in English-only classrooms without suitable instructional
Passing fluent English: Latino immigrant children mask language proficiency. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 40(1), 20-40.
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
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.
...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.
It is estimated that by the turn of the century up to 40 percent of the children in the nation’s classrooms will be non-white, with the majority Latino. Already, multilingual schools exist in practically every major city. Since the teaching source is primarily White, and becoming even more so, it is important to take immediate action to prepare teachers and principles to work with a student population different than themselves (Dreyer, 1998).
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