Imagine what Christopher Columbus first said when stepping on American soil. Perhaps he said: “This land holds great promise.” Whatever he said the more fascinating question to ponder centers around what language did he speak, for Christopher Columbus, a multi-linguist, knew Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. So what happened to the diversity of languages in this land of promise? Many foreigners contribute to the melting pot of America, bringing their culture and language, yet American schools continue to teach just one language in today’s society. The heated debate among parents, educators, and politicians over a multilingual education in the United States began in the late nineteenth century. Over the next sixty years many crucial cases, mandates, and laws passed through America’s judicial system, bouncing back and forth between supporting and opposing bilingualism. Bilingual education in today’s United States remains inadequate as most students might have the chance to learn a second language for only one or two years in high school, depending on if the school provides such programs. However, many states have taken interest to improve bilingual education and overcome the financial issues. Two-way bilingual immersion(TWBI), a program teaching students a native language and a foreign, provides the best option. The program’s unique integrating of curriculums allows students to surpass their English-only peers, expanding and utilizing their brains more efficiently while experiencing the world they live in more fully. Despite financial obstacles and a traditional educational mindset, all American schools from Kindergarten through Eight grade should integrate a two-way bilingual immersion program. The dispute of bilingual educati... ... middle of paper ... ...uroscientist Brian Gold’s study on seniors sixty to sixty eight, he discovered that bilinguals brains function more efficiently than monolingual brains as the bilingual brains use less energy and the strength of the bilingual brain, despite old age, also set off dementia for 4.1 years and Alzheimer for 5.1 years (Kluger). By knowing another language, the brain remains healthy and “fit” just as if a person exercises their body. In the Stroop test, where people must quickly read only the color of the word whether the color matches the word or not, results indicate that bilinguals can continue the test on longer and with fewer mistakes than monolinguals (Kluger). This signifies bilinguals’ better flexibility, when answering rapidly, and decision making, when answering correctly. The neurological benefits translates into a more well-prepared student to face the world.
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
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.
Bilingual education policy is political activity replete with historical, social, cultural, and economic contexts (Crawford, 2000; Tolleson & Tsui, 2004). It is linked to legislation, court decisions, and executive actions. (Gandara & Gomez, 2009). The BEA came at an exceptional period of domestic upheaval, demographic transformation, and on the heel of the civil right movement. The Act created a channel to provide states and local education districts with funds, personnel assistance, and other incentives for the development of bilingual education program.
Dual language is a form of education in which students are taught to read and write in two languages. The majority of dual language programs in the United States teach in English and Spanish, although there are emerging programs that teach in Mandarin, Japanese and Hindi. The programs start of mostly in kindergarten sand 1st grade and continue throughout primary education, in addition some dual language programs depending on the grade continue through middle and high school. Even Hayward’s own Burbank elementary and Winton middle school are offering dual language programs. Each level of teaching uses a different language ratio in which class is instructed the classes start off with a 90:10 ration and later as years pass the ration becomes a steady 50:50 (Lindholm-Leary, Kathryn J,2001). The goals of dual language immersion programs are to get children to become both bi-literate and bilingual, in other words, they will be able to speak and write fluently in two different languages. Dual language programs are becoming more and more common most of them are in public school but there are some beginning to become present private and charter schools. Dual language education should be introduced in all elementary schools beginning in the Kindergarten to boost achievement for English language learners, benefits it will bring to the community, outstanding brain benefits and lastly cost efficiency in education across the United States.
Since, the issue of Bilingual education became relevant in the United States, people have argued over the need and effectiveness of such programs in American school systems.
In this online blog entry, Elizabeth Landau claims that bilingualism can be very beneficial to one’s cognitive abilities. Her first sub-claim is that bilinguals retain better cognitive function as the body grows older. The grounds for this sub-claim is a reference to Ellen Bialystok’s study on Alzheimer’s patients revealing that bilinguals were several years older than monolinguals at similar phases of neurological impairment. The findings from this study support Landau’s main claim because it shows that bilinguals’ cognitive abilities regressed at a much slower pace than those of monolinguals’. The work of Bialystok is credible since she is affiliated with York University in Toronto, Ontario, and the research that Landau refers to in this blog entry are all from presentations at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Landau’s second sub-claim is that bilinguals are better at multitasking. She supports this sub-claim with Judith Kroll’s research that has found bilinguals better suited to multitasking because of their heightened attention skills. This is most likely because bilinguals are perpetually inhibiting one language in favor of the other, which gives them an enhanced ability to tune out irrelevant information. Once again, these grounds are credible and scholarly because Judith Kroll is a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, and like Bialystok, Kroll presented these findings at the annual conference. More importantly, Landau uses Bialystok’s research for support because the multitasking skills found among bilinguals correlate with improved cognitive abilities. The warrant here is that mult...
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...
So, less than 200 years ago, students struggled to gain access to a bilingual education. Now, today we stand with a federal law that requires states to provide language education to all non-native English speaking students. While we may have moved legally and lawfully into a new era that opens doors for those who speak another language, we may not all have moved on from the racism, the stereotypes
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.
The issue of bilingual education is a much debated topic in this country and especially in this state. The Spanish-speaking populace has grown tremendously in these past decades, much of which has immigrated with Spanish as their only language. This has left the public school system with an interesting problem; how to successfully transition Spanish speaking students into an English environment. Public school systems have generally adopted one of two approaches to this problem. One is to allow students several years to develop their English with lessons taught in both languages. The other is a total immersion program where students are thrust into English-only lessons with little time develop their second language. Both approaches have ardent followers with valid arguments for each approach.
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.
Learning multiple languages opens doors for people not only in their local communities, but on a global scale. It has also been proven to advance cognition by improving conflict management, executive controls, and sound recognition. Students who are bilingual have two active languages in their minds and create flexible minds by constantly processing and translating in both languages. These mental activities are displayed to be beneficial through impressive academics. For these reasons, bilingual education in the United States is critical. Language is the single most important asset in human civilization. Prior to it, cave men communicated through grunts and images. Not only does language tie people together, but it also has an impact on one’s mentality and personal
There have been many claims, but it seems that there are six principal areas where the bilingual brain benefits. Those are learning in general, complex thinking, creativity, mental flexibility, and interpersonal communication skills. And lets not forget the effect of delaying dementia and keeping the brain functioning effectively longer. The authors note that “although it is difficult to prove the existence of a direct causal link, it is likely that multilingualism produces a special advantage in utilizing a person 's brain capacity as creatively as possible” (Academy of Finland, p.1). Thus, it might require further and more careful study to be able to directly prove or disprove the real effects on
“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
America, a country built on immigration dating back to the early 1600s Mayflower voyage, continues to thrive as a melting pot full of various cultures and ethnics. In the past, many immigrants came to America due to the offered freedoms and equality, yet today, many naturalized citizens suffer with injustices, including with educational practices. The use of bilingual education, which is teaching students in both English and their native language, has become a controversial topic. In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act, which recognized and offered education to students who were lacking English, was passed, yet the topic still seems questionable to some. Bilingual education provides a variety of beneficial attributes to equally help foreigners