Advantages of Bilingual Education - Research Paper Example

 Bilingual Education Bilingual education commenced in the United States with the passage of the 1968 Bilingual Education Act (Gunderson,2008). The goals of bilingual education are twofold: (a) academic progress and success (b) development of a heritage language (Krashen, 1999). Bilingual education has been a controversial issue, with arguments being offered in favour of and against. This essay outlines some of these arguments in arriving at a conclusion. The main advantages of bilingual education are: (a) The opportunity to continue academic progress while learning English slowly (b) Places an importance on the beliefs and value systems of families and communities of languages other than English and enhances self worth (c) Promotion of literacy by promoting comprehension of academic materials in English after being exposed to them in the native language. The disadvantages are: (a) Pricey (b) Questionable academic progress Advantages of bilingual education: Hamilton and Krashen (2006) point out the theory behind bilingual education, i.e, that students can be taught academic subjects in their native language, while they simultaneously learn English at a much slower pace; thereby helping them to prevent them falling back in their academic progress while learning English. Salinas(2006-2007) demonstrates that all children can learn to speak English if their comprehension of the academic concepts being provided in English is enhanced through understanding the same concepts in their native language. The notion of bilingual education is also based on the belief that teaching immigrants in their native language goes beyond the benefits of ESL because it places an importance on the values of their families and communities and provides them with a feeling of self worth (Smith-Davis, 2004). While opponents of bilingual education contend that achieving excellence in education requires immersion programs for foreign students (Finn, 1995), Dantas-Whitney et al (2009) have recently highlighted the importance of cultural understanding and appreciation as a tool to actually facilitate integration and assimilation of foreign cultures into American society. Contrary to the arguments and findings of tests in California, that immersion in English produces better academic results, other experts state that such claims must be taken lightly because there are numerous studies which show that academic performance and learning is enhanced with bilingual education (LLana, 2006, Estrada, 2009). Llana (2006) states that three states – Arizona, California and Massachusetts have done away with bilingual education, but this has impacted negatively upon teachers. The projected academic success for students through immersion in the English language does not appear to be working, because as one teacher points out, a lesson that would originally have taken him just a day to teach in English to a bilingual as flag student is now exhausting and consumes several days. The argument that immersion facilitates assimilation into mainstream American culture may be flawed (Adams, 2006). Headon et al (1995) have argued that the issue of bilingual education is largely symbolic, in much the same way burning and the opposition to bilingual education may well be caused by insecurities among Americans about their own job prospects and overall lowering of wages in a weak economy . According to Krashen (no date), bilingual education offers students two major advantages (a) knowledge and (b) literacy.(www.ericdigests.org). When students are provided quality education in their primary language, this helps them to understand English better. Bilingual education provides a step by step transition into English; i.e, students are first taught in their primary language with ESL, then they move into sheltered classes where some subjects such as Math are taught in English before they move to the mainstream classes. Krashen(no date) also reports on a the results of a series of studies by Fay Shin, showing that the development of literacy in the mother tongue facilitated literacy development in English was rated highly by immigrant parents; for instance, 88% of Korean parents agreed with this statement. Disadvantages of bilingual education: The most significant disadvantage associated with bilingual education has to do with the price of providing it. While Horowitz (1997) contends that annual bilingual education costs $320 million annually, Headon et al (1995) contend that dropping bilingual education programs might at best, save a dollar per student per day. Woolley in 2007 pointed out that these bilingual education programs are pricey because they have jumped to $12 billion per year (Wooley, 2007). Stephens (2007) points out another disadvantage of bilingual advantage, i.e, it functions as a deterrent for assimilation of immigrants. When immigrants are immersed in English education and find themselves in a position where they are immersed in English and have to learn it or fail, they tend to rise to the challenge and assimilate better into mainstream American society. Wooley (1997) has mentioned how the passage of businessman Ron Unz’s “English for the children” Act, the town of Oceanside which complied with the provisions of the Act demonstrated an astonishing rise in academic performance of the students. He points out that reading scores jumped by 47% for thirds graders and 475% for seventh graders, thereby showing the superfluous nature of bilingual education (Woolley, 1997). Headon et al (1995) highlight views of opponents of bilingual education, i.e, that accommodating other languages tends to diminish the incentive to learn English and thereby to become American and integrate fully into American society. They contend that the move against bilingual education is fuelled by the insecurities Americans feel against immigrants who are coming into the country and succeeding on their own terms, without being handicapped by their lack of knowledge of English. Horowitz (1997) has provided dismaying statistics regarding bilingual education, i.e, the annual rate in moving students from Spanish taught academic classes to English is only 6%, the school dropout rate is 50%, students who graduate do so with low scores and tend to end up in low paying jobs. Parents tend to seek bilingual education for their children because they want them to have (a) higher levels of opportunity and (b) knowledge of English, but they worry because in practice, bilingual education programs do not appear to have provided either of these two goals (Schnaiberg,1996). Wooley (1997) also contends that while bilingual education was originally propounded as a tool to help transition non English speaking students into English academic classes, a recent study by the Pacific Research Institute suggests that despite 47% of the students being certified to be fluent in English, they were still retained in bilingual classes. Conclusions: As may be noted from the above, the arguments offered both in support of and against bilingual education do not enable a definitive conclusion to be made about whether or not bilingual education is beneficial. While bilingual education is purported to promote academic progress through enhancing comprehension in the native language, the high dropout rates and low academic scores do not appear to support it. The other side of the coin however, is that the purported improvement in academic performance through immersion programs cannot be established on a meaningful basis that can be broadly applied, because other studies have demonstrated the benefits of bilingual education in improving educational outcomes. Moreover, academic outcomes before bilingual education was introduced show that the English-only approach had failed (www.rethinkingschools.org). Research has shown that high rates of school dropouts can be explained by various other factors; while those who receive bilingual education are actually likely to remain in school (www.rethinkingschools.org). One of the greatest objections to bilingual education is the cost of the programs, especially during recessionary times. Winter(2002-2003) contends that the right to access bilingual education is a fundamental human and civil right and denying them this right would amount to discrimination. Without bilingual education, the effective result is the creation and maintenance of an academic underclass, a segment of society that is forever hovering in the lower rungs of society and unable to progress upwards.(Mitchell,2005). Undoubtedly however, the high costs associated with bilingual education provide a strong argument in a failing economy where the pressures to streamline funding for Government programs is at an all time high. Teachers who are involved in bilingual education tend to support the program, contending that the process of learning and academic achievement are much harder for non-native English speakers who are forced to learn through immersion. In the light of all the arguments which have been offered above, both in favour of and against bilingual education, it is difficult to arrive at a definitive conclusion about whether or not it is beneficial. While the disadvantages of high costs and the division of society have been cited as disadvantages, these are counterbalanced by the benefits, such as cultural enhancement, facilitating comprehension of academic concepts and preservation of human and civil rights through a respect for foreign cultures and languages. References: Adams, M., et. Al, 2006. “Unmasking the Myths of Structured English Immersion: Why We Still Need Bilingual Educators, Native Language Instruction, and Incorporation of Home Culture”, Radical Teacher, (75): 16-21. Dantas-Whitney, Maria and Eileen Dugan Waldschmidt, 2009. “Moving Toward Critical Cultural Consciousness in ESOL and Bilingual Teacher Education”, Bilingual Research Journal , 32: 60-76. “Does bilingual education work?” retrieved October 12, 2010 from: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/Work164.shtml Estrada, Veronica Lopez, Leo Gomez, and Jose Augustin Ruiz-Escalante. “Let’s Make Dual Language the Norm.” Educational Leadership. April 2009. Gunderson, Lee, 2008. “The State of the art of Secondary ESL teaching and learning”, Journal of adolescent and adult literacy, 52(3): 184-188. Hamilton, K. and Stephen Krashen, 2006. “Bilingual or Immersion?”, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 23(5): 23-6. Headden, Susan et al, 1995. “One Nation, One Language?”, U.S. News & World Report, September 25, 1995. Retrieved October 12, 2010 from: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/950925/archive_032934.htm Horowitz, David, 1997. “The bilingual trap”, retrieved October 12, 2010 from: http://www.salon.com/aug97/columnists/horowitz2970804.html Krashen, Stephen, No date. “Why Bilingual Education?”, ERIC Digest, retrieved October 12, 2010 from: http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-3/bilingual.html Krashen, Stephen, 1999. “Bilingual Education: Arguments For and (Bogus) Arguments Against,” Georgetown University Roundtable on Languages and Linguistics, May 6, 1999. Mitchell, Candace. “English Only: The Creation and Maintenance of an Academic Underclass,” Journal of Latinos & Education, 2005, Vol. 4 Issue 4, p253-270 Salinas, Roselia A, 2006-2007. “All Children Can Learn...To Speak English”, National Forum of Educational Administration and Supervision Journal, 23(2). Schnaiberg, Lynn, 1996. “Parents Worry Bilingual ed. Hurts Students”, Education Week, Feb. 28, 1996, 15(23). Smith-Davis, J, 2004. “The New Immigrant Students Need More than ESL,” Education Digest, 69(8): 21-6. Stephens, Julia, 2007. “English Spoken Here: By creating bilingual collections, librarians are contributing to a divided America”, American Libraries, November 2007. Wooley, Lynn, 2007. “Abolish bilingual education”, Human Events, retrieved October 12, 2001 from: http://www.salon.com/aug97/columnists/horowitz2970804.html Read More