Bilingual Education for Americans - Research Paper Example

Bilingual Education for Americans Introduction Bilingual education is a form of education that involves the teaching of academic content in two languages. One is usually the native language while the other is what is considered a secondary language. The content contains a varying amount of each of the two languages and both are used through a defined and established program. They may be transitional, two way, dual language or late exit bilingual education models. The issue of Bilingual Education is one of the hot topics in the American education system right now and has been so for several years with each group strengthening their stands. In the United States, Bilingual education focuses on the learners of English. The United States Department of Education notes that a bilingual educational program is an education program for limited English proficient students (ed.gov/). It is this definition that has remained in the federal government but there are several areas where it has fallen out of favor. This is because such a definition more or less shows that the student needs or requires support in the English language for him or her to succeed academically. In almost all, if not in all the states, there is a general feeling by the groups pushing for bilingual education system that it does not help to have this idea and they also do not find a justification for such a definition. History has it that the earliest instance of bilingual education in the United States occurred with the immigrants from Poland who first permanently settled in an English speaking area of Virginia. At this time it was only the rights of the English people that were recognized. It was as a result of the need that the English had for the skills of the Poles that got similar rights to the Englishmen and managed to establish a bilingual school (Seidner, p.72). In this school, the subjects were taught in both Polish and English, and this continued in other places in one form or system or another. It expanded to Native Americas, the Dutch, the Czech, the Germans, French, Spanish and Norwegians in the century that followed. Several states developed laws to address this issue depending on the demands of the foreigners. There are groups that believe that a bilingual education should be necessary, even if temporarily so as not to discriminate against foreign-born students, or bring them up to speed. On the other hand, there those who claim that English should be the national language, and until every student is proficient in English, the fact that they have the ability to speak another language hinders their development in the English language and slows down the overall process of learning in America. Although most initiatives against bilingual education have always had a majority lead when it comes to this issue, I hold the opinion that the world has become a global village. As such, I believe that a bilingual education should be mandatory for Americans, starting in Elementary school, through secondary school and even in the collegiate levels as the need may require. This position is highly based on the fact the number of immigrants whose children are at the age of attending school but speak very little or no English, are denied the benefits of being able to attend school at the appropriate age. In most cases there is usually a sort of remedial classes that they have to attend where they are taught only English before they get the opportunity to become part and parcel of the main school curriculum. In a system of Bilingual education, the necessity of such classes would not be fundamental and the children will be able to learn without any regard of the language that they speak at home or with which they grew up. This is because the curriculum would include their language too. The Advantages of Having a Bilingual Education System They hold the opinion that it does not help to keep non-English speaking children out school for them to master the English language, while their peers continue making strides in science, math and social studies. It is true that for most students, it would be challenging to take literacy classes while at the same time trying to master a language that is foreign to them at the same tie. The advantage however is, the bilingual education system enables the students to develop literacy in their native language first. Cummins (p. 17) notes that skills that these students develop in their native language are always transferred to the literacy classes that are carried out under the English language later when the student have learnt and mastered English. This is based on the fact that skills are inherent and it does not matter in what language they are got. One of the major problems of Bilingual system of education is the fact that most school instructions operate on the concept of English as a second language. It is therefore uncommon to find that English has been considered as an academic subject to those who do not speak it. Most schools treat students who are not as proficient in English as their English speaking counterparts as a group that is helpless. The this therefore mean that in most cases, the instructions that a teacher gives to this group has a warm and fuzzy tone as if they need a caring environment for them to learn and that they cannot keep up with the others. The whole concept of teaching therefore disappears and the teacher tries to spoon feed the student. With this in mind, it is therefore clear that the Bilingual system of education would go a long way in ensuring that there is a complete immersion of English language into the curriculum. Ultimately, this will not only help the non-English speakers to interact with the native speakers; it will also improve the studies of the native speaker’s understanding of the foreign language, which in most cases is usually Spanish. In the long run, such a program will also be held to the accountability standards of education and not merely emergency treatment to prepare for the actual curriculum. It should be appreciated as appreciated as a fundamental unit in the literacy and academic journey of the student. Another general assumption that most education systems have when it comes to the idea of Bilingual education is that the concept thought in Hispanic-English demarcation. America as a nation is a community of countries and by extension, of languages. There are also many Asian students in the country, for example, who would need to be taught proper English before they are able to continue with their education within the normal curriculum. So are other foreign students who in one way or the other come or end up in the United States. This is not only limited to the elementary level. It goes all the way up form the primary, the secondary and to the college level of education. The upshot of the system as it is, is that teachers are usually advised to teach in the best way that they would find effective. This means therefore that they can reach children in whatever language that they find to best suited for them and are able to study. In a Bilingual system therefore, the focus of instructions will ensure that the students study both English and their native language under the standards that would benefit both languages and that they also acquire literacy skills as they do this. Criticism of Bilingual Education System Generally, most of the groups that criticize a Bilingual system of education are conservatives. It is their contention that there is confusion as to the meaning of what Bilingual education system is. Mot states usually have a particular group of foreign immigrants or descendants of foreign immigrants whose native language is not yet English. As such it would be very impractical to come up with a well defined curriculum to institute a Bilingual education system that would work seamlessly throughout the whole country. In addition to the same principle is the fact that the programs of a Bilingual education system vary from place to place, and most academic institutions prefer one to another. It is therefore very hard to get a consensus as to which kind of system or program would be the most successful, not only for the state but also for the country. Even where there is a semblance of consensus on what bilingual education system to use, there is always still opposition. There was once a fiery critic of the Bilingual education system who wrote in the New York Times that the liberal supporters of Bilingual education may mean well but it has failed to work in America. He continued to state that the kids ought to have told them from the beginning that if you do not speak English in school, you end up speaking the language that you hear at home. This has an effect in degrading the students’ proficiency in English, the “language” of the American people. Consequently, the student is unable to perform or excel in his or her studies (Safire, p. 1). This argument has allegedly been supported using statistics from several states. For example, a survey on the second grade immigrants in institutions that were not offering Bilingual education performed better than their counterparts in Bilingual programs (Annis, 1). Most of the critics of the bilingual education system usually say that they do not see any problem with the system of first learning the English language before starting literacy classes. They suggest that if there is fear of delaying the students from starting elementary school together with their peers, the best solution would be to start them early on English as a second language program. Even if it for the basic social and interactive circumstances. Consequently, the pressures of not being able to communicate May ultimately frustrate the student, especially if they are still in their formative years. Review of the Criticisms The downside of the arguments against Bilingual education systems is that they are short sighted and emotive. Such groups should understand that there is no one who is actually advocating for the idea that all the non-English speaking students or those whose knowledge in English is limited learn the whole twelve years of elementary school and high school in their native language. The concept of Bilingual education should be understood as being a transitional one. The general idea would be to allow the students to take course in their native languages and provide them with a competent bilingual or a teacher who speaks their native language but can give them the opportunity to move to a system of English only deepening on the pace of the student. In such an instance, it will be possible to provide the non-English speakers with an intensive English language instructive program while still getting a better portion of their academic instructions in a language they can easily understand. All this would be possible without necessarily having to set aside the academic instructions for the sake of learning English first. The whole concept being therefore to ensure that the students are prepared for the mainstream classes that will be ultimately in English without them falling behind in the subject areas. Furthermore, this transition would not necessarily take that long while ensuring they are keeping up with their English speaking counterparts. The criticisms that a Bilingual education would also lower the performance of a student are also unfounded. The critics who base their argument on the following assertion believe that not mastering the English language is the cause. They therefore justify their clams that as a result of this their overall scores show a failure in both their language and in English. This is however not the case. The pressures of learning a foreign language, in this case English, for such students are usually high. This is because most of the programs are still based on the concept of English as a second language. There is less focus on the academic subjects while the pressures to keep up with the other English proficient or speaking students piles up. This therefore results to an overall low performance. In a proper Bilingual educations system on the other hand, the students would find English as a critical subject with the same measure of seriousness and academic standards as any other subject that they are taking. The general performance under such circumstances would eventually be higher. it is therefore clear that it is not only easy for the students to learn English if they already understand and are proficient in their native language but they ultimately learn English better and grow up as bilingual speakers. In these efforts, it is easier for the instructors to develop more effective bilingual programs that strive for the achievement of excellence not only in the native language but also in English. The result of these efforts would normally result to a class of students who grow up not only appreciating and understanding their culture but are easily integrated into the new language and culture of their peers and the diverse society. In contrast, the English programs are mostly aimed at eradicating the native language of the immigrant instead of acting as an additive context by adding a new language to the student’s already existing native language. This idea of a two way structure development usually has a positive long term effect on the achievements of the students academically. It is for this reason that such programs should be encouraged from elementary schools because this good performance is always maintained in the level of secondary school and also at the collegiate levels (Collier). Collier adds that to assure this success the system of the students first language be it oral or written should be developed to a level that is cognitively high at the elementary school levels. Conclusion In conclusion, it is very clear that the idea of a Bilingual education system is strong pillar not only for the foreign born students or non-English speakers but also a plus for the country’s educations system. It gives everybody a chance to become useful citizens and take up careers that their mind has set them to and their intelligence can allow them. Moreover, with the globalization of trade and business, a bilingual or multilingual speaker would be much more on demand than a monolingual speaker. Therefore, while English may be the most common language in America, it should not be taken as the country’s national language. This controversy that exists between whether or not bilingual education should be made compulsory usually has a wider cultural and political context. In most cases the opponents of this form of education have always been accused of being xenophobia and racism. This may to some extent be true but is not necessarily the case. The grounds may however be founded on the fact that most people try to hold on to their culture and language. This may explain the sentiments of those who are opposed to bilingual education programs. An example would be the group that goes by the name English First. This is a conservative organization that promotes the use of English as the official language of the United States. The mistake is that the existing system is generally used for English learners, is based on a very wrong assumption. There are people who think that from the moment that the student is able to converse in English, especially through the Basic interpersonal skills, they will also become better performers in their academics through the cognitive academic language proficient in the English language. What they fail to understand is that these two skills are unique, different and mutually exclusive (Carrasquilo & Rodriguez, p. 202). It therefore does not mean that being able to speak in English proficiently or being able to read English will ensure that their academic achievements are excellent. Ideally, every child in the schools should be able to learn at least a foreign language. The practical benefits of that come with the ability to talk in another language brings a stronger appreciation of culture. One thing that is noteworthy is the fact that this should start at an early age for the child. While doing this, the language that the kids already know should not be taken away from them but they should be able to learn the sounds, the inflections and the rhythm of the words of the English language, maintain their existing language and continue with their academic development. Works Cited Annis, S, Immigrant Students in Prop.227 English Classes Far Outperform Thos in Bilingual Education, Retrieved April 19, 2011 from www.hedgehog-review.com Carrasquillo, Angela L & Rodriguez, Vivian, Language Minority Students in the Mainstream Classroom, Bristol: Multilingual Matters Ltd., 1996 Collier, Virginia P., Acquiring a Second Language for School, Directions in Language and Education-National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, 1(4), 1995. Retrieved April 19, 2011 from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/directions/04.htm Cummins, Jim, Brave New Schools: Challenging Cultural Illiteracy Through Global Learning Networks, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997 Department of Education, The Office of English Language Acquisition, 2009, retrieved April 19, 2011 from http://www.ed.gov Safire, W., Big Changes in California Signal Shifts Elsewhere, New York Times, May 16, 1998 Seidner, Stanley S., In Quest of a Cultural Identity: An inquiry for the Polish Community, New York: Columbia University Press, 1976 Read More