Bilingual Education
From WikEd
Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of
Definitions
(Retrieved Nov.24, 2005 from The English Language Learner KnowledgeBase)
"An education program for children whose native language is not English. Children are taught for some portion of the day in their native language, with the goal of moving them into mainstream English classes as quickly as possible - usually within two to three years. Ideally, such programs allow students to keep up academically because they can learn subject matter in their native language while they learn English."
(from Wikipedia)
-education where two distinct languages are used for general teaching
-education designed to help children become bilingual (sometimes called "two-way bilingual education"; e.g., Spanish speakers and English speakers in a classroom are all taught to speak both languages
-education in a child's native language for (a) the first year or (b) however long it takes; followed by mainstreaming in English-only classes (in the US)
-education in a child's native language for as long as his parents wish (with as little as 30 minutes a day of ESL instruction)
Goals of Bilingual Education
(Retrieved Nov.14, 2005 from [http:www.nabe.org/education/index.html What is Bilingual Education?])
-teaching English,
-fostering academic achievement,
-acculturating immigrants to a new society,
-preserving a minority group’s linguistic and cultural heritage,
-enabling English speakers to learn a second language,
-developing national language resources, or
-any combination of the above.
One type of bilingual education program is called dual language/two way bilingual education/additive bilingualism: Dual language/two way bilingual education is an educational approach that serves English language learners (ELLs) of the same first language (L1) and English (L2) language speakers in the same classroom. Both L1 and L2 are used in instruction, with 90% of L1 and 10% of L2 at the beginning, and 50-50 in later stage. Highly trained bilingual teachers use sheltered instructional English for both groups. This approach aims to achieve full bilingualism and bi-literacy for both native and non-native English speakers. Additive bilingualism means that learning a second language does not interfere with the learning of a first language or lose the first language. Dual language/two way bilingual education is an additive bilingualism approach. The former create the foundation for additive bilingualism that promotes bi-literacy and bilingualism for both groups: either groups of students, while learning their L2s, will not lose their L1s.
Teachers of bilingual program would pay attention to the Cognitive academic language proficiency, shortened as CALP, which means the academic language skills, such as listening, speaking, reading and writing, for academic purposes. Students may take 6 months to 2 years in a new language environment to be proficient in their basic interpersonal communication skills, but the capacity in academic learning such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring takes 5 to 7 years; and for students with no prior schooling or native language support, it may take as long as 7-10 years.
Application in classrooms and similar settings
Evidence of effectiveness
Effectiveness of Bilingual Education
Sonia Nieto (2004) points out Jim Cummins vast reviewing of the research on bilingual education around the world in the early 1970s, which concluded that "students not lose out in their development of academic skills in the majority language (in our case, this mean English) despite considerable amount of instructional time learning through the minority language". Instead, Cummings found that "programs that attempt to develop bilinguism a biliteracy -that is learning in both languages- have much better outcomes than English-only or "quick exit" programs"(226). In fact, Nieto continues to explaining that "successful bilingual programs have demonstrated (students)can learn through their native language while learning English and also achieving academically"(227).
1.Knowledge: when children learn subject matter by their first language, children can understand the subject content better and this knowledge helps make the lesson more comprehensible.
2.Literacy: developing literacy in the first language helps improve literacy in the second language. Literacy developed in the first language transfers to the second language.
3.English proficiency: children develop English language through English as a Second Language classes
<"Bilingual Education Works", http://www.rethinkingschools.org>
The New York Times reported on September 2, 2005 that a report prepared by researchers in the US Department of Education on the effectiveness of bilingual education would not be released. Although the Department of Education questioned the research methods of the studies, it may be that the conclusions of the study are being surpressed due to political considerations. This study, along with others, indicates that bilingual education can benefit students with limited ability in English.
Critics and their rationale
Rationale Supporting Bilingual Education
1.87 percent of academic publication support bilingual education.
2.It is basic human and civil right to learn in native language.
3.Evidences of the success of Proposition 227 and SAT 9 scores is not reasonable.
4.Bilingual education decreases drop out rate
Rationale objecting bilingual education
1."There was no evidence of long-term advantages in teaching LEP children in their native language."
2."Emphasizing cultural and ethnic differences in the classroom does not improve the self-esteem of minority, and reinforce the differences of these children from the others."
3."Bilingualism not only divides Americans but also limits Latinos’ job and education opportunities because of their poor English and low graduation rates."
4."Even after twenty-eight years of bilingual programs, the dropout rate for Latinos is the highest in the country."
5."The role of the public school teacher is to instruct students in English and American culture and political values to assimilate the immigrants-not to preserve their status as cultural aliens."
6."Large numbers of children, mostly Spanish speakers, leave school unable to read or write English."
<Duignan, http://www-hoover.stanford.edu>
7. It might cost too much to start and continue bilingual programs, especially in schools with diverse populations.
Alternative explanations due to Diversity considerations
(Retrieved Nov.23, 2005 from Ten common Fallacies About Binigual Education)
Ten Common Fallacies About Bilingual Education
1.English is losing ground to other language in the United States.
2.Newcomers to the United States are learning English more slowly now than in previous generations.
3.The best way to learn a language is through "total immersion."
4.Children learning English are retained too long in bilingual classrooms, at the expense of English acquisition.
5.School districts provide bilingual instruction in scores of native languages.
6.Bilingual education means instruction mainly in students?native languages, with little instruction in English.
7.Bilingual education is far more costly than English language instruction.
8.Disproportionate dropout rates for Hispanic students demonstrate the failure of bilingual education.
9.Research is inconclusive on the benefits of bilingual education.
10.Language-minority parents do not support bilingual education because they feel it is more important for their children to learn English than to maintain the native language.
Why First Language Ought to be Maintained
First of all, the retention of native language is helpful for bilingual children in family setting. One of the most important points is that maintaining the native language can increase the unity and closeness of families. Many studies showed that in bilingual children's families, especially where parents do not speak English very well, using the native language may increase the opportunity of communication among family members and solve specific questions. Peregoy and Boyle (2001) tell us such a story of a Mexican boy who wrote the medicine for his mother in his first language, an action that saved his little sister’s life, and at the same time practiced his own native language literacy to solve practical questions (p. 14). In addition, cultural identity and cultural values are also preserved. For many immigrant families, one form of transferring cultural properties is through oral language. By speaking native language with bilingual or ESL children, caretakers could pass on their valuable heritage, fables, norms and morality from the original cultural to their next generation, even though their children are surrounded by a different culture. Children are more likely to have high value for their native culture, language and even their own self-esteem. By doing so, bilingual children could establish a bridge between native culture and current milieu, and thus bearing advantages over monolingual children on their knowledge of both cultures.
The maintenance of first language at home has always been associated with its loss. In Fillmore’s (1991) study, an awkward situation was encountered by the parents and their daughter when the girl showed signs of failing to understand parents’ talking. Since the mother did not speak English and Chinese was the only means of communicating between mother and daughter, it is predictable that communication for them would be seriously endangered.
The maintenance of first language is not only gainful within families, but also in a broader sense of school setting. This can be explained by the cognitive advantages that English language learners endure among different languages. One of these advantages is code-switching. According to Prerez & Torres-Guzman (2002), code switching is to change between two language systems in discourses (p, 52). It usually occurs at early ages among bilingual children. As mentioned by the authors, many researchers have discovered code-switching at word, phrase, clause or sentence level. If a child has acquired some literacy in his first language, he may apply code switching in his speaking and writing, hence given more opportunities to comprehend the context.
What children bring from their first language is not only code, but also understanding of print and knowledge. Research done by Peregoy and Boyle (2001) shows that both English language learners and native English speakers have fundamentally similar processes in reading and writing development (p. 149). They posit that first language literacy can form a solid foundation for second language learning. Studies have shown that children with L1 literacy can understand the difference between the length of a word and the size of the referent (Garcia & Bauer, p, 100). What’s more, many teachers find that with prior knowledge of print in L1, children can naturally understand that print in English is the embodiment of symbol, meaning and pronunciation. Also perceived is that reading and writing is a purposeful enterprise. In addition, children may transfer their knowledge in first language in their second language reading and writing. The Peregoy and Boyle (2001) analyzed that English learners with literacy in L1 may keep their knowledge, skills learned in L1 and attitude towards reading and writing, and bring them into the learning of English. Therefore, to both young and older English learners, literacy in L1 would be definitely beneficial for L2 learning. One question that needs our attention is what Fillmore (1991) pointed out that children at younger age might lose their native language more easily. If such a loss truly happened, children might lose their advantages of L1 in school setting as well.
Signed "life experiences", testimonies and stories
If one or more of your students live in a home where another language is spoken, please encourage them to SPEAK IT and EMBRACE IT! It will improve their vocabulary, reading comprehension, communication skills and so much more. Although it may seem like they are falling behind at the beginning, they will excel soon. - M. Schroeder
After teaching English as a Foreign Language in Beijing, China, Santiago, Chile, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, I have come to recognize how horridly mono-lingual the USA is, despite its incredible mixing pot of people. We Americans are generally accustomed to understanding everything we read and hear, and when we cannot, it can make us very uncomfortable. I met endless numbers of tourists from England while I was in China and Chile, and it was clear, despite being native English speakers, they were quite open to moving around a country where they did know the native language. Meanwhile, nearly every American I met abroad was staying in an all-English hotel and lacked the courage to venture into the unknown. I believe this core difference among Americans, of fearing unknown cultures and languages instead of exploring them, is one of the greatest barriers to bilingual education. Educators need to embrace and respect the diversity to keep the USA strong in the global market, not attempt to purify or filter out foreign languages. The USA is not the center of the world. -Christopher Liang
There are more and more students entering public school that are not only linguistically diverse but also culturally diverse. Many of the schools are not prepared for this and can have stereotypical beliefs and ideas of how a child/family should be. I just hope that people become more educated about how much more enriching the classroom environment can be not only for English Language Learners but also for mono-linguals. C. Unzicker
On this subject, I just read an interesting news story. I'm not sure how long this link will work, but it's well worth the read: Boy suspended for speaking Spanish. In this story, a teen, son of a Mexican-American who immigrated to the US over 25 years ago and became a citizen was expelled for speaking Spanish in the hall, in response to another student who asked him a question in Spanish. This happened in Kansas City, Kansas, at an alternative school there. I think it is completely ludicrous to outlaw speaking a native language, especially during students' "off" time. I can understand speaking Spanish in class could be disruptive, or even speaking Spanish to make fun of teachers or others without them hearing it could be an issue. All this boy said was "No problema". I hope he and his parents win the lawsuit they have filed against the district. --Emily Cox
As an almost bilingual of German and English I feel incredible lucky. Many of my good English skills I learned in early childhood. I hope many children will get the opportunity to learn two or more languages when they are very young. It is so much easier as a child and later on it is easier to travel the world. -Felix Autenrieth
Young children learn languages without much trouble. Bilingual education should promote literacy in the child's first language along with the aquired language. The language programs in this community go in one direction. We teach English to non-English speakers (mainly Spanish speakers) but we don't teach other languages to English-speaking students. My two youngest children attended an elementary school for a semester in Puerto Rico where instruction was entirely in Spanish. They learned to read, write, and speak that language. Back in Champaign-Urbana, they are restricted from the Spanish language classes that we have for native Spanish speakers. Shouldn't we be teaching languages to people during the period when aquiring language is easy? - Pat Shapley
Think of yourself as the parent of a child entering kindergarten. You've spoken English at home, read to your child in English, watched English-language programs, and you and she have lived in the U.S. for her first 5 years. Now suppose you have to move to France. Further imagine that your child has to attend public school where, of course, everyone speaks French. Stay with me . . . now, would you want your child in an English speaking or a French speaking classroom? Hopefully you would want your child to feel less stress, experience more enjoyment in school, and find the lessons comprehensible. This is the crux of the bilingual education argument. I've seen many 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders enroll at our school, straight from the Phillipines, Poland, Mexico, Venezuela, etc., who are able to communicate, read, and learn in English within a few short months. Why? They have literacy skills in their native languages. You only have to learn the mechanics of reading once. Once you do that, learning how to speak, read and write in another language is a matter of phonetics, phonology, and syntax. Where schools get into trouble is when they waffle about how children should be instructed and allow the minds of Limited English Proficient students to be muddied with inadequate literacy development. This scenario, played out over and over again, sets these children up for an academic career of mediocrity or failure. Bilingual education is vital, the politics of its administration is the real issue. - Carolyn Stadlman
Currently, I am volunteering in a bilingual elementary school (some students are native Spanish speakers, while other students are native English speakers), which is a completely new experience for me. I grew up in a very small town so I was never able to witness something like this. When I walk down the halls and hear the children speaking to each other in both English and Spanish, it makes me very happy to know that these children have the opportunity to learn a second language at such an early age. I think it is so important for the future of our country to learn a second language at an early age, so they will be able to better communicate with the rising number of non-English speaking people. I started to learn Spanish while I was in high school, and speaking from experience it is much harder to pick up a second language when you are at that point of your development. I strongly support a bilingual education and hope more opportunities will arise in the future. - H. Eichelberger
I teach math in a high school that is 70% Hispanic and realized that knowing Spanish would make me a better teacher for my school. I decided to take a Spanish class during my lunch time, where some of the students were my math students. It was a very good experience, and I related with many of my students much better after this class. Some of the English speakers were asking me for help in this class and I felt good about giving them a hand other than the math help they needed. Unfortunately, I reached the third year of Spanish and my school had a single class that was not during my lunch so I had to stop, but the whole experience was great. Now I have a better understanding of the Hispanic culture and I can help my Hispanic students much better than I used to do before. A. Rosu
Raised bilingual in German and English and teaching in both Germany and the US has given me great insight on this topic. In my opinion, one of the most influential factors in bilingual acquisition is the age at which it begins. Ultimately, the younger the child, the greater the potential for fluency. I am the perfect example of this because I was raised speaking German to my mother and English to my father. As a result, I have no accent whatsoever in either language and am proficient in both (although I formally studied the languages as I became older). Here is something not many people consider: when a child learns a language, the muscles in the tongue and jaw are developing. The English language does not require certain sounds that the German language does (i.e. the rolling "r") and the same applies to English (i.e. the "th" blend). As a result, when a native German-speaking adult speaks English, the accent is usually quite evident. (Think Arnold Schwartzeneger or Claudia Shiffer, they have undergone speech therapy but still have accents). The reason I mention this is because when a young child is in a bilingual classroom with native speakers, they ultimately want to speak the same way as the other students do. (This occurs in monolingual classrooms as children strive to fit in with peers and create relationships). If a child has an unusual accent they may be subjected to ridicule which may result in a negative experience. Imagine then that this particular child is living in a new country where he or she does not know the language and is having difficulty adjusting to the new environment as well. This instance of bilingual education has the potential to be detrimental to a young child’s development. So what can we learn from this? As educators, it is imperative that we not only teach the language, but also investigate the culture and backgrounds and teach our students to be sensitive and aware of the diversity that surrounds us. This fosters empathy, reduces prejudice, and may inspire students to expand their horizons. - N. Rinehart
The concept of bilingual education...its purposes and effects on student performance and engagement...is not at all new to me. I am a teacher in a school that is extremely diverse in terms of the student population. Last year, I had seven students in my class whom had just moved to the US from South Korea. Being in my class and being immersed in English was really the first experience with which these children had with the language. These students were considered "ESL" students and not "bilingual" students; therefore, they were being taught content in a foreign language...not their native language. I struggled for the first few weeks to engage these students and thus, they were somewhat unwilling to talk and take risks in offering their ideas. Many of them felt insecure with their English, that is, the little they knew. When I saw that my attempts were not working, I took another route. I invited their parents to come into the classroom and asked if they would begin teaching me how to speak Korean. We started out with words and phrases that the students would use in their everyday speech. I labeled my room with Korean words and their English counterparts. I sought out resources on the Internet...and even spoke with our school's ESL teacher for information and cultural facts and figures about South Korea. Then, in my teaching, whenever I could, I would try to mention topics and give directions by using Korean and English. My students were shocked to see me learning to speak and teach in a new language, though my ESL students seemed a bit relieved. I noticed them starting to raise their hands and participate more often. I also noticed how their body language changed...from a once tense and nervous state, to a more relaxed and confident posture. The children started talking more...started teaching each other new words and phrases in English...and even started teaching other students in the class how to say words and phrases in Korean. Pretty soon, my classroom turned into a room of patient, understanding, and helpful learners. I think there is a lot to say about teaching students in a native language before trying to immerse them in a foreign one; it seems to boost confidence and teach for deeper meaning and understanding. -D. Jacob (June 2006)
I am a definite fan of Bilingual Education and feel it would give much needed support to those students who may have just been thrust into a new educational setting. In high school and undergrad, I studied Spanish as a second language and I really loved it. However, I struggled with it and seemed to understand it when it was spoken better than I could communicate it to others. Then, I heard that full immersion would be the best way to learn Spanish and be an effective communicator. So, I considered going abroad for a semester to Spain. But, something stopped me. I realized that the semester of classes that I would be taking would have been taught only in Spanish. For me, that spelled disaster. Because I struggled with Spanish, I would have to overcome two incredible hurdles in Spain. I would have had to not only learn the course material in each class, but also be able to understand and communicate with the professors in their native language. Had I been able to learn in both Spanish and English, I would have boarded the plane and not thought twice about it. ~S. Ward
I am amazed at how quickly young children learn another language.Many come to school in September speaking very little English, but by the end of the year they are quite fluent.I can see why different languages should be introduced at a young age.It would be a great world if everyone could communicate in more than one language.Maybe there would be less disagreements and more understanding of each other. A.Harty
I'm a Spanish teacher and I have a study hall with ESL students. I'm dumbfounded by the number of vocabulary words and types of reading assignments these students have to do. I have a few Basic-level ESL students that just moved here a few months ago that are asked to read the Social Studies and Science textbook and are then assessed on the information. Imagine the task of not only having to translate what is being read but to also make sense of the information because it will be assessed! I know what my Level 1 Spanish students can do with the language, I'm shocked at what the new ESL students are expected to be able to do. On top of that, some of these students are illiterate in their native language, so they also have to learn to read. My, we put those kids through a lot. I definitely think Bilingual Education is the way to go. I wish we could use to to not only teach students English, but if the other language was Spanish, we could teach Spanish to the English speakers. I don't know the data but I've heard that the U.S. is one of a few (if any) countries that doesn't require kids to learn a second language. J. Adams
Other Links of Interest
Wikipedia's Bilingual education
Bilingual Education, the Aquisition of English, and the Retention and Loss of Spanish
Ten Common Fallacies About Bilingual Education
History of Bilingual Education
Twisted Tongues:The Failure of Bilingual Education
National ASsociation for Bilingual Education
A site with links on bilingual education
No Child Left Behind and English Language Learners
References
Peregoy, S. & Boyle, O. (2005). Reading, writing, and learning in ESL. MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
Perez, B. & Tores-Guzman, M. (2002). Learning in two worlds. MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Gloria Patricia Mohammad. (2005). Estrategias para ensenar ciencias y sociales en espanol. Authorhouse. [1]
Gloria Patricia Mohammad. (2006). Taller de lectoescritura en espanol: lecciones para maestros bilingues. Lulu publishing. [2]
