...Bilingual Education In 2012, Psychology Today reported that in 2007 the American Community Survey reported approximately 18 percent (ages 5 and up) of the United States population was bilingual. In 2013, the National Center for Education Statistics reported an increase from 1976 to 2012 in minority enrollment in college (Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, American Indian/Alaska native). Bilingual education has been a highly controversial topic in America. Based on the report from the National Center for Education Statistics, you would think that this type of education would be widely supported. Has our nation actually thought about the impact of bilingual education? After all, it could be the reason for the peak in college enrollment of minorities. Bilingual education should continue to be an option in the United States because of the many benefits such as: aiding non-English speakers stay on track, giving natives the opportunity to learn other languages, and helping preserve the cultures of non-natives. Bilingual education is the key to increased high school graduation and college success rates. By offering non-natives the opportunity to learn another language while learning in their native language eliminates the pass or fail, sink or swim aspect of English. When students unfamiliar with the language are put into classes without assistance, both the teacher and student are being cheated. The teacher’s performance will be judged for not being able to teach a non-English...
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...First of all, I think that education is the best opportunity for people with an immigrant background to learn English and to integrate into the American society. Speaking the language of the country is the first step to integrate foreigners, and by consequence, immigrants. I chose the Hispanic community because it is one of the largest community living in the United States; the other one is the African-American community. Besides, in terms of bilingualism it is interested to study the relationship between Spanish and English as they involved in the same environment and how both Americans and Hispanics interact with those two languages. At least, I chose California not only because I had to restrain the geographical limits of my subject but...
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...English 100 05 May 2015 Bilingualism One in seven or 31.8 million people speak a language other than English in their home, according to the United States Census. (United States Census, 2009). People use this term in different ways. For some, bilingualism means an equal ability to communicate in two languages. For others, bilingualism means the ability to communicate in two languages but with the possibility of greater skills in one language. There is a lot of criteria that goes along with bilingualism. For this research paper, the criteria I focused on were: The history of bilingualism laws in the United States, pros/cons of bilingual education in America’s school system, who benefits the most from bilingual education programs; youths in elementary or the youths in high school, bilingualism in the labor market, and bilingualism in the media. In the society that we live in today, Bilingualism has become just as it is important to learn as to learn the language from the country of a person’s ethnical background. Bilingualism has come a far way in the last 20 years to where it is today. Whether we notice it or not bilingualism plays a part in every person’s day to day life. Bilingualism is highly researchable subject is given a lot of political, as well as ethical attention. Twenty years ago in the school system bilingual education programs were almost never heard of much in elementary schools for English speaking students to have to learn another language. Most often the...
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...Understanding Language Policy Carmen DeLeon TSOL 500 Foundations of Bilingual Education Nova Southeastern University September 9, 2012 In an article entitled Ten Common Fallacies about Bilingual Education, James Crawford discusses ten common misbeliefs held by many in regard to bilingual education in the United States. Despite the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) who live in the United States, there is still a great lack of interest and concern regarding the education that they receive. Crawford has done an excellent job outlining some of the more common misunderstandings that surround the education of ELLs. The first fallacy that Crawford addresses is the misbelief that the English language is slowly being overtaken by other languages. While it is true that other languages have proliferated the culture in the United States, English has remained strong. Crawford cites several examples throughout history where English has appeared to be compromised by other languages. By 1900, there were at least 600,000 elementary school students, about 4% of the US total, receiving part or all of their instruction in German (Kloss, 1998 as cited in Crawford, 1997). He also points out in his article Legislating Language, Mandating Inequality, that "in 1890, the proportion of non-English speakers was 4.5 times as great as in 1990”. (Crawford, 1996). So, this is not a new issue. Speakers of other languages have been migrating to and settling in the US for the duration of...
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...Eng 9 Bilingual language and education amongst students involves teaching academics and content of two languages in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language. Bilingual education is beneficial to student’s cognitive development, educational experience and functions of communication with life obstacles. However few minorities believe that Bilingual education is harmful to the upcoming generation in fear of cultural confusion. The Brain benefits from bilingual education by expanding a child’s cognitive ability to understand store and utilize another language besides their native language. Although kids in bilingual classes are not thinking much about the nature of their brains when they are in school each morning, they’re only aware of the rich and lyrical experience of learning bilingually. Studies have shown that multilingual students are nimbler, quicker, and are able to deal with obligations and resolve conflicts, resulting in an extra stash of mental sharpness of mind. Similar to Rodriguez in the “Hunger of Memory” Rodriguez experience bilingual education first hand. Rodriguez had to learn a language that barely exists in his education pattern without losing his culture, family and most importantly his parents. As a result Rodriguez had to learn how to control what he was taught as oppose to what he’s learn. Rodriguez continues to state that education was a challenging experience at first until he became fully assimilated. Although becoming fully...
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...Bilingual Education and the Success of Boston’s Latino Youth The success of Latino students in the Boston Public School system is undoubtedly and inextricably linked to the success of the district, in partnership with state government, combining both proven and innovative strategies in delivering English language instruction to the city’s students. At 43% of total enrollment, Latino students are the largest and fastest-growing demographic in Boston Public Schools (Handy). And while a majority of Latino students speak English proficiently, census records show that in the City of Boston half of all Latinos were born outside of the United States; 30% of Latinos in the Boston Public School system are English Language Learners (Uriarte, Chen, and Kala 9), and, not surprisingly, the majority (57% in 2012) of Boston’s students classified as Limited English Proficient, speak Spanish (Uriarte). Simply put, there is no way to ensure that schools are working to the best capacity for the district’s largest ethnic group without also ensuring that proper systems are in place to educate English Language Learners, who are disproportionately Latino. Unfortunately, this has not always been the easiest of tasks, and a ballot initiative of over a decade ago would come to undermine much of the needed progress in the Boston Public Schools. November 5, 2002 may seem like a distant memory for some, but on that day, the result of that year’s election would come to have a resounding impact on Massachusetts’...
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...Bilingual Education is a way to label a huge term used to describe a wide variation of programs used in the United States. These programs are engineered to use full bilingualism, which is the use of two languages to teach academic content in the classroom. There are various different types of bilingual programs that are designed however, but all are geared to have the same exact outcome. The outcome for all of these programs is to use two languages proficiently in the classroom. The true question is whether bilingual programs are more effective in the long run over only English programs in raising students’ academic achievements. There are very many political and economic concerns that revolve around bilingual education in the U.S. Since...
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...English 711 Essay Assignment #3 Elizabeth Spencer 22nd April 2015 Bilingual Education or Not? The debate on whether United States should adopt the bilingual academic program whereby children speaking other languages are taught in two languages, in English and in a second, native language (Hayakawa, 1991). There have been studies and researches indicating the benefits of the bilingual academic program, particularly to the students – such as high academic scores, mental flexibility, improved personal identity etc. At the same time, there is evidence showing a number of downsides to the programs – such as double expense to the government, politicized aspects etc. The aim of this paper is to examine different aspects of the argument on the subject of bilingual programs in schools, and whether United States should make English as its official language. It also demonstrates the argumentative ability regarding the controversial issue of bilingual academic program in the United States. Honestly, I feel that the need to make English the official language of the country is preposterous. Only, because it practically is the main language of the country just unofficially. From a general point of view, the definition of bilingualism is whereby a person possesses the ability of easily and naturally speaking in two languages, without experiencing any problem whatsoever. However, from the context of United States of America, bilingualism has a controversial definition (Fallows, 1986) whereby...
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...reported by Carl Hulse in the New York Times, the United States Senate voted to make English the national language. The proposed amendment was passed with a 63-to-34 vote, with backers claiming it established that it would simply affirm the pre-eminence of English without overturning laws or rules on bilingualism. The proposal declares that no one has "a right, entitlement or claim to have the government of the United States or any of its officials or representatives act, communicate, perform or provide services or provide materials in any language other than English" (2006). Politics of Bilingualism in Education In an article from Social Justice, James Crawford describes the politics of bilingualism in education by offering a detailed history and the political debate that has ensued since the Bilingual Education Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Johnson in 1968. The latest movements to make English a national language are mentioned, and the attempt is then made to answer the many questions that the bill inspires, including its impact, significance and true purpose (1998). Bilingual Education An article in the Bilingual Research Journal by Carlos J. Ovando of Arizona State University argues that changing political, social, and economic forces, rather than any consistent ideology, have shaped the nation’s responses to bilingual education. He concludes that language ideology in the United States has shifted according to changing historical...
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...In the 60s it was not any better, the school boards in Florida and in New York City enforced a “No Spanish” rule and up until 68’ it was illegal to teach in any other language than English in California. The program English as a second language or ELS tend to emphasize bilingual but not bicultural education (Schaefer, 2006) which help with multi-language teaching but did not interfere with their culture. Some Hispanics were strongly against bilingualism, they believe that English-only education, even for very young children is the key to success (S. Freedman 2004; H. Mason 2003). The growth of the Hispanic population has moved Congress toward recognizing the multilingual culture of the United States. The number of the Hispanic population is increasing yearly which will influence the government’s decisions on this topic, it is a federal law that bilingual ballots be provided where necessary. There is many reasons that immigrates come to the United States but one of the main reasons is education, most come here to give their children a chance at a better education that they would not have been available in their country of origin. The education system might not be perfect but it is recognized as one of the leading ones in the world. (Destination Casa Blanca, 2009). Children who have a hard time with...
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...Bilingual Education in the United States Christian Sotomayor ITT-Technical Institute GE217 02-24-12 Abstract Controversy over bilingual education has been around for much longer than people may think, But only in the past few decades as the migrant population has increased the issues is once again back in the table to be discussed over. Some Americans fear that their sense of identity could be lost if bilingual education is taught at schools and on the other hand other people is conscious that the so called “American Identity” is nothing but a mixture of different cultures and by teaching students to become proficient in two languages it is going to make them more competitive for the job market. In a few words, we can make things better for students by encouraging them to keep their native tongue and become proficient in the English language. Bilingual Education in the United States Many people do not realize that this great country was founded by immigrants from all over the world. The so called “American identity” was not formed by just one group of people but a great variety of cultures what we also call a “melting pot”. Bilingual education has been a very controversial issue and as more people migrates from all parts of the world this issue will become more and more important and will have to be taken care of by our government. The controversy over bilingual education, whether it should be encouraged in an American school system or not, has been a topic of...
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...Bilingual Education By C. Mori When I started my investigation about bilingual education I never thought the debate about it would be as controversial and passionate as it is. But considering the numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the U.S. public school, approximately 5.5 million, which represent about 11% of total number of students, and the percentage of drop outs, about 30% of ELLs, it is understandable that public opinion puts some pressure on the U.S. public school system to adopt the most efficient and adequate system for this growing minority group. The number of ELLs abandoning school has remained high for a long period of time generating serious doubts about the functionality and effectiveness of bilingual education and other programs. Two have been the main reasons attributed for this desertion from classes: the low socioeconomic level of ELLs and language differences. In this context, dual language, one modality of bilingual education, is showing to be able to make students excel in their academic performance and revert negative statistics Currently, in the United States there are two major approaches about how to teach English to those children whose primary language is different from English. The first approach is by immersing them in English only classes. This program was first implemented in California with proposition 227 in 1998 and continued to other states like Arizona and Massachusetts where bilingual education was...
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...Saenz Mr. Jose M. Jimenez ENG 102 20 July 2014 Problems with the Bilingual Program Today in schools in the United States there is an increasing number of students who do not speak English. According to the Brain.org , indicates about “1 in 5 United States citizens spoke another language other than English in their homes. Even though the findings that do not imply to these people that do not speak English too, the census also revealed that about 10 percent speaks English less fluently or not at all”. Thanks to this increase, school districts have implemented bilingual programs that help to improve the skills of students in English language development. These programs have been so well received that other programs were created to meet the same academic level in English, such as Spanish. In this way, the Spanish language is maintained and improved. “We could talk about bilingual education, which often turns out to be monolingual education and in the wrong tongue.” (Kennedy et al. 505) Multiple studies show the benefits of bilingual education, but bilingual programs do not receive the support required to carry out an adequate bilingual education. These problems are; lack of management support and lack of qualified personnel. These are the main challenges that bilingual education faces at this time. Lack of language development opportunity complicates the situation of the bilingual program. Bilingual education is the implementation of two languages; this is an educational response...
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...very important Hispanic American cultural interest. Bilingualism in education and politics is a significant issue in the United States. There have been many federal policies that have become very restrictive in allowing local authorities to decide if English should be the only language used in educational methods and within political parties. Bilingualism in education has and always will be a controversial topic. Language barriers are often a huge problem for people who consider English to be their second language (ESL). Bilingual education has positive and negative sides. The negative points are bilingual education is expensive and people who are bilingual are often stereotyped as poor or uneducated (University Of Michigian, 2012). The positive points of bilingual education are it allows immigrants to avoid assimilation by not having to learn English, the dominant language and teaching students in their language gives them equal opportunity for a good education (University Of Michigian, 2012). According to Campbell (2006-2012), “Conservative forces mobilized throughout the nation in the 1980s and 1990s to attack taxes, schools, and bilingual education. Since the 1990s, these same groups have frequently attacked multicultural education as divisive to national unity.” Some people say they are offended and believe that since immigrants are in the United States, they should conform to our standards of education as well as language. Bilingualism is very important in politics. It...
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...Bilingualism – Education aspect Twisted Tongues: The Failure of Bilingual Education This article talks about the failure of bilingual education in the United States. Part of the article gives personal experiences from people who have dealt with bilingual education, in which they have bad experiences. Most of the them say that they feel like their children are discriminated against because of their last name or ethnicity. For example, in one experience the parent says that their child was shy during his kindergarten examine and did not talk and the administrator put him as bilingual even though he wouldn’t speak, then assumed the child did not understand. The article goes on to talk about different problems within the education system, how parents feel about it, what is being done to help the situations and the emphasis being taken on bilingual education (Porter, 1998). Bilingualism in Education This article talks about the advantages of bilingual education in the United States. The author feels that if a student learns another language throughout their schooling that they have a better chance of possible even picking up on a third language. Additionally, the author feels that it would benefit them to learn other languages so that it is easier to adapt to different cultures, especially if they were to travel around the world. It would open up many opportunities for them and teach them more grammar as well as heritage of their culture (Wordpress). Bilingualism – Politics...
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