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Bilingual Vs. English Immersion

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Bilingual Education vs. English Immersion in California
Growing up in a Mexican household, I had the fortune of speaking two languages. The first language I first mastered was Spanish and then came English as I entered primary school. My hometown is predominantly Hispanic, and in the area I live in is mostly Mexican. When one drives around the cracked streets of East Salinas, one can feel the strong presence of the Mexican culture. On one side, one can hear the man in a cowboy hat blasting Banda music, and on the other, the bells from an ice cream cart pushed around by a man making children jump with joy. I call this place “Little Mexico” because it reminds tremendously of my mother’s hometown. The majority of people living in California …show more content…

Bilingual education is necessary and beneficial for students learning English. There are a lot of misconceptions about bilingual education being taught in schools. In article “Spanish/English Bilingual Children in the Southeastern USA: Convergence and Code Switching”, written by Daniel J. Smith, argues that Hispanic students placed in bilingual classes interchange Spanish and English words commonly in sentences whether it is verbal or written. He argues that code switching is common when children interact with other Spanish-speaking children. He states if English is enforced, there would be less code switching and more convergence in the English language. Smith believes that there would be less grammatical errors and the students would be less confused. Although this seems like a good argument, Smith never mentions in the article what the outcome will be if classrooms are switched to English only. When an immigrant has been in the country for such a little time, of course they are going to suffer from grammatical errors if they are barely starting to learn English. Students need to be placed in a classroom where the English language is introduced to them through their native tongue. Students can improve their English skills by this way of learning. For instance, when a high school student is required to take a language class like French, Spanish, or Japanese, English is still used to help those start dominate the language. It takes time for

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