Dual Language Learners

Dual language learners are children learning two or more languages at the same time, as well as those learning a second language while continuing to develop their first (or home) language (Dual language learning, 2008). The number of children being raised in bilingual homes is large and growing, however the mechanism of language development in children from bilingual homes is not well described or understood (Hoff et al., 2011). A large body of research has refuted the opinion that dual language input may confuse children, and other research indicates that children exposed to two languages can distinguish those languages from infancy, learn two phonological systems, two vocabularies and two grammars (Kova´cs & Mehler, 2009a; Petitto,

What is Dual language? Dual language is a form of bilingual education that teaches students, as young as pre-k programs, literacy and content in their native speaking language. These programs typically start in kindergarten and continue for the next few years, many are now continuing into middle school

This article seeks to explain the importance of Dual Language as a social movement to allow English Language Learners to have the same academic opportunities as their monolingual peers. This study focused on specific demographics, professional development and the Dual Language model used for instruction of two school districts in the state of New York. Observation and interviews were used as some of the means of data collection. Interviewees included teachers, principals, parents and experts on the Dual Language topic. These interviews looked at all different models and how effective they are and how they are implemented in the state of New York.

In the article, I read you receive information that is based on research that has been done on dual language learners and how they should receive a longer support in helping them learn two fluent languages. Nemeth states that children that are dual language learners are receiving less success in learning English because they are being bombarded by a whole different language. Children are not sponges that can be observe a full language and be able to speak it fluently like maybe an adult can, they need support (Nemeth). This article can be used to show parents and teachers that we need to establishing a stronger support system that allows children that are dual language learns to receive classes that support both their languages, it can be explained

Many parents and teachers, now more than ever, are teaching children the importance of understanding and speaking more than one language. However, many children who speak more than one language have slight developmental delays in their syntax for both languages. However, the benefits of being bilingual far outweighs these very minor delays. There are many benefits to being bilingual. Recent studies done have even discovered that being bilingual may help protect our brains from developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Those of us who learned a second language during childhood have a better understanding for how language is structured and used, this understanding is called metalinguistic insight.

The state of Texas has specific regulations for their Bilingual and English as a Second language programs. These programs are a vital part of the Texas Education system as it supplies the educational needs that students with limited proficiency in the English language need to be successful. The TEC states that all English language learners will be provided with the opportunity to participate in a bilingual or ESL education. In these programs, they will be taught though instructional approaches that were specially created for the unique needs of English language learners.

The world has become a global village and that has brought a lot of changes and new work positions into the market. Almost everywhere around the globe, bilingual professionals are in high demand. Also, bilingualism opens up two worlds of experience, job opportunities, literature, resources, and cultural heritage. Bilinguals have the privilege of getting their information from a wider variety of resources. Besides, research has shown that it’s easier for bilingual children to acquire other languages later in life. A study conducted by professors of the Department of Special Education of the University of Haifa, Israel showed that “students who know two languages would have an easier time gaining command of a third language than would students who are fluent in only one language.”

I observed a 3rd grade dual language program at Lincoln Elementary School in Blue Island, Illinois. The philosophy of the program is to provide a well-rounded educational foundation that supports children’s academic, physical, and emotional growth, success, and commitment to others. They believe that if they can create a community in the classrooms, have high expectations for all students, and nurture their native language as well as their second language, the students will be successful.

Due to the rise in bilingual programs in the U.S., researchers began to wonder how a child’s brain was able to process two languages simultaneously. To their utter amazement, students who were bilingual benefit in multiple areas of their lives. For example, they have greater cognitive flexibility, superior language skills, and a higher IQ. Nevertheless, some parents, teachers, and even some researchers were concerned that immersing students in the target language, with no instruction in the first language, may cause students to lose their ability to converse/use their first language. In other words, fear began to rise that teaching in only the desired second language may cause the students to favor that language over their native language. This is where the research controversies

As the title suggests, “Speaking in Tongues: The Many Benefits of Bilingualism” is an article that examines the advantages of bilingualism. Due to the nature of the world, a great number of people have acquired the ability to speak more than one language. The author explores the benefits such an ability offers, arguing that bilingual children develop social, linguistic and cognitive skillsets that not only provides a chance to explore different cultures, but raises a child’s awareness of how language functions. The author also weighs on the cognitive aspect; applying the works of Ellen Bialystok to their ( the author’s ) argument. In the author’s view, bilingual children are better at dealing with conflicting cues and assessing information.

Many people do not believe in bilingual education because they think that the student would confuse the two languages and in the end speak neither one correctly. A closer look at when the two language mixes reveals that most of them master one of the languages to the same degree as a monolingual speaker (Korth 3). Through their bilingualism, they can use linguistic means creatively in accordance with the demands of the situation. This flexibility is a cognitive ability, which monolingual speakers can achieve only through effortful learning and training. Switching from one language to the other can be interpreted as an indication of the speaker’s fluency (Korth 3). In some cases, the languages are only spoken in specific places. If a child speaks

This study was designed in order to analyse how long it takes for a child to start communicating verbally in a second language, and what happens in the process of learning English as an additional language (EAL). Also, it speculates whether the educational system is well prepared to include bilingual children into the class and appropriately care for their special educational needs. There is a lot of existing literature in bilingual development in early year settings, however, it is somehow innovative the fact that the author decided to further look into the educational system and the way it welcomes the bilingual children into education institutions. The need to explore this topic, according to the author, comes from a lack of studies that

A study was to understand how language exposure influences the receptive vocabulary development of simultaneous bilingual children. Nine German–French children (mean age 52.44 months) growing up in bilingual families are participate in the research. The research was conduct with receptive-vocabulary test and questionaries to examine the relationship between the amounts of exposure received in each language, and the relative vocabulary size of the language.

With the powerful influence of globalization transforming every aspect of our world humans must adapt to the new cultural environment being created. One major change is that of language evolution. English is the third most spoken language worldwide after Chinese and Spanish, but it is the most popular second language overall (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2014). The English language is taking over, so what, you may ask, is the point of putting in the energy to learn a second language? Why should you enrol your child in a language immersion school program? Well, as an English Canadian, learning a second language through an immersion program comes with a collection of cognitive benefits that can influence a variety of things, including mental health, academic performance, and employability, not to mentions that it plays a vital part in preserving the many cultures in our country, all while promoting acceptance diversity.

In addition my own experience as a teacher, and many otros6, leads us to argue that as soon as possible start the child in language teaching, higher level reaches at the end of their school stage. According to Cummins (1980) the pace of acquisitions in the second language is much faster than the more elaborate is the mother tongue, however, after the period initial of one to two years, the little ones are those who show greater progress in relation to older. In short, if we want the child to develop a bilingual competence is necessary that contact with the second language begins as soon as possible and the more prolonged, more advantages the child who has started before (quoted in Abdelilah-Bauer B. 2011: 65), will have it which supports the promotion of bilingualism in early