Education: The Imperative Need for Earlier Foreign Language Study

The United States of America is a nation based on the idea of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness, the people from this country have an obligation to make sure that every American can experience these given rights. However by banning Mexican-American studies in Arizona, this right to express and learn about their culture is taken away. According to Kirk Semple of the New York Times, about 41 percent of all Mexicans between ages 16 and 19 [in the city] have dropped out of school. There could be a plethora of reasons why this statistic may be so high for Mexican-Americans, however, based on the statements made by students in the documentary Precious Knowledge, there

An impressive 16.2% of students in the Federal Way public school system self-identify as Hispanic (U.S. Census, 2013) [primary]. Of these students, 23.9% are foreign born (U.S. Census, 2013) [primary]. These students are often multilingual, switching to Spanish when home. In fact, 32.4 percent of students speak a different language at home (U.S. Census, 2013) [primary]. It should not come as a surprise that language is a major component of one’s culture. Most American schools place a heavy emphasis on

Over the years of study at UC Irvine (UCI), I have developed my interest in public education policy. I am particularly interested in improving literacy development among children of immigrants. As an international student, I understand the language barriers that current immigrants have to overcome, especially for children who come from families with limited socioeconomic resources. I would like to study how U.S.-born children, whose parents are undocumented, assimilate in early childhood education. Specifically, I would like to investigate how non-native English speaking parents influence children’s literacy development. My career goal is to promote children’s rights in education at a non-profit organization. I seek tools in Dual Language and

Often, immigrant parents will push for their children to learn the official language of the country they live in. These parents claim that their children will be more successful in life if they acquire that second language, because of the pressure of versatility in society. By quickly enforcing second language, the children find themselves taken over by this incoming force. Constant exposure is the most efficient method of learning, but requires an immense amount of time and effort. Due to frequent subjection of practice, the second dialect will outweigh the original, taking its place as the most proficient language a person uses. Most importantly, the learner must have the eagerness within themselves to truly acquire a second language. Non-native speakers can be uncomfortable with residing in a country whose official language is not their primary. Virginia Gonzalez’s and Ana Celia Zentella’s reports analyze Latinos’ standard of living and the possible outcomes of children of immigrant families in an English governed community. Other works such as Aria by Richard Rodriguez reveals advantages from learning English, such as being able to communicate confidently and feeling included. However, the risk of losing the first language outweighs the advantages. The negative effects are often overlooked and unexpected as shown through the scholarly works of Lily Wong Fillmore, Monique Bournot-Trites and Ulrike Tellowitz. As I will argue in the paper, the common notion that learning a

As a Hispanic child, growing up in Yuma, Arizona should be a comfortable town. Most public schools in town have a predominantly Hispanic student body along with an overall large Hispanic migrant community, since Yuma is close to the border of Mexico, and is the nation’s largest provider of leafy winter greens. However, my experience was different from the average Hispanic child in Yuma. Growing-up, both of my Hispanic parents raised me; my mother, a high school graduate, and my father, a graduate from the University of Puerto Rico Humacao. Both my parents placed a large emphasis on education and from an early age my mother instilled that value of education. Often, my mother would tell me how she used to read to me as a child and had me speak both English and Spanish as a toddler. That didn’t last long, as my mother opted to focus on having my twin brother and I

“We call ourselves the best country when a lot of Americans aren't nearly as educated as some other countries in the world. Most of the world can speak multiple languages. Why shouldn't the same be enforced in American schools? I would love to live in a more multicultural/multilingual society”(SuperFly 2008). I think that this type of conflict should not be a problem for the reason having different languages and cultures does not make anyone less valuable. From the moment we are born, God gives us the opportunity to have a culture or several, and that should be normal for everyone. When they get to have these people in their country because I being from Honduran I could feel proud that many people love my country as I do, but for that to change we have to teach the generations that come to value what they

In Columbus, fiscal resources and man power are limited. Left alone, the schools in Deming have somewhat honored their commitment to a cross-border responsibility by educating students from Mexico. “The school district has done a good job in its honest desire to acknowledge the realities of a regional border life that this practice has continued” (Frase & Poston, 2000) . But this is only a small part of cross-border education, one that in isolation too easily causes other crucial needs that can more richly promote bi-national cavity to developing a strong program of dual language learning. In fact, New Mexico has established a bilingual multicultural education Act in Article 23 of the state’s constitution. This has fostered institutionalizes appreciation for linguistic and cultural variety in the state and in Columbus school districts. The serious commitment to dual language learning in the state has created educational environments that actively honor the bicultural character of the students and their families and launched bilingual and English learning programs with schools in Columbus and across New Mexico. Therefore, schools such as the ones in the Deming district will require many strong leaders for dual language learning that can bring equity issue to the table. “It will take know-how, moxie, and some shaking up in a community that has its own tempo and style of making cross-border educational changes but New Mexico has done a great job on understanding their own border identity and cross border commitments” ( Flores & Murillo,

If you turn over a permission slip or handout from a public school in Southern California on the backside you will find the same English words translated into Spanish. The act of translating the paper for the “child’s” wellbeing only provides a false illusion to the parent’s that the need to learn English is trivial. In reality it actually hinders the immigrants’ chances of success by denying the full language immersion in English that is needed to thrive in America, not just survive. And once one group of immigrants is catered for, it unjustly secludes others of equal treatment. The responsibility of speaking English falls on the shoulders of every immigrant. The lack of a shared proficiency in the English language

Johnson and Johnson (2015) point out that the nation level language policies are affected by the way each state interprets and implements them. For instance, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, has been implemented in Arizona State in a way that resulted in reinforcing the English-only programs that are already in it. While the same act resulted in a notable growth in other non-English programs in Washington State. The interpretation and application of the NCLB Act in both Arizona and Washington states played a significant role both cases in determining the type of education in the public schools in both states (Johnson & Johnson, 2015, p. 93). This, as a matter of fact, shows that the federal level language policies, NCLB here, empower states’ roles in deciding the most suitable approach to follow in the implementation

The school is only equipped with one fullt time Mexican worker who admits that he sees racism all around him in the school setting. “He estimated that 85 percent of the teachers make prejudicial comments about the Mexican American students” (Baker, 1995, p. 253). He has taught at the school for a significant amount of years but he still feels as an outcast when he attends teachers’ social events. The school does not support the needs of the Mexicans to their best ability, and they simply do not care. Studies indicate that individuals who do not speak English need at least 7 years of training in English, the grade school only provides three years (Baker, 1995, p. 254). This displays racism in the rural area of Idaho although these events have

Spanish is by far the most common non- English language spoken in America. Approximately 7 percent of people who do not speak English at home have limited English proficiency (LEP). Within the last 30 years there has been a 158.2% change in the amount of people in the United States population who speak a language other than English at home. The rapid rise in the percentage of non-English speakers and language diversity in America is “fueled by both long-term historic immigration patterns and more recent ones” (Ryan, 15). Immigration is not going to cease and language diversity within the United States will continue to increase in years to come.

English and speak English at home than the overall U.S. foreign-born population (DHS, 2014). In 2013, about “69 percent of Mexican immigrants ages 5 and older reported limited English proficiency, compared to 50 percent of the total foreign-born population”(DHS, 2014). Approximately “4 percent of Mexican immigrants spoke only English at home, versus 16 percent of all immigrants”(DHS, 2014). Assimilation has its merits as it encourages immigrants to learn to speak English, the language that is required to succeed in life as well as experience ordinary life in the United States. Without assimilating enough to at least learn English, the predominant language of the United States, immigrants cannot communicate with Americans and will be confined to their ethnic group. Studies show that immigrants that learn and adopt English as their first language are more likely to self identify as being American (Renshon, 2009). Acquiring language skills is a means that helps immigrants become more attached to America’s institutions, to its way of life and its communities. Assimilation not only means learning English, but also developing an appreciation for civil rights, and abiding by laws. Consequently without assimilation, an immigrant will always be “diverse”, and this divisiveness will inevitably destroy America and its prosperity. Diversity in this sense is not strength, but rather a weakness. Unity, values and a shared identity is what defines a country (Huntington, 2004).

Bilingual schools teach students how to read, write, speak, and efficiently learn, however in a special way - both in students’ native language and English. In addition to those obvious manifest functions, bilingual schools perform a variety of latent functions: transmitting culture, promoting social and political integration, thus maintaining social control. In other words, the bilingual educational programs aim to ensure that immigrant children learn all the necessary knowledge that is required for a successful life and totally assimilate to the dominant culture ( Schaefer, 2013). Under this premise, achieving proficiency in English for these students is a major goal of both state and federal educational policies, which at the end becomes a driving force of an educational provision with an original purpose of guaranteeing bilingual education’s efficiency (Jepsen, 2009). This would be crucial to ensure that all bilingual children acquire full English proficiency; however, it is not the only requirement that children in bilingual educational programs need to meet. In addition to the language requirements, legislators always have to fully address the cultural needs of bilingual students. When public policy is developed in this specific way, it becomes the most effective and beneficial for both State itself and children in it (Greene, 1998). This, of course, is prioritized, but would actually be necessary in order to abide completely by the functionalist perspective on bilingual education. ”Legislators and educators would need to transform a population composed of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious groups into a society whose members share -- to some extent-- a common identity” (Schaefer, 2013). When the following is accomplished, the common identity and integration, which is

In a small city like Tucson, Arizona that is close to the border of Mexico also including myself the education was the biggest problem for many, also including myself. Growing up within my community and race, one of my biggest challenges that I faced in my education was me not being allowing to speak my first language, Spanish, since I started in elementary until now. Many English Second Language Learned tend to forget to speak their first language primary because of the laws that we have within the education. With the ability of having language loss, there is more into the language itself besides being able how to speak the language.

The United States is a diverse country of many different races and languages. Even though many languages are spoken in the United States, English is the preferred language in the United States. Speaking English in America is the key to success. Without English, acquiring employment is almost impossible. More and more immigrants are attracted to the U.S every year, and the populations of immigrants, which do not know the American culture, continue to rise. This population must be assimilated into the United States in order for the population to find employment and function in the United States. Assimilation is the process by which an outsider becomes part of a new community by adopting its language and customs. Public schools are a vital place where the country’s customs, language, and culture, in general, can be taught. According to Ginsburg, ever since the 1960’s young immigrants and U.S born children, of immigrant parents, were sent to public schools with little to no understanding of the English language. These students were forced to “sink or swim.” The public school offered no help to LEP students. LEP (limited English proficiency) is term used to describe students whose level English language is low. As a result, many of these students began to drop out, but finally in 1968, the federal government passed the Bilingual Act, which paid special attention to students whose native language, was not English. This provided special funding to create and maintain bilingual