Essay about Extending Bilingualism In U.S. Secondary Education

The need for bilingual education is not directly related to the need for the student to have a more pleasant learning experience, but based more on the increasing need for these individuals to learn about their heritage, how they can present themselves to others in different scenarios, and being knowledgeable in both languages at a dual equivalence. The key

In the article, Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracan over language and Culture, Juan Gonzalez, a journalist and broadcaster of the daily show, Democracy Now, describes how bilingualism has impacted the United States’ modern education system. He describes an amendment that would constitute English as the official in the United States, which he believes can be a potential threat to the educational system. Gonzalez suggests that instead of having an amendment that constitutes English as the national language, American schools should implement Spanish to highlight the importance of being bilingualism in the American educational system. A constitutional amendment declaring English as the national language would be damaging to bilingual students because it would limit their capability of communicating in English or their native language, and therefore they have would fall behind in classes and will not succeed in the American educational system. To highlight the importance of bilingualism, even more the educational system should implement a variety of languages.

In my opinion bilingualism plays a major role in the educational development of children. This is because research has shown that children who are fluent in their home language are more successful in learning a second language. Furthermore, being bilingual offers greater sensitivity to language, more flexibility in thinking and better ear for listening. It also improves a child’s understanding for the native language. Moreover, knowledge of other languages increases a career of opportunities offering several job options.

​The United States is a nation filled with a multitude of different cultures which come alongside with a variety of languages. These languages are what help society to communicate with one another and to expand their horizon of thinking. As the United States progresses so does the culture. The culture of the United States is no longer what it once was. A nation of a predominately Caucasian race, who only speaks one language, is now a thing of the past. The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (English Language Learners) states that from the 1997-1998 school year to the 2008-2009 school year, the number of English Language Learners in public schools increased from 3.5 million to 5.3 million which comes to be a 51 percent increase. They also reported that the overall student population grew to a 7.2 percent increase during this time. A huge generation of a multicultural society is rapidly growing and it is our responsibility as a nation to educate this new generation to its fullest potential. We as a nation can wither choose to ignore the reality of this new generation by forcing one language on students classified as English Language Learners, or we can choose to cultivate the knowledge of language so that this new generation may prosper in more ways than one. We do not want to become a society that promotes, as R.A. Berman summarizes in his statement from his article The Real

The United States is a diverse country of many cultures and languages. As diverse as the U.S. is, it is also the land were all dreams become a reality where everything is possible. That is why in recent years, bilingual education or dual-language education, has become a topic of interest and debate among the public. Some may think that bilingual education is waste of time, effort and money. However, these critics do not see the true benefits of a bilingual education. We need to focus on the positive aspects of a bilingual education and how it has benefited not only immigrant students but also American students among other matters.

Language is an important part of our lives. I remember when I arrived to USA I could speak a little English. I went to school to improve my language, reading and writing skills; even now I am learning my second language, without English I cannot survive in this new environment. Now I am raising my own kids and I want them to have this important skill, this privilege of knowing a second language, language of their parents and grandparents. By looking at studies of bilingual children, research shows how important it is for a child to learn a second language. Raising a bilingual child is a benefit because it improves social skills, academic proficiency, introduces child to a different culture, and prepares for the future.

Bilingual education is a program in which children are taught their native language as well as their dominant language in society. Such a program would be beneficial in society because it would teach students academic material in their native language. If the problem was also bicultural, it would teach children the culture revolving both linguistic groups.

Everyone deserves the right to an education. Bilingual Education needs attention and needs to be taken seriously in this country. Technically, "bilingual education" means instruction in two languages. As commonly used, however, it refers to range of instruction provided to students who need to learn English. Services vary from classes in English, to a little help in the student's primary language, to most academic instruction in that primary language.

A 12-year-old boy living in a small farming village outside of Matamoras, Mexico comes home one day from school and is informed by his parents that the family is moving to Texas to stay with his aunt and uncle. The entire family packed up their belongings and caught a bus from Matamoras bound for a small-town north of Houston, Texas. As he looks out the window, he wonders about this completely different world he has stepped into. At one gas-station stop on the way up, he hears people, predominately speaking in English, a language he had heard people speaking from time to time, but had no idea what they were saying. After arriving at his aunt and uncle’s house, his family is greeted in Spanish giving him the first degree of comfort he has had since he crossed the border into Texas. The following day his non-English speaking mother takes him to a local school where she is met by a counselor who has to send for a translator to properly register her son for his first day at school. As he attempts to interpret his printed schedule, the boy makes his way to his classroom. He is met by a paraprofessional who introduces herself in English and then in Spanish as his monitoring teacher. She promises to help him get used to his new school and to transition him into the English language. This is an example of the experience that over 20,000 new immigrant children face every year in Texas schools alone, and that number is doubling as

The positives of bilingual education have been recognised on a global scale for years. These benefits include: enabling minority cultures to maintain and develop their traditions, self-esteem and identity; improving intercultural communication between groups within and outside the society; enriching individuals intellectually, educationally and culturally and thus allowing ‘intergenerational communication, providing cognitive advantages, enhancing employment and career prospects and contributing to general wellbeing (Simpson 2009, p.3).’ Thus, in its broadest sense, bicultural education is the teaching of two ways of life (Harris, 1978).

A historical perspective on bilingual education is written in the article "Bilingual Education Traces its U.S. Roots to the Colonial Era" in the magazine Education Week. The author begins by writing, "Bilingual education has been part of the immigrant experience in America since the Colonial periods, when native-language schooling was the rule rather than the exception" (21). When immigrant groups settled in the United States they taught their children in their own languages, despite some attempts to impose English instruction. Many do not believe it but bilingual education was started before 1800 when German, French, Scandanavian, Polish, Dutch and Italian schools were established. From 1839 to

With regards to Chapter 8, I learnt that the United States (US) and its stand on bilingualism is deeply influenced by its history. Over time, English grew to become the predominant language, which was the result of the US having sheltered views about bilingualism, especially following the events after World War I and II. It is difficult to compare this with the content in Chapter 9 since the European Union (EU) consists of multiple countries and so, the history of bilingualism in the EU was only addressed in a very general sense by the author.

Suppose your child has been moved to China. Your child does not speak Chinese; is it the school system's responsibility to teach your child in English? Or should your child be expected to learn in the country's language and perhaps get extra help on the side? Why should a school district spend money on bilingual classes rather than on reducing class sizes?

Education is a privilege offered in the United States of America that the children of

Imagine being punished, or even banned, from speaking your native language in school as you struggle to learn English. One solution to make this never become a reality is bilingual education, which are academic programs that teach in two languages. In June 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227, which removed most “bilingual” classes by requiring public schools in the state to teach all English language development classes only in English (Smith). With many immigrants coming to America, especially storming into the Bay Area, Proposition 227 was overturned by Proposition 58 in November 2016, which then went into effect on July 1, 2017 (Hopkinson). Now, in 2017, at least 220 languages are spoken within the border of California, and among the residents, 44% speak a language other than English (Dolan). With the diversity and immigrant-heavy population of the Bay Area, bilingual education in the most-spoken languages of the city, besides English, should be required. Bilingual education would then help English-learners and residents keep in touch with their culture, accept the cultural diversity that the Bay Area lives off of, not be mistakenly classified for grade retention, and get an extra boost later in the workforce.