Language Acquisition Is The Goal Of Both European And American Educational Systems Essay

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 order to help those non-native people to be successful in the United Sates, there should have some kind of programs to help them to learn English effectively, but also to maintain their native language. Bilingual Education and ESL programs are systems that developed since the mid 1900s in the United States to reach the goal of helping non-native people with the language. There has been the argument of whether these programs are effective and necessary to maintain to help the non-native speakers. Therefore, it is important to find a way to secure the Bilingual Education and ESL programs are helpful to non-native people to learn English and maintain their native language. According to the overall practice of these programs in the

First and foremost, the promotion of bilingualism in American school systems would greatly increase academic achievements. According to Huffington Post, the United States of America falls to number seventeen on the list of countries with the best education; Finland, South Korea and Hong Kong lead the list for higher education.-(Zhao) Outside of school Finnish children speak predominantly Finnish in their homes, however when they come to school they are taught specifically Swedish in

In a one-way dual language program students receive instruction in their first language (Spanish) and that knowledge is bridged to English. Research shows that building skills in the first language will allow students to learn English more quickly and at a higher level. In a developmental program eighty to ninety percent of instruction occurs in the first language in Kindergarten and the ratio of first language to English decreases until it reaches fifty/fifty by fourth grade. The school began rolling this program out on a year by year basis beginning with two of five homerooms in kindergarten only in the first year. It was then moved up to first grade in the second year. The school had several administrative changes during this period and the program was plagued by implementation issues and was struggling for existence.

Since the colonial period, Americans have expected a great deal from their educational institutions. Just teaching the usual subjects has rarely satisfied demands on the schools. Americans have also wanted learning to serve other social institutions, ideals and goals. Such expectations invite disappointment and controversy. Combined with the circumstances of the country's history, they have also led to a very distinctive educational system.

Over the years, bilingual education has involved teaching children academics in two different languages so they may become competent learners and be successful at acquiring English. Before 1968, bilingual education was not a required course in American schools, but instead as a voluntary program. This changed in 1981 when a lawsuit was brought against the state of Texas that resulted in the requirement of bilingual education programs in elementary schools as English as a second language (ESL) program, bilingual programs in post-elementary grades through eighth grade, and ESL programs in high school. This type of education has been a hot topic for the state governments of the United States, debating whether to keep in the curriculum of schools. Many asking themselves, why should we to provide bilingual education for these students? What will students gain from this type of education? Studies have shown there are benefits that range from cognitive ability, educational advancement, to employment opportunities with a bilingual education, while the critics label it as a “failed experiment” that costed a whole lot of money and years to maintain a basic foundation in the second language. Although the cost is hefty for this exploration of a new language and is time consuming, the cognitive abilities, educational advancement, and employment opportunities greatly outweigh these opposing factors.

In a globalized world, English is and has been universal language for communications around the world. For that reason, U.S. has never had an urgency to learn and appreciate foreign languages. Most of school systems treat language classes not important as the core curriculum. According to the current positions on bilingual education, schools in the United States teach languages at exactly the wrong time and exclude children from all the benefits that extend beyond pure communication. It’s extremely important to be bilingually educated to adapt into increasingly globalized world. Moreover, even necessary, for those who should reach out and speak at least one other language. Being bilingual comes with various advantages and immeasurable benefits.

In the history of the United States, we have always embraced the remarkable mix of cultures and languages that come to us from all over the world. One area in which this remains true is education. Bilingual education finds its roots as early as the 17th century, when the first English settlement of Virginia was established, and Polish settlers arrived (Goldenberg, Wagner). “From its colonial beginnings, bilingual education in the United States has existed in one form or another to the present day, with a brief interruption during and right after World War I in the wake of virulent anti-German sentiment and a more general nativist opposition to the use of non-English languages” (Goldenberg, Wagner). The persistence of this method of learning is quite telling as to its effects; if they were not beneficial, the method would no

The continued growth of speakers of languages other than English is reflected in the rapidly increasing students in U.S. schools for whom English is a second language. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (2005) show that the number of school-age children who spoke a language other than English reached almost 10 million in 2004. Such a dramatic increase continually challenges educators to provide effective language programs with quality instruction for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Some educators choose to view these challenges as opportunities by offering a dual bilingual program as an educational option for meeting the needs of monolingual speakers.

This article is about the different Dual Language programs available and their effectiveness. It analyzes different researches and literature available on this topic and it evaluates its efficacy and results after implementation. The article begins by explaining the 90:10 and 50:50 Dual Language model and its successful outcomes. It explains that students in the Dual Language programs become proficient in two languages and by the time the reach fifth grade they are performing at or above their monolingual peers. It also states the challenges these programs face, including instruction, assessments, materials and curriculum. It also provides ideas that can help the program work effectively.

To begin with, dual-language programs are beneficial because students enrolled in this curriculum excel in the school setting. In particular, dual-language scholars outperform monolinguals in one’s native language. Bilinguals begin to surpass students in English-only programs beginning in the fifth grade (Gándara 2). By high school, dual-language students ultimately dominate monolinguals in reclassification to English-proficiency and English language art scores (Gándara 2). This study reveals that not only are dual language learners perform extremely well on standardized tests, they are rising above those who only have knowledge of their own native language. Another study conducted by Michigan State University in 2013 supports this claim, as

America is the boiling pot of the world. It is where people from all over the globe come to either visit short term or decide to take residence long term because of the freedoms that America makes possible due to the Constitution. Because of the vast amounts of immigrants that take refuge here in the states, on would think that many different languages are spoken everywhere in the US on a day to day basis. This, however, is not the case. Though English is understandably the most spoken language in the US, many Americans deem it “unnecessary” to learn any other country’s language. There are many reasons why America should jump on the proverbial bandwagon of bilingual and/or multilingual language learning. Firstly, I will give some background on bilingual education, then I will give my two main reasons that America should require language learning courses starting at a young age, which are that

Numerous theories try to explain the process of language acquisition. These theories fall into one of two camps. The environmentalist (or connectionist) theory of language acquisition asserts that language is acquired through environmental factors (Halvaei et al. 811). Theorists in this camp believe that a child learns language by gaining information from the outside world and then forming associations between words and objects. The nativist (or rationalist) approach, on the other hand, asserts that it is innate factors that determine language acquisition. Noam Chomsky, often described as “the father of modern linguistics”, falls into this camp as he believes that speech is the result of hidden rules of language that are hidden somewhere in the brain (Rahmani and Abdolmanafi 2111). Steven Pinker, a colleague of Chomsky, is a renowned psychologist, cognitive scientist and linguist who discusses his own theories on language acquisition in his book Words and Rules.

A survey done by the Center for Applied Linguistics in 2008 found that "The findings indicate a serious disconnect between the national call to educate world citizens with high-level language skills and the current state of foreign language instruction in schools across the country"(Cal:Research). This is concerning as all of the competition for the U.S. is gaining a step and we 're doing nothing . If the U.S. expects to continue to be competitive in the global market we need to have bilingual citizens. In order to ensure this, we must require a foreign language be learned in high school.

Language is a key part of any family, community, culture and the human race. Without language the world today would be much different. From cavemen, to the Egyptian use of hieroglyphics, to Old English, to more than 6,500 languages spoken around the world today, the advances that humans have made in language is remarkable and inspiring. The ability to speak, read, write and understand more than one language is also remarkable and expands the liberties in life, especially for young people. High school students should be required to take at least two years of a foreign language class in order to graduate, as many recent studies support the benefits of doing so. Students who have learned a foreign language in high school have proven to have a