The Benefits Of Bilingual Education

“Our culture, our traditions, our languages are the foundations upon which we build our identity.” - Unknown. Bilingualism has many different interpretations and definitions and can cause problems in the community or unite it. The concept of bilingualism represents several different ideas, two writers, Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez share in their essays their personal stories about being immersed into the English culture and learning the language. They share their views of what bilingualism means to them personally and make arguments about the importance of the concept. The two essayists bring awareness to the major role bilingualism plays in the communities today and highlight the effects of disagreements between cultural groups.

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

Bilingual education offers a completely different world for students of different ethnic background and thus creates a comfort zone limiting the risk-taking factor necessary for the maturation of a child to an adult. Rodriguez argues supporters of bilingualism fail to realize "while one suffers a

The official language of Jamaica is English, but those who stay in rural areas speak patois. Patois is a creole dialect with West African, Spanish, and French elements. The language today reflects the history of the country and its interaction with diverse mixture of cultures from many ethnic, and social backgrounds. The local language is a reflection of a history of contact with variety of speakers, but the official language remains to be standard English (Pryce, 1997). However many Jamaicans

It is beneficial for bilingual students to be taught in both their native language and in English to assimilate with ease into the American educational system. Gonzalez demonstrates how Native Americans, especially the Cherokees implemented English in their curriculum while also teaching them their own language. This form of teaching did not only teach

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.

Speaking two or more languages is like a country having an atomic bomb during a war. The first situation is advantageous to a person and the second situation is advantageous to a country. “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” is a memoir of Richard Rodriguez’s bilingual childhood and it was originally published in Hunger of Memory in 1981. In Rodriguez’s memoir, he discusses why he disagrees with bilingual education. His audience is bilingual or anyone that has an opinion towards bilingual education. The purpose in Rodriguez’s memoir is to inform people of the effects of bilingual education and persuade bilingual educators why bilingual education shouldn’t exist.

This essay will demonstrate the research that is implemented on children with bilingual ability; discussing three main issues in bilingualism which is: the maintaining children’s first language, social and cognitive benefits, also why bilingualism should be in cooperated into school programming/curriculum.

The increase of immigration in the United States and the influence the Hispanic population on language and traditions are immense. There has been debate for and against English-only language or bilingualism. The issue with language goes beyond immigration issue. The reality is that language discrimination in the work place or even in society have affected the dominant and minority group. In addition, the influence on the cultural traditions and celebrations have impacted both groups in several ways. The issue of language and cultural traditions have created controversy for the usage of English only language or the usage of bilingual language in the United States. The argument of the pro side of bilingualism (English-Spanish) is that society can expand their knowledge and develop better communication skills with other groups that reside in this country. Moreover, living in a globalized world, will help our society to develop relations and create contacts thorough the world. The benefits of speaking two languages also benefit the individual’s economy. Speaking two languages makes an individual a better qualified candidate for a job position and the economy also increase by a significant amount in comparison to English-only speaking individuals. According to the author “They argued that the research of the impact of English-only initiatives showed that the result in negative consequences for psychological development, intergroup relations, academic achievement, and health

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).

The researchers argue that it is more helpful for these students to continue to communicate in their home language while learning a second language. Everyone obtains the language of their surrounding environment and is comfortable with that form of communication. The success comes, it is said, when the second language is acquired. In effort to put this into action, the solution that researchers Cummins and Kenji Hakuta recommended was to use teachers who were bilingual

First, in this paragraph i will be discussing studies that are in favor of bilingual education. According to a study done by Aqel (2006) investigated the reaction of students and instructors toward bilingual instruction method in the department of english and modern european languages at Eh university in Qatar. The findings of this study highlighted the most astute way to deliver the information in the shortest time, in addition, it pinpointed the effective role of L1 in teaching the foreign languages. Likewise, Jadallah and Hasan (2011) targeted in

In the “Advantages of Being Multilingual” Mendez stresses the importance of being bilingual, Mendez provides a numerous amount of evidence to back up her argument. The author also includes disadvantages, and provides those in the beginning, by doing this Mendez hopes that the reader knows that there will be a few obstacles. Mendez targets mostly teenagers, but also parents that are looking forward to teaching their children a second language. Following that, Mendez provides a list of the benefits that an individual will gain or have if you are bilingual, “…cognitive flexibility, higher chance in job employment, and improved communication.” Providing advantages give a good impression to the reader, therefore, the readers challenge themselves to learn another language.

For this research project I have decided to focus on bilingual pupils as I believe the number of children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) is growing in the United Kingdom. A recent census carried out by the Department for Education in 2011 showed ‘52.9% of pupils in London are EAL, the main languages reported were Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Polish, Guajarati, Somali and Arabic and there is evidence to suggest that these pupils do not reach their full potential as they have lower levels of attainment than pupils whose first language is English’ (NALDIC, 2012) Therefore by commissioning an investigation into this topic I will have a better understanding of how the EYFS caters to pupils individual learning needs and how I can support and utilise effective teaching strategies in my future classroom practise.

Jamaican Creole (JC) is an oral language, Mair (2003) provides a distinction between the two through orthography and phonology, where JC is spoken and Standard Jamaican English (SJE) is written. Even though English remains the official language, JC is predominantly used with in the home by minimum wage earners. There is an ongoing project known as the bilingual Education project now being conducted in selected primary schools in recognition of the need to introduce bilingual teaching strategies and role of JC in the classroom. However, he was not clear on its use in the classroom, which could be any of the following: as a stimulus, for motivation, as a bridge to literacy, or as the official language of instruction (Blank, 2003). Currently both teachers and students use patois in the classroom and according to the MOEYC it is very difficult for students to make the transition hence the recognition of the need for a dual situation. This demands retraining of teachers to be able to facilitate any changes in teaching strategies which currently is deemed inadequate. The World Bank (2005) reports that Jamaica has always been characterised by high educational ‘inequality’ and ‘riddled with underperformance’ which creates a further divide in the social