The Pros And Cons To Be Bilingual In The United States

This nation is a place where different cultures come together and learn to coexist. From native America, Latinos, Asians and probably other nations that are not well known; they all have something in common which they all are bilinguals. Authors Cisneros, Agosin, Dumas and Tan clearly illustrate that being bilingual has both advantages and disadvantages.

It was great to know that world's number one highest IQ is in Korea. Unfortunately, I found my brain is just as normal, through the IQ test we did. I surprised that there is about 6800 languages around the world. Which means, there are more languages need to introduce to people. Also, only 6.3% of Americans are bilingual. Even the number of different languages people should speak is differ by cultures. Like in Korea, bilingual is general for us, since most of us did learn more than two languages when we were at high school. So I was pretty shocked that only that amount of Americans are bilingual. Overall, it was great

Too many times growing up has the phrase been said, “Speak English! This is America”. If the United States has always been the home to hundreds of immigrants, with different nationalities, can we say English is the only language to talk in America? Absolutely not. For many years, the United States has preferred monolingualism, the knowledge of one language however from hospitals to courts, the assistance to interpret different languages is now offered. Schools have now begun to implement programs that consist of teaching in two different languages, known as dual language classrooms. All coming together to push forward the rewarding benefit of knowing more than one language, of being bilingual. Just like manners, the knowledge of a second language must be taught at an early age by our first teachers, our parents.

Being bilingual will not only help you communicate with others but also give you many different opportunities. Being bilingual is just not about speaking another language but also learning the culture that comes with it. From the new language you will learn about other traditions, music, food, and overall the way others speak and express themselves. Another thing you can acquire from being bilingual is the chance of getting a better job and develop professionally better. Studies also show that bilinguals express themselves better and that it’s better to start learning a second language at an early age. There is doubts about teaching a children a second language because some people believe that if they teach them a second language at an early age it can cause confusion in the child, and they will end up not being able to learn either one correctly. This information has not yet been proven what studies have shown is the complete opposite which is that a bilingual person has a higher possibility of being successful than a monolingual.

Bilingualism and multilingualism are well practiced through the World. Despite it being well accepted on other parts of the globe, many areas in the United States tends to turn a cold shoulder to it.. Most education policies concerning bilingual or not based on scientific evidence and research (which has discovered the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism) but rather pre conceived notions and stigmas when it comes to the practice. After some brief research, I believe we should embrace the "new wave" practices and policies, which are more well informed rather than the past. Researches also need to explore new ways in which the brain retains, recognizes and organizes language learning. Now is the tome to put evidence based practices and

Language is shared among the immigrants which comes from their culture. The United States benefits from nations of the many immigrants that migrate to the U.S. the diversity of different languages brings unlimited benefit to our nation. Nearly everyone in America speaks a shared language which is English. But with diverse persons coming from different nations, they bring laterally with them languages such as French, Arabic, Spanish, Urdu and several others. These languages give us a chance to learn a different language and benefit from its Culture. In modern days, languages, which stated previously, are assumed as a choice in a schools core curriculum. As said before, occasionally immigrants are accused that they don’t know how to speak English,

The topic that I will be discussing is the debate over bilingual education in the United States school system. Equality in education is an opportunity that is open to everyone "regardless of race or class or economic status, are entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for developing their individual powers of mind and spirit to the utmost"(Cochran). As the creation of The Bilingual Education Act of 1974 proved to be useful in providing federal funds "to meet the language needs of non-English speaking families"(Cochran) giving the stability for these bilingual programs to continue. This argument can strengthened even more through the data gathered in the 1970's revealing that over 70 percent of these programs were established. Usually in the regions where districts had high population of non-English Speaking families usually programs "were created in the Southwest and Pacific Coast areas"(Cochran). A issue that also arises in bilingual education is the lack of minority teachers that are present to help school systems. Minority teachers "currently make up slightly more than 14 percent of the teaching profession"(Cochran) which has been researched to be due to the salary structure for teacher to seek a profession with an increased income. Diversity has become a valued in many universities for its benefits towards higher education. This occurs when "varieties of racial, economic, ethic, and social groups interact on the same campus"(Cochran). Similar to proposition 227 that recently was revoked two years ago in California which virtually outlawed bilingual education (Cengage).

It is a long going controversy in American education- whether the future leaders of our country should be educated in one, or multiple languages other than English as a standard in every school. Why is the debate so ongoing in the United States? In most other countries, foreign language education is a must in the school system, not a privilege.

English only--sink or swim? Yeah right! Instead of English Only Advocates worrying about bilingual education cost in our school system, why not take advantage of the skills our ethnic minorities possess to move our economy forward? They are obviously not thinking clearly, because the benefit of bilinguals, significantly outweigh the bad. To deny our youth the opportunity for upward mobility and skill to become more marketable in a worldwide capacity is inhumane. They believe bilinguals threaten to sap our sense of national identity and divide us along ethnic lines. They also fear that any government recognition of

I believe that you’re completely correct in arguing that we need a bilingual society. According to the Universite de Montreal, bilinguals “become experts at selecting relevant information and ignoring information that can distract from a task.” Also, bilinguals have a positive impact on cognitive ageing. Consequently, being bilingual not only will

These days there are more and more people who live in a country where other language than their home language is spoken. This could be due to different reasons, like immigration of the whole family or having married a person from another country. When children are involved most parents would like them to be bilingual, but this does not happen automatically. Some effort is required.

Actually, being bilingual benefits the individual both mentally and physically, promotes cultural awareness, and allows for an individual to be more successful in today’s international world. Dr. Ellen Bialystok, a developmental psycholinguist ranked as Distinguished Research Professor at York University, states that bilinguals have improved memory, decision making, multitasking, and focusing skills. Also, bilingualism allows individuals to acquire a unique cultural awareness, as each language not only carries communication but its cultural, traditions, and values..** (stimulus) Some may question why English-only speakers should speak a foreign language while other countries are promoting their citizens to learn English. However, as the U.S. diversifies and the job market toughens, it is beneficial for individuals to make themselves more valuable to employers. These mental, physical, and social implications of bilingualism are positive and aid the nation would in preserving the cultures that the melting pot U.S. is known for. To promote effective and beneficial bilingualism throughout the nation, dual language immersion programs should be implemented into U.S. school

Deborah K. Palmer and Ramon Antonio Martinez argue that being bilingual shouldn’t be a disadvantage to how students learn, but it should be promoted in all English Language Arts classroom. In New York and Texas, English is the primary language that is being taught in schools and if a student is not proficient in English, he/she would be placed in an ESL class to improve their English. Since many English classes aren’t implied to incorporate bilingualism in their lesson planning, it shouldn’t mean that it should be ignored. Previous research has shown that students incorporate their bilingual skills in their everyday language practices and skills connecting to the English language arts standards that it might even be used as a resource in class.

And it is also very obvious that it exists in the united states. Just look at our president. He said, and i quote “But we have some bad hombres here and we’re going to get them out.” not only is this offensive but it's bad spanish. How he said it was Bad Hombres which translates to Bad Hungers. Many studies have shown that bilingual classes promote integration and balanced. It has also shown that immigrants feel safer and at home when a home language is spoken constantly.

I truly and honestly believe that bilingual education is something that should be strengthened. It is important for people who want to be able to converse with other people in social networks, and most importantly in the work place. Not only does it strengthen our bond between different countries, but it also helps us understand different cultures and help us to learn to respect them properly.