English immersion programs

Roughly 23% of students in New Jersey originate from a home where a dialect other than English is talked. Roughly 5 out of 6 New Jersey school areas have English language learners (ELLs) in their schools. In 2013, there were 63,739 ELLs in New Jersey schools which were almost 1 out of each 21 state funded school students. Starting 2013, the main 5 dialects talked by ELLs in New Jersey were Spanish, 41,943; Arabic, 2,137; Chinese, 1,368; Haitian/Haitian Creole, 1,262; and Korean, 1,155 understudies

through education system in Ontario likely has strong opinions about the value of being able to speak both English and French fluently. Those opinions may be strengthened further once a resident is faced with the challenge of deciding which educational stream to apply their children to. Immigrant families have it more difficult in that their children are already learning their native language and English when they arrive, and then they may be required start learning French as well. Along with these social

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

Bilingual language is beneficial for the child’s first language and English development “Language constitutes us, it gives us meaning and allows us to make meaning, and it develops and abolishes spaces.” (Benjamin, 2002). Critiques of bilingual education continually claim that children can only learn one language at a time after which they are taught a second language (Krashen, 2000). They assert that bilingual education cause confusion among children and limit their intelligence capabilities;

The TWI program was for 8 hours a day for 200 days, while comparison classrooms operated 6 hours a day for 180 days. Teachers did not differ significantly in their backgrounds or training, although TWI teachers were more likely to have a Master’s degree (30% to 6% and be bilingual (50% to 25%). The TWI program had a week of English by teacher and assistant, and a week of Spanish by a Spanish teacher and assistant, with both sets collaborating to plan curricula and assessment. The major challenge

bilingual education because it can be an effective pathway for foreign language speakers to learn the English language. I am in favor of the two-way immersion method as a bilingual education application in the classroom. According to Hadi-Tabassum, “Two-way immersion (TWI) bilingual education is an integrated language immersion program in which students who speak a majority language, such as English, study and learn together in the same classroom with students who speak a minority language….Both the

our education system. The children of these immigrants are often left helpless, and cannot assimilate into the classroom due to their lack of English comprehension. We have tried to fix the language barrier with programs such as Dual immersion, Proposition 58, Transitional Bilingual education, and English Immersion. Yet, the implementation of these programs have not brought complete success for our students. I believe the solution to these problems can be seen through a model being used in Utah. The

California is facing not only teacher shortage but teachers that are diverse. While the Hispanic and Asian population are increasing, there are hardly any teachers that are diverse. According to American Association of College for Teacher Education “that students of color made up more than 45% of the PK–12 population, whereas teachers of color made up only 17.5% of the educator workforce." (Deruy). While many may argue that the lack of diversity is happening because majority of the diverse population

in a world surrounded by people of various cultures, countries, and ethnicities, who all speak different languages. As a young child, I attended a Spanish immersion program through my pre-school and elementary school. I was absorbed into a new culture much different from my own. I grew up learning words in Spanish before I knew them in English. I also developed unexpected friendships, spending much of my childhood in Spanish speaking households. As a college student, I look back on this time and

bilingual immersion programs not only create higher achieving students, but also more equipped and confident students. Academically, TWBI students receive higher grades because of the curriculum. Furthermore, 87% to 93% of past TWBI students stated they would not drop out (Lindholm-Leary). Indeed, the knowledge gained allows students to become more resilient, adapting to the new language; independent, figuring out the language themselves; and confident, taking pride in bilingualism. The TWBI program not