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BILINGUAL EDUCATION.
Term Paper ID:26636
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Essay Subject:
Examines public's attitudes, alternative techniquess, effectiveness, survey results, economics, CA "English Only" initiative.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
7 sources, 8 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Examines public's attitudes, alternative techniquess, effectiveness, survey results, economics, CA "English Only" initiative.
Paper Introduction:
Americans have recently shown an antagonism to bilingual education programs, which with the recent vote in California on Proposition 227 has resulted in the beginning of the abandonment of bilingual programs. The vote represents a common way of dealing with problems not by fixing them but by throwing out the whole program without having a real alternative. "English Only" curricula are being introduced. One problem is that simple immersion has been tried before and did not produce the desired results. If bilingual education has not been working, it may need to be reshaped rather than eliminated. For that matter, if "English Only" is to be instituted, the curriculum itself needs to be tested to show that it works. Simply adopting an "English Only" policy will not solve the problems of our educational system and will not make Hispanics in particular learn as they
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"The debate over bilingualeducation." Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. The public perception concerning bilingual education is bound withtwo related but different issues, one concerning illegal immigration, andthe other concerning welfare. Teach your children well." Time, 68. However, from the time when bilingual education was adopted, a debateover its merits has been raging, involving a battle between those whosupport English-only instruction and those who say bilingual education is avital link in boosting the academic achievement of immigrant students.Opponents of bilingual education are a diverse group that includes someimmigrant parents who are eager for their children to assimilate, but amongits most vocal detractors are those in the English-only movement (Salas-Rojas, 1994). These kids will be able to speak, but they won't be able to do algebra (Streisand, 1997, 36). For children not fluent in English, the scores are up from a 15.6 percentile to an 18.4 percentile. Patricia Gandara, associate professor of education at theUniversity of California at Davis, states, All the research indicates that it takes between five and seven years until someone is sufficient in a second language to learn in an academic setting . (1999, July). Do you think there should be a lawmaking English the official languageof this country? The issue, however, should be whether "English Only" in the classroomis more effective than bilingual education, and the evidence on this issueis mixed. "Education: Putting tongues incheck." Time, 4 . Hiscritics charged that he knows nothing about bilingual education. California is home to 45 percent of thenation's non-English-speaking students, and the magnitude of demographicchange there has been breathtaking. . In addition, test scores this year may mean less than either sidebelieves on this issue because bilingual and "English Only" programscurrently exist side by side. (1993, December 2). This is just what is needed to help settle the debate and to provewhether "English Only" is more effective than bilingual education. . Once they understand the concepts, they can transfer these skills to a second language. I've been doing it for 1 years and see the results (Gray, 1993, 68). an ideologically based program more concerned with theintrinsic virtues of bilingualism and biculturalism" than with teachingEnglish (Hornblower, 1995, 4 ). Toreach that goal, teachers and administrators have used trial and error overseveral years to evolve two different methods. Hornblower, M. You teach children in the language they think in; then they understand the concepts. There is little direct examination of English-only curricula andprograms since the shift away from bilingual education. Americans have recently shown an antagonism to bilingual educationprograms, which with the recent vote in California on Proposition 227 hasresulted in the beginning of the abandonment of bilingual programs. Streisand, B. (1994, November 15). 65% 31% The goal has been to bring non-English-speaking students into themainstream and to give them the opportunity for a complete education. Public schools should teachall children in English 4 % 48%? In 1968, the bilingual Education Act was passed and stated in part, In recognition of the special educational needs of the large numbers of students in the United States whose mother tongue is Spanish and to whom English is a foreign language, Congress hereby declares it to be the policy of the United States to provide financial assistance to local educational agencies to develop and carry out new and imaginative elementary and secondary school programs designed to meet these special educational needs ("Bilingual Education," 1998).This was in part a recognition of the increase in the number of non-English-speaking people in America. California's top school official, Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, said that Proposition 227 could not be called an "off-the-charts winner" because children who speak English at home, as well as those who don't, both posted similar point gains (Gorman, 1999, 2238). The public has expressed dissatisfactionwith these policies as well and has demanded reform. The California initiative which eliminated bilingualeducation was supported by businessman Ron Unz, who has been accused ofusing such means to advertise himself more than to benefit the state. During this same period, publicdissatisfaction with bilingual education programs has been evident, as inthe following survey from 1995: Question: Which of these statements is closest to your views on bilingual education? Similarly, there is a perception that many of the immigrantchildren are also beneficiaries of welfare, though this also is notnecessarily the case. A score of 5 is the national mean out of a maximum of 99 points. . . (English as a Second Language)instruction in order to bring them up to the proficiency of native speakersat their grade level and get them into mainstream classes as quickly aspossible. English-only has been found to work betterfor younger students but can prove too rigorous for older children, who maygrow frustrated and disinterested in school as a result: "Children who livein families and communities where a foreign language is spoken often takeso long to master English that they lack basic factual knowledge once theyenter mainstream courses" (Gray 1993, 68). The other is the bilingual approach which allows students totake courses such as math and history in their own language whiledevoting a certain amount of time each day to learning English. What can be said is that the scores didnot go down, as some pro-bilingualists had predicted, and this is beingused by those pushing efforts to roll back bilingual education in otherstates, as well as nationally. (1999, January). News & World Report, 36. "Is it hasta la vista forbilingual ed?." U.S. How it is interpreted often depends on the existing ideologicalbent of the person doing the analysis. Public schools should teachchildren in their native languageas long as it helps the childrenlearn or improves their self-esteem 11% 1 % Yes No? A quarter of the state's five million public-schoolstudents--more than one million children--"do not speak English well enoughto understand what is going on in a classroom," according to the 1993report of a state watchdog agency, and that agency further charged thatCalifornia's bilingual bureaucracy had "calcified into a self-servingmachine . Supporters of"English Only" do point to recent test scores from the Stanford 9 test inCalifornia showing that scores were up in all grades and all subjects forEnglish speakers and also for students new to English. One problem is that simpleimmersion has been tried before and did not produce the desired results.If bilingual education has not been working, it may need to be reshapedrather than eliminated. (1995, October 9). Both techniques haveproved appealing to students. Gorman, S. (1997, November 24). In addition, both techniques have theirdrawbacks and their critics. The district plans to spend up to $25 million to build a"model curriculum" for all three programs (Gorman, 1999, 258). Many Hispanic parents exercised those waivers. 1993 Sept. Sept. Gray, P. Many teachers agree with WinniePorter, cited above, that bilingual education works, while others claimthat it is a failure. For that matter, if "English Only" is to beinstituted, the curriculum itself needs to be tested to show that it works. Proposition 227 ordered that children be"taught English as rapidly and effectively as possible" but also allowedexemptions for charter schools and waivers for patents who want to returntheir children to bilingual classes after an initial month of Englishimmersion. Simply adopting an "English Only" policy will not solve the problems ofour educational system and will not make Hispanics in particular learn asthey need to learn. Many of those whorequire bilingual education programs are indeed immigrants--not necessarilyillegal immigrants, though many fail to make a distinction between legaland illegal immigration when raising concerns about how tax dollars arespent. "A Bilingual Recess." National Journal,258. However, in truth, it is difficult to drawtoo many absolute conclusions from California's new scores on the Stanford9 test, which is given, in English, to students in grades 2 to 11: In this, the second year that students statewide have taken the test, average reading scores are up from a 39.6 percentile last year to a 42.2 percentile this year for students in grades 2 to 6. I know it works. Thisinitiative calls for a one-year English immersion program, which manyeducators say will not prepare students for academic work in English,although it may allow them to speak more easily to their friends on theplayground. References "Bilingual Education" (1998, October 9). Gorman, S. This has led to avigorous debate about the reason for this improvement--Proposition 227'smandated end to bilingual education or a host of other school reformsimplemented in the past few years. Public schools should teachchildren in their native languageonly until they know enough Englishto join regular classes 48% 39%? Salas-Rojas, A. Because of this, most teacherspreferred the bilingual method. Thirty years ago, California's schoolswere more thanthree-quarters non-Latino white. "California's language wars, part II."National Journal, 2238. One such is Winnie Porter, a bilingualteacher at the Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco, who states, It's very simple. Thus, anger about these other issues has beendirected at the schools, and children are being made scapegoats by manycritics of immigration policy and welfare. In one, students areplunged immediately into intensive E.S.L. while today the proportion hasdropped to 44 percent. Once thenew language has been mastered, the students will be able to translate andbuild upon their earlier, non-English instruction. Thevote represents a common way of dealing with problems not by fixing thembut by throwing out the whole program without having a real alternative."English Only" curricula are being introduced. Hispanic Outlook in HigherEducation," 27. Next year,though, the district will begin gathering data on how well students do inall three kinds of classes--the bilingual hybrid program, the full Englishimmersion for Spanish speakers, and the mainstream English-only classes fornative-born English speakers--in an effort to develop classes based onactual evidence. 1995? so far,the debate has been fueled too much by ideology and not enough by hardevidence, and this situation should be changed.
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