Bilingual Education
Introduction
Communication is a powerful tool in every setting that involves human interaction. The importance of bilingualism is felt when there are communication barriers orchestrated by multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism. The effect of communication barrier is more profound in the learning environment. This is reflected in the way it incapacitates understanding of the course contents. This paper will talk about bilingual education and the milieu in which it is juxtaposed.
Bilingual education The logic behind bilingual education is the use of students’ native language in learning while at the same time learning English. Bilingual students have an added advantage in regard to understanding materials when two different languages are being used in the classroom. The increasing language and cultural diversity have necessitated the need for bilingual education which improve learning (Harris para 13). Such education enables students to diversify their learning since they are not confined within one language. Bilingual education enables inclusiveness in the classroom and total participation from the students/teachers can code switch and code mix to enhance understanding and communication. In the absence of bilingual education, other alternatives are sought in order to accommodate monolingual students and those who cannot understand and speak English fluently. Such options include using two different languages at the same time in class and translating while learning. However, a sustainable bilingual education program is necessary to overcome the problem of communication barrier in education. Nevertheless, the options above can be utilized although they have their own demerits. There are problems that ostensibly arise due to use of two different languages in the classroom. Firstly, the use of another language may require a translator which may increase the cost of delivering lessons. Further, there are differences that languages harbor in terms of delivering the same message with the same impact. This difference can be traced in the phonology, phonetics and semantics of a language. Two different languages can have different ways of delivering the same message, thus distorting the meaning. The implication is that certain students will be disadvantaged. A language for instance English has many chances or tendencies of creating equivocal instance. This is where a sentence may evoke meaning that can be correctly interpreted in two different ways. When a student is not competent in either language, the chances of misinterpretation are high.
Using two different languages may pose the problem of time. A lot of time would be wasted in the second language and may be cumbersome (Hervey 23). Translating pose the limitation of consuming almost double the time than when one language was used. Confusion is also likely to occur especially if there is antagonism. Not all languages interpret the same thing similarly. Thus, garden path sentences may limit understanding or distort meaning altogether. Nevertheless, translating is beneficial especially for bilingual students. Such students can diversify their understanding. In case of monolingual students, they can be accommodated in learning sessions since there is an option of a language they understand. Translating while learning thus means more students can be accommodated in the same class.
Translating enables students to develop competence in English. The reason behind this claim is that the students are exposed to the language and that the environment builds a platform where they can be corrected upon the wrong use or pronunciation. Bilingual education can be promoted through policy and enactment of programs that promote bilingualism state and federal government within the cocoon of the department of education can promote. Such support would inject sustainability and the provision of incentives/motivation for bilingual education. Advocacy from relevant authorities such as the federal government would also add impetus. The programs can be funded through community initiatives, local interest groups and non-governmental organizations (Grosjean 80-81). The department of education can also be paramount in mobilizing funds for supporting the programs. Bilingual education is effective since it injects requisite skills to enable communication even amid variation in language use. It accelerates build up of competence and eventually levels the playing field for bilingual students and helps overcome culture shock (Moran para 9-20; Witte et al 3).
Therefore, it can be deduced that bilingual education has been a subject of debate in many nations since the 1960s (Witte, 2009). In these earlier years, bilingual education had been found to be truly essential when it comes to the purposes of gaining some new sense of pride with particular reference to the Hispanics and those who wanted to resist Americanization. During its development, it was realized that bilingual education changed from the transitional year to bring a plan for many years with an intention of teaching children, beginning with their home language (Bentz, 2012). This would apply in situations where the home language was not English for these children. With this facilitation theory put in practice, most Spanish speakers were imprisoned in their classrooms where Spanish was the only language taught. As a result, the Spanish maintained bilingual education in their culture, with limits imposed on learning English (The New York Times, 2012) Bilingual education is paramount in the phase of multiculturalism and diversity in language as in the United States. The importance of bilingualism and bilingual education goes beyond just enhancing the accommodation of more students but an aid understanding of the content. Initiatives by discrete authorities are significant funding and sustaining bilingual education.