...EDPROFST 226: Introduction to Bilingualism and Bilingual Immersion Education Assignment One: In his book, Language, Power and Pedagogy: bilingual children in the crossfire, Cummins (2000) tells a story of a bilingual Mexican mother who was ordered by a judge to stop speaking Spanish to her daughter during a custody dispute with her husband. The judge’s view was that the mother was ‘abusing’ her daughter by speaking Spanish in their home (p.13). Unfortunately the judge is not alone in his opinion in regards to second language acquisition and bilingualism. Nor is the context of America and the minority language of Spanish different from the New Zealand context in the way that minority languages are viewed ‘ongoing bilingualism in a so-called minority, indigenous or community language is still regarded by many as an educational, and wider social impediment” (May, Hill, Tiakiwai, 2004, p.8). Cummins asks some important questions in regards to bilingual education in both homes and schools including, ‘To what extent is it child abuse to send new teachers into classrooms (in multilingual cities such as Toronto, London, or New York) with minimal or no preparation on how to teach academic content to students who are in the process of learning English and whose cultural background differs significantly from that assumed by all of the structures of schooling (e.g. curriculum, assessment, and teacher preparation)?’ (Cummins, 2000, p.14) New Zealand is a rich, diverse multicultural...
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...Bilingual Education In 2012, Psychology Today reported that in 2007 the American Community Survey reported approximately 18 percent (ages 5 and up) of the United States population was bilingual. In 2013, the National Center for Education Statistics reported an increase from 1976 to 2012 in minority enrollment in college (Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, American Indian/Alaska native). Bilingual education has been a highly controversial topic in America. Based on the report from the National Center for Education Statistics, you would think that this type of education would be widely supported. Has our nation actually thought about the impact of bilingual education? After all, it could be the reason for the peak in college enrollment of minorities. Bilingual education should continue to be an option in the United States because of the many benefits such as: aiding non-English speakers stay on track, giving natives the opportunity to learn other languages, and helping preserve the cultures of non-natives. Bilingual education is the key to increased high school graduation and college success rates. By offering non-natives the opportunity to learn another language while learning in their native language eliminates the pass or fail, sink or swim aspect of English. When students unfamiliar with the language are put into classes without assistance, both the teacher and student are being cheated. The teacher’s performance will be judged for not being able to teach a non-English...
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...numbers of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) are increasing; about 37.4 percent of the state’s public school enrollment. ELLs face a great challenge: They must learn academic curriculum and a new language simultaneously. Some argue that it is too much to expect ELLS to learn academic content and a second language, when they have not gained literacy in their first language. Others contend ELLs students fall too far behind academically in transitional bilingual programs, and they need to learn English quickly enough and fluently enough in order to participate in academic courses in mathematics, reading/language arts, social studies, and science). In the late 1990s, bilingual education came under attack for failing to do an adequate job of developing English proficiency in ELLs in an effective and timely manner. In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227, making it so that English language learners were to be taught “overwhelmingly in English” and would spend at least one year in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) learning both English language development (ELD) and content instruction utilizing “specially designed academic instruction in English” (SDAIE). The goal was for Limited English Proficient (LEP) students to quickly gain English proficiency through in SEI classes so they could transition into mainstream classes and successfully participate and learn academic content with the general school population. The law would allow bilingual education under...
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...Bilingual Education in the US For this activity I would like you to examine your own preconceptions of bilingual education. Please answer the following questions: 1) Do you view bilingual education in a positive light or negative light or both (please be honest)? Why do you think you have this view? Bilingual education is positive for student education because it uses the learning tools students already have as the basis for building new skills and acquiring new knowledge. Most children enter school with basic language skills in English or other languages, which are already in place. If teachers are able to use the native language skills of the student, the native language will help students develop the academic competence they need to succeed in education. Children learn more effectively if they learn English through the use of their native language, which provides a contextual basis for learning and allows them to keep pace with their peer group while acquiring the language they will need to learn in order to interact effectively in today's society. There are several other distinct benefits to the use of bilingual education, besides its basic effectiveness. First, it preserves children's sense of pride in the language of their parents, allowing them to move freely in an English-language dominant society while retaining an important link to their cultural and linguistic heritage. It helps protect their sense of identity, which is also strongly linked to the language and...
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...Bilingual Education By C. Mori When I started my investigation about bilingual education I never thought the debate about it would be as controversial and passionate as it is. But considering the numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the U.S. public school, approximately 5.5 million, which represent about 11% of total number of students, and the percentage of drop outs, about 30% of ELLs, it is understandable that public opinion puts some pressure on the U.S. public school system to adopt the most efficient and adequate system for this growing minority group. The number of ELLs abandoning school has remained high for a long period of time generating serious doubts about the functionality and effectiveness of bilingual education and other programs. Two have been the main reasons attributed for this desertion from classes: the low socioeconomic level of ELLs and language differences. In this context, dual language, one modality of bilingual education, is showing to be able to make students excel in their academic performance and revert negative statistics Currently, in the United States there are two major approaches about how to teach English to those children whose primary language is different from English. The first approach is by immersing them in English only classes. This program was first implemented in California with proposition 227 in 1998 and continued to other states like Arizona and Massachusetts where bilingual education was...
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...Bilingual Education and the Success of Boston’s Latino Youth The success of Latino students in the Boston Public School system is undoubtedly and inextricably linked to the success of the district, in partnership with state government, combining both proven and innovative strategies in delivering English language instruction to the city’s students. At 43% of total enrollment, Latino students are the largest and fastest-growing demographic in Boston Public Schools (Handy). And while a majority of Latino students speak English proficiently, census records show that in the City of Boston half of all Latinos were born outside of the United States; 30% of Latinos in the Boston Public School system are English Language Learners (Uriarte, Chen, and Kala 9), and, not surprisingly, the majority (57% in 2012) of Boston’s students classified as Limited English Proficient, speak Spanish (Uriarte). Simply put, there is no way to ensure that schools are working to the best capacity for the district’s largest ethnic group without also ensuring that proper systems are in place to educate English Language Learners, who are disproportionately Latino. Unfortunately, this has not always been the easiest of tasks, and a ballot initiative of over a decade ago would come to undermine much of the needed progress in the Boston Public Schools. November 5, 2002 may seem like a distant memory for some, but on that day, the result of that year’s election would come to have a resounding impact on Massachusetts’...
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...Bilingual Education is a way to label a huge term used to describe a wide variation of programs used in the United States. These programs are engineered to use full bilingualism, which is the use of two languages to teach academic content in the classroom. There are various different types of bilingual programs that are designed however, but all are geared to have the same exact outcome. The outcome for all of these programs is to use two languages proficiently in the classroom. The true question is whether bilingual programs are more effective in the long run over only English programs in raising students’ academic achievements. There are very many political and economic concerns that revolve around bilingual education in the U.S. Since...
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...Understanding Language Policy Carmen DeLeon TSOL 500 Foundations of Bilingual Education Nova Southeastern University September 9, 2012 In an article entitled Ten Common Fallacies about Bilingual Education, James Crawford discusses ten common misbeliefs held by many in regard to bilingual education in the United States. Despite the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) who live in the United States, there is still a great lack of interest and concern regarding the education that they receive. Crawford has done an excellent job outlining some of the more common misunderstandings that surround the education of ELLs. The first fallacy that Crawford addresses is the misbelief that the English language is slowly being overtaken by other languages. While it is true that other languages have proliferated the culture in the United States, English has remained strong. Crawford cites several examples throughout history where English has appeared to be compromised by other languages. By 1900, there were at least 600,000 elementary school students, about 4% of the US total, receiving part or all of their instruction in German (Kloss, 1998 as cited in Crawford, 1997). He also points out in his article Legislating Language, Mandating Inequality, that "in 1890, the proportion of non-English speakers was 4.5 times as great as in 1990”. (Crawford, 1996). So, this is not a new issue. Speakers of other languages have been migrating to and settling in the US for the duration of...
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...1954, the United States Supreme Court rendered its decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. Reactions to the decision were varied and touched a range of emotions among nearly all citizens of the United States. For some, Brown was heralded as the triumph over legal barriers to better educational opportunities for racial/ethnic and minority students. Yet, for others, it endangered a way of life that in the eyes of some, ensured “separate but equal” under Plessy vs. Ferguson (1898). Whatever the perspective, Brown meant a departure from past rules and values. It meant change. Problem In “Public Education in the Twentieth Century and Beyond: High Hopes, Broken Promises, and an Uncertain Future,” Nieto (2005) outlines key legislation over the past seventy-five years in U.S. education that has aided in leveling the educational outcomes for minority students. After the ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), policies aimed at providing equal opportunities to racial/ ethnic and minority groups began to emerge. As such, changes in population in terms of race, ethnicity, social class, and other differences helped to form the educational experiences of all students in U.S. public schools along with how we view, design, and implement educational policy. This, according to Nieto (2005) has laid the groundwork for thwarted attempts to live up to Horace Mann’s ideal of education as the “great equalizer.” What is interesting to...
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...counsels in low income schools have fewer counselors ( E.g California per 800 students -School Librarians one for every 5,123 students -School psychologists one for every 1,383 students in 2007 -Social workers one for every 18, Three reason s why children do not participant in preschool programs - Fewer programs are located in their neighborhood -Many of parents are concerned that traditional values are not being taught in preschool -Students are not being taught in their primary language in preschool -Other reasons- if they aren't available , affordable and culturally sensitive than they aren't sending their children to preschool. How latinos students are tracked -In first grade, are typically grouped for reading instruction -Boundaries are formed early on by these group - High achieving groups really have behavior problems but rather have engaged students -confirms that the earlier you are assigned to groups in tracked. Inadequate School Funding -All have high latino populations all have low pre student spending in their k-12 schools -How school funding affects student achievement -Peer conditions The digital divide -Latino student shave less access to the internet than do white students -Latino student are more likely to use technology for games and entertainment than for educational purpose. -Latino students are less like to have parents help them navigate a computer. -Students who have computers at home are more likely to succeed in school. The Affects...
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...Reading and Second Language Learners Research Report May 1999 This report prepared by Magda Costantino, Ph.D. The Evergreen Center for Education Improvement The Evergreen State College Olympia, Washington 98505 With assistance from: Joe St. Charles Susan Tepper Edlamae Baird Acknowledgment to Gary Burris and Lynne Adair For their invaluable assistance with the project This material is available in alternative format by request. Contact Bilingual Education at 360-753-2573, TDD 360-664-3631. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction complies with all federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or marital status. Table of Contents (click on page number for access) Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 3 Chapter One Language Acquisition and the Language Learner .......................................................... 7 Section One: How Does First Language Develop? .................................................... 7 Section Two: How Does Second Language Develop? ............................................... 9 Foundational Theories ...............................................................................................
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...and education is the biggest way to accomplish one's dreams, but when someone moves to the U.S. from another country, not being fluent in English can be a huge barrier to being able to accomplish what one wants, and being successful in the educational system. Therefore, the people who control the education system have set specific standards in order to teach students who are learning the English language. The set standard for students who don't speak English is supposed to help them to learn English and keep up with the subjects that the other students who speak English are learning and are being tested on. The idea of that is great and should promote both content retention, and the development of the English...
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...Eng 9 Bilingual language and education amongst students involves teaching academics and content of two languages in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language. Bilingual education is beneficial to student’s cognitive development, educational experience and functions of communication with life obstacles. However few minorities believe that Bilingual education is harmful to the upcoming generation in fear of cultural confusion. The Brain benefits from bilingual education by expanding a child’s cognitive ability to understand store and utilize another language besides their native language. Although kids in bilingual classes are not thinking much about the nature of their brains when they are in school each morning, they’re only aware of the rich and lyrical experience of learning bilingually. Studies have shown that multilingual students are nimbler, quicker, and are able to deal with obligations and resolve conflicts, resulting in an extra stash of mental sharpness of mind. Similar to Rodriguez in the “Hunger of Memory” Rodriguez experience bilingual education first hand. Rodriguez had to learn a language that barely exists in his education pattern without losing his culture, family and most importantly his parents. As a result Rodriguez had to learn how to control what he was taught as oppose to what he’s learn. Rodriguez continues to state that education was a challenging experience at first until he became fully assimilated. Although becoming fully...
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...grade students are not proficient in the English language and speak other than English at home (Greene, 1998). Bilingual education is practiced in several different forms, in many countries, for years. The defined meaning of this idea, is the use of two languages in schools, used by teachers, students, or both, for a variety of purposes, educational or socially. The bilingual education system was first legally introduced by Ohio in 1839, the first state to adopt the bilingual system, although at this time, it authorized German-English instructions. As time raveled, the Bilingual Education Act was finally passed during 1968- during an era when educators and political leaders...
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...Bilingual Education in the United States Christian Sotomayor ITT-Technical Institute GE217 02-24-12 Abstract Controversy over bilingual education has been around for much longer than people may think, But only in the past few decades as the migrant population has increased the issues is once again back in the table to be discussed over. Some Americans fear that their sense of identity could be lost if bilingual education is taught at schools and on the other hand other people is conscious that the so called “American Identity” is nothing but a mixture of different cultures and by teaching students to become proficient in two languages it is going to make them more competitive for the job market. In a few words, we can make things better for students by encouraging them to keep their native tongue and become proficient in the English language. Bilingual Education in the United States Many people do not realize that this great country was founded by immigrants from all over the world. The so called “American identity” was not formed by just one group of people but a great variety of cultures what we also call a “melting pot”. Bilingual education has been a very controversial issue and as more people migrates from all parts of the world this issue will become more and more important and will have to be taken care of by our government. The controversy over bilingual education, whether it should be encouraged in an American school system or not, has been a topic of...
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