Bilingual Education and English Immersion in U.S.
Introduction
Bilingual education is the education which involves the use of two languages to teach academic content. This implies that teaching can be done in a native language or another secondary language. Bilingual education can be done in different models. The transitional bilingual education involves teaching in the native language of the children. This is done in an effort to ensure that the child does not lag behind when learning English. A second model is that of dual language or two-way immersion. This helps both non-native and native English speakers to become bilingual.
English immersion implies that it is the English-only legislation that is adopted. Here, only the English language is used in teaching students. Incases where there are children who are very poor in English proficiency, they are taught in English as a second language (ESL) classes. English immersion can be done in two different ways. The submersion program does not offer any assistant to learners. The structured English immersion on the other hand helps students to build on their English vocabulary. Through this program, students are helped to study faster and thus join the ordinary classes.
Discussion
There have been various arguments on the English system of education in the United States. There are various arguments that are advanced in support of the bilingual education while others are in support of English immersion.
Arguments in support of bilingual education
In the United States, there are projections that in a few years, the Hispanics will become the largest minority group. According to Izumi (2008) it is tricky to effectively make appeals to Hispanic voters. Izumi argues that the proposals made by Barack Obama are in point. “African-American and Latino students are significantly less likely to graduate than white students.” These were some of the notes in Obama’s campaign. The educational plan by the president of the United States advocates the integration of transitional bilingual education.
Use of bilingual education does not imply that the child is not being taught English. This only means that the student needs are put into consideration and thereby the student is taught in the way that is best for them. It is true that for the kids to be successful in the American society, they need to learn and be fluent in the English language. Though there are arguments that bilingual education is not patriotic, admitting that it helps when one slightly uses some of the first language of the child so as to help them in the process of achieving fluency in English and subsequent success is not unpatriotic.
The proponents of bilingual programs of education argue that the first language instructions that are used for teaching in the early grades is essential towards ensuring that the students get an understanding of the content in their academics as they begin school. Thereby, this is seen as a victorious schooling start. Through the first language instructions, the learners acquire skills of reading as well as writing and these are a foundation for building of a strong development of the English language.
The two way bilingual education helps students in their learning of English and this aids in their long term performance. The native speakers of English will also benefit from the two way bilingual education. They get to learn a second language. It is through the bilingual education that academic knowledge and skills will be transferred across various languages. This also ensures that there is no isolation of English language learners from the peers.
In education and learning, it is important that parents be involved in the learning processes of their children. It is easy to find that most of the parents of these children who are not native English speakers do not also have fluency in writing if not reading of the language. Thus, once the bilingual programs are adopted, it is easier for the parents to support their children in learning. This is effective towards reinforcing the child’s self sense following their culture as well as language assimilation in the program of teaching in the school and these proponents arguments contribute to the academic growth that is observed in long term.
Linguistic and cultural heritage are very important. Therefore, in learning the ELLs (English language learners) should be helped to maintain this heritage. However, the immersion programs are not inclusive of such programs and thereby the children find it hard to maintain their heritage. It is also a way of appreciating all the students and the appreciation that they get motivates them to work even harder.
According to the proposition 227 that was passed in 1998 in California, bilingual education cannot be considered as the reason for failure in academics among the bilingual students. This is because it is only a small percentage approximately 30% of the students who are not proficient in English who are in the bilingual program. Further, most of the teachers who teach in the bilingual program of education do not have the right credentials (Baker & Hornberger, 1996). Thus, even those thought to be in the bilingual program are usually in the English immersion program. Due to this, it is a logical argument that the difficulties that ELL students face in academics are not because of bilingual education but due to the fact that the bilingual programs are not effective.
Contrary to the held believes by the opponents of bilingual education, a report by Cummins & Genzuk (1991) on a research conducted on Hispanic students education in the united states revealed that with the promotion of the first language of students, students are able to excel academically as well as achieve literacy in both languages. According to the research, there was no observable difference in the performance academically of the children in English immersion programs and those in early exit bilingual programs.
In addition, even the late exit bilingual students appeared to be gaining on the general students’ population. It was observed that compared to the norming population, in English and mathematics, the students who were given the chances to have the development of their first languages and their skills had more growth on their reading skills in English. This further disproved the notion that by intensively exposing children to English, they gain the best experience that is required in teaching children of the language minority.
Most of the immersion programs do not focus on helping the children achieve proficiency in English and they do not have concern on how the well the students learn the content. These immersion programs are focused on achieving homogeneity in the classroom in that they will have a homogenous group that is being taught in English. Resources are also limited and this demotivates the children. The results of this are increased numbers of dropouts and low grades. This then limits the chances of such children having a good and bright future. Simply put, English immersion is a way of promoting racism and racial prejudice.
Assumptions are made in the English immersion programs. The aim of the programs that are English only is for the students to be immersed into the American life styles and this starts by immersing them in the American language. Educators have argued that by this immersion, the students are able to get assimilated into the American culture better and making the process of learning English faster. The students are taught as though they had same background (Slavin & Cheung, 2003). However, this is not the reality. The students have different backgrounds as well as values especially in regions where there are many immigrants; in such regions, students of different nationalities and cultures are taught in the same classroom.
Teaching in English does not necessarily imply teaching English. What students require is to be taught English. A clear understanding is gained once one is taught in the language that they understand best. What happens in the English immersion education is mostly teaching in English and therefore the students do not get the necessary English skills.
Arguments for full immersion
In English immersion, full emphasis is made on the near-exclusive English use in content instruction. In support of the English immersion program, the principle of Sixth Street, which uses the English immersion program, reported, “We’ve had tremendous success with having a student who is brand new from Mexico and you would walk into a classroom 12 months later and you wouldn’t be able to pick out which one he was.” This was meant to imply that the program helps students to learn faster and once their native languages are not used, they are able to put more effort in learning English.
English immersion helps to close the achievement gaps between people. Since the students are taught in the same classroom and in one language, they have equal opportunities to succeed and make achievements. It is not a good idea for students who have to work and thus compete in English to be taught in Spanish. Once they are taught in their first language, students who are less proficient in English are denied access not only to English but future advancement as well. This is because through the bilingual education, there is dilution of exposure to English and this results to bilingual students having continued difficulties in academic aspects that deal with English.
It is only by maximum being exposed to English that the difficulties that children face in linguistics can be remedied. This is achieved if they are fully immersed starting from the days that they begin school. According to Douglas (1998) the bilingual education is like trapping children. Once the children have been allowed to be trapped in these bilingual programs, they economic future is being destroyed. He further argued that it (quickly learning English) should the price that students have to pay so as to gain admission in America.
The use of bilingual education is un-American. This is one of the arguments of the proponents of English immersion. Following the high number of immigrants in the United States, there is the growth of linguistic as well as cultural diversity. According to Bethell (1979) this is like a “death wish” since it threatens to cause fragmentation of the nation. For long, bilingual students have suffered because of the punishments that they are given due to the use of their first languages. Historically, bilingual students have been discriminated in education since their cultural and language background have been regarded as a shame but not pride. Thereby, the integration of the students’ culture and language in institutions is a precondition to the reverse of the intimidating power relations.
For academic success in the United States, proficiency in the English language is important. When the bilingual programs are used, the schools have too many mixed messages as well as contradictory policies and directives such that confusion sets in on how to handle these (Clark, 2009). Further, most of the states conduct their assessments on the performance of students in English. The question then comes of how bilingual students are expected to perform in such assessments. Here the students are disadvantaged. However, the schools or even their districts can be sanctioned and thus allowing their students to gain proficiency in English quickly.
In the English immersion program proponents argue that it is possible and easier for the teachers to maximize their English instruction. In teaching English, the strategies that the teachers use are those that are at a level that is appropriate and this is according to the abilities of the ELL students. Elements of the structured English immersion show that the program of learning is effective. For instance, in this program, there is the dedication of considerable amounts of time in teaching English and the students are put in groups and thus it is possible to learn from each other, something that is effective towards improving on the learned skills.
The student groups that are formed in structured English immersion are made according to the English proficiency levels of the students. This makes it easier for the teachers to design the lessons effectively. By designing language lessons, the teacher gives their students the knowledge that is required in their level. For instance, as beginners, students will be taught on the common nouns and this is a great step towards building a long lasting foundation in English. This does not only help in their assessment but in their future and career lives as well.
The effectiveness of English immersion is observed even in short term. A research conducted by (Hudson & Hudson, 2003) revealed this fact that the proficiency of English language is developed by these short term programs. This then proves that if short term immersion in English programs then full immersion would give great results. Further, the confidence of teachers is enhanced if involved in the English immersion education programs. This is because they may not be well credited to teach in the student’s first language. Therefore, if required to teach in the bilingual system, they may not be confident because they may not be well versant with the first languages of their students. Furthermore, there are students of different languages and getting teachers to understand these different languages and deliver may not be easy if not impossible.
Conclusion
It is evident that the education to be used for teaching immigrants is a controversial issue. The issue that is raised in the controversies on bilingual education and English immersion is not if the immigrants are supposed to learn English but how they are supposed to do it. In my opinion, the bilingual education program should be used. It is more effective in that the students are able to connect their learning with their cultural and language background. The students will not feel intimidated and this will help in building their morale in education and learning of English language. Furthermore, parents are involved more in this program and can have control over the learning of their children. However, greater focus should be made not on the language used to give instruction but the quality of the instruction.
References
Baker, C.&Hornberger, N.H. (1996). Bilingual education and bilingualism 61. Retrieved on May 6, 2011 from: http://www.utpa.edu/dept/curr_ins/faculty_folders/Guadarrama_i/esl/Cummins.pdf.
Bethell, T. (1979). Against bilingual education. Harpers magazine, February, 1979.
Clark, K. (2009). The case for structured English immersion. Educational leadership. Volume 66 (7), p. 42-46.
Cummins, J. & Genzuk, M. (1991). Analysis of final report longitudinal study of structured English immersion strategy, early exit and late-exit transitional bilingual education programs for language-minority children. Retrieved on May 6, 2011 from: http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~genzuk/Ramirez_report.html.
Douglas, D. (1998). Testing methods in context-based second language research. Interfaces between second language acquisition and language testing research. Cambridge university press. p. 141-155.
Hudson, P. & Hudson, S. (2003). An evaluation of an English Language Immersion Program for ESL preservice teachers. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies. Volume 3 (1), p. 1-15.
Slavin, R. E., & Cheung, A. (2003). Effective programs for English language learners: A best-evidence synthesis. Baltimore: JohnsHopkinsUniversity, CRESPAR. Gersten, R. (1985).
Izumi, L.T. (2008). The bilingual debate: English immersion. Retrieved on May 6, 2011 from: http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/the-bilingual-debate-english-immersion/.
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