Bilingual Education

Imagine being brought up in a family speaking only one language for your entire life and then you had to move to a foreign land where the language is different. If you had a choice of progressively learning this new language over the course of six to nine years or being put into a classroom and have to virtually teach yourself the language by listening to others around you which would you choose? Late exit bilingual education is a more effective form of bilingual education compared to the English immersion form of bilingual education in the fact that there are more benefits and less adverse effects. There are many reasons why late exit bilingual education should be the choice of public schools everywhere with high minority populations. One of the effects of late exit bilingual education is that the students would be able to maintain their cultural background instead of having to give up one or the other. Language is a big part of a person’s culture. Late exit bilingual education gives the non-English speaking students more time to master the English language which is not an easy language to learn in three years as the English immersion strategy teaches. The findings of the Ramirez team in 1991 evaluating the effectiveness of English immersion, early exit bilingual education, and late exit bilingual education further prove why late exit bilingual education is the one that needs to be used.

To look at why keeping one’s culture is important one just needs to look at how and why this country was founded. The first Americans from England came here so they wouldn’t have to conform to everything the rulers of England wanted. Immigrants founded this country. One of the greatest things about the United States is that there are so many different types of cultures everywhere you look. It is true that one needs to learn the English language to be successful, but forcing one to give up his or her cultural background is going against everything this country stands for. English immersion does just that by forcing the student to give up his or her cultural background and language (Faltis 191). Late exit bilingual education allows the child to progress effectively through the educational system with the instruction given in English to the extent to make this possible (Schneider, 1976, p. 128.).

To throw a student into a classroom that speaks a language that is not familiar to them and forcing them to adjust in three years like English immersion does is not fair to the student.