America Benefits Greatly from Bilingual Education

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Recommended: Advantages of bilingualism in a classroom

Everyone deserves the right to an education. Bilingual Education needs

attention and needs to be taken seriously in this country. Technically,

"bilingual education" means instruction in two languages. As commonly

used, however, it refers to range of instruction provided to students who

need to learn English. Services vary from classes in English, to a little

help in the student's primary language, to most academic instruction in

that primary language. It is designed to provide equal educational

opportunity to students limited in English proficiency. The U.S. has

large numbers of students, especially at the elementary school level,

whose home language in other than English.

Imagine being a monolingual Farsi-speaking child in a school here

in the United States. You need to go to the bathroom. Your teacher does

not understand your language. You feel confused, lost in physical

discomfort, as your teacher explains fractions on the board in a language

that is a mystery to you. When I came here at age 9, I felt the same,

lost, confused and embarrassed. I needed to feel that someone cared about

me and would help me swim above water. I wanted my teacher to try to see

where I was coming from.. This teacher, whom you like to see as your

substitute parent, is inaccessible. The lack of a common language creates

a wall that cannot be overcome.

The fact that your teacher also speaks English shows you the path

you will want to take. Yes, like your teacher, your model, you will be

able to speak both languages. You will not need to lose your home

language. You will just gain another on top of your first one. Your

bilingual skills will make it possible to keep your links with your

parents at home a...

... middle of paper ...

...ve

language and culture. People should have the opportunity to learn, read,

write and think mother tongue alongside the dominate culture. Education's

goal should be to reduce stress and tension between students and text.

Methods of teaching should also reduce the psychological and social

dimensions of the teacher and students. Everyday that this controversy

continues, bilingual students are not succeeding in a successful manner in

the American education system.

Works Cited

Irvine, James. "Bilingual Education in California." Ed Source October. 1999: Page 22.

McCollum, Pam. "Parental Involvement in Bilingual Education." Nabe News March. 1998: Page 41-42.

Rose, Mike. "Lives on the Boundary." The Presence of Others. Eds. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. 45-200.

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