Argumentative Essay On Bilingual Education

906 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Bilingual

Living in a diverse community has made daily life an interesting experience by constantly adapting to new cultures and languages. The individuals who have acquired an additional language, other than their native language, are known as bilinguals. With the number of bilinguals increasing year after year, individuals are left to question the importance of bilingual education. Bilingual education is the method of teaching using two languages to give a student a concrete understanding of the material. Bilingual education has become a controversial topic where some feel like bilingual education is of great importance and others strongly disagree. In my opinion, Bilingual Education is an exceptional method of teaching with countless benefits for …show more content…

Bilingual programs have unfortunately not been as successful as they were intended to. In order for these programs to become successful, the community must understand what the intensions of these programs are. According to Lynn Malarz “… the primary goal of bilingual education is not necessarily to teach English or a second language, but to teach children concepts, knowledge, and skills through the language they know best and reinforce this information through the second language.” Having a concrete understanding of materials during the early years of schooling is extremely beneficial. Understanding the basic concepts of subjects in two languages gives children the ability to make multiple connections between the languages and grasp concepts quicker. As a child, bilingual education offers academic advantages. Mathew Lynch states that children “are also able to demonstrate higher levels of cognitive flexibility, or the ability to change responses based on environment and circumstances.” Students with the ability to process concepts thoroughly will become excellent problem solvers as well as deep thinkers. Bilingual education does not only benefit students in the classroom it also benefits them as they become adults and transition into adult …show more content…

Jobs are seeking bilingual individuals to become a part of their team because they find themselves in a language barrier between the company and customer. I believe that supporting dual language programs will allow the students to not only become academically successful but also remain fluent in their native language. Being bilingual will allow them to communicate with a larger range of their peers and become more likely to receive job offers or promotions. Companies are looking for new ways of providing ideal products to their customers, this would be impossible to do with the language barrier many companies find themselves in. For instance, Bilal Kalkan states that “Employing bilinguals also helps in exploring new avenues with new clients from around the world for a company.” I also believe that maintaining the dual programs for an extensive period will ensure fluency for the children in both languages. Ensuring fluency in both native and second language is important for the community to remain a diverse

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Richard Rodriguez 'A Memoir Of A Bilingual Childhood'

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Opinion Editorial By Hassan Abdi In the article written by Richard Rodriguez, Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, he conveys an opinion that Bilingual education doesn’t work. He conveys it through his personal experience. Published by the Phi Beta Kappa to the American Society in 1981, the audience and his message are a broad and important now as it was thirty five years ago. As the amount of children that don’t speak English as their first language continue to rise, bilingual education has become a polarizing topic like most things, and for me, I am neutral on the topic. A form of bilingual education has failed me, but, for most students it benefits in the long term, and it 's not right to dispel one side of the topic to push your own

    Read More

  • The Legal and Historical Rationale of Bilingual Education

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    The legal and historical rationale of Bilingual Education has been around for quite some time and appears to a continuous issue with educators and political figures. Numerous articles have been written in favor and against Bilingual Education. The articles I read and summarized relate to some of the issues that have evolved from various proponents and opponents of how education should be presented to ELs in the United States. Summaries and a brief timeline of legislation up to the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) follow.

    Read More

  • Benefits of Creating Dual Language Programs

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dual language programs not only create bi-literacy and bilingualism for the students in the classrooms but it helps create an improved academic achievement overall for the students. Dual language is a type of bilingual education where students are taught different subjects like math, science, language arts, ...

    Read More

  • Immigration By Richard T. Schaefer Summary

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    When I immigrated to the United States I couldn’t speak any English, so the Department of Education staff sent me to a school which only for the immigrant student and taught student with bilingual education. I only needed to stay in this school for one year because they only introducing student the fundamental English skill and the American culture. After one year, I would transfer to the local high school to continue my high school education but there was no more bilingual education. I believe that bilingual education school is good way for the immigrants to break the language barriers. I still remember that the first school day in the United States I was very afraid and nervous because I didn’t know any English and the American culture. However, when I arrived to the school I found out that there were a lot of student who came from the same country as I was, and some of the instructors could speak Chinese too. I started to not afraid of school and feel excited about my new school life. After I studied in this school for one year, I transfer to a local high school which didn’t have bilingual education, but I didn’t afraid my new school life because I already know how to communicate with other students. A program of bilingual education is a very good program that help immigrants student break the language barriers. As Richard wrote “A major study analyzed more than three decades of research, combining 17 different studies, and found that bilingual education programs produce higher levels of student achievement in reading” (Schaefer, 2015, p.96). However, “Attacks on bilingualism in voting and education have taken several forms and have even broadened to question the appropriateness of U.S. residents using any language other than English” (Schaefer, 2015, p.96). There are a lot of people come to the United States from many countries, and a

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Bilingual Education

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    American Bilingual Learning American children are competing with a lot of different countries in academics and according to quartz “might help employers choose easier because they look for language and speech”. This can also help with learning other languages because of similar sounds and mouth shapes. America these days has failed to keep their bilingualism like the rest of the world in fact, there is only about 260 bilingual schools in the country! America needs to reclaim their use for bilingualism Helping Graduates With Getting Jobs Being bilingual helps increase your chances of being hired, as Transparent Language states that there is not many open slots for jobs out there. With that being said “employers are looking for additional

    Read More

  • The Responsibility of Bilingual Education

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    Bilingual education in public schools has been the topic of much discussion over the last several years. This discussion has been prompted due to the ever increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking persons emigrating to the United States, especially in those states that border Mexico--California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. What the debate seems always to overlook is our country’s other non-English speaking members. This country is now and has always been the “Melting Pot” for the world with persons emigrating to this country from most every country in the world; however, we commonly gear the focus of bilingual education toward our Spanish-speaking citizens.

    Read More

  • Benefits Of Bilingualism

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are more than 6,500 languages around the world. We can't control where we are born nor what will be our native language. Although, we can choose which we are going to speak as a second language. Speaking more than one language has obvious benefits in today's internationally growing world, and it has become common to know more than one. Being bilingual is a benefit, that one is never too old nor too ahead to experience and learn from

    Read More

  • Bilingual Education

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we asked these teachers whether they supported or were against the bilingual education system, they each shouted their answer as if it were instinctive. Although they had different reasons why, each and every one of the teachers said they supported the system without a doubt. We were given a multitude of reasons why bilingual education is advantageous. Ms. Velez stated that she supports bilingual education because, first and foremost, she is a product of it, and second because she believes the program allows the children to earn credit and learn the language at the same time. She said that if the non-English speaking child were immersed in the English mainstream classes they will fail, and as a result the already high drop out rate of Latinos would increase. Ms. Harrison felt that the bilingual education program would be even stronger and more effective if it served more of the ethnic groups in Hartford. The Vietnamese, Lao, and Albanian students are often put in transitional classes because there are not enough in that particular ethnic group to create a bilingual class that will help them to learn English, while maintaining their primary language. Presently, the state requires twenty students who need assistance in the same language to hire a teacher to create a class for them. She also stated that the students in bilingual education classes have just as many difficulties in academics as do the students in mainstream education, and that the bilingual education program is often used as a scapegoat for those students not achieving.

    Read More

  • Bilingual Education

    1698 Words  | 4 Pages

    When visiting just about any school across America, students who attend come from all over the globe. This raises the question across America about bilingual education. This can create many challenges in and out of the classroom. The classroom should be a safe place for all students regardless of what native language they speak. In the essay Lost in translation written by Eva Hoffman, describes a foreign student who tries hard to fit in. Instead, Eva begins to feel angry, hurt and confused because people laugh at her. In Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education by Elizabeth R. Howard, Julie Sugarman, Donna Christian Center for Applied Linguistics Kathryn J. Lindholm-Leary San José State University David Rogers Dual Language Education of New Mexico. Guiding principles gives great ideas to educators to stop kids from making other students feel the way that Eva felt. After reading several articles about bilingual education, it is evident that all children in school should learn English but never lose their native language. When all the students speak one language, students will be less likely to make fun of each other. A good educator should learn enough foreign languages to aid them in effective communication in their classroom although; if an educator does not speak a foreign language, they should recruit within the classroom students to be peer mentors. However, a teacher should be willing to listen and encourage the students. Above all a good educator should be a good role model to their students by respecting their heritage and their language.

    Read More

  • A Language Barrier

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    From my experience, bilingual education was a disadvantage during my childhood. At the age of twelve, I was introduced into a bilingual classroom for the first time. The crowded classroom was a combination of seventh and eighth grade Spanish-speaking students, who ranged from the ages of twelve to fifteen. The idea of bilingual education was to help students who weren’t fluent in the English language. The main focus of bilingual education was to teach English and, at the same time, teach a very basic knowledge of the core curriculum subjects: Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Unfortunately, bilingual education had academic, psychological, and social disadvantages for me.

    Read More

  • Benefits of Raising a Bilingual Child

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Language is an important part of our lives. I remember when I arrived to USA I could speak a little English. I went to school to improve my language, reading and writing skills; even now I am learning my second language, without English I cannot survive in this new environment. Now I am raising my own kids and I want them to have this important skill, this privilege of knowing a second language, language of their parents and grandparents. By looking at studies of bilingual children, research shows how important it is for a child to learn a second language. Raising a bilingual child is a benefit because it improves social skills, academic proficiency, introduces child to a different culture, and prepares for the future.

    Read More

  • Bilingual Education Essay

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...thousands of years. Generally, bilingual education can mean any use of two languages in school, by teachers, students, or both – for a variety of social and pedagogical purposes. It also refers to the different approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of English language learners (ELLs) for instruction. These approaches include teaching English, fostering academic achievement, acculturating immigrants to a new society, and preserving a minority group’s linguistic and cultural heritage. Building on, rather than just discarding the students’ native-language skills, create a stronger foundation for success in English and academics. Also, if students learn languages at a younger age, it will be easier to remember and learn them, rather than if they were older. It helps to learn another language for students, and can later be useful in the future.

    Read More

  • Essay On Being Bilingual

    1555 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... how to speak fluently in two languages is because they think it will confuse their child and mess them up with their first language, which is wrong. Children can benefit from being bilingual when it comes to schooling, because knowing more than one language can help that child figure things out easier and simpler than a monolingual would know how to do. Jobs also have a big effect on bilingual people, they can attract business, and many companies need people who are bilingual. Music is also factors because many people listen to it daily learn many things about themselves and who they are. People usually do not think music can be such an effect on people’s lives and their culture but it does and there is proof of it. Overall, teaching a child to be fluent in more than on language will have many positive effects on him/her and will benefit from them completely.

    Read More

  • Negative Effects Of Bilingualism

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    BILINGUALISM have both Positive and Negative effects on the Child’s linguistic, Cognitive and Educational Development.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education in Malaysia.

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    The development of the brain of a bilingual individual is better than a monolingual individual. Few years ago, researchers from the University of Washington (as cited in Klass, 2011, para 4.) found that the brains of bilingual infants (from families where two languages were spoken) are able to discriminate the different of the phonetic sound of the languages they usually heard when they grew up than monolingual infants in where their brains were adapted to only identify their mother tongue only. Dr. Patricia Kuhl, one of the members of this research team thus believe that bilingual education can shape infants’ brains and keep them ready for future challenges. Concurrently, a renowned psychologist, Dr. Ellen...

    Read More

More about Argumentative Essay On Bilingual Education

Open Document