Bilingualism is not a new issue in the United States since it has always owned the reputation as one of the most diverse countries in the world. However, as much as people think that being a bilingual speaker is an advantage, many parents are skeptical about the idea of teaching their children a second language due to the large number of students in the United States who are lacking English proficiency, although they were born and raised in an English-speaking country. This is due to the use of a native language in their daily communication at home.
Based on a survey report released by the United States Census Bureau in 2015, only 20.7% of the American population use a language other than English to communicate at home (“Detailed Languages
…show more content…
Metalinguistic skill is defined as “the ability to use knowledge about language” (Lauchlan 10). To make it specific, it is a skill which allow children to use their language effectively from an early stage to a more advanced level. At the early age, bilingual children are better at practicing new sounds and words, besides being able to alter their speech accordingly depending on whom they are talking to (Connolly). As they grow older, they would be able to play with words by creating jokes and puns (Owens). Every child will develop their metalinguistic skills, but bilingual children will learn better than the others. Therefore, being a bilingual speaker is definitely a blessing, especially when people are exposed to it since …show more content…
This often leads to a change of language in bilinguals. … [I]t is the situation or the person one is speaking to which induces slight changes in behavior, opinions, feelings, etc., not the fact that one is bilingual. (Bilingual: Life and Reality)
From my point of view, language and culture are inseparable; therefore, shifting of language might cause people to act according to the nature of a certain culture. Some languages belong to a culture that tends to be loud; they sometimes speak as if they are angry, when in fact they are not. However, having different ways of interaction does not mean people stop being their real self. Because some parents are worried that their children might be confused about their true personalities, they are somehow skeptical about teaching their children a second
Bilingual teaching in American schools is it good, bad, or both? Who is right in this national debate? Both sides make some impressive arguments for their side of the issue. Even the government has mixed issues when it comes to bilingual teaching. However, the government has shown their views in their budgets and their law making. Another question comes up with the bilingual teaching is should America make English its official language? Some say there is no need for it, and yet 22 states as of 1996 declared English their official language. Looking into some of these issues may bring some insight as to what the problem may be.
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.
In the essay “Bilingualism in America: English Should Be the Official Language” (1989) by Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa, he claims that if America wants to be a truly unified country, then there English needs to be set as the official language and wants every person including immigrants to speak it on a normal base. Hayakawa supports his claim by appealing to pathos in the description of how children who are not taught English from an early age will always be behind their peers, he discusses how countries such as Belgium and India have several official languages and how it is “a chaotic mess”, and explains how bilingual programs in California do more harm than good because they start the child off in their native language and never allow them to fully
“What they seem not recognize is that, as a socially disadvantaged child, in my case such bilingualism could not have been so quickly achieved. “He was quite frustrated when he made the transition to using English too just like I did.
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.
When I first started school, I remember how difficult it was for me to make the transition from Spanish to English. My Mom left me at the door of the school in the morning, but since I was placed in an English-only classroom, the next time I opened my mouth to speak to anyone was when she picked me up again that afternoon. I didn't know what anyone was saying around me, and to make matters worse, my teacher didn't speak a single word of Spanish. That day, like every other day, I came home crying because I felt like an outsider. That year was very difficult for me because I ended up in the back corner of the classroom not participating. As a result, I had to take several years of summer school in order to catch up, something that could have been avoided if I had been placed in a bilingual program. Several key advantages to bilingual education are that it allows for an emotionally safe transition, students don't fall behind in their lessons, and parents are not alienated from their children's education.
Suppose your child has been moved to China. Your child does not speak Chinese; is it the school system's responsibility to teach your child in English? Or should your child be expected to learn in the country's language and perhaps get extra help on the side? Why should a school district spend money on bilingual classes rather than on reducing class sizes?
...moment you walk away from the situation that required you to change your language, you go right back to being the exact same person you were before. There is nothing lost and no one should look at you any less for doing so.
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
There are many bilingual and multicultural people in the world today. For many, the choices of which language they use, and how they use it, correspond to what social or cultural community they belong to. Amy Tan, a Chinese American novelist, portrays this well in her short essay "Mother Tongue." Tan grew up in two vastly different worlds, using different "Englishes." The first world, which consists of her close family, she speaks what we may call "broken" or "limited" English. The second world, which is her business and professional world, Tan speaks and writes perfect standard and academic English. Having to "shuttle" between these two communities with very different languages has had many different positive and negative effects on Tan, and many other multicultural Americans who deal with similar things. I myself speak different "Englishes" as I move back and forth between my family and society.
What is love? Love is the pinnacle of all emotions, it is the epicenter for life, what is the point of living if there is no love, ironically love is the cause of many a down fall. William Shakespeare has single handedly captured and embraced this necessary feeling and has allowed us to view in on it through the characters in his two masterpieces, Othello and King Lear. Three different kinds of loves explored in both Othello and King Lear, sharing both similarities and differences are a love for a significant other, the love a father holds to his children, and the love a daughter holds for her father. By looking at the outcomes of these loves one may draw a sense of loves negative and positive effects, and how the different traits of loves play into the outcomes in the fate of Shakespeare's characters. Through the analysis of love in these two plays one will become a more knowledgeable student of literature.
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.
Being bilingual always made my life differ as if I lived two lives, speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere outside of home. On the daily basis at my house, my family speaks Spanish. When we communicate we speak very fast, at times we can not even understand one another. After this occurs we all burst out in laughter super loud, no boundaries are enforced in our lexicon. The enforcement changes when entering a different discourse community.
It also has impacts as bilingualism has and also has similarities in their impacts. “POSITIVE EFFECTS OF BILINGUALISM”: • BILINGUALISM also increases child’s problem solving strategies and methods where the solutions depend on the keen attention and also the inhibitory control such as abilities of the executive control system according to Bialystok. BILINGUALS are more sensitive to SEMANTIC RELATIONS BETWEEN WORDS. For example, they are unable to name an object in a sentence, also the grammar mistakes. When mother tells her child to call his father ‘DADY’ but father tells child to call him ‘PAPA’ (when mother is English speaking and father is Urdu speaking) then child is unable to differentiate between two different words to speak and will only able to speak little words like “PA”, “DA” at early stages of child’s age.
“Learning a second language not only has cognitive and academic benefits, it also supports a greater sense of openness to, and appreciation for, other cultures” (Tochen, 2009). For many students in the United States, English is not the primary language spoken at home. There are several options for getting these children to reach proficiency in the English Language. However, there is only one model that preserves the child’s first language, while also gaining literacy in English. This model is Bilingual Education. Bilingual education is not new to the United States. It in fact started in 1968 under title VII. However, there is still a lot for the general public, and parents of language learners, to learn about this form of education. Bilingual