Effects Of Language Barriers

Breaking through the Walls: Language Barriers The United States Education System is unique in international comparison because of its goal to ensure that every student receives a high-quality education. It tackles a wide range of major issues to guarantee that every child receives the same educational opportunities, but none have been more challenging than the issue of language barriers. In the United States alone, English language learners are considered to be “one of the fastest-growing populations within the educational system” (Elsworth). The government, state education boards, public/private schools, teachers, parents, and students face the difficult obstacles that language barriers have set. To help minimize the effects of language barriers

If we were to take a look back into history, one could say that the first major sign of language barriers becoming an issue in the United States would have started with the Native Americans. The arrival of the Colonists at first created tension because they disregarded the educational needs for the natives. To Colonists they were only “savages” who were incapable of the high societal life of “civilized” people. Although, after the American Civil War some American reformers found the need to assimilate the young “savage” children of Native Americans through education. The United States was going through a change and reformers believed that “with proper education and treatment, Indians could become patriotic and productive members of society” (Marr). Beginning in the 1880s through the 1920s, reformers built Indian Boarding Schools in order to “kill the Indian and save the man” (Marr). At the Indian Boarding Schools, Native American children were placed under a military-style regimen where they lived away from their families and were subjugated to learn the English language along with the American social and cultural

Sullivan’s students, Edwin and German, are two out of many whose learning experience has been greatly affected by language barriers. Edwin constantly translates for German, who knows a minimal amount of English, throughout the day’s lessons. “I never feel pressured to translate for German because he’s my friend so I like to do it, but sometimes it can get very distracting. It can get very hard because when I’m trying to learn something I have to then quickly translate and try to help German learn it too.” German explained that he really appreciates everything that Edwin and the Dover Elementary staff have done to aid in his progression in learning English. “The hardest thing about learning English is when someone asks me a question in English and I’m not able to answer it.” German is experiencing passive bilingualism because he is learning to comprehend both English and Spanish, but Spanish is his dominant language of expression. Language versatility pressures German, Edwin, and countless other students to consistently practice fluency in both languages to fit in America’s society and their