The world is changing every day. Society is evolving along with the world. The countries of the world are interacting with each other. In a world that is evolving, the people of the world must go with the flow or get left in the dust. The difference between getting left in the dust and going with the flow of society is bilingualism. “Over 50% of countries in the world are officially bilingual or multilingual”(Bilingual Countries). In those countries that have adopted other languages, there are people who are still monolingual. There are benefits and drawbacks of both, but at the end of the day being bilingual is better than being monolingual.
The United States of America was founded on a continent where the natives didn’t originally speak
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The United States is one that has not fully seen the potential of bilingual education. Research from China has shown that when children are in their prime impressionable age, from the beginning of their life to age eight, that teaching them bilingually is the best way for them to learn another language. 3e International is a school that enrolls children that are age two through third grade and teaches them bilingually. Through the years that 3e has been open, they have observed that the structure for good bilingual learning is a good backbone in the household. The students family needs to believe that bilingualism is beneficial in life and they need to support the student. 3e has created a program that is successful and could easily be replicated in the United States, or any other country that is looking to have bilingual education in their country. They have recognized the benefits a person could have being bilingual in the modern …show more content…
The benefits of being bilingual are enormous compared to that of monolingual. This debate is honestly not in the best interest of the children in the United States. It is delaying the learning and some could also say violating the No Child Left behind Act of 2001. The children that are being left behind are immigrant children with illegal parents who cannot advocate for them out of fear of deportation. The fear of illegal immigration because of a law that could be passed that benefits the immigrants is real. English should not be the official language of the United States because not everyone in the United State speaks
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
As I have read multiple articles about what bilingualism means, I have come to understand that it’s more complex than just speaking two or more languages. The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides three definitions of bilingualism: (1) the ability to speak two languages, (2) the frequent use (as by a community) of two languages, and (3) the political or institutional recognition of two languages. Espada’s view of bilingualism seems more in line with the third definition, and Rodriguez’s view identifies with the second one. I have developed my personal view as a mix of the second and third definitions. Although Merriam-Webster provides concrete definitions for bilingualism, people like Espada, Rodriguez, and myself have developed their own interpretation of bilingualism based on our cultural backgrounds and community environments.
This essay will demonstrate the research that is implemented on children with bilingual ability; discussing three main issues in bilingualism which is: the maintaining children’s first language, social and cognitive benefits, also why bilingualism should be in cooperated into school programming/curriculum.
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.
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
It seems that this topic has been a heated debate for the past couple of decades, which has caused some division over the issue. I learned that there are a variety of pros and cons that you can argue about this issue. I chose to be a part of the pro English side for three reasons: I believe that making English our official language (1) would allow the education system to focus on English as the primary language, (2) it would unite our country in regards to racial discrimination, and (3) our government and business operations would be a little more streamlined.
The debate now is whether there is sufficient studies proving the effectiveness of Bilingual education and the need to continue it in many states. In 1998 Los Angeles County passed Proposition 227 to create bilingual education programs. (LA Times October 23.1998) Because of the passing of this bill many students were left in limbo waiting for teaching plans to be made. As well as the budget to be reformed to accommodate the extra expenses of a bilingual education programs, books, and to hire the proper teachers and aids to assists in the new bilingual classes. Often there are only a few children in a classroom being taught in their native language whil...
Bilingualism creates cultural experiences as well as open-mindedness and a greater tolerance for people. The most prevalent pro of being bilingual in my opinion is that I have the chance to be a part of two different communities without feeling out of place or excluded. As opposed to monolinguals who will generally be alone during a multicultural event, for example. Not because of their lack of compassion, but because of their lack in speaking the other language. When I speak to someone in their mother language it's an enormous compliment to them since the majority of people don't really care to learn the language of their country. You can't always expect everyone you meet to speak English. The ones who do take the time to learn their dialect, however, fill the natives with
I first read The Cat In The Hat, by Dr. Suess, when I was five. In this story, there
The technique relies on a holistic approach that adopts instructions that allow students to actively participate in the learning process. This is easier for children that feel that the society appreciates their diversity through bilingualism and biliteracy. The society and parents need to encourage children to take up bilingual classes because they offer a lot of benefit to the society through favoring critical thinking, rationality, and sensitivity to other cultures, empathy, and detached or balanced awareness. However, Sonia Nieto mirrors a society that is made to fake being American and become ashamed of their family. It helps appreciate that it is not by choice that anyone speaks any other language as the first language and that the society and community influence the language of choice. Therefore, bilingualism cannot be detached from any community that freely promotes and accommodate the language spoken by the other community. Children and community members learn each other’s language without disregarding each other favoring effective learning that influences bilingualism and biliteracy in the long
A society with no education cannot compete in the modern world. We as a society need to fight to keep Bilingual education as a teaching tool in the schooling system.
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.
It's just outright disrespectful to growing minorities to make English an official language and could harm the economy. In order to increase the equality and progress the nation, it more fitting to make the United States have no official language and not discriminate or deter from completing their dreams in America. As times change and minorities grow and majorities decrease, the
Bilingual education is important to enforce in schools because it not only helps students but their parents as well. Since their first language is not English, bilingual education will really help them because it not only helps them succeed in mainstream classes that give instructions in English, but also aims to preserve the native language as on is mastering English; they cannot learn if they do not understand what the teacher or professor is saying.
Earlier this year, Singapore’s former Prime Minister, Lee Guan Yew told the press (SinChew Daily, 2013) that he would like to urge all the parents in Singapore to let their children to receive bilingual education as soon as possible as it deliver more pros than cons for the development of the children. Traditionally, bilingual education was perceived by experts as “damaging” to children early language development as it may cause them to confuse between two languages and affect their learning (Chitester, D.J., 2007), but as more recent researchers begin to uncover the advantages of bilingual education (Cognitive Development Lab, 2013 & National Association for Bilingual Education, n.d.), people around the globe are now accepting and encouraging their children to receive bilingual education, picking up additional languages like: Spanish or Mandarin. The bilingual education indeed offers several priceless advantages to everyone like helping in the development of brain, providing wider job opportunities and making more new friend.