Bilingual Education: Why it is Necessary Language is a fundamental component of any interpersonal relationship. What becomes of those that cannot be understood? Disregarding contributions because of language could be discarding the greatest intellectual development of the twenty-first century, and one might never know about it. This demonstrates the importance of knowing multiple languages, whether it is Sign Language, Spanish, French, Dutch, Mayan, or any other medium of communication. Cultures throughout history have crumbled as a result of language barriers, leaving only artifacts and records to tell their story. This has been exhibited in various indigenous civilizations across the globe, such as the Coast Miwok language, which had been …show more content…
However, being bilingual does not make one “smarter” but instead provides the skills necessary to succeed. A study by Ellen Bialystok, a psychologist at York University, exhibits that children who grow up learning two languages have proven to score higher than monolingual students (Freemark). This was not a result of genetics or preparation, but a result of their own mental abilities which happened to be sharpened by the practice of two languages. The key role that language plays in everyday lives allows it to have such a great effect on people. Language is practiced throughout the entire day, no math practice can equate to the amount of language people exercise daily, simply by communication with one another. No other cognitive exercise nears same usage of language on a single day. Bialystok has reasoned that bilingual brains are better at tuning out sound due to refined executive controls. The brain’s constant maneuver between languages has permitted students to focus better in school. The academic aptitude brought forth by bilingualism has made such a great impact it does no longer goes unrecognized, in the state of Washington, the Seal of Biliteracy law recognizes bilingual excellence among graduates in the state (Need). Bilingual education inarguably displays a positive academic impact on students which allows them to excel with refined
It is important to maintain children’s home language as it may help them learn and understand a second language. Barratt-Pugh (2000) discusses the benefits of bilingualism and maintaining it through early childhood settings, also mentions the concerns families have for their children maintaining two languages through schooling. Research within the article states that children who speak more than one language will have a higher level of understanding literacy content, form, genre, as well as understand the differences and translating within both languages. This demonstrates a contrast of strengths and experiences with literacy (linguist...
Mental flexibility is superior in bilingual children since learning two language forces their minds to process two language systems at one time. Bilingualism promotes divergent (a divergent thinker is someone who thinks of many possible solutions to a problem) and creative thinking (Baker, 144-145). This increase of creative thinking gives a wider variety of associations (Baker, 145-146). Bilingualism is also associated with increased meta-cognitive flexibility and better performance on certain perpetual tasks, such as recognizing a perpetual object “embedded” in a visual background or classification tasks (Marian, et al.,1). Their divergent thinking helps relevant aspects of a problem may become more salient to bilingual children since their experiences with two language systems and cultures enable them to incorporate different perspectives to the solution (Bialystok, 2001 pg. 204). Bilingualism promotes divergent thinking that is caused by greater cognitive flexibility.
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.
that is a mystery to you. When I came here at age 9, I felt the same,
In the United States, it is important for a person to speak English fluently because it is the official language in America and everybody communicates in English. Many people believe that English should be the only language in America and that sometimes people may face prejudice when they speak English with an accent. For some parents, the fear of prejudice makes them decided not to teach their children their native tongue. On the other hand, there are many other reasons why some parents want to teach their children their native tongue. Gabriela Kuntz explains in My Spanish Standoff why she did not allow her children to speak Spanish at home. Kuntz’s explanations are acceptable, but some research studies reveal that most young children can learn two or more languages. Also, many researchers say that children can learn a second language faster than adults.
Imagine being brought up in a family speaking only one language for your entire life and then you had to move to a foreign land where the language is different. If you had a choice of progressively learning this new language over the course of six to nine years or being put into a classroom and have to virtually teach yourself the language by listening to others around you which would you choose? Late exit bilingual education is a more effective form of bilingual education compared to the English immersion form of bilingual education in the fact that there are more benefits and less adverse effects. There are many reasons why late exit bilingual education should be the choice of public schools everywhere with high minority populations. One of the effects of late exit bilingual education is that the students would be able to maintain their cultural background instead of having to give up one or the other. Language is a big part of a person’s culture. Late exit bilingual education gives the non-English speaking students more time to master the English language which is not an easy language to learn in three years as the English immersion strategy teaches. The findings of the Ramirez team in 1991 evaluating the effectiveness of English immersion, early exit bilingual education, and late exit bilingual education further prove why late exit bilingual education is the one that needs to be used.
In order to learn more about the bilingual education program in the Public School system, we felt it would be essential to discuss a few controversial issues with some bilingual teachers, and ask them for their opinion on the effectiveness of the system and the concept of bilingual education. We also questioned the benefits and disadvantages of the program. We wrote and asked these question with Latino (Puerto Rican) migrants in mind, however the Public School system consists of many ethnic groups which speak other languages other than Spanish. As one of the teachers stated, the political connotation that Bilingual Education carries is that of concerning only Spanish and English. We interviewed Mrs. Aida Ramos (Vice-Principal), Ms. Clara Velez (Bilingual Math Teacher), Mrs. Irene Killian (TESOL), Ms. Zoraida Ortiz (Bilingual Science Teacher), and Ms. Nancy Harrison (TESOL/Bilingual Computer Lab Teacher).
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.
Most children have the capacity to learn another language, which can be a very useful tool in other aspects of life. Researchers point out several advantages to being bilingual including: learning new words easily, using information in different ways, being able to categorize words, problem solving, improved listening skills, and better connections with others (The Advantages of Being Bilingual). Studies done have shown that children, adults, as well as older adults who are bilingual and use both languages on an everyday basis show higher levels of regulation in their cognitive processes, for example a stronger memory and problem solving abilities. (DeDonno, p.
BILINGUALISM have both Positive and Negative effects on the Child’s linguistic, Cognitive and Educational Development.
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...
Previously it was believed and found that being bilingual could reduce cognitive ability but these findings are already falsified. The most important benefit of being bilingual is the improvement of the executive control. It is mostly found with brain imaging technics. As the second or more language learn, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the brain becomes more active. This area is mostly associated with problem solving, attention control, working memory and cognitive flexibility. This augmented executive control can be found in all developmental stages. In a Bialystok’s research (1999, 2004), 4- to 5- years old bilingual children accomplished better scores than their monolingual counterparts in the dimensional-change card-sort task. Moreover, in another study (Bialystok, Luk, & Kwan, 2005), in the Children’s Embedded Figures Task, bilingual children were abler to see the both sides of the ambiguous figure. These tasks require perceptual analysis and also the second task requires hindering the original meaning of the stimulus. Additionally, bilingual children were more successful in the Several Reaction Time Tasks and they have smaller Simon Effect (Bialystock, Craik, Klein & Viswanathan, 2004). On the other hand, being a bilingual is not all positive. Bilingual children, show very limited vocabulary knowledge when they are compared with their monolingual counterparts; and this limitedness can be seen across the life-span (Bialystok, 2011). They also have lower scores in the tasks that are required rapid lexical access and retrieval. Furthermore, they have difficulties in the Picture-Naming Tasks, Verbal-Fluency Tasks; they experience more tip-of-the-tongue states and reveal more obstacles in lexical decisions. In addition, in a study which compares monolinguals, bilinguals and speech-sign bilinguals, higher scores in nonverbal flanker task, which displays higher executive control, were only found for verbal bilinguals
Over 30 million indigenous people live in Latin America today, representing more than 400 distinct ethnolinguistic groups (Hamel, “Indigenous Education” 271). Yet, despite the large amount of activism by indigenous groups and the proliferation of international instruments protecting indigenous rights in recent decades, the development of bilingual education systems and indigenous language rights has largely varied between Latin American countries. This inconsistency can be seen through the case studies of: Bolivia and Guatemala, in which indigenous populations are the numerical majority; Ecuador and Mexico, in which significant indigenous populations exist and have noteworthy social and political weight; and Paraguay where a robust bilingual education program has been developed despite indigenous populations accounting for a small percentage of the overall population and having limited social and political weight (Hamel, “Indigenous Education” 273).
“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
As time goes by and as the global community develops, the world grows more and more international, making second or third language acquisition become necessary to the majority. With the growing importance of multiple language ability, more and more parents think of bilingual or multilingual education, which means acquisitions of two or more languages, for their kids. In fact, we do have many reasons showing why multilingual education is important and beneficial, such as aspects of interpersonal relationship, employment, brain health, and so on.