The Necessity Of Bilingual Education In Our Society

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The Necessity Of Bilingual Education In Our Society

Bilingual Education has been a controversial subject within the educational system since its inception in 1974. It is of great importance to define the term "Bilingual" which is " The ability to speak and understand two languages". Included in this definition is the implied ability to transfer knowledge , skills and concepts from the first language to the second language148. It is important because it is upon the ability of the student to transfer knowledge to the second language that is the key to the success of Bilingual Education.

The implementation of bilingual education surfaced as a consequence of the Lau vs. Nichols decision, which stated that schools must provided some kind of special help to those children who do not speak English . The Lau decision held that those students that do not speak English were denied equal treatment under the Civil Right Act of 1964, if they were to be taught in the same manner as the English speaking children.

In 1976, following the Lau decision, California adopted the Chacon-Moscone Bilingual Bicultural Education Act A.B.507 which established specific bilingual program requirements for identification, instruction, staffing assignments, classroom composition, reclassification and parent involvement. In 1980 this act was amended , adding to the above that its primary goal was to move pupils into English as the language of instruction as " effective and efficiently as possible." This amendment changed the above original Act to a more complex set of requirements that included Language Arts and Math in the students native language , English Language Development (ESL), Social Science, Music, Art and P.E . This curriculum utilizes Spec...

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... of home and community". (95) Let us not forget that this country began as the chosen land of immigrants.

Works Cited

Joh, Jason, 147Cultural Diversity and Education148, Education in American Society School of Education, CSUN -1994 (2-8) Krashen, Steven & Biber, Douglass, On Course: Bilingual Education 145s Success in California .

California Association for Bilingual Education, Sacramento, California. 1988 (27)

Crawford , James, Bilingual Education : History , Politics , Theory and Practice Crane Publishing Company, New Jersey, 1989 (39) Hardy, Terri, Daily News 147Bilingual grads surpass native peers on test148 June 22, 1998 (front page)

Hooks, Bell - Lunsford, Andrea/Ruszkiewicz, John The Presence of Others: Voices that Call for Response, 147Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education148, St. Martin146s Press, Inc. New York, NY. (2nd. ed.) (95)

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