Bilingual education

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Bilingual education involves teaching all subjects in school through two different languages - in the United States, instruction occurs in English and a minority language, such as Spanish or Chinese, with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model. The following are several different types of bilingual education program models:

Transitional Bilingual Education. This involves education in a child's native language, typically for no more than three years, to ensure that students do not fall behind in content areas like math, science, and social studies while they are learning English. The goal is to help students transition to mainstream, English-only classrooms as quickly as possible, and the linguistic goal of such programs is English acquisition only. The overwhelming majority of bilingual programs in the U.S. are transitional.

Two-Way or Dual Language Bilingual Education. These programs are designed to help native and non-native English speakers become bilingual and biliterate. Ideally in such programs in a U.S. context, half of the students will be native speakers of English and half of the students will be native speakers of a minority language such as Spanish. Dual Language programs are less commonly permitted in US schools, although research indicates they are extremely effective in helping students learn English well and aiding the long-term performance of English learners in school (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2005; Thomas & Collier, 1997; Lindholm-Leary, 2000).

Late-Exit or Developmental Bilingual Education. Education is in the child's native language for an extended duration, accompanied by education in English. The goal is to develop bilingualism and biliteracy in both languages. This program is available to students whose native language is not English, and also less common than transitional programs.

1 Examples across the world
2 Controversy
3 See also
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] Examples across the world

[edit] Andalusia

In Andalusia (Iberia's southernmost region) things have changed drastically concerning bilingual education since the introduction of the Plurilingualism Promotion Plan by the autonomous government. The plan was born as the realization for the Andalusian territory of the European language policies regarding the teaching and learning of languages. With special strength in the past ten years, the Council of Europe have been encouraging governments and education authorities to design new schemes on the teaching and learning of languages, inclusive of the mother tongue, which enhance communication targets, rather than descriptive or reflexive knowledge, as well as the promotion of language diversity, intercultural values and democratic citizenship.

In addition to this new European scene, our Scheme for the Promotion of Plurilingualism has learnt a lot from the first experimental bilingual sections set up in some schools by the Andalusian government in 1998. Following the content-based approach, French and German were used to partly teach other subjects. This succesful experience, as show the international tests that the students have been given, is the starting point for a more ambitious scene, where 400 schools will be involved in the next four years, more languages, especially English, will take part, and a lot of investigation and implementation of the Integrated Curriculum of languages must be carried out.

Being aware of the necessity of the Andalusian people to adapt to the new scenario, a major government plan, called “strategies for the second modernization of Andalusia”, was designed in 2003. The plan highlighted the importance of languages in our lives, because thanks to them we know how to think and we express and exchange our ideas. The document also underlined language diversity as a source of richness and a valuable heritage of humankind which needs to be looked after.

It was then clear that a scheme was needed to carry out this new language policy in our territory, especially affecting education, with clear goals, timing and funding.

Therefore, the major goal of the Scheme for the Promotion of Plurilingualism is to design a new language policy for Andalusia, according to the principles of the European Council, in order to provide our citizens with the plurilingual and multicultural competence to respond to the new economic, technological and social challenges, based on an Integrated Curriculum for all languages and key stages.

The scheme is to be developed through 5 major programmes and also an organisation and assessment plan.

The programmes are:

- Bilingual schools - Official Schools of Languages - Plurilingualism and teachers - Plurilingualism and society - Organization and assessment plan.

Full version in English of the Plurilingualism Promotion Plan [1]

[edit] Australia

In Australia there are some schools with bilingual programs which cater for children speaking community languages other than English. Baldauf (2005) explains that these programs are now beginning to benefit from more government support. Bilingual education for Indigenous students, however, has only received intermittent official backing. In the Northern Territory, for example, bilingual programs for Indigenous students were begun with Federal Government support in the early 1970s but by December 1998 the Northern Territory Government had announced its decision to shift $3 million away from the 21 bilingual programs to a Territory-wide program teaching English as a second language. Within 12 months though the government had softened its position. Most bilingual programs were allowed to continue under the guise of two-way education. Then on 24 August 2005 the Minister for Employment, Education and Training announced that the government would be "revitalising bi-lingual education" at 15 Community Education Centres: Alekerange, Angurugu, Borroloola, Gapuwiyak, Gunbalunya, Kalkaringi, Lajamanu, Maningrida, Milingimbi, Ramingining, Ngkurr, Shepherdson College, Numbulwar, Yirrkala and Yuendumu. This revitalisation is conceived as part of an effort aimed at "providing effective education from pre-school through to senior secondary at each of the Territory’s 15 Community Education Centres". As Harris & Devlin (1986) observe, “Aboriginal bilingual education in Australia represents much more than a range of education programs. It has been a measure of non-Aboriginal commitment to either assimilation or cultural pluralism”.

[edit] Canada

In Canada, education is under provincial jurisdiction. However, the federal government has been a strong supporter of establishing Canada as a bilingual country and has helped pioneer the French immersion programs in the public education systems throughout Canada. In French immersion students with no previous French language training, usually beginning in Kindergarten or grade 1, do all of their school work in French. Regular English programs provide Core French in later grades, usually in grade 4. Depending on provincial jurisdiction, some provinces also offer an Extended French program that begins in grade 7 which offers relatively more courses in French. There are also some private schools and preschools that do immersion programs in other languages. see also Bilingualism in Canada

[edit] Hong Kong

In Hong Kong where both English and Chinese are official, both languages are taught in school and are mandatory subjects. Either English or Chinese is used as the medium of instruction for other subjects.

[edit] Japan

In Japan, the need for bilingualism (mostly Japanese and English) has been pointed out, and there are some scholars who advocate teaching children subjects such as mathematics using English rather than Japanese. As part of this proposal, subjects such as history, however, would be taught solely in Japanese.

[edit] Southeast Asia

Since the mid-1990s bilingual approaches to schooling and higher education have become popular in parts of Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand and Malaysia where different models have been applied, from L2 immersion (content taught in a non-native language) to parallel immersion, where core subjects are taught in both the mother-tongue and a second language (usually English). Malaysian government policy mandates the phased introduction of English immersion for Math, Science and IT. The Sarasas model, pioneered by the Sarasas schools affiliation in Thailand, is an exemplar of parallel immersion.

The dificulties and disputes characteristic of the US experience have not been replicated in these Asian countries, though they are not without controversy. Generally, it can be said that there is widespread acknowledgement of the need to improve English competence in the population, and bilingual approaches, where language is taught through subject content, are seen to be the most effective means of attaining this. The most significant limiting factors are the shortage of teachers linguistically competent to teach in a second language and the costs involved in use of expatriate native speakers for this purpose.

[edit] The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, there are around 50 bilingual schools. In these schools, some subjects are taught in English, some in Dutch. Most schools are TVWO (Bilingual Preparatory Scientific Education), but there is THAVO (Bilingual Higher General Secondary Education), too. The following subjects are taught in English: Arts, Chemistry, Physics, Drama, English, Mathematics, History and Religious Studies.

[edit] United States

Bilingual education in the U.S. focuses on learners of English as a second language. In certain states, the term also is used for dual-language immersion programs which, school wide, seek to educate all children in two languages simultaneously.

According to the U.S. Department of Education website a bilingual education program is “an educational program for limited English proficient students”. Furthermore, the term Limited English proficiency, when used with respect to an individual, means an individual whose primary language is other than English and whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language may be sufficient to deny the individual the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English or the opportunity to participate fully in society.

In the 50 states of the United States, proponents of the practice argue that it will help to keep non-English-speaking children from falling behind their peers in math, science, and social studies while they master English. Opponents of bilingual education argue that it delays students' mastery of English, thereby retarding the learning of other subjects as well. In California there has been considerable politicking for and against bilingual education.

In 1968 U.S., with Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or, informally, the Bilingual Education Act, Congress first mandated bilingual education in order to give immigrants access to education in their “first” language. (The Act was amended in 1988).

A 1974 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Lau v. Nichols gave further momentum to bilingual education. Here, the Court held that California schools violated minority language students' rights when they educated students without special provisions.[2]

There are two different approaches to this form of instruction. One is called ‘bilingual education’ and it involves teaching in the students’ first language and also English. The other is known as an ‘immersion program’ where the teachers instruct predominantly in English, and use the students’ native language only for explanations.

The majority of U.S. high school students in the United States are required to take at least 1 to 2 years of a second language. The vast majority of these classes are either French or Spanish. In a large number of schools this is taught in a manner known as FLES, in which students learn about the second language in a manner similar to other subjects such as Math or Science. Some schools use an additional method known as FLEX in which the "nature of the language" and culture are also taught. High school education almost never uses "immersion" techniques.

[edit] Controversy

There has been much debate over bilingual education in recent times.

Proponents of bilingual education say that it is easier for students to learn English if they are literate in their first language and that good bilingual programs strive to achieve proficiency in both the primary and secondary language for the student. Some claim that this type of learning works well in a classroom where half the students speak English and half are considered limited English proficient (LEP). The teacher instructs in English and in the LEP’s primary language. The dual purpose of this type of classroom is to teach the children a new language and to let them learn about another culture. It is alleged that if the program is well designed and the teachers are well equipped then kids have a better chance of success.

Opponents of bilingual education claim that many bilingual education programs are, in fact, native language programs with a minimal emphasis on teaching students proficiency in the primary language of the culture they are in (e.g., English).

Critics of bilingual education have claimed that studies supporting bilingual education tend to have poor methodologies and that there is little empirical support in favor of it. And oftentimes, the "supporting research" is decades old. Results of more recent studies refute earlier claims and instead encourage simultaneous bilingualism (see "External Links" below, "Adults and Children...") .

The controversy over bilingual education is often enmeshed in a larger political and cultural context. Opponents of bilingual education are sometimes accused of racism and xenophobia. This is especially so in the case of such groups as English First which is a conservative organization that promotes the stance that English should be the official language of the United States.

Proponents of bilingual education are frequently accused of practicing identity politics to the detriment of children and of immigrants, a position that may be bolstered by the fact that various polls have shown that immigrant communities often support the curtailing of bilingual language programs.

The controversies involved in this issues were highlighted by California's Proposition 227[3] which sought to curtail bilingual education in favor of early immersion in English, and "mainstreaming". In 1998, California voters passed the proposition over strenuous objections from bilingual advocates.

The ultimate effect of the passage of Proposition 227 has been controversial. Political opponents of bilingual education claimed that statistics have shown an improvement in student scores, while academic researchers have shown California test scores do not reflect improvements due to Proposition 227. The final report of a study commissioned by the California state legislature, released in 2006, also found that Proposition 227 did not improve academic outcomes for English Learners.

California was followed by Arizona in the passage of a similar legislation Arizona Proposition 203 which limited the opportunities available to minority language students. The Arizona law is even more restrictive, particularly under the implementation of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

[edit] See also

Education by subject (Portal)

Agricultural · Art · Bilingual · Chemistry · Language · Legal · Mathematics · Medical · Military · Music · Peace · Performing arts · Physics · Reading · Religious · Science · Sex · Technology · Vocational · More...

[edit] Further reading

Baldauf, R.B. (2005). Coordinating government and community support for community language teaching in Australia: Overview with special attention to New South Wales. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,8 (2&3): 132–144
Carter, Steven. (November 2004). “Oui! They’re only 3.” Oregon Live.com
Crawford, J. (2004). Educating English Learners: Language Diversity in the Classroom (5th edition). Los Angeles: Bilingual Educational Services (BES).
Dean, Bartholomew (Ed.) (2004) “Indigenous Education and the Prospects for Cultural Survival”, Cultural Survival Quarterly,(27)4.
Dutcher, N., in collaboration with Tucker, G.R. (1994). The use of first and second languages in education: A review of educational experience. Washington, DC: World Bank, East Asia and the Pacific Region, Country Department III.
Gao, Helen. (November 2004). “Fight over bilingual education continues.” The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Gonzalez, A. (1998). Teaching in two or more languages in the Philippine context. In J. Cenoz & F. Genesee (Eds.),Beyond bilingualism: Multilingualism and multilingual education (pp. 192-205). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Grimes, B.F. (1992). Ethnologue: Languages of the world Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Hakuta, K. (1986).Mirror of language: The debate on bilingualism. New York: Basic Books.
Harris, S.G. & Devlin, B.C. (1996). "Bilingual programs involving Aboriginal languages in Australia". In Jim Cummins and David Corso (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education, vol 5, pp. 1–14. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Kloss, Heinz (1977, reprinted 1998). The American Bilingual Tradition. (Language in Education; 88) McHenry,IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems. ISBN 1-887744-02-9
Krashen, S.D. (1999). Bilingual Education: Arguments for and (Bogus) Arguments Against [sic] University of Southern California professor's article is available online at http://digital.georgetown.edu/gurt/1999/gurt_1999_10.pdf
Summer Institute of Linguistics. (1995). A survey of vernacular education programming at the provincial level within Papua New Guinea. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Author.
Swain, M. (1996). Discovering successful second language teaching strategies and practices: From program evaluation to classroom experimentation." Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 17," 89-104.