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English 311,"Introduction to Linguistics" 

Bilingual Education: Past, Present, and Future

by  Sherine 

| Overview  | Statement of Problem |  Bilingual Education |  Limitations of Information | 

 | Objectives | Definition of Terms |  What is the role of bilingual education? | 

| History |  Political Pressures |  Poverty, Education and Limited English Skills| 

| Comments | Implications of research| 

For years bilingual education in the United States of America has been surrounded by controversy. US public schools began offering bilingual education programs in 1968. They were designed to help English Language Learners to become proficient in English while giving them an opportunity to be successful in academics.

In general those who have some interest in bilingual education would agree that learning to speak English is essential to success in school, employment and overall social interaction. In primary education it is generally understood that students who cannot read midway through elementary school continue to experience literacy-related difficulties throughout their years of formalized learning. These students are often retained, placed in special education and in long term remedial programs (ECS Online, 1999). Therefore, stakeholders in bilingual education must ensure that Limited-English Proficient (LEP) students receive effectively designed instructional programs propelling them toward proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking English.

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For more than 30 years bilingual education has flourished as a controversial issue in how best to teach LEP students. Although both proponents and opponents of bilingual education claim to represent the best interest of LEP students, their positions vary greatly. When bilingual education was first enacted in 1968, the purpose was to address the needs of students whose poor academic performance was a result of insufficient English instruction. The belief was that if LEP students were taught some subjects in their primary language, they could still learn English without jeopardizing content knowledge in their primary or new language. Additionally, the belief held that content knowledge newly learned in their first language would gradually transfer to their new language, English. Thus, LEP students could learn in both their primary language and in English while transferring content knowledge from their first language to their new one.  

However, opponents of bilingual education maintain that without full immersion in the new language, students would develop a native language dependency that ultimately would affect their progress in English language acquisition (Education Week, 1999). Today, the debate continues as to what is the most effective way of educating bilingual students.

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Bilingual Education

In a country like the United States, where English literacy is so essential to mobility, people must be able to speak the language. People who are not able read, write and speak the language are subject to severe socio-economic hardships. Critical areas include transportation, housing, consumer affairs and employment. Students who are not literate in English may experience difficulties in traveling, housing, shopping and work. The results could lead to isolation, depression, alcoholism, drugs, crime and incarceration. It is in the best interest of the government to provide bilingual education programs that have been proven effective. Otherwise, taxpayer can expect to spend more money dealing with the various impacts on the lack English literacy.

The available research is limited to the following factors:

1. Demographically, statistical data from bilingual education studies usually consist of students from low–income families. It is difficult to determine the success of academic programs when students come to school with issues that are not related to school.
2. Parental involvement can take many dimensions and school achievement is influenced by a family process variable, or by how families influence specific school related activities. Although some studies discussed parental involvement as a variable, the impact on the child can not be determined with certainty.

This research paper has several objectives:

1. to state the role of bilingual education,
2. to state the history of bilingual education in the US,
3. to state the issues surrounding the controversy associated with bilingual education, and
4. to state how poverty and the education of the parents of limited-English students factor into bilingual education.

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1. Bilingual Education— Bilingual education is a means to make it possible for linguistically diverse children to achieve the same challenging academic standards required of all children enrolled in America’s schools (Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, 1995). Many proponents of bilingual education often distinguished the approach from "immersion."
2. Immersion—Many opponents of bilingual education advocate "immersing" students in English academic settings as opposed to the more gradual approach recommended by proponents of bilingual education.
3. Effectiveness—An effective program achieves its desired effect.
4. Limited-English Proficiency (LEP)—This terms encompasses English language learners (ELL), whose level of English, reading, writing, speaking or comprehending, interferes with school performance.
5. Parental Involvement—This term refers to activities occurring between a parent and a child, or between a parent and school, that may contribute to the child’s educational development.

America is a diverse country with people from many cultures and nationalities. The number of limited-English proficient students is predicted to rise to unprecedented levels shortly beyond 2000. Faced with this growth, policy-makers and educators continue to search for well-designed instructional programs and/or approaches that yield the most favorable results.

Bilingual education is a means to make it possible for linguistically diverse children to achieve the same challenging academic standards required of all children enrolled in America’s public schools. Bilingual education gives ELL an equal access to education and an opportunity to achieve academic excellence (Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, 1995). Stated simply, bilingual education programs are designed with the goal to: 1) to help limited-English proficient students become proficient in their new language, and 2) to help limited English proficient students achieve the same academic success as those students whose primary language is English. For many years, it was thought that well-designed instructional programs were those that taught students in their primary language. It was believed that students were able to become proficient in their secondary language through their primary language. These students were still able to learn subject area competence.

The role of bilingual education has two major premises:

1. All children are capable of engaging in complex thinking tasks – The potential to achieve high levels of cognitive functioning is a property of the human species and is accessible to all children provided they receive high quality instruction and follow a challenging curriculum.
2. Developing and maintaining the native language in no way interferes with English language acquisition – studies in bilingual classroom supports that using the primary language enhances the acquisition of a second language (Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, 1995).

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Linguistic diversity is not a new issue in our country. At the time of the nation’s first census in 1790, French, Spanish, Irish, Dutch, Swedish, and Welsh were well represented, not to mention more than 300 indigenous languages. Meanwhile, German Americans accounted for 8.6 percent of the population (a proportion comparable to that of Hispanic Americans, 9.0 percent, exactly two centuries later (Crawford, 1995).

In the 1950’s, cultural deprivation theory was viewed as an acceptable perspective. The theory rejected genetics as an explanation for underachievement by minority students. The theory instead addressed the environmental factors in explaining underachievement: "parents’ failure to stress educational attainment, lower-class values that favored living in the present" rather than planning for the future, and inadequate English language skills." W. I. Thomas, a sociologist said that it was the job of the school to make sure that children master the language and values of the dominant society. Thomas believed that it is the responsibility of the school to change the culture of students. By doing this, students would be able to assimilate in the culture (Crawford, 1997). From that moment on bilingual education in America has been a topic of discussion.

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Controversy surrounds all aspects of bilingual education. Political pressures from community members often influence politicians, who limit support for bilingual education programs. Politicized research agendas have produced evaluative research findings both for and against bilingual education programs, and the theoretical positions taken on the interaction of mind and language have clashed throughout the twentieth century (VDT Online, 1999)

When President Clinton set his educational goal for year 2000, he pictured Americans being international academic leaders in math, science, and critical thinking. However, schools in the US had another problem: students were not proficient in English. "Many students lack proficiency in the academic English necessary for successful schooling." (VTD Online, 1999)

The primary language of nearly 3,000,000 students in the US is not English. Beyond 2000 the numbers are expected to increase. These students whose primary language is not English were found in mainly California, New York, Florida and Texas.

With such a large number of students lacking proficiency in English, politicians are getting involved. In 1998 Congress considered 17 bills pertaining to ELL. Although none of these bills were passed, the mere fact that Congress looked at 17 bills was a major accomplishment.

One bill Congress considered was The National Language Act in March 1997. This bill would have made English the official language of the United States. The bill gathered over 50 sponsors in the Congress. English Plus, an organization, is opposed to this bill. The organization advocated embracing America’s diversity by supporting both ESL and bilingual education programs (VDT Online, 1999).

Proposition 227 passed in California about 1 year ago. The bill requires ELL students be fully immersed in an "English-only" classroom. The bill states that after one year of English instruction students would be mainstreamed in a regular classroom. Proponents that supported Proposition 227 believe that the State of California was spending too much money catering to bilingual children. Opponents believe that the passing of Proposition 227 would be more costly to taxpayers because there is no assurance that mainstreaming students is effective. In addition, language barriers in English-only schools prevent LEP parents from helping with homework and consulting with teachers. This often isolates them from school functions.

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Congress found that many Americans who are not proficient in English have limited education and income. The 1990census counted 14 million people. Of that 14 million, 6 percent of people in the population were reported as having difficulty with English. This group was 12 times more likely to have completed less than five years of schooling and half as likely to have graduated from high school compared to English speakers. In addition, children from such households were 50 percent more likely to live in poverty. Prospects, a national study, indicated that 54% of LEP children in grades 1and 3 came from families with income of less than $15,000. At all grade levels, 77% of LEP students qualified for free or reduced price lunch (Crawford, 1997).

"Poverty is associated with numerous social ills that affect children’s readiness to learn, including health problems, crime-ridden neighborhoods, substandard housing, domestic violence, substance abuse, and family mobility, as parents move frequently to find work. For LEP immigrant and refugee children, these difficulties are often exacerbated by the stress of adjusting to a new culture" (Crawford, 1997).

The most important variable in any program’s effectiveness is quality. Teachers need to be given adequate training to teach ELL students. Since there is a shortage of bilingual teachers in California, many teachers do not hold the necessary training to teach LEP students. Therefore, students are may not be getting quality instruction whether or not they are mainstreamed. I feel that whatever program the citizens of California agree on, we need to focus on making sure students are receiving quality instruction. Once it has been determined that students are consistently receiving quality instruction, we can truly determine the effectiveness of bilingual programs.

Perhaps for years to come bilingual education will continue to be a center of controversy. Stakeholders in the debate over bilingual education will continue to remodel old arguments in favor and against how best to deal with ELL. Hopefully, as we move through the new millennium, educators and politicians, and others who have a vested interest in bilingual education will find some common ground upon which to resolve the issues that seem to create divides. While some LEP students are not finding success because of the lack of English proficiency, the debate goes on. Meanwhile, students are not learning or achieving. Hopefully we will see in the future an approach that is universal in terms of both support and effectiveness. This way, children can learn and educators and politicians can find some meaning from this long-lasting American controversy.

Bibliography

Crawford, J. (1999) . Best Evidence: Research Foundations of the Bilingual Education Act [On-line].

Available: http://www.ncbe.org

Crawford, J. (1995) . Bilingual Education: History, Politics, Theory and Practice (Rev. ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Crane.

ECS Online, (1999) . Reading: What Policymakers Need to Know [On-line].

Available: http://www.ecs.org

Education Week, (1999) . Bilingual Education [On-line].

Available: http://www.edweek.org

Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, (1996). What is the role of bilingual education? [On-line].

Available: http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/library/policy/index.htm

VDT Online, (1999) . Controversy surrounds all aspects of bilingual education [On-line].

Available: http: www.scholar.lib.rt.edu/theses