Bilingual Education Act in the USA - Article Example

Thesis ment: English only laws in the United s discourage bilingualism in the educational system, which in turn discourages cultures otherthan the American culture in the United States. Introduction English only laws in the United States discourage bilingualism in the educational system, which in turn discourages cultures other than the American culture in the United States. An English only speaking movement, in some form or another, has been present in the United States since the 19th century. While movements from the past have influence the English only speaking issue, today’s English only speaking movement centers around illegal immigrants. The furor surrounding the English only speaking movement could create federal laws requiring only English to be taught and spoken at federally funded schools, which would be all the public schools. If the message to bilingual students and parents is an ’English only’ attitude, bilingual students and parents would have to give up their native language in public, especially in schools. This would affect not only bilingual individuals, but their whole culture as well. Since the first Thirteen Colonies, an English only attitude was prevalent. Despite the fact the colonist came and eventually conquered not just the Native Americans, but a large area of Spanish speaking territory, the expectation was for the natives to learn English. After the Louisiana Purchase, a substantial area merged into the United States was French speaking. One requirement of immigrants from Europe, South America, and all over the world in order to become naturalized citizens was to pass a basic English test. The Founding Father’s deliberately left this issue ambiguously. The Constitution, Bill of Rights, or Declaration of Independence, although written in English, was English declared the official language of the new country. Ovando (2006) suggests: The potential for controversy over language policy was present from the beginning. Yet, the nations founders adopted neither ‘an official language nor a government-sanctioned body to regulate speech’. Although not the official language, English became the unofficial language of the United States throughout the years due to cultural and social factors. Despite the English only movements of the past and present, immigrants still came to the United States speaking their native languages. English education for naturalized citizens and their children that spoke English as a second language was needed in schools. In 1968 the Bilingual Education Act (BEA) (Del Valle 2003) was passed with the intent of teaching students enough English to succeed in the American educational structure (226). English taught under the current BEA system does not replace the native language. Sanchez and Sanchez (2009) explain: The existing system has sought to provide limited English proficient (LEP) children cognitive development in their first language as they acquire social and academic English language vocabulary and comprehension. Though more expensive than full English immersion programs, bilingual education has been shown by sound research to be the best means for promoting the academic success of English language learners. This type of program helps bilingual students to truly be bilingual. The goal is to teach English along side their native language, not for English to replace a native language. Today’s English only movement has been linked to illegal immigration. Many argue that by providing bilingual education and services the government makes the illegal immigration problem worse. However Ovando (2006) asserts: The conditions producing todays official English movement have been present in the United States since before the countrys founding two centuries ago, and the arguments both for and against official English have been repeated, with slight variations and little so far as official English is concerned. The illegal immigrant and English only issue is currently focused on illegal Latino immigrant, but the same argument has been used against the Japanese, Chinese, German, Italian, and other legal immigrants. The English only movement as described by U.S. English Inc. (2009) is: Declaring English the official language means that official government business at all levels must be conducted solely in English. This includes all public documents, records, legislation and regulations, as well as hearings, official ceremonies and public meetings. Public documents include school records, shot records, birth certificates, and other necessary items required when enrolling a child in school. Public meetings would include PTA meetings, parent/teacher conferences, and other public school meetings. If this law was passed, all bilingual children and parents would have to speak English in order to participate in the United States’ public school system. The English language would be promoted at the determent of the bilingual individual’s own language and culture. Language and Culture Language and culture are intrinsically linked. Chaika (1994) states “Children are not taught their native language. They figure it out for themselves through social interaction” (6). Thus a native language is taught through verbal and nonverbal interaction with individuals around the child. This makes a native language part of an individual’s identity. An example would be syntax and slang used in different cultures. A saying in the United States is ‘You’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar’. An individual from another country might ask why an American wants to catch flies in the first place. Another example is of a French saying ‘February 2, winter either wanes or gains strength”. While making perfect sense to the French, Americans might ask what does February 2 have to do with anything? February 2 is only Groundhog Day. These sayings are part of a culture. Without even realizing individuals pass this type of verbal sayings on to their children sharing generations of culture. Thus when an individual language is discouraged, so is the whole cultural identity. The English language also has a distinct cultural aspect that most other languages do not have. English does not place gender on inanimate objects generally. A man might call his car a she, but this is not proper English. Other languages German, French, Spanish, and others have female and male prefixes for inanimate objects. In French la (female) or le (male) is placed in front of different things ranging from pencils to windows. Another difference between English and other languages is the adverb and adjective placement. An English sentence would be ’I love the blue ball.’ The same sentence in other languages would first put the noun than the describing word after the noun. The sentence in French would say ‘ball blue’. Instead of thinking about a color first, other languages think about the object first. All of these unique syntaxes make English as distinctive as the individual culture it represents. These discrepancies can make thinking in a new language different. The language is once again linked to the specific culture. One important issue that the English only movement does not inform their followers of is the English spoken and written by Americans does not meet the proper English requirements. The UK, Australia, and other English speaking countries use proper English. Proper English and American English are not spoken the same, nor spelled the same. An example would be ‘other’. ‘Program’ is spelled ‘program’ in America, but in England and Australia the word is ’programme’. The silent ’e’ at the end of the proper English word makes the ’o’ long. Many people do not understand the difference. The reason for the differences is social factors. Chaika (1994) explains “Languages change with changing social issues” (6). When the colonists settled in the New World, social issues like home schooling, wanting to be different than the British, and other factors created not only a new sounding language, but a new written language as well. The English only movement wants American English to be the only language. Current Bilingual Education Approach There are several techniques to educate a bilingual child. The most commonly used methods are (Ovando 2006): Structured immersion programs: There is no use of the native language, but students are given specialized ESL instruction tailored to levels of English proficiency. Partial immersion programs: These programs provide ESL instruction, and a small amount of time (e.g., 1 hour each day) may be set aside temporarily for instruction in the native language, but the goal is to move to English as quickly as possible. Transitional bilingual programs: These programs provide extensive instruction in the native language as well as in English. However, once a child attains a certain level of English proficiency, he or she is exited into a monolingual English program. The early-exit transitional bilingual programs mainstream students after 2 years or by the end of the second grade. A late-exit transitional program delays exiting students until the fifth or sixth grade. Programs vary and may not always adhere to these guidelines. Maintenance or developmental bilingual education: Extensive instruction is provided in the native language as well as in English. Unlike students in transitional bilingual education, those in a maintenance or developmental program continue to receive part of their instruction in the native language even after they become proficient in English. Two-way immersion programs: Speakers of both languages are placed together in a bilingual classroom to learn each others language and to work academically in both languages. In a two-way program, the language-- majority children become bilingual and biliterate alongside the language minority children. For example, the English-speaking child learns Spanish while the Spanish-speaking child learns English within the same classroom. Del Valle (2003) reports in 1968 the Bilingual Education Act (BEA) was passed. This act has been modified and expanded upon. Currently out of the five options above number three is used in most cases. The goal of this option is to respect an individual’s culture and language, but teaches enough English for the individual to pass in mainstream society. Structured immersion programs are motivated toward the individual learning English solely. Partial immersion programs are motivated toward learning English, but does not discourage the native language. Maintenance or developmental bilingual education is motivated toward the encouragement of English and a native language. Two-way immersion programs are motivated towards an English and other language, like Spanish, exchange between the two groups of students. The BEA’s option of respecting an individual’s culture, but still teaching the individual enough English to pass in mainstream is the best option for schools out of the five. Current Bilingual Education Pros/Cons The current bilingual education has pros and cons. When the BEA was significant studies on bilingual issues were just emerging. Ovando (2006) states: These programs sought to address the academic, linguistic, sociocultural, and emotional needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Guided initially more by goodwill and intuition than by specific pedagogical principles based on empirical research, the Bilingual Education Act set in motion a movement that has come very far since its inception. The techniques used were designed as the issue emerged. Chaika (1994) explains “students of sociolinguist should gain new respect for all peoples, more than any numbers of lectures on brotherhood or sisterhood could ever give them” (5). This attitude allowed for greater tolerance and gave individual students a new respect for themselves and others. Different districts dealt with individual students by need, not necessarily by mass. Brisk (2006) suggests: Evaluations should not be limited to a students’ outcomes because such results depend on program quality. Results should be interpreted in terms of the school’s characteristics and how well the school adheres to conditions of quality bilingual education. (210) This method deals with individuals and their cultural needs. This is a major benefit. Another benefit from type of education is the child learns English. The English learned in class can be used to interpret for parents, grandparents, and other non-English speaking relatives and friends. These students can even teach their parents English. By focusing on learning English and continuing with an individual’s native language, these students can pass along the knowledge they are learning from school. This helps reduce the need for interpreters or even papers printed in different languages. A con of this type of education is the cost. It would be cheaper to totally immerse every child into an English only class. This would cut out the need for bilingual teachers, special curriculum, and tailored programs especially for bilingual individuals. This cost is only estimated for in school services. The whole government would lessen costs as well. No more bilingual services would be available. Personnel, pamphlets, and other resources would no longer be needed. On the other hand, the cost of not funding bilingual education would be immense. The time to make both sides understand each other in the classroom, courtrooms, and in business would cost more than the actual bilingual education. Every situation would mandate a paid interpreter, instead of a family one. Not to mention the cost of terrorist activity that would flourish in a perceived pro-English attitude. All of these costs make bilingual education a valuable. The pros outweigh the cons in the bilingual educational system. With the bilingual education system a culture can be respected, just like the United States want their culture respected. The cost of bilingual education can be offset by the benefits and cost of mainstreaming bilingual individuals. Most importantly the bilingual education system can encourage learning. Learning is the reason for education in the first place. English Only Bilingual Education Pros/Cons A pro for English only education is the cost. As pointed out above the cost for an all English immersion program would be significantly lower. Another pro would be every individual in the United States theoretically speak, read, and write English. This would unite the country under one national language. An expectation of the educational system would be universally understood. Advocates for this position suggests other countries like France or Saudi Arabia have national languages that reflect their own cultures. The United States should have this right as well. Another pro would be the deterrent toward illegal immigrants. These illegal immigrants would not be as eager to learn English only. These are all pros for an English only education. The cons of an English only education are many. As pointed out above the cost would be offset by the benefits of this type of education. The theory that other countries are monolingual has some truth, but only a grain. Canada, Israel, Mexico, and other countries not only have bilingual systems, these systems are encouraged. As for the illegal immigrant deterrent, research shows (Valdez 2006): There is no evidence in the present study that the Spanish language is being maintained in the United States Southwest. On the contrary, it appears that the Spanish-origin population in the last half of the 20th century is behaving like ’normal’ segment of the United States society; it seems to be giving up the ethnic language and shifting toward English as it becomes exposed to the mainstream of American life. The principal exceptions to this language shift appear to be where there is either isolation from the mainstream or a considerable influx of Spanish speakers from Mexico. (54) Obviously the Spanish speaking population has no problem adapting toward an English mainstream. All of these issues make an English only educational system detrimental to the bilingual speaker and the United States. Conclusion English only laws in the United States discourage bilingualism in the educational system, which in turn discourages cultures other than the American culture in the United States. Language is linked to an individual’s culture. Whether monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual an individual’s personality or essence is wrapped up in languages learned. English only laws make individuals that do not speak English as a first language feel embarrassed about their native language. This is giving the message that the language is embarrassing or wrong. Instead of promoting a pro-English stance, this movement is creating an anti-native language atmosphere. The current BEA is good for both the United States and the bilingual individual. The purpose is to give them language skills while respecting the individual’s language and culture. This type of education fosters a mutual respect between the English and native speaker. Despite claims of illegal immigrants and other English only reasons, the bottom line is the United States needs to respect other cultures. The BEA shows that the United States has respect for other cultures and languages. The United States educational system was taught to educate students, not teach exclude a group due to their native language. Biography Bonvillain, N. (2008). Culture, language and communication: The meaning of messages, (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River : Prentice Hall. Brisk, M.E. (2006). Bilingual education: From compensatory to quality schooling. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Chaika, M. 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Bilingual Education Act: Language minority students and equal educational opportunity. Winter 1998. Bilingual Research Journal. 4 Sept. 2009 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3722/is_199801/ai_n8762946/?tag=content;col1 Read More