Bilingual Education to Native American Indians - Essay Example

7 December Bilingual Education to Native American Indians Introduction Bilingual Education refers to a type of education where two or more languages are used to present academic knowledge to individuals, usually belonging to a minority language group. These languages majorly constitute of the native language, usually a minority, and a secondary language, usually a majority, and in most cases English. Bilingual Education has for a long time provided a platform of controversy in many states and governments. There has always been a conflict of whether to unanimously allow bilingual education as a norm or whether to limit its practice. The war of ideas on each side fighting for and against this issue will for a long time exist, not unless an ultimate solution to this problem is finally met (Baker, 3). This paper presents a report to be made to the Governor of California, Governor Brown, concerning a scenario that greatly puts to test the policies related to Bilingual Education in California. The scenario involved concerns the discovery of oil in the Native American Indian reservation of California, mildly extending to the State of Arizona, called South Mojave Reserve, comprising of a select tribe called Hacama. This tribe is entirely entitled to the ownership of the discovered oil on its reserve and not even the government has the right to explore it without the occupiers’ permission. The dilemma here is an exchange of favor, where the California Indian Council demands Bilingual Education in exchange of granting permission to the State in the exploration of the greatly needed resource in its reservation. This report highlights brief details on the facts of Native American Indians in California, policies that might be applied by the Governor in an aim to settle the matter, and other vital issues that might be relevant in the talks that would involve the Governor and the Native American Indians. The conclusion involves a preferred choice of action and the impending pros and cons that would accompany such a choice, which would have already been highlighted in the policies. Native American Indians Native American Indians in the North America refer to the indigenous population that resides within the borders of the present-day United States of America. These were the original occupiers of North America until other groups started arriving that comprised majorly of European origin and the Africans that were brought in through the slave trade. They comprise of distinct tribes and ethnic populations that survive by pooling together in isolated populations (Williams, Kirk, and Starn, 23). California State currently hosts the majority of Native American Indians in the United States of America. As of 2010, an estimated population of 0.9% constituted the population mark that Native American Indians occupied the United States of America. In California, Native American Indians constitute of 1%, a percentage translating to 372,539 individuals out of the then California population of 37,253,956 (US Census Bureau). Initially, the Native American Indians were more in numbers. However, their numbers drastically reduced after contact with the immigrants who mostly constituted Europeans. Many conflicts, wars, and diseases many years down the line, and the fluctuation in numbers has come to only about 1% in the entire North America. Rock bottom was once reached in the early 1900, when the Native American Indians accounted for a mere 25,000 of the entire California population. A note should, however, be emphasized that the scenario in the scope of the paper only involves the Hacama tribe living within the South Mojave Reserve. The advocacy for Bilingual Education by the California Indian Council is, however, to the entire Native American Indian population in the State of California. Bilingual Education in California California, singularly hosting majority of diverse races and tribes in North America, has had the most experience and debate concerning Bilingual Education. Alongside the Native American Indians, California also hosts a large number of Hispanic speaking individuals, constituting a whole 37.6%, Native Hawaiian constituting 0.4%, and Asian people constituting 13%. The situation in Bilingual Education in the US at large and California state are of no much difference. For a long time, arguments have ensued in the US of the pros and cons of Bilingual Education between its proposers and opposers. The current state of affairs in general cannot be clearly stated given the policy where each state in the US has policies and laws that govern each State. A common policy is, therefore, close to impossible on matters concerning Bilingual Education (Reyes, and Kleyn, 34). Narrowing the scope to California as a state, a more conclusive report can be given. English Learners, a descriptive name given to individuals whose native language is not English, have the highest numbers in California. The population could be translated to the ratio of one English Learner in any group of three. The era defining pre-Proposition 227 (before 1998) allowed bilingual education, despite the controversies that were clouding it at that time. However, post-proposition 227 defined a completely new era. The proposition 227, among its other contents, abolished Bilingual Education, and instead, advocated for a system called Structured English Immersion (SEI). The support for its abolishment was demonstrated by the majority win of 61% against 39%, numbers that could exactly be compared to the one third populations of the English Learners in California (Initiative Statute). The proposition’s proposal of SEI aimed at promoting assimilation rather than tribal pluralism. In SEI, English Learners were to undergo an intense period of English drilling, usually one year, before being absorbed into normal classes that had their content presentation in English language. This aimed at uniting the diversity that was evident in the state, and also providing broader opportunities to the non-English speakers whose native language curriculum didn’t provide. This preposition, therefore, inhibited Bilingual Education in the state. Arizona, a neighboring state to California, and a part of the scenario at hand whose boarders are traversed by the South Mojave Reserve, followed suit. The majority vote paved way to the Arizona Proposition 203 that similarly, inhibited Bilingual Education and instead promoted SEI. Promising bilingual education to Native American Indian tribes in California This first option that the governor has of promising bilingual education to Native American Indian tribes in California seems to be the most potent action to take. This is due to the promise of a two-way mutualism that will see both sides benefitting. The results of this on the narrow perspective would be the Government, through the State of California, getting the right to explore the oil resources found on the reserve. This is despite the actual volume of oil being talked about not being known. On the other hand, the Native American Indians will get the opportunity of getting Bilingual Education. However, this bargain would only apply on the selfish and greedy grounds of the government getting the treasured resource, and the Native American Indians getting Bilingual Education. On the broader perspective, there are many issues bound to arise from this decision. One of the major issues that would arise would be the reaction from other minority issues in the State. Such a crisis would be of no mean impact given the large number of minority language groups that California alone hosts. These groups would automatically want the same policy of Bilingual Education extended to them. Little care will be put in consideration that the Native American Indians were simply being served a compensation for the exploration of their property. An uproar that could be caused by such an action could be of great magnitude and before this option is reached at, careful consideration about other minority language groups should be kept into account. The economic impact of the decision would be another issue. It could be stated to some a measure of confidence that there exist no learning material for Bilingual Education. The same applies to the provision of learning institutions. With a fixed budget provided by the state, it would be a tricky issue to pool resources for Bilingual Education. A graver situation would occur if at all other minority groups would demand the same privilege be extended. South Mojave Reserve extended to the Arizona State. This directly translates to the exploration of oil to the entire region. It would be a great challenge as an uprising is bound to occur where the Hacama tribe on the Arizona side would also demand for the same privilege. Laws being a tricky issue to handle would make this whole process very difficult to handle. This decision would be absolute opposition to the previously passed law named Proposition 227. Proposition 227 abolished Bilingual Education, and rather promoted SEI for the purpose of promoting assimilation and unity, rather than the probability of Bilingual education promoting tribal pluralism. For the adaptation of such an option, abolishment of the proposition, previously passed by a majority, would be forced. This would be against the majority’s right in the state. Eventually, this would grow into one complex legal war that would all the same, waste of resources and time. Not offering bilingual education to the Native American Indian tribes Not offering bilingual education to the Native American Indian tribes would directly mean not accessing the oil resources discovered in their reserves. This is if at all the Natives’ rights would be observed. Oil is the leading energy resource globally and missing out on potential areas of exploration would be a huge loss. This option is, therefore, only on offer if at all the State headed by Governor Brown, would consider other favorable options. This option on the brighter side would avert very many pitfalls as the ones that could have been experienced in the event of promising Bilingual Education. However, this would mean that tougher options to be chosen given the impossibility of the Government to miss out on the resource at hand. Forceful eviction of the Hacama from their reserves would definitely violate their rights as citizens of the US and specifically California. The laws provided legal ownership of the reserve land to the occupants and no one, including the government, had the right to evict them from their reserve. This would also cause uproar, with claims of racism and other negative statements being claimed against the government. Automatically, this would create attention from the media and thus the whole country. Fighting an entire nation would prove more difficult than the initial option of dealing with the minority group. This option would thus force Governor Brown to find other persuasion options. The most probable persuasions would be compensation and fully sponsored program of Structured English Immersion. Fully Sponsored Structured English Immersion with Land Compensation This option, though going against the demands of the Native American Indians, would be the most compliant option to the situation at hand. It would provide the opportunity of the Native American Indian getting a fully sponsored education, though not in their preferred mode. This would eliminate the economic burden that they would have incurred if at all they were to self-sponsor themselves towards getting an education. This option would also adhere to the Propositions 227 and the neighboring Arizona Proposition 203 where no opposition would be made towards the abolishment of Bilingual Education. This would augur well with the rights of the California citizens who voted in the proposition and also promote unity that SEI is intended to promote. Transition into this option would also not create any unnecessary attention as it would be seen as a way to compensate the Hacama for their land. This would absolutely reduce the numbers to deal with by avoiding the larger numbers of Native American Indian, and other minority language groups. Pros of Bilingual Education Bilingual Education has been proposed as the most effective way of imparting knowledge to children under the age of ten on subjects that include science, theology, math, and social studies. This is given their familiarity to their native language. Transition to a 50-50 distribution would thus lead to a situation where English Learners would be both bilingual and biliterate (Pearson, 45). The interaction of one with his or her native language continually identifies one with his or her background. This gives identity to individuals and imparts some sense of belonging, a very key aspect in anyone’s growth and transition into life’s phases. Bilingual Education could give the majority of completely native groups an opportunity to get an education. Most minority groups fear the possibility of completely being isolated in the academic system due to language limitations. This has always made them lag behind in literacy, an aspect that promotes poverty and thus crime. Cons of Bilingual Education Bilingual Education keeps minority groups in isolation and completely avoids the idea of assimilation. The world has turned into one big village and isolation would never be a good idea for any group whatsoever. A system like SEI would thus promote assimilation and the possibility of unity promotion among diverse communities. Bilingual Education initially requires a great investment of resources given its lack of practice. Pioneering in this type of education would need new material, trained personnel, schools, and many other tools that would foster Bilingual Education. Economic considerations of this system would thus require extra resources before it is started (García, 67). Many researchers have argued of the possibility of bilingual education causing more division than unity by keeping at bay minority groups. Due to the 50-50 emphasis on main language learning, minority groups are bound to stay isolated due to limited communication skills in a broader and more understandable language. Most citizens associate bilingual education with minority groups. Identification with this clique has a high chance of increasing racism and tribalism. This is due to the association of this system with minority groups, poverty, and illiteracy. Such a situation would cause more isolation and entrenched hate between the two parties involved. Conclusion The two extreme policies of promising bilingual education to Native American Indians and not offering bilingual education to the Native American Indian tribes have detrimental effects that Governor Brown would do anything to avoid. These include budgetary imbalance, demand and attention from other minority groups, going against laws (proposition 203 and 227), possibility of non-accessibility to the oil resources, and bitter feelings between the parties involved. These would be in conjunction with the various pros and cons of Bilingual Education as clearly outlined. The best solution to the scenario for Governor Brown to rule on would be a fully sponsored Structured English Immersion with land compensation. This option would serve the needs of both ends, with the state getting the rights to access and explore the oil, and the Hacama getting an education, despite it being offered in a different mode, and getting land compensation. This would also attract the least attention as it would be perceived as purely a compensation act for the access of their property. Works Cited Baker, Colin. Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 4th ed. Washington: Multilingual Matters, 2006. Williams, Maria, Kirk, Robin, and Starn, Orin. The Alaska Native Reader: History, Culture, Politics. New York: Duke University Press Books, 2009. Pearson, Barbara, Z. Raising a Bilingual Child. Los Angeles: Living Language, 2008. García, Ofelia. Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008. Reyes, Adelman, and Kleyn, Tatyana. Teaching in Two Languages: A Guide for K-12 Bilingual Educators. New York: Corwin Press, 2010. King, Kendall, and Mackey, Alison. The Bilingual Edge: Why, When, and How to Teach Your Child a Second Language. London: Collins, 2007. Initiative Statute. Proposition 227 - Full Text of the Proposed Law. 23 November 1998. http://primary98.sos.ca.gov/VoterGuide/Propositions/227text.htm. 7 December 2011. US Census Bureau. California State & County Quick Facts. December, 2010. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html. 7 December 2011. Read More