The benefits and necessity of bilingual education in schools and universities - Essay Example

The debate on bilingual education has been something that has been ongoing since the 1960s when the equality of different Minority groups in the United States was first asserted.This is because there were many American citizens who could not speak fluent English,but were quite fluent in other languages such as Spanish and FrenchToday there are many schools that champion the case of bilingual education. In some of such schools, the students are in English as well as their native languages. Comprehending the disadvantages as well as advantages of a bilingual education can help people to develop an impartial perspective on the necessity of giving the educational system a bilingual structure.

While many people may think bilingual education is ineffective and unnecessary, I have discovered it to be otherwise. Why Bilingual Education is Unnecessary. There are many people who feel that the bilingual system of education will not be beneficial for English speakers in the long run. For example, in English speaking nations, there are people who feel that adopting a bilingual system will compromise the students’ grasp of the English language. To others, it appears that adopting a bilingual system is giving too much power to foreign elements within their own nation (Sizeron).

To them, the effort to become a part of the society lies with the foreigners who relocate to English speaking nations. The citizens of an English speaking nation should not be inconvenienced in different ways in order to make foreigners feel that they are accepted by society. Another reason why some people may be against bilingual education in their schools is because they do not wish to be forced to start learning new languages. Bilingual education systems inevitably result in a larger fraction of citizens who speak two languages clearly.

From there, it is quite easy for the reigning government to make the decision that it will have an additional national language. This means that it is not just the students who will be compelled to learn the new language. The English speaking citizens of the nation will also be compelled to learn the new language in order to be able to navigate around public systems that may start operating in two different languages. Not all people are talented and able to learn other languages easily. For many people, learning a new language is quite a difficult undertaking.

Another reason why some people oppose the structuring of a bilingual educational system is that it might cost more than can be dedicated to expanding a nation’s educational system. Using different languages in different nations, states, or cities in the same region means that there will have to be different facilities to cater for the speakers of all languages. This will also further strain the educational systems of most countries which do not even fully cover the existing programs (National Latino Children’s Institute).

Opponents of the bilingual educational system also often stress that children may be confused if they are suddenly required to start speaking different languages and master all of them. From their point of view, subjects such as English can only be mastered through the ‘immersion’ method. This means that the student has to have the opportunity to speak this language in all settings in order to become accustomed to it. Introducing a new language means that students will have to learn two languages concurrently.

This could mean that none of the languages become well mastered. Why Bilingual Education is Necessary. According to the proponents of bilingual education, there are many reasons why bilingual educational systems are beneficial both for students as well as the general society. In addition to allowing children to develop a feeling for cultural pluralism, there are academic as well as cultural benefits associated with speaking two languages right from childhood. According to a research documented by