Bilingualism in Eduacation

                                                            Bilingualism in Education

       

Generally, most people define bilingualism as “the ability to speak, listen, read and write two languages easily and naturally”. Considering the fact that this is the 21st century, it is important to state it is not sufficient to be proficient in one language. This is because it limits one in areas such as economic, societal attaining educational success, and this is where bilingualism in education comes in. However, according to Thompson, bilingual education has been and still is a very controversial topic because the initial idea of “equalizing educational opportunities for limited-English speaking students has not been successful” (Thompson 2000, p. 118).



Thompson also declared that there are currently different models such as English as a second language pull out, maintenance and transitional programs use to reach the goal of English language acquisition. However, according to research studies, some of these models are more successful than others (Thompson 2000, p 118) because they help students to learn English at the same

                                                                                                   

level they speak their native language. Hence, it is important that teachers recognize which practices are more beneficial for language-minority students. The success of these practices are based on the students achievement to learn English effectively, which leads them to play a more active role in society.



         Even though bilingual education was created with the notion of helping students to conserve their language and learn a new one at the same time; it is evident that a great number of students still have to depend on their native language to engage themselves in any social activity. Unfortunately, it seems like there are certainly disadvantages in some of the instructions practices that have been used with language-minority students.  As a bilingual student, I personally believe that teachers have the responsibility to know the student needs, strengths and weaknesses in the language, prior to applying any model of instruction. This is important because minority students and immigrants are instantly set apart from society and leads bilingual students to experience major difficulties like segregation.  In these circumstances, language minority students are set apart from the initiative of equal opportunity.  Gollnick & Chinn have explained that

“Equality ensures that students are provided the same access to benefits of society regardless of their group membership” (2002, p.60) but if these students do not have the language to success in the mainstream of society, how are they going to enjoy all the benefits of it?





On the other hand, bilingualism in the United States is often indexed with immigration, the term “bilingual child” may apply “poor” or “uneducated”, but being bilingual is more than that. Many bilinguals, however, are not immigrants. It is not uncommon for people born in the US to speak English at school or work and another language at home.  The earlier you are exposed to one language the easiest it is to acquire it. Many linguistic believe there is a critical period (lasting roughly from birth to puberty) during which a child can easily acquire any language. In some countries, nearly everybody is bilingual or multilingual. In parts of India, for example, a child usually knows several languages. In many European countries children are encourage to learn a second language, typically English. In fact, the US is quite unusual amount the countries of the world in that many of the citizens speak only English and they are rarely encouraged to become fluent in any other language.



As a mom and Spanish native speaker, I strongly support the bilingual education, and not only education given by teachers but from parents and relatives, because education starts from home.  I speak to my son in Spanish all the time, while my husband and his family speak to him in English. Some people have the wrong idea that learning more than one language is bad for a child, or that is harder for a child to acquire two languages than it is to acquire just one. But the true is that there is not any evidence that it could be bad for a child who is learning two languages, and as long as people are regularly speaking with the child in both languages, the child will acquire them both easily and naturally.

                                                                                         

There are a lot of advantages of knowing more than one language. First of all, many linguists feel that knowing a second language actually benefits a child’s cognitive development. Second, if the child comes from a family that has recently immigrated to the US, the family may speak a language other than English at home and may still have strong ties to their ethnic roots. In this case being able to speak the language of the family’s ethnic heritage may be important for the child’s sense of cultural identity. Speaking the family’s language gives the child a sense of identity and belonging. Personally, I want my kids to be able to interact with my whole family, which is in Colombia and any of them speak English at all. I want my kids to know where we came from, all about our culture, believes and traditions. Third, in an increasing global marketplace, it’s an advantage for anyone to know more than one language, regardless of whether one’s family is new to the US, also knowing a second language encourages cross-cultural awareness and understanding.



Conserving people’s native language is important for individuals of diverse cultures. As it is important to learn the language of the new culture it is interacted with. Not everybody has the option of being bilingual but when presented with the opportunity is very important to take advantage of it, because it opens new doors for jobs, education and communication worldwide. While being in the classroom, it is important for the teachers to know which ones are the better procedures to teach the new language without isolating the language-minority students.