Bilingual Education Synthesis

Josie Hunter

Russell-6th

AP English

2-26-2012

Two students walk down the crowded hallway of a New York City High School arguing in rapid Spanish. Hearing their commotion, another boy in the hall turns around. He flashes a brilliant smile when he recognizes Jose, the quiet new kid in his art class. Jose's open face shows that he's worried today.

"Hey dude, what's wrong?"

Jose knows exactly what's wrong-- he's forgotten the art project that he put so much effort into at home and doesn't know how to tell his teacher. Surely, she'll fail him for forgetting homework after only two weeks in the class. He looks at the boy standing before him, wishing he could say what's on his mind and ask for help. Reviewing his scanty library of English words, Jose's anguish shows as he comes to terms with the reality that he has no idea how to explain his dilemma. Jose turns and flees the scene, too ashamed to go to class.

Jack Robinson was the boy who'd attempted to speak with Jose. Had they been able to understand one another, Jack could've told him that the project was not due until the following day and saved him from a day of stress and unexcused absences. Jack and Jose attend the same high school, they are partners in art class, they even live in the same apartment building, but because of their language barrier, the two might as well be existing in different worlds.

Although Bilingual Education is not an issue which every US citizen must deal with directly, it is something that has the ability to contradict (or ruin) the melting pot of American culture, which every citizen is supposed to be a part of. It also affects the cultural awareness of all students, as well as every single taxpayer because taxpayers finance the program. People who wonder how tax dollars are spent should know the money is being spent on an education program which is proving to be ineffective. "Bilingual Education is defined as instruction provided to students in their native tongue in all subjects in a self-controlled classroom with other students who speak the same language" (Rossell, 2009). Bilingual Education (BE) does not allow students who primarily speak different languages to share their cultures, it is a program which caters to a few minority groups but does not return to help the masses, also it slows down the assimilation of non-English speakers. Examples of giving back could be: boosting economic prosperity, volunteering in social settings, or helping draw communities together; by holding onto native languages so tightly and resisting the push to learn English, people cannot give back to the majority of the society who pays for bilingual education. BE is a program which should not be continued in the United States because it does not help the general public and slows assimilation into American society.

As America came into the twentieth century, we saw a shift in the tide of incoming immigrants; formerly dominated by people of European origin, the majority of newcomers were now primarily of Asian, Latin American, and Hispanic descent (Duignan, 2004). Unlike the newcomers before them, these demand education in their native tongue to preserve their children's pride and respect for their heritage (Mac Donald, 2009). Today, BE advocates insist that it is a right to be able to speak in your native language at school and that preservation of a language means preservation of a culture; many persist in the idea that we should be teaching our students in their native language to help them function "in a cross cultural world," with the ultimate "quest to become global" (Brisk, 2006). Supporters of bilingual education regularly bring these arguments to the table in heated national debates over BE's place in the education system.

Laws passed in America are generally intended to help the common welfare. Programs which target a select group of people have an eventual goal of giving back to the public. Earlier in American history, school was taught only in English with after school programs for children needing to learn the language. The children of this time took only one generation to assimilate into American life (Duignan, 2004). As children and students came to America, they were expected to learn the language of the nation, just like American students had to. If a person is to call themselves an American citizen, they must speak like one. In 1974, minority language groups began demanding that they receive preferential treatment. To those groups, this meant that the American people were to fund a small program which would slowly teach non-native speakers English. By "1996 it became an $8 billion industry" (Duignan, 2004). In keeping with American style though, we must examine who the primary beneficiaries of this program are and how they will give back to the community. In the three primary types of English Language Learner programs which exist, Hispanic students seem to be receiving the most attention. As before stated, BE educates students in their heritage language away from other students with small daily doses of English. English as a Second Language (ESL) is a program which calls for small groups of English learners to meet daily with a certified ESL teacher but to be mainstreamed into ordinary classes. And Sheltered English is a program which calls for non-English speakers to be placed in classes where only English is spoken, but the class moves at a rate which students can understand (Rossell, 2009). Of late, "Asians, Africans, and Europeans are all in mainstream classes receiving extra training in ESL programs for a few hours each day. Hispanic students are taught in Spanish 70-80% of the time" (Duignan, 2004). Yet, Latinos still have the highest dropout rate in the country (Duignan, 2004). In a nation currently rocked by economic instability, is it really fair that so many tax dollars are being spent on a program which only benefits one minority group? Especially when dropout rates are so high and test scores are not indicative that the program