By Billy S. Esmalde
This issue of NASET’s Classroom Management Series was written by Billy S. Esmalde. This study explores the benefits of bilingual education in promoting academic success while preserving students’ native languages. Through insights from scholars like Bialystok and Anderson, it highlights how bilingual approaches foster engagement and comprehension among English Language Learners (ELLs). Despite challenges like Proposition 227, advocating for bilingual fluency can bridge cultural divides and enhance economic opportunities. By embracing linguistic diversity, educators can empower students to excel academically and contribute positively to society. Bilingual education not only enriches language skills but also fosters cultural pride and social cohesion, creating a more inclusive learning environment for all.
Abstract
This study explores the benefits of bilingual education in promoting academic success while preserving students’ native languages. Through insights from scholars like Bialystok and Anderson, it highlights how bilingual approaches foster engagement and comprehension among English Language Learners (ELLs). Despite challenges like Proposition 227, advocating for bilingual fluency can bridge cultural divides and enhance economic opportunities. By embracing linguistic diversity, educators can empower students to excel academically and contribute positively to society. Bilingual education not only enriches language skills but also fosters cultural pride and social cohesion, creating a more inclusive learning environment for all.
Learning a second language does not mean you have to abandon your first language or lose it altogether in the process. It doesn’t have to be that way, and this is what bilingual education is all about. Bialystok (2018), a psychologist and professor at York University, mentions this in her research about the effects and consequences of bilingual education in children. She shares how “bilingual education has been an educational option in many countries for over 50 years, but it remains controversial, especially in terms of its appropriateness for all children.” It’s about time we put an end to this controversy and start seeing how bilingual education the new standard in teaching is and learning the English language.
School systems and strategies related to the implementation of bilingual education are the areas where we can greatly see and understand the effects of bilingual education on student’s education. Commonly, English Language Learners (ELL) often feel disconnected from the given tasks, activities, and daily lessons offered to them because of the lack of foundation and concrete acquired knowledge that are required in understanding a situation which is commonly the language they use. Educators and teachers willingly work on connecting lessons and activities to the everyday life experiences of their ELLs. However, ELLs often find themselves at a loss on what to do. This is mentioned by Anderson (2015), in her article from The Atlantic, The Costs of English-Only Education, “students need to see themselves in the school to excel academically.” For instance, in the classroom context where you need to follow an instruction, they will demonstrate struggles with accessing the content due to limited knowledge of the English language. This very same lack of background knowledge causes students to lose interest in learning. They are unsure of what to do, so they leave it be and do not dare ask further questions out of fear and embarrassment.
This is probably why the demand for dual language immersion programs has seen a dramatic increase in California in the last few years, especially among affluent Anglo parents who see bilingualism as academic enrichment (Sanchez, 2016). Another challenge that poses for ELLs is the lack of representation in presented learning material or activity as it leads them to question their true native identities as a race. In the same article, she added, “If there’s a disconnect between students’ home identities and what is promoted by the school, students are more likely to disconnect, disinvest, and experience educational failures,” (Anderson, 2015). They cannot identify themselves if they feel that their learning is something they cannot relate to. The more learning that is lost and not attained in the process, the more difficult it will be for ELLs to understand the situation and carry on, which is ultimately the goal of bilingual education in the first place.
However, at some point, it is understandable how it may look like a battle of two tongues as this is how it is projected by restrictive language policies and existing rules and regulations about bilingualism. In 1998, Californians voted instead to pass a ballot measure known as Proposition 227 that imposed wide-reaching restrictions on bilingual education, effectively banning it, (Carter, 2014). They were convinced that California’s language diversity — especially its Spanish — was a problem to be eradicated, rather than a resource to be developed. However, the ban is merely based on the fear of having more and more people speaking other languages than English, particularly the Spanish language in the United States. It came to a point where Latino students, approximately half of the student body, were being told by teachers they would be punished for speaking Spanish on school grounds. What we must remember here is we need not force our students to choose one language or the other — they can have both, (Carter, 2014).
What is desperately needed, on the other hand, is a linguistically informed education policy that supports the acquisition and maintenance of both languages for all students who want to develop bilingual fluency, (Carter, 2014). We are moving on to modern times and we inevitably encounter changes in favor of the betterment of our student’s education. My concern here is why limit them with restrictive policies of having an English-only education. Why can’t we come up with a more inclusive and sensitive solution to something as basic as language education such as improved and informed programs that will suit the students better? English Language Learners enrolled in bilingual classes will mean maximizing learning opportunities for them (Sanchez, 2016).
The effects it has, although originating from school, are not limited to the time spent inside the class learning the language. It goes far beyond, eventually reaching the community they belong to. When bilingual education mostly disappeared from California in 1998, so did millions of opportunities, economic and otherwise, (Carter, 2014). With the number of immigrants the United States has, especially in California alone, it is not surprising it will cause an after-effect on areas such as work opportunities. Establishing a strong foundation of basic conversational English through practice and vocabulary will ensure that learners can have a common ground. This is important to consider, as they will eventually transition to higher English classes and will be promoted to the working-class category.
The conclusion is that there is no evidence for harmful effects of bilingual education and much evidence for net benefits in many domains, (Bialystok, 2018). However, I can say from my observation as a bilingual English teacher myself, that it is fair to consider the background of the people willing to learn the English language first. This way we can maximize their potential and we can bring out the best in them. I have personally seen the good effects outweigh the bad in real-time situations inside the classroom. Students, oftentimes with their parents, feel more confident and more at ease in expressing their ideas and thoughts about learning the English language when they have access to and assistance from their native tongue. There is no limit as to how they can grow, and they also have a fair chance of learning the language in a more efficient and relatable way. Learning a new language with the help of your language isn’t taking away anything from the other. Instead, it presents a rather effective strategy using a readily available tool that is accessible, available, and within everyone’s reach. So, let me ask you, why try to take that all away, and what for?
References
Anderson, M.D. (2015). The costs of English-only education. The Atlantic.
Bialystok, E. (2018) Bilingual education for young children: a review of the effects and
consequences, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21:6, 666-679, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2016.1203859
Carter, P.M. (2014). Why the bilingual education ban should have been repealed long
ago. CNN.
Sanchez, C. (2016). Bilingual education returns to California. Now what? National
Public Radio.
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