In: Economics
While the population of language minority students is growing, the number of students in bilingual programs is decreasing. What are some of the reasons for this decline?
In the United States, bilingual education is a fierce debate. It seems like everyone has a strong opinion on whether children with little fluency in English should be taught academic content in their home language as they learn English.
Bilingual education has been a part of the American education system since before the United States was forged from a collection of fractious colonies. In today's context, it is just referred to use two languages as a medium of instruction.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, proficiency in only one language is not enough for economic, societal and educational success. Mass communication and Global interdependence require the ability to function in more than one language.
The debate on bilingual education has two perspectives; one is a reflection of societal norms towards immigrants. Since language is an indicator of an immigrant, restriction to use any other language had been imposed in the history of United States especially during the war period and economic fluctuations. According to 2000 Census, 96% of those over the age of five speak English well.
A major aspect of the debate stems from the fact that there are unrealistic expectations of immediate results. Many people expect students to become proficient in English all by themselves and alongside learning academic subjects at the same rate as their English speaking peers in a language they do not fully command. While students in bilingual education maintain progress by receiving content matter instruction in their native language, they may lag behind students in all English programs on measures of English language proficiency.