Opponents of bilingual education tell us that the public is
against bilingual education. This impression is a result of the way the
question is asked. One can easily get a near-100-percent rejection of bilingual
education when the question is biased. Porter (1990), for example, states that
"Many parents are not committed to having the schools maintain the mother
tongue if it is at the expense of gaining a sound education and the
English-language skills needed for obtaining jobs or pursuing higher
education" (p. 8). Who would support mother tongue education at such a price?
However, when respondents are simply asked whether or not they
support bilingual education, the degree of support is quite strong: From 60-99
percent of samples of parents and teachers say they support bilingual education
(Krashen, 1996). In a series of studies, Shin (Shin, 1994; Shin & Gribbons,
1996) examined attitudes toward the principles underlying bilingual education.
Shin found that many respondents agree with the idea that the first language
can be helpful in providing background knowledge, most agree that literacy
transfers across languages, and most support the principles underlying
continuing bilingual education (economic and cognitive advantages).
The number of people opposed to bilingual education is probably
even less than these results suggest; many people who say they are opposed to
bilingual education are actually opposed to certain practices (e.g.,
inappropriate placement of children) or are opposed to regulations connected to
bilingual education (e.g., forcing teachers to acquire another language to keep
their jobs).
Despite what is presented to the public in the national media,
research has revealed much support for bilingual education. McQuillan and Tse
(in press) reviewed publications appearing between 1984 and 1994, and reported
that 87 percent of academic publications supported bilingual education, but
newspaper and magazine opinion articles tended to be antibilingual education,
with only 45 percent supporting bilingual education. One wonders what public
support would look like if bilingual education were more clearly defined in
such articles and editorials.
THE RESEARCH DEBATE
It is sometimes claimed that research does not support the
efficacy of bilingual education. Its harshest critics, however (e.g., Rossell
& Baker, 1996), do not claim that bilingual education does not work;
instead, they claim there is little evidence that it is superior to all-English
programs. Nevertheless, the evidence used against bilingual education is not
convincing. One major problem is in labeling. Several critics, for example,
have claimed that English immersion programs in El Paso and McAllen, Texas,
were shown to be superior to bilingual education. In each case, however,
programs labeled immersion were really bilingual education, with a substantial
part of the day taught in the primary language. In another study, Gersten
(1985) claimed that all-English immersion was better than bilingual education.
However, the sample size was small and the duration of the study was short;
also, no description of "bilingual education" was provided. For a
detailed discussion, see Krashen (1996).
On the other hand, a vast number of other studies have shown that
bilingual education is effective, with children in well-designed programs
acquiring academic English at least as well and often better than children in
all-English programs (Cummins, 1989; Krashen, 1996; Willig, 1985). Willig
concluded that the better the experimental design of the study, the more
positive were the effects of bilingual education.
Opposition to bilingual education
In 1980 voters in Dade County, Florida, made English
their official language. In 1981 California Senator S. I. Hayakawa introduced a
constitutional amendment to make English the country's official language. In
1983 Hayakawa founded U.S. English, Inc., which grew to include 1.8 million
members by 2004. U.S. English argues the following premises:
- The unifying effect of the English language must be
preserved in the United States.
- Bilingual education fails to adequately teach
English.
- Learning English quickly in English-only classrooms
is best for ELLs, both academically and socially.
- Any special language instruction should be
short-term and transitional.
In 1986 California voters passed Proposition 63 that made
English the state's official language. Other states did the same. In 1998
Californians passed Proposition 227, a referendum that attempted to eliminate
bilingual education by allowing only one year of structured English immersion,
followed by mainstreaming. Similar initiatives have appeared on other state
ballots. However, only 9 percent of the California children attained English
proficiency in one year, and most remained in the immersion programs for a
second year. Prior to the new law only 29 percent of California ELLs were in bilingual
programs, in part because of a shortage of qualified teachers. Since the law
allowed parents to apply for waivers, 12 percent of the ELLs were allowed to
remain in bilingual classes.
In January of 2004, as part of a lawsuit settlement, the
California State Board of Education was forced to radically revise the
implementation of their "Reading First" program. Previously
California had withheld all of the $133 million provided by NCLB from ELLs
enrolled in alternative bilingual programs.
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