General overview of “Bilingual Education”
...her in the middle of a conversation or even the same sentence; it may be triggered by the use of a word that is similar in both languages. Bilingual education is the sanctioned use of more than one language in U.S. education. The Bilingual Education Act (1968), combined with a Supreme Court decision (1974) mandating help for students with limited English proficiency, requires instruction in the native languages of students. The National Association for Bilingual Education (founded 1975) is the main U.S. professional and advocacy organization for bilingual education. Critics (including the national group English First), who maintain that some students never join mainstream classes, have attempted to make English the “official” language in several states and cities; a state ballot initiative approved (1998) in California mostly eliminated bilingual education programs there. Bilingualism proponents note the importance of ethnic heritage and the preservation of language and culture, as well as the need to educate non-English-speaking students in all subjects, not just English. The original objective of bilingual education was to ensure students would not fall behind academically because of a poor command of English and to gradually teach them English as a second language. If language-minority students were taught some subjects in their native language, proponents insisted, they potentially could learn English without sacrificing content knowledge. ultimately inhibits significant progress in English language acquisition. Proponents counter that if students first learn to read in the language they are fluent in and then transfer the skills over to English—their second language—they will develop stronger literacy skills in the long term. Plus, they argue that in an increasingly global society, schools, far from discouraging native-language retention, should work to help students maintain their native tongues, ev...