Bilingual Education

Chapter Seven

Perspectives on Bilingual Education

Social history:

Has its origins in the 19th century

Nativist fears during World War I eliminated most programs in U.S. schools.

Experienced a resurgence with the Civil Rights Movement, notably because of interest in native language instruction, placement of children with disabilities, and desegregation

The Bilingual Education Act (1968)

Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Established bilingual programs for children whose first language was not English

Became the basis for a number of seminal court cases

Important Court Cases

Diana v. State Board of Education (1970): court ruled that testing for eligibility for special education services be done in the language of the student

Larry P. v. Riles (1972): court ruled that schools are responsible for providing tests that do not discriminate on the basis of race

Lau v. Nichols (1974): court ruled that affirmative steps must be taken by school districts to rectify language deficiencies in students

Continued…

Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School Children v. Ann Arbor School District Board of Education (1979): court mandated linguistic instruction for teachers in Ann Arbor with respect to the legitimacy of Black English as a dialect

Casteneda v. Picard (1981): court ruled that districts must take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers” and set standards for examining such actions

Responses to Bilingual Programs

Those who promote bilingual education as reasonable and democractic

Those who oppose bilingual educationOn the grounds that American education has

always provided upward mobility for those “willing to work”

On the grounds that the nation will be destroyed if we do not continue to offer a monocultural and monolinguistic education

Those who assert that pluralism in education is less a remedial effort than it is a long overdue affirmation of a social reality

The Bilingual Education Backlash

The Ebonics debate in Oakland, CA:Attempted to recognize the use of ebonics

by some of its students, and to overtly use ebonics as a starting point for improving student performance

Did not advocate teaching in ebonics

Has since been amended somewhat

Continued…

Proposition 227 (also in California)

Requires teachers in California schools to teach limited English proficient students in special classes almost entirely in English

Reduces the time students are allowed to stay in these classes (usually one year)

Other Bilingual Education Issues

Defining who is and who is not bilingualThe 1984 reauthorized Bilingual Education

Act defines limited English proficient (LEP) individuals as:Those not born in the U.S.Those whose native language is not EnglishThose from environments in which English

is not the dominant languageThose Native American groups where

languages other than English are commonly used

Types of Bilingual Programs

Submersion Programs: a “sink or swim” approach, students are placed in regular English-speaking classrooms

English as a Second Language (ESL): students stay in the regular classroom for most of the day but are “pulled out” at various times for English instruction

Continued…

Transitional Bilingual Education: efforts are made to “phase out” the student’s native language while developing a facility in English as quickly as possible

Structured Immersion Programs: students are taught by teachers fluent in the student’s native language, but instruction is in English and teacher responses are also primarily in English

Ethical Issues: Local and Global

The degree to which debates about bilingual education and English as a second language revolve around issues of cultural domination as opposed to what is best for students

The degree to which assessment of student progress is measured by culture-biased tests that favor students fluent in standard English

The degree to which language provides the key to understanding other people in an increasingly interdependent world

The degree to which the adoption of English as a global standard in the communications media results in the disappearance of many “small” languages

The degree to which the American attitude against the acquisition of other languages hinders both our knowledge and understanding of global issues

Something to Think About

The National Education Association believes that limited English proficiency (LEP) students must have available to them programs that address their unique needs and that provide equal opportunity to all students, regardless of their primary language.

--NEA Resolution