Developments in social science, global trends and demographics all reinforce the significant benefits of bilingual education. Despite that, American schools show a steady decline in language programs. How can this be?
First, let's look at the conditions for bilingualism. There have always been benefits to being able to speak more than one language; recent studies show the depth of those benefits: "Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age."
The global economy benefits from a labor force that can transact business in more than one language, which would seem to reinforce the need for bilingual education. While English is the lingua franca of today's global economy, it is hard to argue that knowing another language is a disadvantage in today's (or tomorrow's) market. Perhaps more than ever before in American history, knowledge of language and culture is a pillar of economic achievement.
The recent American immigration increase, mostly Hispanic, has created large bilingual population. Certain school districts in major cities like Los Angeles or Houston would suggest that bilingual education is a natural evolution of our school systems.
So, with all these conditions in place, bilingual education should be pervading our public schools. It isn't. In fact, it is going in reverse: "Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey--dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy."
There are two major factors at work that help explain why - language as a badge of national identity and cost.
Language as national identity is a precept that extends to fundamental notions of nationalism. Often, language is seen as a badge of national identity-imagine a Frenchman who doesn't speak French. While the United States does not have an "official" language, English is seen as a badge of American identity. This notion has shown up many times over the course of our history, as seen with other waves of immigration that motivated the creation of Polish, German, Dutch, Czech and Norwegian language schools in the mid 1800s. This trend was fundamentally challenged during WWI (which related to the rise of nationalism), and a new psychology of English as a proxy for "American" arose. Unfortunately, language became a binary choice - English (which equaled American) or "other." This notion continues today, and is exacerbated by the latest rise in Hispanic immigration.
The second issue is cost. With great debates occurring in American public schools on the role of teacher unions, national education standards and the need to emphasize science and math, language has fallen by the wayside.
"In January 2002, Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as the Bilingual Education Act, was allowed to expire. It was eliminated as part of a larger 'school reform' effort of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act (Public Law 107-110) that abolishes most efforts at bilingual education and substitutes increased funding for English language acquisition efforts. The 34-year federal effort to investigate and experiment with bilingual education at the federal level has ended. Anti-bilingual education forces have won," according to StateUniversity.com
Is there a middle ground? Title VII originated with the intent of teaching non-native speakers in their language of origin, not as a notion of teaching all Americans another language. Can the United States adopt an approach that recognizes the English imperative (which is and always has been the language adopted by our citizenry to advance in society) and recognizes the increasingly obvious benefits of knowing another language? In the short term, the prospects don't look good, and bilingual education may be yet another societal victim to unresolved immigration issues. Implications to our economic competitiveness, our ability to experience the world more holistically, and even to age with less threat of Alzheimer's is at risk.
Reconciling American identity with a large ethnic influx has always been difficult. Perhaps as cultural norms shift, largely driven by the rise of bicultural and bilingual Hispanics, the issue of expanding the brain with two languages (or more!) can shift as well, to our benefit. Espero que si.
There are plenty of practical reasons for being multilingual – business, security, travel, friendships, information, mental agility to name a few – but languages are also a pleasure, an indulgence, they lend new insight to a familiar world and they unlock the doors to less familiar worlds. Language can be a powerful tool for shaping abstract thought. When sensory information is scarce or inconclusive, languages may play the most important role in shaping how people think.
And thinking, not performing tasks, is what a well-rounded education is supposed to encourage.
Daniel Ward
Editor, Language Magazine
www.languagemagazine.com
However, the benefits of immersing in a multilingual environment from an early age are evident. First of all, children are much quicker in pick up a new language, especially in terms of pronunciation (it’s much easier for a kid to achieve native level in pronunciation than an adult). Secondly, the global translation industry is developing so quickly. If a child can shift between two or more languages fluently, he is more advantageous to land a job in translation services, which actually opened a new door in his career.
"The recent American immigration increase, mostly Hispanic, has created large bilingual population."
That's because in order for Hispanics to function they have to learn English. Do you really expect the country you move to adjusts themselves to you and learn your language? If you are the new comer get with the program and learn the country's language. If you deplane anywhere in the world and speak only English you'll be alright. If you go to Germany, Japan or Thailand and can speak only Spanish it's going to be rough. If only English is the language you speak, it will do you well.
The other side are the native English speakers learning another language. Somehow that's not politically solvent. Learning another language, and magically changing your culture is ridiculous, but that's what many people (anecdotal) believe. I also agree with jpostiga on that.
Those who actually study ESL should be helping make the policies, not politicians, and that goes with any curriculum. Let's move ahead.
by the way i'm bilingual.
bilingualism does have benefits - internal and external. but so does playing a musical instrument. so do many other things...
ESL programs, in fact, are in decline because the notion of eliminating a child's first language--and self-identity in the process--goes against all research which proves that children learn best when instructed in their native language or immersed in dual-language programs which honor their language and culture. Dual language programs are definitely in the rise, thanks to a movement of PARENTS and knowledgeable teachers and administrators who are realizing the method works.
I'm one of those parents and I'm thrilled my girl will start kindergarten this August in a Spanish dual immersion program.
The problem with most Hispanic-oriented bilingual education programs is that they were designed to keep Hispanic isolated, underperforming, and speaking kitchen-Spanish.
1... the idea may be a good one under certain conditions, the implementation is usually a political-patronage cess pool where the children pay the highest price
2...these programs in theory should be ones of transition and NOT maintenance...seeing kids who come out of these programs after a few years who have minimal skills in 2 languages is a disaster and not an admirable goal of any educational system
3...these programs quickly become holding pens for teachers who often couldn't teach English to a parrot
4...students who end up illiterate in TWO languages are not a goal to be advanced by even the lowest "educator"
5...way too much state and federal grant monies come into these programs and THERE is where the corruption starts with minimal standards and virtually no accountability on any educational metric.
6...this is just a thumb nail sketch...the picture is usually a lot worse...i've seen these programs from the inside and the picture is always the same...very grim
While there is no standard of teaching a foreign language, the benefits are great in all areas of study, not just the language itself. Teachers that teach a foreign language, still have to have a command of that language no matter what level they are teaching.
The problem, as usual, comes in the form of administration making political moves and changing cirriculum while students are in mid flight.
E.g. The Super of my wife's district decided to kill off Latin and French in favor of Arabic and Chinese. 8 students enrolled in both classes (combined) and the students in French and Latin had to start over in another language. Now they have 4 teachers teaching "no classes" and 2 of them are fast tracked un-certified cause there were no certified teachers they could find to teach Chinese and Arabic (for the money they offered).
However, that shouldn't eliminate the need to educate our single language speaking students with a new language and make that subject just as important as science, math, English.
You're right. Hispanics are learning English in two generations. Earlier waves of immigrants took three to reach that point. They lived and worked in their own little enclaves. There were public schools, in America, that were conducted entirely in German because that's what the students spoke!