Bilingual and Multicultural Education
Bilingual and Multicultural Education Bilingual and multicultural education has been a controversial topic since the 1960's. This debate originated in the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Bilingual Education Act (1968), which decreed that "a child should be instructed in his or her native tongue for a transitional year while he or she learned English, but was to transfer to an all-English classroom as fast as possible." In those years, the 1960's and 1970's, English should be taught as a second language only until the student becomes proficient in English. In theory, attention would continue to be paid to the child's heritage and culture. However, the basic purp
It is obvious that if these children are spending their days in school speaking another language, they are not going to be as fluent in English as they should be. All that really has occurred is a course of disaster. If an American child lived in a foreign country, that child would be expected to learn that country's language and customs. Having the children spend their primary years of education in America learning how to read and write in Spanish is distressing. Thinking realistically, bilingual and multicultural education does not prepare these students for the location in which they live. My definition of assimilation means to learn English, become part of American society, follow American laws, values, and institutions, and to learn about American history - become Americanized. It is only fair that everyone living here be taught English the same way to allow for equal opportunity. The intention of public education should be to assimilate the immigrants, not to preserve their status as cultural aliens. They will be at a job interview, a meeting, or even just a social event and will be cast aside because of their flaws in language. They were supposed to catch on and acquire knowledge much easier. Multiculturists want to preserve immigrant cultures and languages, not absorb or assimilate the American culture. In the United States, to become successful in life and in work, being familiar and comfortable with English is essential. Bilingual educators today say that children lose a degree of "individuality" by becoming assimilated into public society. This so-called "program of equal education" is the epitome of unfair. These children spend most of their school days gaining knowledge of their native language, but when they get into the real world, they will suffer.
Common topics in this essay:
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Americanized Thinking,
English Bilingual,
English American,
Education Bilingual,
multicultural education,
bilingual multicultural education,
Rights Act,
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children spend,
transfer all-english,
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