Bilingual Education
For decades, immigrant children have been taught in their native languages in schools across the country while slowly and simultaneously receiving English as a second language. But like anything, bilingual education is not without its flaws. In fact, it's plagued with them. After many years of bilingual education in the United States, one thing is certain: it does not work, and it is failing America's immigrant youth. The idea behind bilingual education is that students be taught "academic subjects" such as math, geography, and science. Students learn English as a second language and learn all other subjects in their native language so that, in theory, they can keep up with their English- speaking peers. After five to seven years the time the students are transitioned into classes which are taught in English . This is, of course, how bilingual education should work in theory. This is not, however, the case. Critics of bilingual education say that the objectives of the classes are confused, the quality of instruction is poor, and the transition time, when students transition into regular classes, is slowly. Critics believe that the goals of bilingual education have been forgotten and replaced wit
These students, in order to learn English, must mainstream with their English- speaking counterparts. LEP students are segregated in classes taught solely in Spanish. This is because there is very little contact with English- speaking students. Also, the percentage of students who make the transition from bilingual to regular classes is very low. With this method, students start learning English form day one through complete immersion in English, forcing them to either sink or swim. Other states have similar low success rates. h the need to preserve native culture and traditions. Without knowledge of English, the future of too many immigrant children seems bleak. Those who don't drop out of high school will find it difficult, if not impossible, to find a good career which doesn't require them to have some command of the English language. All in all Hispanic parents want what all parents want: quality educational programs that produce results. And even they want an end to bilingual education. Even when teachers can be found, LEP students are not learning English from them. Last year in California, for example, only about 6. The American dream is dying, due to a system which is failing immigrant youth. In fact, the major defense from advocates of bilingual education is that there is nothing wrong with preserving children's ethnic and linguistic heritage.
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