hey guys...i wrote this paper and got an A. you can delete the part about richard rodriguez but it is about bilingual education and how it works. good luck.
Bilingual Education: An Alternate Approach
When an immigrant moves to America, he or she should be required to speak English, our national language, in order to survive; just as an American transplanted in another country is required to speak that country's national language. But sometimes, liberal forces in this country allow people to go on living here and not learn the language of a very powerful and prosperous world leader. Learning English should be the first priority of an immigrant, since it is the only way that they will thrive in American society.
Teaching young children English should not be done by thrusting them into regular classes and yelling "Sink or swim!" as the faculty at Richard Rodriguez's school did. Nor should children be allowed to go through school in classes taught in their natural language, never being exposed to English or other children who speak it. These two choices are not adequate ways of teaching the average child the value of the English language. Richard Rodriguez is an exception; he is a highly intelligent, gifted man whose grasp of the language would have been outstanding no matter what method of teaching had been used. For the average child, however, different methods need to be practiced.
One such method would be to have English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Where alternate-language speaking students spend some of the day learning English in classes with other non-native speakers of the same origin, and spend the remainder of the day in classes such as art and wood shop hearing the language and becoming familiar with it. ESL classes usually last through Junior High or Middle School or until the student has maintained a firm grasp of the language.
Students in ESL classes slowly learn how to sp...