Essay #3 – Research Paper
Should bilingual education co-exist with mainstream classroom learning in the U.S.?
Ever since immigrants from all over the world have been flocking to America to reside, this immense geographical migration (that continues to this day) results in many immigrant children in need of an education. U.S. public schools (both secondary and elementary) have been challenged with the issue of educating these immigrant children, since some of them hardly speak a word of English and many can only converse in their native language. According to many Americans, the general consensus is that immigrant children should become fully proficient in English in order to qualify to be educated. The U.S. Education Department have allowed certain schools in various states to temporarily offer bilingual education programs, in addition to English-only classes in elementary and secondary public schools. The goal of these programs is to allow immigrant students to become proficient in English.
I will start defining and clarifying some terms and phrases often used in the field of bilingualism in the linguistic context. Bilingualism is in this context defined as the use of at least two languages by an individual. An ideal or balanced bilingual individual speaks each language as proficiently as an educated native speaker. Monolinguals are individuals who speak only one language. Children who cannot communicate in English because their primary language is not English are labelled as Limited English Proficient, or LEP. Children learning English in the classroom are also known as English Language Learners, or ELL. An English as a second language (ESL) program is mainly taught in English until the child is fully proficient in English, whereas in English immersion programs, LEP students receive instruction in English all day.
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