Bilingual Education Programs

Not all bilingual programs are created equally. Nearly one in four U.S. public school children speak a language other than English in their homes (Anderson, 2015). One program is the submersion bilingual education model, where language minority students are placed in mainstream education. “Mainstreaming” is the more common term. The language minority student is taught in the majority language along with fluent speakers of the majority language. They are expected to use the majority language in the classroom and not the home language. The aim is assimilation. This is a monolingual form of education. This form of program can create challenges in teaching because the classroom contains students who range from fluent to those who can only understand a little of classroom talk. There may also be social and emotional problems for minority language children. The home language and identity of the child is depreciated. Stress, lack of confidence, and alienation may also occur.

A weak form of bilingual education is transitional education. Transitional education differs from monolingual forms because it allows language minority students to temporarily use their home language. The aim is still assimilation though. It aims to increase the use of the majority language and decrease the use of the home language. Transitional education is split up into early exit and late exit. Early exit seek to fully transition students to all English by the end of third grade. Late exit allows 50% of classroom teaching in the home language until sixth grade. Some criticize the early exit model because it is seen as remedial and segregated. Some see it as empowering because it raises the status of the language, provides employment for bilingual teachers, and provides a model that can later lead to a more developed program.

A strong form of bilingual education is dual language bilingual education also known as two-way. It has equal amounts of language minority and language majority students and both languages are used in instruction. The aim is to produce bilinguals and biliteracy. Language is learned through content and only one language is used during each period. A language balance of 50/50 is the aim because if one language is used more often it may become dominant and one language may become marginalized and segregation may occur. According to Shohamy, English is already the powerful and dominant language and the motivation behind this may be to exclude and reject immigrants (2006). The aim for dual language education is to develop both languages fully and fluently.

Being bilingual in todays world allows for higher competency. They are able to communicate with more people and cultures. It also develops a more sympathetic view of the world and different cultures. There is also research of cognitive benefits. It allows students to become competent global leaders. It raises self esteem and establishes identity. Also, being bilingual can secure employment in a competitive market. It also preserves heritage, cultural transmission, cultural validity, inclusion, and socialization (Baker & Wright,2017). There are still questions about which programs are more effective and what is the best fit for individuals and their situations.

Anderson, M. (2015). Bilingualism: When Education and Assimilation Clash. Washington DC: The Atlantic.

Baker, C., & Wright, W.E. (2017). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (6th ed.). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Shohamy, E. (2006). Language policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. London/New York: Routledge.

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