Problems with Bilingual Education

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the debate over the best way to conduct bilingual classes for children. The paper reviews the literature on different approaches to bilingual education and argues that a transitional, rather than an immersive approach is the superior strategy to pursue with children. It also looks at the problems that there have been in implementing successful bilingual education classes and looks at possible solutions.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Stakes of the Debate
Immersion versus other Methods of Instruction
What Approach is Best?
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"A fundamental paradigm shift is needed. Instead of asking what is the correct 'image' of American education, educators must ask what is the best way to teach students, and embark upon long, rather than short-term research studies of a variety of transitional approaches to determine the right way to strike an effective balance between English education immersion and bilingual support in other academic areas. The approaches must be logistically feasible, given the limited resources of many ESL programs, but must attempt to improve student's academic performance in the long, rather than the short term. A slow, transitional, combined approach seems to be supported in developmental theories of linguistic development and the research that exists regarding the different approaches: immersive, transitional, and developmental. Although further long-term study is needed, the currently popular immersive approach and approaches that fast-track ESL students into 'regular' classrooms serve the electoral needs of politicians better than the educational needs of ESL students."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Berlitz. (2007). Official Webpage. Retrieved 9 Jul 2007 at http://www.berlitz.com/
• Crawford, James. (1997). "'Babel' in the Schools." Our World. Retrieved 9 Jul 2007 at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/can-bil.htm
• Crawford, James. (1997). "Bilingual Education." Our World. Retrieved 9 Jul 2007 at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/biling.htm
• Crawford, James. (1997). "Controversy over the National Research Council Report: Does Bilingual Education Really 'Work'?" Our World. Retrieved 9 Jul 2007 at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/research.htm
• Cromwell, Sharon. (19 Jan 1998). "The Bilingual Education Debate: Part I." Education World. Retrieved 9 Jul 2007 at http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr047.shtml

More papers on Problems with Bilingual Education:

• Article Review # 55970 : "Bilingual Education in Los Angeles"
• Research Paper # 93384 : "Pro's and Con's of Bilingual Education"
• Essay # 55931 : "Bilingual Education"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: