Bilingual EducationI. Bilingual education—Bilingua

Bilingual Education
    Good morning. Today we will talk about bilingual education. Bilingual education is an educational program that provides instruction in both the students’ native language and the language of the host country.
    The ways in which bilingual programs are implemented by different states differ greatly.
    One of the most common models of bilingual education in the United States is called transitional bilingual education. In this kind of program, students learn ESL while taking all their other classes in their native language. Students must stop taking class in their native language after some period of time, usually three years. After the three-year time limit, students start taking all their classes in English only. The reasoning for this model is that native language classes should serve as a transition to English. The main goal of a transitional program is to teach students English as quickly as possible.
    Another kind of program is called maintenance bilingual education. Maintenance programs do not have the same time limit as transitional programs do. Students can continue taking content-area classes in their native language for as long as they need to or want to. The idea behind a maintenance program is that a child’s native language is worth maintaining and developing. In fact, research has shown that students who know their first language well will be more successful in learning how to read and write a second language. One of the problems with maintenance programs is that they are more expensive than transitional programs.
    Two-way bilingual education is a program which offers second language instruction to students whose native language is English, while at the same time providing ESL to students who speak a language other than English. The purpose of two-way bilingual education programs is to make all students bilingual.
    Finally, there is immersion bilingual education. In these programs, students take all-English courses for a year or two before they begin to take courses in their native language. In other words, they are immersed in English for one year or two. Many students feel overwhelmed during the first two years. While struggling to learn English, they lost valuable time that should be spent learning important concepts in math and science.
    Bilingual education has always been and continues to be a controversial subject. The history of "English-only" politics dates back to the early days of the country. Some people are angered by the freedom with which today’s newcomers speak their native tongue in public. Some critics argue that bilingual education places an unfair burden on schools, and that taxpayers’ money should not be spent teaching immigrants in their native language.
    Many people in favor of bilingual education agree that some bilingual programs are better than others, though not all of them are successful. Some supporters of bilingual education argue that the real reason that critics are opposed to these programs is that these programs really work. Bilingual proponents say that critics of bilingual education don’t really want immigrants to be successful at school.
    Whatever happens, bilingual education will certainly continue to be controversial. That’s all for today’s lecture. Thank you.