Bilingual_Education

Bilingual Education Bilingual education, a preferred strategy for the last 20 years, teaches academic subjects to immigrant children in their native languages (most often Spanish), while slowly and at the same time adding English instruction. In theory, the children don't fall behind in other subjects while they are learning English. When they are fluent in English, they can then "transition" to English instruction in academic subjects at the grade level of other children their same age. Further, the theory goes, teaching immigrants in their native language puts importance on their family and community culture and reinforces their sense of self-worth, therefore making their academic success more likely (Duignan 5). Yet in recent years, bilingual education has created as much controversy as any other education issue. Most educators and parents agree that the main goals in educating students with a native language other than English are mastery of English and mastery of content in academic areas. But a heated academic and political battle is being fought over how is the best way to reach those goals and how important it is to preserve the students’ original language in the process (Adely 2). Though a fair amount of opposition education, language, bilingual, english, children, programs, first, academic, read, instruction, however, support, students, native, subjects, primary, literacy, knowledge, duignan, better, way, skills, second, say, one, learn, immersion, classes, work, study, sheltered, schools, program, parents, mainstream, good, goals, example, evidence, critics, claimed, all-english, agree, against, zehr, years, while, two, transfers, tongue