According to Jarmel and Schneider (2010), by the year 2025, one-third of students attending public schools will not know English when they start Kindergarten. How will schools adapt to this? Will teachers and/or students be limited on what they can teach/learn throughout the school year because of time restraints? In a documentary Speaking in Tongues, directed by Jarmel & Schneider (2010), four students who range from Kindergarten to eighth grade, showcase their experiences about attending public school around the San Francisco area to become bilingual. The four students Durrell, Jason, Julian, and Kelly are taught in English and also in a second language such as Mandarin, Spanish, Chinese, and Cantonese. Families of the students express both …show more content…
The documentary instantly starts off with the thoughts from the family members of the four students on why people should know more than one language. Right after these clips, an opponent is saying how if you do not learn how to read, write, and speak in English properly, an individual will not be able to go to college or get a job which is not good for our society. However, Farr (2001) argues that people who are not “proficient” in English are still able to be successful in English-oriented jobs. They are able to cope if they have any difficulties with the literacy demands. Another perspective for the “English-Only” argument was made from a family member of one of the students. She thinks if you are in America you should be speaking English and if students are learning another language in school it takes time away from other curriculum. During the San Francisco School Board meeting, many people shared their thoughts having all San Francisco public schools students become bilingual. Dr. Ling-chi Wang, a scholar and activist, shared that knowing a second language stimulates and enhances learning in other subjects. Another man mentioned how only knowing English places limits on his job (ie. business). The business industry can be worldwide and not knowing a second language can create obstacles for people to do …show more content…
His narrative shows this support and how having instruction in Spanish and English allows him to have higher academics. In less than ten years, one third of students attending public schools will not know English when starting Kindergarten. Are schools and teachers ready for this and will push for bilingual instruction? Is America ready for this? As for now, there is mixed perspectives. Having a second language in your background is so impactful on one’s life, providing them with more skills. This is the 21st century and having this skill helps an individual be
Everyone should know a second language, but some schools do not push to include this program. The Board of Education
By including a personal example of a bilingual student in the South, Carsen proves that his research is credible as the title of the article is “Bilingual education in the South.” In addition to his interview with a student, Carsen also interviews an English as a Second Language (ESL) specialist and a worker of the state education department to gather different viewpoints on the matter. Incorporating interviews with specialists in foreign language and education adds to Carsen’s credibility because his argument revolves around these two elements. Carsen also includes his
Rodriguez argues people should be encouraged to speak another language, as it will help a lot in many outside-world situations. Language should be something that brings many people all around the world together. Although, learning languages in America could be slightly
Because all students should have the right to an equal education, ELL’s should have equal access to the same resources that other students have. The whole school should be on board with welcoming, supporting, and making the ELL student’s transition easier (Rance-Roney, 34). Teachers can also make a global community classroom, by doing so, it will create a culture rich environment inviting ELL’s and educating their peers on other cultures. Teachers can also adopt a dual curriculum for the ELL students that support their second language development but also teaches them the required standards (Rance-Roney,
That is why Filemon Lopez, who is part of the Benito Juarez Civic Association states that they are working hard to teach the Mixtecs their rights, about the importance of health, housing but overall of education. Even in the Madera school district, the importance of education is being advocated for, for teachers such as Carmen Hernandez states that it is important that both children like adults learn both Spanish and English, so that they can later be able to function in an English speaking society, but also so that they can keep their language and their pride in their background. Such as in the lecture about linguistic anthropology lecture that we went over in class, where it was explained that for the most part once English was learned that native languages were used less and less then forgotten, for only a subset of the population usually those who are older are the only ones who maintain the language going until they are gone. That is why Carmen emphasizes the importance of providing bilingual classes for Mixtec adults and children. So that in the future as Apuleyo Guzman states, that he hopes to learn more English so that he can get a better job so that e can get a better job, so that he can better provided for his family and his village, yet also still has his culture, his language and his ties to
Lesley states that bilingual education is “an educational program in which two languages are medium of instruction.” (P. 11) Before specifically discuss about California, as a whole, the United States never has been officially announced as a bilingual or multilingual country. Despite the fact that the U.S. adapts the method of assimilation, bilingual schools exist early as pre-World War I (P. 18). And then, with Bilingual Education Act of 1967 brings a rebirth and structural bilingual education back to schools and districts (P.
In the essay, "Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood", Richard Rodriguez explains his opinion on bilingual education based on his own childhood experience. He provides reasons why it would be retrogressive to permit the non-English speaking children use their family language as the language in school. In defending his positions, he provides three ideas to support his position: • The use of family language impedes child’s social growth. Insistence on using Spanish language at home made Rodriguez and his older sister and brother to be socially disadvantaged at school.
In her article, “Teach Them Spanish Early, Too,” Carlene Carmichael questions why young Californians are not being taught a basic understanding of both the English and the Spanish language. Carmichael contends that more job opportunities are available to bilingual applicants. She suggest that children could be taught both languages together from a young age. Carmichael pities the many Americans who are barred from employment at bilingual businesses because of this disadvantage and she wonders if anyone else feels the same. Carmichael’s suggestion to offer Spanish curriculum to young children and teach both English and Spanish at the same time makes a lot of sense; After all, California does recognize both English and Spanish as official
The film “Speaking in Tongues” (2010) obtained the students, parents, and communities perspective towards bilingual education. The students interviewed were all mainly towards learning how to speak a second language. The students felt they could benefit in learning a second language or in expanding their home language. In the film, Kelly Wong stated she loved speaking Chinese to her grandmother. Kelly could practice, learn, and get corrected by her grandmother while speaking Chinese.
As a child it was hard for me to learn two languages at once, but it was essential to break the communication barrier. By the age of three I spoke proficient
With nations becoming increasingly connected through mediums like the internet, the world has changed substantially within the last decade. It’s a time where Spanish songs such as Luis Fonsi’s Despacito can top the American music charts, where traveling to the other side of the world takes a few hours instead of weeks, and more importantly, where states like California and Utah are continuing to promote and provide for a growing demand for bilingual education through dual-immersion programs. Although the states have great strides in the right direction, bilingual education should not be encouraged but rather be required for K-12 students. Because bilingual education integrates languages into the student’s lifestyle through instruction, it enriches the lives of children, the adults they will become, and the community to which they will contribute to.
A person who speaks more than one language is described as being bilingual. According to the United States Department of Education, “about 21% of school-age children speak a language other than English at home,” (Lowry, 2011). As Wayne Thomas and Virginia Collier describe in, “Two Languages are Better Than One,” children who come into school having a first language besides English, tend to struggle. Usually when a child struggles with a particular subject, they are taken out of the main classroom and brought somewhere for a remedial class. But according to Thomas and Collier, in order to help narrow the gap in comprehension, English learners and English speakers need to be kept together in order to be fully enriched in a successful learning
The children learning a second language for develop skills that will help create opportunities in the future and ability to communicate with others in different situations. It will most certainly In addition to the language skills of children with learning a second language, and learning the cultural differences helps. Includes a variety of educational and career opportunities as well. However, children learning a second language in the early teens It can learn faster and learn the lesson faster also. But it does not mean if passed, then a teenager.
2.0 INTRODUCTION Language development happens both inside the classroom (as part of a formal establishment, school or institute) and outside it. The classroom is generally considered a formal setting, and most other environments informal, with respect to language learning. “In environments where informal language development is adequate, it is possible to regard the formal classroom as supplemental, complementary, facilitating and consolidating”(Van Lier, 1988: 20). For second-language development in such environments the informal settings can be regarded as primary and the formal classroom as ancillary. The L2 lesson then becomes a language arts lesson, focusing on special language skills and cognitive/academic growth, much in the same way
Why taking a second language can be helpful Learning a second language has many lifelong beneficial other than just understanding the language itself, mainly if learned at a young age. Learning a second language can be done more efficiently as a young kid, and can open up many doors for later in life while being mentally advanced. When it comes to learning a second language, the younger you start the easier you will begin to learn your second language. Younger brains learn much easier than older brains because the brain is designed for language learning to take place between birth and adolescence (the period following the onset of puberty during which a young person develops from a child into an adult).