Introduction to Bilingual Education
Author: Angélica María Ríos
Date of Posting: June 2022
Institution: American College of Education
Program: M.Ed in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education
Classrooms in the United States continue to grow culturally and linguistically diverse. According to the United States Census Bureau (2020), the “number of immigrants living in the United States is projected to grow by 25 million people, rising from 44 million in 2016 to a projected 69 million by 2060” (p.10). This is important to note because Viking Middle School serves a diverse student population for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. According to Public School Review (2022), Viking ranks in the top 5% of most diverse public schools in Illinois with a diversity score of 0.78. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) reports a student diversity of 42.4 % Hispanic, 23.6% African American, 6.9% Asian, 21.8% White, and 5.1% Multiracial (2021). Accordingly, 77% of the student body is comprised of minority enrollment (Public School Review, 2022). Among the 533 students enrolled, 14.5% of students are considered English Learners (ELs) (ISBE, 2021); however, it is closer to 17% due to student mobility. According to Viking Middle School (2022), there is a total of 92 identified ELs and the languages spoken include Arabic, Assyrian, Belizean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hebrew, Jamaican Patois, Malayalam, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Tagalog. How can we best service the EL population? Why is bilingual education a divisive topic? What bilingual program models exist? What are the stages of second language acquisition? What does the research say about instructional strategies?
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Bilingual Education
Bilingual education continues to generate controversy fifty-four years after its establishment. Despite the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 being “considered the most important law in recognizing linguistic minority rights in the history of the United States” (Nieto, 2009), it continues to be a divisive topic. Nieto (2009) argues that ESL/bilingual education is "politically, socially, and economically charged and biased standardized tests are often used as empirical evidence to diminish the value of ESL programs". To provide further insight into this debate educators and parents should understand the bilingual history in the United States. I was originally a detractor to the bilingual program because I underwent the "sink-or-swim" approach and survived. What I did not take into account were the resources, support, and instructional practices provided at home, by my mother, in my native language. I now realize that the sink-or-swim approach offers little to no support to linguistically diverse students. Had I been aware of the bilingual history in the United States, the various bilingual education models, and strategies to support ELs, I would have been a supporter earlier in my career.
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Bilingual Timeline in the United States (ACE, 2019)
• 1620 - Mayflower lands in Plymouth, Massachusetts
• 1819 - United States early leaders allow nationalities to establish their own states but fear they might not assimilate
• 1839 - Ohio passes first law to allow German-English instruction upon request. First law permitting bilingual education
• 1847 - Louisiana law allows French-English instruction
• 1864 - Congress law prohibits instruction in Native American languages
• 1870 - New Mexico law permits Spanish instruction in public elementary schools
• 1879 - Federal law separates Native American students from their families and placed in adoption centers, foster care, and boarding schools in efforts of forced assimilation
• 1906 - The Nationality Act was a federal law requiring all immigrants seeking naturalization to speak English
• 1920 - State law mandates English-only instruction
• 1930 - Independent School District v. Salvatierra - Mexican American parents in t Rio, Texas, brought suit against the school district over segregation but court sided with the school stating segregation was necessary to teach the students English.
• 1934 - The Bureau of Indian Affairs rescinds federal policy of suppressing Native American languages
• 1947 - Méndez v. Westminster School District segregation is not considered beneficial for the students' English language development
• 1954 - Brown v. Board of Education - U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation was unconstitutional
• 1958 - National Defense Education Act - Act provides aid to public and private schools in science, math, and foreign languages
• 1963 - Effective two-way bilingual program established for Cuban refugees in Florida
• 1964 - The Civil Rights Act - equality in federal law. Title VII was the first federal recognition of special education and language-minority needs, and have access to federal funds.
• 1965 - Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)- Act provides funds for educational programs
• 1967 - ESEA, Title VII- The Bilingual Education Act became a federal statute under Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendment of 1967.
• 1968 – Bilingual Education Act mandated schools to provide bilingual education programs. It provided federal funds to schools implementing native-language instruction
• 1974 - Lau v. Nichols - U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the San Francisco School District was not offering same instruction and resources to language minority students.
• 1974 - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to ensure immigrant families feel safe about their immigrant status
• 1978 - Amendments to Title VII emphasize the strictly transitional nature of native language instruction, permits enrollment of English-speaking students in bilingual programs.
• 1982 - Amendment to the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, Title VII programs include English-only instruction option
• 1994 - Proposition 187 - California proposed to deny illegal immigrants healthcare, social services, and public education.
• 1998 - Proposition 227 - California mandates all students must be taught in English as rapidly as possible and places them in one-year intensive English immersion programs
• 2001 - No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) - law reauthorized federal programs aiming to improve academic performance by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts, and schools. It requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to receive federal funding
• 2006 - National Language Proposal to amend immigration legislation which designated English as the “national language.” The bill was allowed to die
• 2015 - Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) NCLB is replaced by a new law, with new testing requirements
• 2016 - Proposition 58 repealed California’s Proposition 227. It allows schools to utilize multiple programs, including bilingual education
• 2017 - Massachusetts eliminates their English-only approach
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Landmark court rules, laws, and mandates have had significant implications on ELs and their language instruction. Court decisions have led to legislative changes that shape the policy climate today (Wright, 2019). These historical events are evidence that fear of political power, socioeconomic status, and of lack of assimilation resulted in inequitable educational opportunities. All students deserve high-quality education despite their cultural and linguistic background.
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Information on current state legislation on the instruction of ELs is found in Education Policy.
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Bilingual Education Program Models
Most educators agree that the main goal of the bilingual program is for students of other languages to achieve competence in the English language as well as content areas; however, the debate continues on how best to achieve these goals. There are several models of bilingual education programs and the most common diverge into additive or subtractive models. In additive bilingual programs both native and target languages are given value and recognition, used systematically, and the goal is for ELs to develop literacy in both languages. In subtractive bilingual programs, the learner's native language is limited or restricted to acquire the second language, the native language is significantly reduced, and the goal is to develop literacy in the second language (Collier & Thomas, 2004)
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Transitional Models
The goal is to shift the EL from their native language to the target language and receive all instruction in English. These programs (Sheltered English, Integrated Transitional, Structured Immersion) can be early-exit or late-exit. Early-exit programs shift out of the receiving native language instruction between kindergarten and second grade. Late-exit programs shift out of receiving native language instruction between third and fifth grade (Kester, 2021).
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Maintenance Models
The goal is to maintain the EL's skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in both languages. Many of these programs extend throughout elementary, middle school, or high school. They are also considered dual language programs: one-way dual language or two-way dual language. One-way dual language consists of all students who share the same language. Two-way dual language consists of students who are native speakers of the target language and speakers of other languages (Kester, 2021).
English as a Second Language (ESL) Model
This model is used when there are less than 20 students that share the same language or the language diversity is quite vast. This program accommodates linguistically diverse students within the same class.
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ESL pull-out
ELs receive the majority of their academic instruction in mainstream classes, but are pulled out to receive ESL instruction. The goal is to shift from the native language to the target language (Colorin colorado, 1993).
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ESL push-in
ELs receive the majority of their academic instruction in mainstream classes, but an ESL teacher offers support in designated classes. The goal is to shift from the native language to the target language (Colorin colorado, 1993).
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It is critical for schools to determine which bilingual education program model best suits their needs. The number of ELs, languages, and proficiency levels must be taken into account along with accessibility to resources, certified staff, and professional development.
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The Five Stages of Second Language Acquisition
To better understand the proficiency levels of ELs to determine the appropriate bilingual education model, educators and administrators must have a basic understanding of the stages of second language acquisition. Krashen and Tyrell (1983) identified five predictable stages: pre-production, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency.
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Stage 1: Pre-production
The first stage of second language acquisition is called pre-production. At this stage, the learner is an observer and does not produce verbal language, however, they are actively listening. The learner has minimal comprehension but is able to gesture. This stage is often called the Silent Period (Hill & Björk, 2017).
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Stage 2: Early Production
The second stage of second language acquisition is called early production. At this stage, the learner begins to produce one or two-word phrases. The learner has limited comprehension, uses key words, and learns 1,000 new words (Hill & Björk, 2017).
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Stage 3: Speech Emergence
The third stage of second language acquisition is called speech emergence. At this stage, the learner can produce simple sentences, yet grammar and pronunciation errors still exist. The learner has good comprehension, knows 3,000 new words, and begins to ask questions (Hill & Björk, 2017).
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Stage 4: Intermediate Fluency
The fourth stage of second language acquisition is called intermediate fluency. At this stage, the learner can produce simple sentences, yet grammar and pronunciation errors still exist. The learner has good comprehension, knows 3,000 new words, and begins to ask questions (Hill & Björk, 2017).
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Stage 5: Advanced Fluency
The fifth stage of second language acquisition is called advanced fluency. At this stage, the learner has near-native proficiency and continues to improve on their language abilities (Hill & Björk, 2017).
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Research-Based Instructional Strategies to Support ELs
In order for students to be successful in class, an effective teacher must maintain “a conscious instructional act that involves overtly cultivating specific attitudes and perceptions” (Marzano et al., 1992).
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References
American College of Education. (2019). Foundations of ESL and bilingual education. Bilingual Timeline 1-4. [pdf]
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Collier, V. P. & Thomas, W. P. (2004). The astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all. NABE Journal of Research and Practice. https://www.mville.edu/sites/default/files/Dept-School%20of%20Education/Collier__Thomas_Effectiveness_of_Dual_
Language.pdf
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¡Colorín colorado! (1993). Program models for teaching English Language Learners. https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/program-models-teaching-english-language-learners
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Hill, J., & Björk, C. (2017). Classroom instruction that works with English Language Learners Participant's Workbook. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. https://www.u-46.org/cms/lib/IL01804616/Centricity/Domain/5425/The-Stages-of-Second-Language-Acquisition.aspx.html#:~:text=The%20Five%20Stages%20of%20Second%20Language%20Acquisition&text=Students%20
learning%20a%20second%20language,Krashen%20%26%20Terrell%2C%201983)
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Illinois State Board of Education. (2021). Illinois Report Card 2020-2021 https://www.isbe.net/ilreportcarddata
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Kester, E. (2021). Bilingual education models. Bilinguistics: Better speech therapy. https://bilinguistics.com/bilingual-education-models/
Marzano, R. (1992). A Different Kind of Classroom: Teaching with Dimensions of Learning. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Nieto, D. (2009). A Brief History of Bilingual Education in the United States. Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education, 6(1), 61–72.
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Public School Review. (2022). Viking School. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/viking-school-profile
United States Census Bureau. (2020). Deomographic Turning Points for the United States: Population Projections for 2020 to 2060. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p25-1144.html
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Viking Middle School. (2022). 2022 VMS Access test for English Learners’ schedule. [Spreadsheet].
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Wright, W. (2019). Landmark court rulings regarding English Language Learners. ¡Colorin colorado! https://www.colorincolorado.
org/article/landmark-court-rulings-regarding-english-language-learners