Bilingual Education

Today, one in three children nationwide is from an ethnic or racial minority group, one in seven speaks a language other than English at home, and one in fifteen was born outside the United States (Wiese, Garcia).  With increasing Spanish and Mexican immigration, Spanish has risen in the U.S. as the second most dominant language.  These statistics alone make it essential for Americans to be fluent in a language other than English.  Not only is America the most culturally diverse country, it is also a nation that sends hundreds of thousands of its jobs and corporations overseas.  Due to this, jobs are now requiring that in order to even be considered, you must be bilingual, the preferred languages being Spanish, and Chinese.  Including Spanish and Chinese, French and Japanese are the most commonly associated bilingual languages.  Along with the need for more interpreters, and multilingual entrepreneurs, the United States should create a nationwide bilingual education system.

According to the University of Michigan, bilingual education is a form of education in which information is presented to the students in two (or more) languages; there are several types:

1. Submersion – Student is placed in an English-speaking classroom with native English speakers, regardless of the student’s level of proficiency in English.
2. Two-way bilingual education – Fluent or native speakers of both English and another language are placed in the same classroom and instructed in both languages alternately.
3. English as a Second Language (ESL) – Non-English speaking students are placed in English-speaking classrooms for part of the day.
4. Immersion – Students are instructed in a foreign language for entire school day.
5. Three language system – Students are initially educated in an official state language. A second language, an official language of the Union, is introduced after approximately two years. After another several years, a third language, “any Modern Indian Language” not already taught, is introduced academically.

 Bilingual education has been a highly debated issue over the last few decades.  Many vouch for it being taken into affect, yet there are some who don’t see it as a necessity for American youth.  There are a few states such California, Texas, and Oregon who have taken bilingual education seriously, incorporating several of the above types into their teaching systems. It should not be limited to states with a high foreign population (i.e. California, Texas, and Florida).  Bilingual education must be something that is capitalized upon throughout the United States.