"they are not becoming fluent in English..."

I have long been a supporter of foreign language immersion programs for children. Time and again immersion in a second language, especially at a young age, has shown itself to be the quickest and most effective method for learning a second language. Many students have benefited from learning a second language in this manner and have become successfully bilingual. However, it is important to remember that there are two different types of language students in the US; native English speakers who are learning a second language and native speakers of another language who are learning English. The reasons for language learning in these two groups are different as are the needs of each group. The first group learns a second language for the added benefit bilingualism will bring, the latter for the pure necessity of it. The native English-speakers will learn a second language and will not lose their native language because it is the dominant language of the country in which they live. They are surrounded by English.

Native speakers of another language can easily lose their native language if not continuously exposed to it. Young immigrants, who attend English-only schools frequently fail to achieve an advanced level in their language, have limited vocabulary and rarely learn to write in that language. What a tremendous loss for children who could easily have become bilingual. But on the flip side, those same students take much longer to learn English when placed in transitional classrooms in which the majority of their day is taught in their native language and in which they are grouped with other students who share the same native language. This is the very issue that has caused many districts to rethink their bilingual programs and has spread so much concern about the cost versus the benefit of such programs.

District officials in Commerce City, Colorado have become concerned by this as reported by The Denver Post yesterday:

Fifty-four percent of Adams 14's 6,500 students are English-language learners, and recent studies have shown they are not becoming fluent in English as they move through the district.

"The majority of students who have been in the district for six years still remain limited in proficiency of English," said Superintendent Sue Chandler in a letter to parents. "There is little indication of progress in literacy and language."

Chandler said the district is ditching its bilingual policy that was "overly proscriptive" and moving to a flexible policy that will "allow the district to develop a program to best meet the needs of all students who are acquiring English."

"The fact is we haven't changed it yet," Albright said about the new language policy. "But we know we need to do something better."

It is doubtful that Commerce City is alone in confronting this issue. There is obviously a problem about many of these bilingual programs that needs to be addressed. It is unfair for these students to lag so far behind their peers in English. But what system would work better? I can only imagine that the "correct solution" would vary widely by community. But whatever solution is created needs to take into account both English language acquisition and native language maintenance. Only in this way are we truly educating these students to their full capacity.

Finding Qualified Bilingual Teachers

So your district wants to start a language immersion program or you want to start a charter school with an immersion program. You may find yourself with a big problem. No, I'm not talking about funding, although that can be a big problem too. I'm talking about hiring qualified, credentialed, native-speaking teachers. It may seam easy but it isn't. Yes, there are a lot of Spanish speakers in the US but that doesn't necessarily translate into lots of Spanish-speaking teachers. The same is true for any language.

As I have mentioned before, in order to become a teacher one must receive a BA, complete a course of study to become certified and pass several exams, all conducted in English. Now this makes a lot of sense if the teacher will be conducting class in English but teachers in immersion classes are not conducting class in English. They are using French or Spanish or Mandarin or any other myriad of languages. Most of the teachers of these languages speak English just fine but not at the level necessary to pass exams and write academic papers.

Now, if your child were in an English only classroom, would you be ok with a teacher who had the equivalent of an 8th grade level in English? A teacher who didn't know how to spell properly, couldn't write and made frequent grammar mistakes? Due to the English language requirements for getting a teaching credential, many of the most qualified bilingual teachers are unable to teach in the US. I do want to mention that there are those bilingual teachers who are credentialed and who have an appropriate level in the language of instruction but far too often that is not the case. Some bilingual teachers have never taken a formal class in their native language because they grew up in the US and were not fortunate enough to have been provided with a bilingual education.

As more and more districts begin to expand their number of bilingual schooling options they are facing the need to hire qualified teachers. Such is the case in Maryland where language immersion programs have been poping up. Finding the right people doesn't seem to be the hard part, its getting them certified.

"We don't want to diminish the certification, certification is very important," said Bill Reinhard with the Maryland State Department of Education. "But there are ways of speeding certification along."

Providing flexibility in teaching certification, the task force hopes, could help schools utilize the language talents of first-, second- or third- generation Americans.

Yes, we are going to need to reevaluate how we certify our teachers and create ways for getting around the language barrier facing many of our most qualified immersion teachers. However, with increase of bilingual programs we just might be able to produce our own bilingual teachers right here in the USA. Wouldn't that be great.

See full article here.

Looking for a bilingual school?

For all the parents out there looking for a great language immersion program for your child, The Center for Applied Lingustics has a searchable database of many schools that offer bilingual programs, both immersion and two-way. There are several schools missing, especially the newer ones. But it is a great place to start.

Mandarin on the Rise in Vancouver

Mandarin is the growing trend in Vancouver as more and more citizens sign themselves and their children up for Mandarin classes.

On February 16, the Vancouver school board voted unanimously, in principle, to start Mandarin learning in at least one elementary school by September 2010, B.C. Parents for Mandarin spokesperson Lara Honrado told the Straight. This follows similar steps taken by North Vancouver and Burnaby, which will both start Mandarin in some kindergartens over the next two years, she said.

So why Mandarin and why now? According to the article

Vancouver sits across the water from economic tigers China and India; the city was built on Coast Salish land; and in several Vancouver neighbourhoods, Chinese is the mother tongue of more residents than English or French.

And aside from demographics and proximity to China there are many other factors that are encouraging parents to push for more Mandarin bilingual programs.

Suzanne Nelson [is] a member of the newly created Burnaby branch of B.C. Parents for Mandarin. Nelson describes herself as Caucasian and speaks English and high-school French. Her three-year-old son, Josiah, is half Chinese and speaks, so far, English. She would like him to grow up speaking Mandarin. First, she said, so he can communicate with his peers. Second, because it’s his heritage language. Third, to open a world of career opportunities to him when he grows up.

As more cities begin to embrace bilingualism and education in more than one language they will need to look at other models. So what cities out there have already figured it all out? Is there such a place? The search begins for the city with the best bilingual school system.

View full article here.

Bilingual Work Force in Demand

Yet another article about the growing demand for a bilingual workforce. For many of us this doesn't come as a surprise. We have long known the advantage bilingual people have in the workforce. It appears that even small town America is now feeling the pinch. In The Mount Airy News article from Surry County, North Carolina, Morgan Wall writes,

In Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, there are more than 700 international business firms. In the Triad, there are more than 200. These companies represent more than 40 countries and employ more than 60,000 people.

Almost every other country in the world has its students begin a second or even third language in grade school, the equivalent of elementary school. U.S. students are being forced to compete against these students from other countries who can offer more to companies.

Back in December 2006, in the Time magazine article, "How to Bring our Schools out of the 20th Century", Claudia Wallis wrote about our outdated educational system that fails to produce workers who can handle the new demands of a global marketplace. Most important to the article were the interviews with CEO's about the types of skills they look for in workers. Among the required skills is knowledge of foreign languages.

Mike Eskew, CEO of UPS, talks about needing workers who are "global trade literate, sensitive to foreign cultures, conversant in different languages"--not exactly strong points in the U.S., where fewer than half of high school students are enrolled in a foreign-language class and where the social-studies curriculum tends to fixate on U.S. history.

It is clear that we need to provide foreign language instruction to our children at a much younger age. The only question is how are we going to make that happen?

Mount Airy News article

Times Article

Rise of bilingual schools in Wales

It appears that all around the globe parents are realizing the endless benefits of bilingual education and schools are stepping up to the task of providing more language options.

Around 80% of parents who send their children to Welsh-medium schools don't speak the language themselves.

In Northern Ireland the figure is even higher - 90%.

So why the rise?

For many parents, sending their children to a Welsh-medium school is viewed as a way of reclaiming part of their culture which wasn't available when they were young and the sector was much smaller.
Others are acutely aware of the impressive exam results delivered by many Welsh-medium schools, while for some, the changing face of Wales and the post devolution world could explain their choice..

Of course, it shouldn't come as a surprise that progress doesn't come without a struggle.

In Cardiff, Welsh-medium schools are all heavily oversubscribed and the local authority is currently attempting to institute an ambitious city-wise reorganisation plan which takes into account this swing towards education in Welsh.
But it has been highly controversial - initial attempts to close some English-medium schools with falling rolls has met with huge opposition.

View the full article here.

Good news for bilingual education in California

While it is sad that $8 billion will be cut from the state's education programs, current bilingual programs will not be touched. The San Jose Mercury News reported that

Under the proposal, about $6 billion worth of programs — including school lunches, class-size reduction and bilingual education — cannot be cut or have their funding shifted.

This is quite surprising given the attitude towards bilingual education in California that resulted in the passage of prop 227 and the dismantling of the majority state's bilingual programs in 1998. I am curious as to how bilingual education was spared the axe on the chopping block of Calfornia's budget. I would like to know who to thank.
View full article here.

Tamaulipas Becomes First Mexican Bilingual State

Without fanfare but with great hopes, the Texas border state of Tamaulipas has declared itself the first bilingual state in Mexico, deciding that its 320,000 public school students, from elementary to high school, will learn conversational English.

I just have to ask, if Mexico can do this, why can't we?

View article here.

Obama's Agenda for Bilingual Education

From the new Education Agenda of the Obama administration:

Support English Language Learners: Obama and Biden support transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.

Now I am not a big fan of transitional bilingual education programs. My concern is that they are not optimum for producing bilingual and biliterate citizens. If these programs are designed to simply teach children English then there are probably better, more effective ways of doing that. After all, in order to teach a target language, shouldn't instruction be mostly in that language? Children also don't attain the advantages of full biliteracy because, in transitional programs, instruction in their native language is cut short, not usually continuing past the third grade.

Transitional Bilingual Education seems to be the program of choice for politicians as it is the least threatening form of bilingual education. We can safely say to our more conservative counterparts that we support transitional bilingual education because it helps transition immigrants into mainstream English classes. I wish, for once, that we could say that we support bilingual education because we want all of our citizens to be bilingual. If that were actually the case then Transitional Programs would probably not be our priority. We would focus our energy on expanding dual-immersion programs, in which English-speakers and speakers of another language would be mixed together in order for both groups to become bilingual.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy that bilingual education is even on the agenda. But I would be even happier if we could take that next step and ensure that all children in the US had the opportunity to learn another language. Of course, with Obama in the White House, I still have HOPE!

Obama on Bilingual Education

We are just hours away from Obama's inauguration. There is much to look forward to in this momentous moment for our country. Among other things is Obama's belief in bilingualism and the impact bilingual citizens have on our country's future success. This quote was from a meeting with a group of high school students,

Obama was asked about bilingual education, especially given current climate of immigration. Obama believes that everyone should be bilingual or even “trilingual.” “When we as a society do a really bad job teaching foreign languages – it is costing us when it comes to being competitive in a global marketplace,” he said.

View the full article here.