Understanding The Benefit and Significance of Teaching Students in Two Languages

In recent years, bilingual education, a dual-language program designed to provide equal educational opportunities to students of limited English proficiency, has become a controversial topic in the United States. While some people firmly believe that one has the freedom to speak whichever language one chooses, others believe that the use of any language other than English in the United States creates divisiveness (Orozco p.79).

However, due to the fact that there are many different nationalities in the United States, bilingual education can facilitate learning for people with different ethnic backgrounds. Bilingual education expedite the process by maintaining the fluency of the native language, improving the academic proficiency of the second language learned, raising sense of confidence and self-esteem, making the transition into a new environment less intimidating, and encouraging the acceptance and tolerance of different cultures; therefore, the advantages of bilingual education outweighs the disadvantages.

In the past years, students, especially at the elementary school level, have come from various places in the world to the United States to study. Some people argue that, under such circumstances, it is easier for students to learn with the language that they understand. In accordance with this belief, students should therefore fully develop fluency in their native language before learning a second language. By doing so, bilingual education helps students achieve academic proficiency in a second language, in this case English (Orozco p.79). For bilingual students, school is usually an "essential agent" (Baker p.226) to develop their heritage language. This means that students must be taught to read and write in their native language before they are taught those skills in English.

Secondly, students in bilingual programs develop fluency in English more quickly and efficiently than students in English-only classes. Students can better utilize their reading and cognitive skills from their native language while learning the new language (Orozco p.79). In many cases, new foreign students who study in English-only classes do not comprehend anything the teacher teaches. This problem can be solved by incorporating bilingual education in that students have the benefit of understanding the new material being taught through a language they already understand. Therefore, students are able to study subject matter in their first language while their weaker language skills catch up (Leyba p.48). This would prevent foreign students from falling behind in the subjects other than English, such as mathematics and science.

Thirdly, bilingual education encourages students to have positive self-concept and pride in their background. Due to the fact that students will probably become timid in their schoolwork to the extent of their deficiency in English, bilingual education boosts their confidence since they have the opportunity to express their ideas in their native language (Leyba p.85). In addition, entering school with less competence in English than monolingual English-speaking students, students will have more positive attitude when they are placed in a dual-language program.

The students' self-esteem and self-concept will also be enhanced when their native language is used in school. Students will feel more comfortable and accepted if the school uses their native language to communicate with them (Baker p.209). Feeling more comfortable and secured, students will not only study harder, but will also become more actively involved in school activities.

Since foreign students all have different cultural and ethnic background, bilingual education can be implemented to foster stronger relationships between the students' home and school. Since non-English-speaking students come from non-English-speaking homes, the use of the "child's mother tongue by some of the teachers and as a school language is necessary" (Baker p.211) if there is to be a strong, mutually reinforcing relationship between the home and the school. Moreover, language is the most important exteriorization and manifestation of the self and the human personality.

If the school rejects the mother tongue of an entire group of students, it can be expected to seriously affect those children's thinking and attitude toward their families and also themselves (Gaarder 1967). On the other hand, it will also affect their social and emotional development, because students who cannot communicate to their peers will feel isolated at school. Furthermore, statistics have shown that those students who develop their heritage language, in addition to acquiring English, do better in school and in the job market (Smith 1997). If the school strongly opposes bilingual education, students entering the working world will be less competent in fields that require technical or professional skills where language matters. Thus, the unique potential career advantage of bilinguals will be destroyed (Gaarder 1967).

Finally, bilingual education encourages students to accept and tolerate people with different ethnic and cultural background. Having students with various nationalities and different cultural background in the same classroom, students will be able to learn and understand different culture and lifestyle from other students. In today's world, differences in ethnic and cultural background often cause racial conflicts and problems.

Conflicts arise as a result of intolerance and lack of understanding of those who are different, and many of these problems can be mitigated through bilingual education. Bilingual education allows students to have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world earlier on in school and develop a sense of diversity, which characterizes the United States. Since people's fluency and familiarity in other languages and cultures are a national resource that the society need, tolerance of other cultures and languages must be encouraged by every reasonable means (Gaarder 1967).

The United States is known for its cultural and ethnic diversity. Many people from foreign countries come to our country seeking for better education and more opportunities. As a results, many of our talents have come from various regions of the world, contributing to the success of our nation. Bilingual education not only increases the efficiency foreign students learn English, but also gives native English-speaking students a chance to learn and accept people with cultural and ethnic background other than their own. From a broader perspective, bilingual education is a program whose educational opportunities would attract even more talents to our countries.