Ethnic Diversity: Bilingual Education

There have been strong feelings about whether schooling in America should be conducted in languages other than English. English is America's preferred language. It is not the "national" or "official" language, but every important document, text book, and other aspect of daily life is in English. Most people believe that if you do not speak or understand English, you are either ignorant or not willing to make an effort to learn the language. In California, as immigration continues, especially from Latin America and Asia, schools are inundated with children whose English fluency is well behind that of the average American child their ages. Can bilingual education to bring these children up to speed be enforced? Bilingual Education should be used to ensure students would not fall behind academically because of poor command of English and to gradually teach them English as a second language.

Bilingual Education gives bilinguals more benefits than side effects. Here are some views pro and con: "Two halves or one whole. The two is contrasting views of bilingual. First, there is a fractional view of bilinguals, which evaluates the bilingual as 'two monolinguals in one person'. There is a second, holistic view, which argues that the bilingual is not the sum of two complete or incomplete monolinguals, but has a unique linguistic profile" (Baker 1998 9). Baker's "con" arguments is reinforced by many critics who claim that non-English speaking students are not sufficiently mastering the English language. As a result, low test scores prove that education is failing them in both their native as well as their second language.

On the "pro" side, most students, whether foreign-born and just arrived, or living with non-English speaking parents, want to learn. The educators who favor bilingual education are also quick to point out that with the globalization of industries, people who are proficient in more than one language are, and will be, much in demand.