Immigrant English Learners at Risk: Bilingualism over Immersion. When my husband and I first met, neither one of us spoke the others language. I was from central Mexico and my husband was from California. Our first public encounter was a meal at a restaurant where it took us almost an hour to order because of the communication gap. We almost resorted to hieroglyphs and hand movements to finalize our selection. It took us months of interaction before we could order in less than ten minutes. Needless to say, it resulted in fond memories which we treasure today.
However, take this same situation into a classroom filled with immigrant children who don't speak English and more than likely chaos will be the result. There is a determined attempt on the part of some states and existing legislation in others to make "English Only" instruction the norm in the foreseeable future. This fuels an ongoing controversy among educators, parents, and politicians over which types of English language instruction will be more successful with the non-English speaking immigrant population currently attending schools in the United States. A basic premise supported by many professionals in the field is that these children have a better chance at success if they are taught in a manner where their primary language and English are both addressed in the classroom.
Some of the controversy is simply over the language used to describe the myriad of instructional techniques in operation today. ESL or English as a Second Language is the first of many acronyms and titles to hit the instructional circuit. It is primarily used to describe classroom instruction where predominately adults attend to learn English by specially trained teachers. Now there are many more categories such as EFL (English as a Foreign Language), ENL (English as a New Language), and ELL (English Language Learner) to name a few Feinberg 5-7). It is apparent that defining the various styles can be confusing to the most learned and the result is a lack of commonality in presenting the pros and cons of each.
Basically, bi-lingual education as described by Stephen D. Krashen, a professor of education at USC, could be related to a person who acquired employment in France but only had a couple years of high school French many years previously. This person would need information on travel arrangements, customs, and work related requirements not to mention finding a place to live. This information would be very useful right away in English rather than French. As you relate more to life in France after understanding it from English instruction, the transition adjustment would be easier (5). If the information was relayed in French rather than English to the prospective employee, the chances of success would be greatly reduced. In effect bilingual instruction follows the same pathway for immigrant children in the class room. It would seem that this method would be the most logical standard but not all experts agree.
Questioning the effectiveness of bilingual instruction is Professor Amado of Stanford University who states, "The central issue of the debate on bilingual education has been whether research supports the education benefit of the program or whether federal monies could be better spent on other educational programs" (15). This statement is further defined by former Secretary of Education Bennett who intimated that, "After seventeen years of federal involvement, and after $1.7 billion of federal funding, we have no evidence that the children whom we sought to help have benefitted" (Bennett, 185). Nevertheless, there are bilingual success stories that rise in objection to Bennett's statement.
Judith Harlan, a professional journalist, speaks of one well-documented project in East Los Angeles where predominately low-income Spanish speaking students learn language skills as well as developing reasoning, thinking and creative skills in Spanish first. She further describes that when one enters into a second grade classroom, it is interesting to see the children collaborating in math and science projects. If they were required to learn those skills in English only, they would probably be looking around wondering what to do (85-86).
One of the major attacks coming from a more conservative approach to the problem is described as "English Only" or SEI (Structured or Sheltered English immersion) which touts the viewpoint the sooner the child is engrossed in an English only environment the sooner they will acclimate to understanding and using English. One of the main proponents of this type of instruction is Kevin Clark, a 20-year educational consultant, who cites that one of the main facts that this type of instruction is entering the field is legislation. He continues with the fact that California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have already passed English immersion bills and they are in implementation today (43). Another reason for the consideration of this type of program is cost-effectiveness. Training a teacher to instruct in two languages is costly. English only classrooms would not have to bend to that requirement and proponents say the savings could be used elsewhere to enhance the learning environment. Again, the immovable hard line for immersion is put forth without citing the latest improvements in bilingual instruction that counter these types of arguments.
Accordingly, where does that leave the immigrant children who need to understand what is being said to them at the time of instruction? Professor Cockcroft, a Fulbright Scholar and consultant, counters with the fact that even though there is a shortage of about 175,000 bilingual teachers nationwide, a number of bilingual programs are doing quite well (140). He further cites an elementary school in central California which instituted "IBT" (Immersion/Bilingual Team) teacher teams were adapted into the curriculum and the school was "transformed" into an institution that garnered success through ethnic diversity (141). This curriculum taught the children subjects in both languages separately thus reinforcing a gradual strengthening in cognitive skills. The end result is that the children were truly bilingual.
In response to benefit verses cost Feinberg elaborates, "The concept that bilingual education should be considered an investment goes well beyond the anticipated outcome of increasing the schools' holding power and thereby increasing the number of students who graduate from high school" (200). She supports the point that there would be economic benefit with students acquiring better paying jobs and contributing more to the community as well as the tax base (200). Monies saved at the outset do not guarantee there will be a total cost savings overall.
One of the major advantages to bilingual education is that it will preserve the culture of the primary language of the immigrant children. Along with that would be the cultural diversity that could be lost if the child was separated from their birth language. Opponents say that this language diversity is what keeps these future employees from being successful in the business world. Because they were not taught in English all of the time, they are behind their peers in education and skills. The opponents continue with the supposition that immigrant children who don't speak English hold back the instruction in the classroom, thus "dummying down" the educational goals. All of these are legitimate concerns but they are not always anchored in fact.
The hard truth of the matter is that these children cannot be left to the "Sink or Swim" mentality that accompanies English only type of instruction. Even SEI is now being structured to incorporate some bilingual concepts because of the pressure from parents and educators (Adams 16). This due to the fact that there is a communication abyss that needs to be bridged. There is an immigrant population that needs to be folded into our society and it is imperative that they are capable of succeeding once that happens. To keep the home language viable while adding English is a winning situation for the immigrant child is the type of educational support that America has always given to its citizens.
