A Shiny New Package: What Are Bilingual Educators Fighting
For Anyway?
Commonly, the
average American misunderstands the purpose and method of bilingual education.
In general, Americans are not aware that bilingual educators are fighting for
the rights of language minority students; and specifically and most
importantly, the right to a quality education, including full and fluent
development of the English language. Lamentably, bilingual educators have had
to be on the defensive since the modern renaissance of bilingual education in
the 1960s. Even in our early history,
many languages were taught bilingually in American schools especially in the 18th
and 19th century. The
bilingual programs first appeared in parochial schools and then later appeared
in public schools. For example, German
was taught bilingually in Texas and Pennsylvania.
In the August 1998
issue of Vista magazine, Max Castro cites a poll that reveals
that homosexuality is the only issue that received less support among Americans
than bilingual education. What does this indicate? Are Americans so socially
insecure that they consider bilingual educators and foreign languages to be
some sort of malevolent presence in the United States? Given my knowledge of
Americans and love for our culture, I do not think so. It is hard for me to
believe that Americans want these kids to perform badly in school. Perhaps
then, the reason behind these negative polls is a lack of knowledge by the
general public about bilingual education and the process of how kids best
acquire a second language.
Misperceptions
about bilingual education are further perpetuated by the "English
Only" message and its well-funded propaganda machines. The English Only camp has it so easy. Their
battle cry, "Teach them in English!" is easily stated and easily
(mis)understood, though not easily implemented. These programs tout success,
but in reality they are horrible failures, as they do not foster academic
success in English. The Orange Unified
School District in California is well known for its English immersion program
and indeed the school district is quick to promote its success. In reality, the program is a failure. The program only met one of its three
self-imposed goals. It did increase the
oral fluency rates for the children by one year, but bilingual programs can do
the same. The English immersion program
failed to increase its redesignation rates to fluent English speaker. Further, the program did not meet its goal of
increasing its standardized test scores. Why is this so? English immersion programs can not teach
academics as well as bilingual education.
It is as simple as that. To teach
academics, the teacher needs to use comprehensible input. Bilingual education is the only program that
can do this.
What else impedes
our acceptance? Bilingual educators have
to explain a myriad of complex issues. Some of these include: the value of
academic instruction in the student's native language; the challenges of
assessing children who can't be validly tested in English and when valid tests
in native languages are difficult to come by; the long time it takes for a
student to transition to full academic instruction in English and still be able
to achieve in the classroom; and conversational vs. academic fluency in English
and the longer time it takes to achieve the latter.
Yet no matter how many times we explain these challenges, we still are faced with the same questions: "How will you do it?," "How much will it cost?," "How long will it take?, and even more disconcerting, Is it necessary?; but not: "What's best for the students?" Unfortunately, bilingual educators have a difficult time answering complex questions with simple answers. The questioners' eyes glaze over and their focus wanes. And bilingual educators are still left with the need to synthesize our message into a concise message that is just as easily understood as the "English Only" message. Research has proven bilingual education to be superior to English immersion in promoting student achievement, but how can we, as bilingual educators, get this message across in a credible way?
Here is one
observation. I once saw a job announcement regarding openings for biliteracy
teachers. I think this term provides a better description of what bilingual
educators do. The term bilingual may lead the public to
believe that we are language teachers just like French or Spanish teachers at
the secondary school level who teach a period-long class in the target language
with very low-level vocabulary. This is not the case. Instead, we teach
academic subjects such as math, science and social studies in TWO languages, and parents who put
their children in bilingual programs need to understand that we are promoting
the development and importance of knowing ALL
subject matter in TWO languages.
If the term "bilingual education" has been tarnished, even unfairly,
then perhaps one new strategy we should use is to call ourselves biliteracy
teachers. Some districts' teachers already do so such as the Palmdale School
District in California just north of Los Angeles. Perhaps this denomination would better
connote what we do: that is, we use the best, researched-based teaching
methodology currently available to ensure the academic success of our students.
I realize that
this is simplistic, but isn't that how the "English Only" crowd have
promoted their irrational thinking successfully? When I describe my profession using the term
"biliteracy teacher" to describe what I do, I am faced with far less
cynicism and doubt. Sometimes, a good product needs to be repackaged, as
evidenced frequently in the marketplace. Proven products are given new
packaging to increase sales all the time and to differentiate itself from the
rest. I think bilingual, oops,
biliteracy education needs new wrappings.
Perhaps if we are able to communicate our message in a new, concise
manner, we can get back to the business of preparing biliterate students who
are ready to compete in the global community of the new millenium.
Stephen Pollard