Bilingual Education Helps Those Struggling with English
By: Scholastic Schol

Category: Business » Education and Learning
Article Views: [167] (Old Stats: 186)

With a growing minority of youth in America that speaks poor or no English, bilingual education - along with English as a Second Language (ESL) classes - has become an important part of maintaining a well educated citizenry.

Although there is heavy resistance from bilingual education opponents, proponents point to study after study that show ensuring a student is proficient in their native language first:

a. helps them learn English b. ensures they will learn English better c. results in a bilingual and biliterate student, developing the brain in a manner conducive to learning

But perhaps more importantly, when a student is taught in a language they don’t understand very well they are virtually certain to fall behind. Often, once a student is behind they never catch back up, even as an adult. Rather than becoming a productive member of society, theybecome a burden.

If a student is already, or they become, proficient in thei r native language, ESL classes are often used as a way to teach the student English, allowing them to eventually integrate into an English-only school or youth education program.

Research has shown that a student educated in one language can easily transfer their writing and higher-order language skills over to another language. Indeed, many students who are native English speakers that understand higher orders of English language structure have noted that understanding English to a high degree in fact helped them learn the structure of a new language, and therefore become fluent in it much faster.

A proper youth bilingual education program strives to teach both the student’s native language and the English language. Education in a student’s native language will prevent them from falling behind and becoming overwhelmed, while ESL instruction ensures that they can eventually become a productive and contributing member of an English speaking society.

Author bio:- Brian Saunders is a senior teacher helping struggling readers and English language learners on bilingual education, ESL, youth bilingual education, book leveled reading educational technology, adolescent literacy, reading intervention