Official Language Movement
The Official Language Movement
Article 1: “Reforming the commonwealth's 30-year old bilingual education law”
This article covers the issue of minorities in Massachusetts that are underperforming and dropping out of school due to the unchanged law that took effect in 1973. The law does not encourage flexibility and innovation. This law has only one bilingual education approach and keeps the standards high; it does not ensure that students are learning English. It is tough for students, whom English is their second language, to keep up among their peers and is therefore dropping out.
Source: Larkin, P.J. Reforming the commonwealth's 30-year old bilingual education law.. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.masshightech.com
Article 2: “Why Bilingual Education?”
The author suggests that children that are taught in their primary language will be able to grasp a second language with quality bilingual education. When a child can read in their primary language, the author suggests the child can read in general, so when the child is in ESL ( English as a Second Language) class, they will be able to learn the language and grasp concepts better because they already have the concept mastered in their primary language; they have knowledge and literacy. The author shares his opinion that the best bilingual programs include: ESL instruction, sheltered subject matter teaching, and instruction in the first language.
Source: Krashen, S. "Why bilingual Education?".. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.ericdigest.com
Article 3: “Alternatives to Bilingual education”
This article describes the different ways bilingualism in education can be approached and there are some ways that work better than others. There are pro’s and con’s to most approaches. The different approaches include submersion, ESL, structured immersion and two way bilingual immersion. One approach that has been found to be...
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