Bilingual Education for Americans Research Paper

Bilingual Education for Americans - Research Paper Example In the United States, Bilingual education focuses on the learners of English. The United States Department of Education notes that a bilingual educational program is an education program for limited English proficient students (ed.gov/). It is this definition that has remained in the federal government but there are several areas where it has fallen out of favor. This is because such a definition more or less shows that the student needs or requires support in the English language for him or her to succeed academically. In almost all, if not in all the states, there is a general feeling by the groups pushing for bilingual education system that it does not help to have this idea and they also do not find a justification for such a definition. History has it that the earliest instance of bilingual education in the United States occurred with the immigrants from Poland who first permanently settled in an English speaking area of Virginia. At this time it was only the rights of the Engli sh people that were recognized. It was as a result of the need that the English had for the skills of the Poles that got similar rights to the Englishmen and managed to establish a bilingual school (Seidner, p.72). In this school, the subjects were taught in both Polish and English, and this continued in other places in one form or system or another. It expanded to Native Americas, the Dutch, the Czech, the Germans, French, Spanish and Norwegians in the century that followed. Several states developed laws to address this issue depending on the demands of the foreigners. There are groups that believe that a bilingual education should be necessary, even if temporarily so as not to discriminate against foreign-born students, or bring them up to speed. On the other hand, there those who claim that English should be the national language, and until every student is proficient in English, the fact that they have the ability to speak another language hinders their development in the Englis h language and slows down the overall process of learning in America. Although most initiatives against bilingual education have always had a majority lead when it comes to this issue, I hold the opinion that the world has become a global village. As such, I believe that a bilingual education should be mandatory for Americans, starting in Elementary school, through secondary school and even in the collegiate levels as the need may require. This position is highly based on the fact the number of immigrants whose children are at the age of attending school but speak very little or no English, are denied the benefits of being able to attend school at the appropriate age. In most cases there is usually a sort of remedial classes that they have to attend where they are taught only English before they get the opportunity to become part and parcel of the main school curriculum. In a system of Bilingual education, the necessity of such classes would not be fundamental and the children will be able to learn without any regard of the language that they speak at home or with which they grew up. This is because the curriculum would include their language too. The Advantages of Having a Bilingual Education System They hold the opinion that it does not help to keep non-English speaking children out school for them to master the English langu