Jazmin Gonzalez

Research paper
English 2010
How many languages do you speak?
Hola, como estas? Hello, how are you? I grew up speaking two languages
an I know many other people who ha!e" I ha!e gone into my little #rother$s
school an ha!e seen a teacher teaching her stuents in English an in sign
language, I ha!e also seen schools in %ali&ornia who teach in English an in
'panish" Is it necessary &or our chilren to #e e(pose to a i&&erent language at
a young age? )r is it *ust a nice skill to ha!e? +hat are the e&&ects o& #ilingual
schools? I personally think It is a goo iea an shoul #e implemente in many
o& our schools, yet others #elie!e that it is a waste o& ta( payer money, an that
the ,nite states is a monolingual nation, learning a new language is a waste o&
time"
I #elie!e that it is important &or our chilren to unerstan more than one
language, #ecause the worl oesn$t speak *ust one language" +e nee to #e
a#le to communicate with our neigh#ors, &riens, an &amily whom may not
speak our primary language" -eing #ilingual can a!ance a person in their
work&iel, an can e!en open up new opportunities &or the ini!iual" +hen
tra!eling to another country they ha!e an unerstaning o& the language which
makes their e(perience #etter" .here are stuies that show that learning a
i&&erent language can sta!e o&& /lzheimer$s an ementia, people who speak
*ust one language starte ha!ing symptoms o& ementia at the mean age o& 01"1
an those who were #ilingual showe symptoms at the mean age o& 02"2"
3nowing more than one language o!erall impro!es your cogniti!e process"
4earning a new language can also impro!e your English5 +hen learning a new
language you ha!e to &ocus on the mechanics o& a language6 grammar an
sentence structure" -ilingual enucation #ene&its #oth non nati!e English
speakers an nati!e English speaking chilren" %hilren who o not speak
English primarily get the chance to learn #oth their own language an English,
this will help them e!elope many skills that will impro!e their li&e in the ,"'"
an also their nati!e country"
)ne o& the largest populations o& immigrants in the ,nite 'tates are
Hispanics, many o& our schools are neeing to a #ilingual classes into their
curriculum to help these chilren learn English e&&ecti!ely an to also teach other
chilren 'panish" +hile immigrant population is high, their literacy is low6 many
on$t ha!e the means to learn English e&&ecti!ely or on$t see the importance o&
learning English" 7,"'" immigrants &luent in English earne 20 to 80 percent more
than those who were non9&luent"7 says +hitney 3u#era an :aggie ;hillips, two
4atino stuies stuents &rom the ,ni!ersity o& :ichigan" .his means that i& we
teach teach young chilren English they will grow up an take on *o#s #etter
suite &or them than manual la#or an low paying *o#s" Immigrants are a #ig part
o& the economy, without their contri#utions the economy woul winle"
/ccoring to the .he +hite House -log, immigrants o make a large contri#ution
to the economy, they are 80 percent more likely to start a #usiness than non
immigrants, they #ring in cutting ege technology6 Google, <ahoo, E#ay an intel
are *ust a &ew" Immigrants also #oost eman &or consumer goos, their
purchasing power will increase to a#out 1"2 trillion ollars #y 2012" )ur chilren
cannot #ecome engineers an great in!entors i& they are limite to working low
class *o#s *ust #ecause they on$t unerstan the language, they ha!e so much
more potential than that" .hat is why we shoul in!est the money into many o&
our pu#lic schools to teach our chilren another language an help them grow up
to #e contri#uting mem#ers o& society"
.hough I #elie!e #ilingual eucation is important, it is more important to o
it right" .here are i&&erent &orms o& #ilingual eucation6 transitional #ilingualism
an two way immersion" .ransitional #ilingualism is when you gather the chilren
o& the minority language an place them in a class where they are taught #oth
languages an helpe transitione into English" .hough this souns like a goo
iea it is not !ery e&&ecti!e" It takes longer &or these chilren to #ecome
com&orta#le with the English language, which in turn lea!es them &ar #ehin
acaemically than the rest o& their peers" .wo way immersion is pro#a#ly the
most e&&ecti!e &orm o& #ilingual eucation" It is when you take chilren that are
non nati!e English speakers an put them in a class with stuents who are
English speaking, an you teach them in #oth languages" .his not only helps the
chilren who are not nati!e English speakers learn English #etter #ut they are in
a more com&orta#le en!ironment &or them where their culture is respecte, this
helps #uil their sel& esteem an con&ience in #oth languages" Janet =uller
>irector o& +omen?s 'tuies, 'outhern Illinois ,ni!ersity @ %ar#onale
states,7<es, I think #ilingual eucation is a woner&ul, #eauti&ul thing, an not *ust
#ecause it teaches kis in two languages an helps them to surpass the a!erage
on stanarize tests"7 =uller is an a!ocate &or #ilingual eucation, stating that
it there are i&&erent ways o& speaking an #eing that are all !alua#le"
.hough there are many great aspects to #ilingual eucation there are
some people who isagree with it" 'ome #elie!e that the system is #eing
a#use, schools are putting chilren who speak English into classrooms where
only a i&&erent language is spoken says :auro E" :u*ica, %hairman o& the
-oarA%E) o& ,"'"EBG4I'H, using the e(ample o& &i!e9year9ol .ra!ell who is
an English9speaking /&rican /merican place in a %antonese9speaking
kinergarten class against his &ather$s wishes, the school re&use to pull him out
o& the class" :u*ica also states that schools take their time with teaching non9
nati!e speaking chilren English, #ecause they will continue to recei!e &uns &or
as long as the stuent is still learning" :u*ica also states that, 7it seems some
schools are hoping to use English9speaking stuents to milk the #ilingual
eucation cash cow"7 :u*ica #elie!es that #ilingual eucation shoul #e
re&orme, an that is something I agree with" +e nee to make the system #etter
an &igure out which ways are most e&&ecti!e an less cost e&&ecti!e"
'omething that e!eryone is always worrie a#out is money, money makes
the worl go roun #ut how much are we willing to spen to teach chilren
English? :any &eel it is unnecessary to spen C00 million ollars on #ilingual
eucation a year" / stuy #y -oston ,ni!ersity?s %hristine Rossell ;h">", shows
that schools who ha!e #ilingual programs in .e(as spen 102 more ollars than
schools without these programs" Rossell$s stuy also conclue that, D#ilingual
eucation in .e(as has a negati!e e&&ect on English9language learner
achie!ement"E .he Hispanic population in .e(as is suppose to grow to 18"1
million #y 2022, how the schools in .e(as are going to eal with this growing
population is pressing an costly" .hough I unerstan that it will #e !ery costly,
the contri#utions that these chilren will make in the &uture will help the economy
impro!e rastically"
+hy are we teaching our chilren a i&&erent language when English is the
o&&icial language o& F8 states? .hat is a Guestion some people are asking" 'ome
people like 4iz ;eek, research analyst &or the =iscal .imes, points out that many
countries an companies aroun the worl use English as their main language,
in some companies in /sia i& you on$t know how to speak English in a matter o&
years you will #e &ire" .hough I unerstan that English is a &ast mo!ing
language that is #eing use more an more throughout the worl, we must
realize that it isn$t the +)R4>$s o&&icial language" /merica is the lan o& i!ersity
an there will always #e people here who speak another language an it is only
#ene&icial &or nati!e English speakers to learn other languages"
.hough I unerstan that there are some negati!e a&&ects ue to #ilingual
eucation, I #elie!e that it is essential &or our chilren to learn, to grow an to
respect" %hilren &rom i&&erent countries shouln$t &eel less than who they are
an segregate #ecause o& their lack o& English speaking skills, that is why ual
immersion classes are so important" Bot only is their language respecte #ut so
is their culture, culture is something to #e preser!e an not stripe away" I know
this #ecause I ha!e lost much o& my language an culture here" +hen I was
young there wasn$t any &orm o& #ilingual eucation at my school6 I completely
learne English on my own" ,n&ortunately much o& my own language was lost
an I ha!e little knowlege o& my homelan" .hat is partial reason I #elie!e that
we shoul ha!e #etter programs &or young chilren, so they can learn #oth
languages an keep their culture" I also #elie!e that it is a woner&ul thing &or
English speaking chilren to learn a new language so they too can communicate
with another part o& the worl" .he #est thing a#out #ilingual eucation are the
opportunities it #rings with them, #ecause our chilren ha!e so much potential6
they shouln$t #e limite to anything *ust #ecause o& where they are &rom"

+orks cite
3u#era, +hitney, an :aggie ;hillips" 7Why America Needs Bilingual Education"7
+hy /merica Bees -ilingual Eucation" B"p", 12 >ec" 2002" +e#" 22 :ar"
2011"
=uller, Janet :" 7-ilingual EucationH +hat It Is, an +hy an How It +orks Ior
>oesn$tJ"7 Popular Linguistics" B"p", 12 Jan" 2011" +e#" 22 :ar" 2011"
=urman, Jason, an >anielle Gray" 7.en +ays Immigrants Help -uil an
'trengthen )ur Economy"7 .he +hite House" .he +hite House, 12 July 2012"
+e#" 2C /pr" 2011"
:u*ica, :auro E" 74egislation"7 ,"'" English" ,"' English, n"" +e#" 2C /pr"
2011"
Rossell, %hristine" 7>oes -ilingual Eucation +ork?7 .e(as ;u#lic ;olicy
=ounation" .e(as ;u#lic ;olicy =ounation, 2 'ept" 200K" +e#" 80 /pr" 2011"
;eek, 4iz" 7-ilingual EucationH .oss It an .each 3is English"7 .he =iscal .imes" .he
=iscal .imes, 22 /ug" 2010" +e#" 0F :ay 2011"