Bates1

ChristopherBates
Stockett
English1010
4/29/2016
Myaudienceisparentsandteachersofchildrenthatcouldattendbilingualimmersionprograms.

Immersion?

Everywhere,itseems,thereisanewdualimmersionprogrampoppingupinschools.It
mightbeatanelementaryschool,itmightbeinamiddleschoolormayevenbeinahighschool.
ItcouldbeSpanish/English,FrenchimmersionorevenChinese!Thisessaytakesalookat
variousresearchprojectsthathavetakendifferentanglesofapproachtoinvestigatetheefficacy
ofbilingual/dualimmersionprogramsintheselevelsofeducation.Thequestioncontemplated
inresearchingthistopicisifthereshouldbemoredualimmersionschoolsandprogramscreated,
analyzingifbilingualismineducationattheselevelsincreasesastudentsopportunitiesboth
professionallyandsocially,andiftherearenegativeeffectsontheirlevelsofgeneraleducation
learning.Isuggestthattherebeanincreaseinimmersioneducationprogramsbecausethereare
manypositiveresultsthatsignificantlyoutweighanynegativethatmightresult.
Ifoundthattherearemanyaspectsthatmustbeanalyzedwhenconsideringtheresultsof
abilingualeducationalprogram.OnethingfoundthatIhadnotpreviouslytakenintoaccountis
thatteachershaveatremendousroleintheefficacyofateachingprogram.Firstofallthe
competencyoftheinstructorhasagreatoutcomethatmightwellbenotedinthesuccessoftheir
students.Insomeschoolsandsomestudiestheteachershavebeenquestionastotheirfeelings
ofcompetencyasinstructors,theresultsweresurprisinginthat
84%of[teachers]thoughttheir
languagelevelwasnotenoughtoteachinEnglishandbelievedthatahigherlanguagelevel

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wouldimprovetheirteaching(MartndelPozo158).Inthisparticularsituationtheteachers
secondlanguagewasEnglish,andthisexemplifiesthattheteachersneedtobetaughtaswell
becauseiftheteachersareappropriatelypreparedthentheywillbeabletopassthatpreparation
ontotheirstudentssothattheyareabletocontinuallyprogressinsteadofbeinginhibitedbythe
shortcomingsoftheirinstructors,eventhoughtheirinstructorsaretryingtohelp.
Afterhavingaddressedtheissueofteacherspreparation,itisimportanttolookathowa
childflowsfromonepointtoanotherintheireducation.Forexample,doesastudentina
bilingualprogramstruggletocommunicateandinteractwithotherstudents?Onemight
especiallyconsiderthetransitionfromelementarytomiddleschool.Thatistoask,dostudents
fromtheseprogramsfindthemselvesisolatedfromothersastheycometogetherinanewschool
withpossiblydifferentcurriculum?Onestudythatfocusesonthestudentsfeelingsof
belongingtotheirschoolandhowtheseaspectsaffectthestudentslearninginprogresssaysthat
amongstudentsexitingbilingualclassesatthetransitiontomiddleschool,anincreaseinschool
ethnicincongruencewasassociatedwithapositiveslope(Hughes453).Studentscomingfrom
abilingualeducationalprogramhavepositivesocialoutcomesastheyprogressthroughlife.In
thisparticularcircumstancelifereferstobeinginanewschoolandanewsocialenvironment.
Inadditiontohavingpositivesocialaspects,itisimportanttoknowthatbilingual
programsdonotinhibitthechild'sprogressingenerallearningasitwouldbecounterproductive
tohaveanimmersionprogramthatresultsinstudentlearningmoreslowlythantraditional
monolingualeducationalprograms.OnemightcontemplateIfstudentsinbilingualeducation
learnmathematics,history,andsciencemoreefficientlyandadequatelythanstudentsin
Englishonlyenvironments,doesbilingualeducationinterferewithEnglishlanguage

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acquisition?ThenperhapsthedelayinbasicEnglishdevelopment(ifitexists)isworththewait
(Conger11191120).Itisvitaltoidentifywhetherornotimmersionprogramsareinhibitory.I
foundaparticularstudythatstatedtheirfindingsonthematterasfollowsbilingualchildren
appeartoreachdevelopmentalandlinguisticmilestonesintheirtwolanguagesatasimilarpace
andtheirdevelopmentaltrajectorydoesnotdramaticallydifferfromthatofmonolingual
children(Antn13).Thisplainlystatesthatthereisnotanotabledifferenceinthelearning
progressingeneralsubjectsofstudyinamonolingualeducationalprogramcomparedtoa
bilingualeducationalprogram.Thisissignificantandnoteworthybecauseitexemplifieshow
studentscanprogressthroughstandardtopicsandobtainasecondlanguagesimultaneously,
providingthemwithanadditionalskillsetandcapacitytoutilizeintheirfuture.
Havingconsideredallthesepointstherealquestioniswhatistheendresult?Isallthe
effortworththeinvestment?Afterall,educatingourinstructorsinorderforthemtobeproperly
capacitatedtogivetheendguidanceandtotrulyteachtheirstudentsasnecessarydoeshavea
cost.ThebestclarificationIcouldfindcomesinthisstatement,researchonbilingual
individualsintheUnitedStatessuggeststhattheyperformbetterinschoolandthelabormarket
thanmonolingualindividuals(e.g.,Feliciano,2001SaizandZoido,2005)(Conger
11191120).Thisclarifiesthattheseimmersionprogramsareworthwhile.Theyareworththe
costandworththeeffortifitmeansthattoday'schildrenwillbebetterperformersnotonlyin
schoolbutmoreimportantlyinlifeafterschool.
Throughthesestudiesitcanbeseenthattheincreaseindualimmersionforbilingual
educationalprogramsareworthwhilebecausetheendresultofamoreproductiveandbetter
performinggraduateisthegoal,andthegoalisbeingmet.Teachersarelearningtobemore

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effectiveandthereforestudentsaredoingthesame.Thestudiescitedhavenotshownnotable
negativeoutcomesoftheseprograms,theydidhowevershowshortandlongtermpositive
resultsinthestudentsandgraduatesofbilingualprogramsabroadandintheUnitedStates.The
obviousconclusionisthattheeffortandinvestmentinthefuturegenerationisallworthitinthe
end.

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