MODULE 3: Different Bilingual Education Programs

 

INTRODUCTION: Module 3 consists of a brief description of the different bilingual educational models. The purpose of this module is to describe the differences and benefits of each program.

 

 

 

DIFFERENT BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

 

As mentioned in the last section, the knowledge of two languages has several benefits (Baker, 2006; Eldridge, 2010; Gallagher-Brett, 2004). Therefore, it is necessary to explain the different ways to reach bilingualism.  According to Baker (2006), there exist several roads to attain bilingualism, some of them apply since birth and others come years after. Bilingualism can be developed through parents’ or family’s language influence at home, by the impact of the language use in the community, or through the diverse languages used at school. After childhood, learning a second language can be achieved by informal interactions with others or by adult language classes. Though, Baker (2006) stated that school has been considered an essential element in developing bilingualism. Therefore, schools with a bilingual curriculum have been identified as the major institution expected to develop second language learning (Baker, 2006; Murphy, 2010), since these schools have as desirable outcomes bilingualism, biliteracy and biculturalism (Baker, 2006).

 

Nowadays, there are several forms of education in the field, but just a few of them are considered models of bilingual education (Baker, 2006; Wright, 2010). The following section describes five bilingual models.

1.      Transitional Bilingual Education programs

This kind of program is the most common in the U.S. Transitional Bilingual Education programs allow the use of minority language until the child is considered to be proficient enough in English language, but later on, English will become to be the only language of instruction. Therefore, the purpose of TBE programs is to transition the minority language students to a mainstream English-only classroom as quickly as possible. Additionally, TBE programs havegoal to promote the assimilation into the majority culture. There are two major types of TBE programs: early exit and late exit. Early-exit TBE provides minority language maximum for two years, but late-exit TBE allows around 40% of class time in the minority language until the 6^th grade (Baker, 2006; Wright, 2010).

2.      Developmental Bilingual Education programs

This kind of program is less common than TBE in the U.S. The goal of Development Bilingual Education (DBE) programs is to develop both the minority and majority language. Therefore, its main goal is that students become bilingual and biliterate and develop a positive sense of their linguistic and cultural heritage. In this kind of model, the students’ home language is used as a resource for instructional purposes. Many DBE programs begin in kindergarten and remain until the highest grade level in the school, which may be 5^th or 6^th grade. In this program, instruction in the beginning is taught 90% in the students’ native language, but instruction in English language increases through the years until students are provided with the same percent of time in both languages (Wright, 2010).

3.      Dual Language Programs

In these programs, the same number of language minority and language majority students are present in the classroom. Dual language models provide both languages for instruction. Therefore, the aim of these programs is full bilingualism and biliteracy. Also, dual language programs have as main goal to develop positive attitudes for each language group and culture. The time spent for instruction in each language varies significantly from school to school. However, there are two major types of dual language programs, the 90/10 model and the 50/50 model. The 90/10 model uses English language only 10 percent of the time, and the minority language is used for instruction 90 percent of the time. This model continue through the first few years , but as students move from school grade to grade the amount of instruction in each language balances out to 50/50. Hence, the 50/50 models achieve and balance between English and the minority language. Some schools prefer to use the 80/20 or 70/30 models, which function under the same principles but include more English language at first years (Baker, 2006; Murphy, 2010; Wright, 2010).

4.      Bilingual Immersion Programs

This type of model was developed initially in Canada in 1960s. In the U.S., these programs have only English-speakers students. The main purpose of bilingual immersion programs is to develop bilingualism and biliteracy and cross-cultural understanding. Bilingual immersion programs are commonly applied with Hawaiian and Native American students to teach them their native language, which may not have learned at home. The fist years in this programs are taught in the non-English language, and after one or two years, English is slowly introduced until the amount of instruction in each language is equal (Baker, 2006; Wright, 2010).

5.      Heritage Language Bilingual Education

The purpose of Heritage language bilingual education is to develop full bilingualism. In this type of program, minority children use their native, home or heritage language in the school for instruction. In these schools, the students may be English language learners who are proficient in English, but may have little or no proficiency in their heritage language. In these programs, it is common to find second of third generation immigrant students. Heritage language bilingual education programs are provided in after-school or weekend programs for elementary levels, and are offered as foreign language courses at post-secondary levels. The main goal of Heritage Language programs is to maintain and develop students’ native language even after they become proficient in English language (Baker, 2006; Wright, 2010)

References

 

Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4^th Ed.). Buffalo: Multilingual Matters

Eldridge, G. (2010). Thinking beyond deficit: The benefits of bilingualism. The International Educator, (1), 15-18.

Gallagher-Brett, A. (2004). Seven hundred reasons for studying languages. The Higher Education Academy, 1-44.

Murphy, A. F. (2010). Bilingual and bicultural: English-language learners and English-proficient students alike can achieve academic success through a dual-language program. Principal Online, 40-47.

Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.