Does Banning Bilingual Education Change Anything?

My name is Juewell Green. I am a
nursing student attending Northern Virginia Community College
in Virginia.  In my Intercultural Communications 229 class
taught by Professor Tirpak, we were asked to listen to one of “The World in
Words” pod cast, by Patrick Cox.  The
first pod cast that I listened to is titled, “Does Banning Bilingual Education
Change Anything?”  I chose to listen to
this pod cast because I was not familiar with the fact that some states have
indeed banned the teaching of bilingual education.  This became an interest, as I in fact had
bilingual education in both middle and High school.  What changed? 
When did it change?  What are the
results, if any, is what I asked myself. 
This is what I learned.

To begin there were three segments
totaling about 27 minutes for this pod cast. 
I listened as Cox interviewed American linguist Lynne Murphy over
British vs. American English.  Murphy teaches
linguistics at the University of Sussex in Britain. It’s understandable that
American and British language although understood in English is different.  I did not know however that simple words to
me such as toilet meant anything other than something that you use. In Britain toilet is described as a room, whereas
here in America,
well a toilet is a “thing,” as Cox stated. 
Murphy said she quickly had to quickly adjust to the Britain way of
speaking, as they would mock you.  Punctuation
also varies between the two countries.  Americans
use more commas and quotations. Please and Thank you are two words that are used
a lot in Britain.
You would say “excuse me” before you pass a person in England.  Whereas here in America you would say “excuse me”
after you have bumped into a person.  Britons
view Americans as being “rude,” according to Murphy as a result because they
take offense as to how these words are being used or not being used. England has
much more crowded rooms and they don’t say sorry.  We both share “a healthy skepticism of rules”
though, as Cox stated.  We know that if
someone tells us that a certain word should be used, it’s most likely not the
truth.  “What’s perceived as foreign
isn’t necessarily foreign,” Murphy says. 
I agree.

The pod cast continues with banning
bilingual education.  Not only is it
banned in Massachusetts but also in several
other states including California.  It seems as though non English speaking
students were not learning the American language well enough or at all.  “There’s little attempt to teach English,”
stated Rosalie Porter, teacher and director of English as a Second Language
(ESL) programs.  Porter who taught
Spanish felt that students were being “segregated” from the students who spoke
English.  Porter looked into ways of
helping these students, and thought of the idea of schools teaching in all
English using very minimal language in the child’s native language also called
Dual Immersion.  After receiving help
from business man Ron Unz and support from the public, the law to band the
teaching of bilingual education was banned in 2002 and dual immersion style was
permitted.  

Now that I have learned of the
reasoning behind Porter’s decision to strive for a better way to teach a second
language, I support.  There were studies
shown in California
that 50% of the students taught via Dual Immersion learned fluent English in
less than 3 years.  I wish this could be
applied to every language.  I feel I
would have learned Spanish much better if it were “forced” upon us to learn it.  For example, a student mentioned in the pod
cast, Gabriel Maldonado said that the English immersion worked for him.  He stated that he understood no English when
he moved to Somerville, MA
from El Salvador.  Within a year, Maldonado was in general
education English speaking courses. 
While learning, Maldonado had one class of language help per day, while
the rest of his classes were taught in English. 
Maldonado graduated high school on the National Honor Society.  Some critics say that the dual immersion
program does not work completely, however there have not been any studies done
to prove so.  Test scores have improved
and the governor of the state of MA states there will be no studies completed.

The pod cast concludes with the
comparisons of girl’s pop from the 1960s. 
From American “soul”, to British “rock”, to Spain, music was influenced all
around the world.  Although women were
frowned upon for making such music, they did not give up.  Women around the world made great music.  It’s amazing how small changes affect our
lives.  While we live in various
countries with different sets of rules, we still take bits and pieces of what
we learn from other cultures and create something knew. 

Cultures will always be
different.  If we can earn how to
connect, whether it’s watching how others interrelate with one another in their
culture to learn their language, forcing ourselves to only speak their language
while speaking a little of ours, or coming together in a musical sense, we will
become better with our interactions with one another.