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Posted by:
Douglas Reeves
Research/tech assistance org
Swampscott, MA
Topic:
Bilingual Education
Message:
Thanks very much for a thoughtful inquiry. The problem with the recent referendum in Massachusetts and many other discussions of bilingual education is that they treat all students who don't speak English at home as a monolithic group. In fact there is an enormous difference between students who are literate in their home language -- associating symbols with words and ideas -- and students who have no such associations. For students who are already literate, there is an exceptional opportunity to become literate in multiple languages. But what of students who come to our shores with no knowledge of literacy at all? This occurs when students arrive from Somalia at age 14 having never been in school, as well when students arrive from Native Nation reservations with an acquaintance with a language that has not yet been committed to writing. Each of these students presents an enormously different pedagogical challenge. Labeling them "bilingual" does scant justice to their unique needs. In some cases, it is absolutely true that English immersion is appropriate and necessary. In other cases, the preservation of a home language literacy is advantageous and even necessary. As Richard Elmore has eloquently asked, "In what concievable society is the ability to speak multiple languages a disadvantage?" Bottom line -- schools and teachers must have the discretion to prescribe the educational program that will give students the approach that they need -- not necesarily the approach the is prescribed as a one-size-fits-all dogma of the state.
Doug Reeves
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