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The
Debate Rages On While Children Still Learn and Play
Presented by Beth Butler/Creator of the
BOCA BETH
Program
Many of us are aware of the ongoing debate
regarding bilingual education vs. immersion. This article addresses the
issues with a fresh perspective and confronts head on the three main
obstacles to providing immersion programs around our country. Let us
clear up the confusion today and move forward for the sake of our
children.
Parents look at me with confusion on their faces or call me with anxiety
in their voices. They all wonder if they are doing the right thing. Many
are on waiting lists to be have their child participate in a dual
immersion program at a local magnet school, while others fork over
hundreds and hundreds of dollars to have their toddler attend language
immersion classes once a week. The problem is that these families
represent a very small percentage of our United States population.
How many of you are able to afford hundreds of dollars for a weekly
Spanish class for your child? How long is that waiting list for the
immersion or dual immersion program at your local magnet school? Do a
lot of your neighbors and colleagues have the same opportunity as you?
The answers to these and other questions surrounding our feeble attempt
to bring early language learning into the picture of this great nation
are weak, feeble and show a clear lack of direction.
Research continues to conclude that bilingual education can and does
provide children with a strong foundation in acquiring second language
skills while increasing their proficiency in reading and math. (Dr.
Bialystok, York University, 2001) In fact, Colin Baker, in his book
titled Policy and Practice in Bilingual Education, speaks
directly to the fact that bilingual education can work in the school
systems and will result in meaningful instruction with successful
language acquisition.
With that being said, could we get real here? There is absolutely no way
our country of the United States of America will ever make the funds
available to create the opportunity for immersion programs to be set up
at every public elementary school starting next school year. My own
daughter had physical education cut last year in her public school
classroom. This year, they have teacher-directed PE three times a week.
That sounds to me like what we used to call recess. All of us here about
budget cuts here and not enough funds there. The harsh reality is that
our country will never do what many other countries have been doing and
continue to do to provide early language learning for their citizens.
Let us pretend for a fleeting moment that they did allot the funding
(that is like dreaming for the salaries of teachers to finally be
commiserate with doctors), then what? Where would they find enough
bilingual teachers to instruct in all of these immersion programs across
the country? The answer is nowhere. Statistics show that the United
States does not have the pool of educators needed to implement nation
wide immersion programs at any level. Can anyone say outsourcing? I do
not know about you, but I am trying my best to support products,
services and ideas that keep the jobs here in the US.
The last point that needs to be brought up in regards to this immersion
vs. bilingual education debate is the most important one in my eyes. It
is a common sense approach, a very easy to understand perspective and a
view that involves the heart as well as the mind. Pretend you are a very
young child again. Go ahead. Close your eyes for a moment (then open
them back up to continue reading!). Your parents ramble on and on about
objects in your home, and you learn the words for each item as you
develop from an infant into a toddler. Your siblings also get involved
in the family fun, and roll a ball at you, instructing you to roll the
ball back. Here comes natural language learning!
Did you know that most language experts, linguists, agree that it is
just as easy to learn two words for an object as it is to learn only one
when you are in these early and formative years? That means your brother
could easily toss in his limited knowledge of a second language from his
middle school Spanish class and tell you pelota (pay-low-tah)
while rolling the ball and also saying ball. Or at the
dinner table, with you in your high chair, your family is using the
words thank you followed by gracias (grah-see-ahs)
as they pass one another food. These are all examples of introducing a
new language in a bilingual format. There exists a seamless flow back
and forth between the native language and the target language.
How much more realistic is this type of instruction for the stay at home
mom, the preschool teacher, the family child care provider and the
homeschooling parent? Tons! Even if you do not speak one word of French,
you could easily grasp command of a few simply vocabulary words a week
and introduce them to your baby. Or say you do not recall a lot of your
high school Spanish (just enough to be dangerous at a bar in Mexico!); I
bet you could easily bring a few words a day into your home and the life
of your children by using this technique. You make the commitment, and
you could easily change the course of direction in regards to the
cognitive development of your child.
Resources are everywhere, and many of them are free. Yes, you heard me
correctly. F-R-E-E!!! Simply conduct a search on the internet by
plugging in the target language you want to introduce to your child. You
will pull up thousands of results, and your job is now to sift through
them and find what will make your child tick. Language cards, music CDs,
DVDs, board books and more abound in the world of language learning. And
the best thing is many of these resources are truly presented in a
bilingual format.
So, while the debate between immersion vs. bilingual education rages on,
do not get caught up in the frenzy and waste valuable time during the
window of opportunity your child is experiencing when it comes to
learning a second language. Make the most of the first five years of
life as Dr. John Mike compels us to in his book Brilliant Babies
Powerful Adults and give your children the opportunity to travel
successfully in this very global society in which they are growing up.
About the Author:
Beth Butler is the creator of the BOCA BETH Language Learning Series for
young children. Find out how fun and easy it can be to raise a bilingual
child. Sample the BOCA BETH bilingual music and movies for free at
http://www.bocabeth.com
Call toll free 1.877.825.2622 or 1.813.244.1432 |
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