english-only or bilingual instruction?. they’re young! they will learn quickly and easily

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English-Only or Bilingual Ins truction?

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Page 1: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?

Page 2: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

They’re Young!

• They will learn quickly and easily.

Page 3: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

The Language Learning Myth

• Younger learners are better than adult learners.

• Not true - young learners usually have better learning environments.

• Adults are better at grammar.

• Young learners are better at pronunciation.

Page 4: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

Early Bilingual Programs

• The US – 1700 to 19602

• Miami Florida - 1960s

• “Mother tongue” – initial reading instruction

• 1974 – Lau vs Nichols (US Supreme Court)

• English Only – Arizona & California

Page 5: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

Bilingual Programs

• T.B.E.

• Bilingual immersion

• Dual Language Instruction

Page 6: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

National Literacy Panel (2003)

• August & Shanahan (2006) conclude ".... by and large, for language-minority children, word-level components of literacy (e.g., decoding, spelling) either are or can be (with appropriate instruction) at levels equal to those of their monolingual peers" (p. 13)

Page 7: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

National Literacy Panel

• ".... this is not the case for test-level skills, like reading comprehension, which rarely approach the levels achieved by their monolingual peers" (p. 13).

• second language oral proficiency is significant in second language literacy development.

Page 8: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

National Literacy Panel

• "Language-minority students who are literate in their first languages are likely to be advantaged in the acquisition of English literacy" (p. 17).

• ".... language-minority students instructed in their native language (primarily Spanish in this report) as well as English, perform on average, better on English reading measures than language-minority students instructed only in their second language (English in this case)" (p. 17).

Page 9: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

Which Approach is Superior?

• Unfortunately, it seems clear that the claims that one instructional approach is superior to any other appear to be founded on limited or questionable evidence.

Page 10: English-Only or Bilingual Instruction?. They’re Young! They will learn quickly and easily

What is Your View?