Bilingual method works
Delia Pompa
When Roberto Fliz came to the USA from the Dominican Republic, he knew only a few words of English. Education soon became a nightmare. "I couldn't understand anything," he said. He hid from his teachers, came home in tears, and thought about dropping out of school. Then Mrs. Malav, a bilingual educator, began to work with him to improve his English while teaching him math and science in his native Spanish. "She helped me stay smart, while teaching me English," he said. Given the chance to demonstrate his ability, he regained confidence and began to succeed in school. Today, he is a prominent doctor, runs his own clinic, and works with several hospitals. Every day, he uses the language and academic skills he acquired through bilingual education to treat his patients. Roberto's is just one of countless success stories. Research has shown that bilingual education is the most effective way both to teach children English and ensure that they succeed academically. In Arizona and Texas, bilingual students consistently outperform their peers in monolingual programs. Calexico, Calif., implemented bilingual education, and now has dropout rates that are less than half the state average and college acceptance rates of more than 90%. In El Paso, systemwide bilingual education programs have helped raise student scores from the lowest in Texas to among the highest in the nation. Better research is certainly called for, as evidenced by the misleading analysis of recent California test scores. That analysis failed to control for such key factors as class size reduction and the level of preparation of test-takers. It also selectively ignored schools whose bilingual students outperform peers on English-only campuses. As with other high-quality programs, responsible research only will strengthen bilingual education. After all, sound research is at the core of programs such as the one Roberto Fliz attended. His success comes as no surprise to millions of language-minority parents who understand that clear communication among families, students and teachers is inherent to good education. We should pay close attention to these facts. The future of millions of American students whose first language is not English depends on it.
Delia Pompa is the executive director of the National Association for Bilingual Education. |