I don’t know how often I’ve heard the argument:

“When my grandfather arrived here by boat from Italy … Poland … Russia … Sweden … Greece, he learned English on his own and worked hard to support our family. He didn’t go to college. I think it is wrong to admit students to college if they don’t know English. How will they learn anything?”

Perhaps that was true at the beginning of the 20th century. An immigrant from the “old country” could learn enough English on his own and support his family doing manual labor.

However, as we enter the 21st century, you cannot support yourself in today’s economy, let alone your family, doing unskilled labor at minimum wage.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, many of the fastest growing occupations require a bachelor’s degree or at least some post-secondary education.

In addition, computer literacy is needed for many entry level positions. Today’s immigrants need a college education if they are going to successfully enter the work force.

As for needing to know English in order to learn, that is a bit myopic. There are well-educated people in countries around the world who speak only Czech, Spanish or Korean.

Learning can be done in any language. What is more important is that the knowledge and skills acquired in one language can be transferred to another.

Since the fall of 1986 I have been teaching introductory college biology in Spanish. No, I don’t teach Spanish, I teach biology using Spanish as the language of instruction.

At Kean College of New Jersey, where I am a biology professor, we offer almost all our introductory general education courses in Spanish. We have been doing so since the early 1970s.

Thus, recent immigrants – primarily from Central and South America and the Caribbean – who have graduated from high school or passed the GED can begin their college studies in Spanish. Of course, they must also enroll in our program of English as a Second Language.

By the time the students graduate, they have not only earned a bachelor’s degree in a field such as management science, medical technology or education, but also they are proficient in two languages, English and Spanish.

As long as there are sufficient numbers of immigrants who speak the same language on a given campus, bilingual programs of this nature should be supported.

Thus, the biology that students learn with me in Spanish does not have to be relearned in English. Whether you call the organ that pumps blood through your body “heart” or “corazon,” its structure and function do not change. So why not allow immigrant students to begin their college education using their native language while at the same time requiring them to study English?

Learning a second language is a difficult task, especially for adults. Friends and colleagues often say how much they would like to study a foreign language such as Spanish or Japanese, but they don’t have the time, or they are too old, or they are “no good” at learning languages.

In my entire academic career I have never heard even one of my Hispanic students make such excuses. Every one of them wants to become proficient in English. They know just how important English is to making their lives successful here in the United States.

As adult language learners, they will never lose their accents, but certainly with considerable effort they will learn to communicate in, and read, write and speak English.

So, why does it take them so long to learn English?

Studies have shown that immigrants can learn to converse in English in two to three years. However, the level of English proficiency needed to succeed in the college classroom is much more advanced, and often takes five to seven years to develop. That is as long as or longer than it takes to earn a college degree.

No wonder English as a Second Language students often feel frustrated.

As for those grandfathers from the “old country,” I doubt that their proficiency in English would have allowed them to study and pass college-level accounting, computer science, history and chemistry.

Anyone can teach the academically well-prepared student. It takes institutional commitment, however, to meet the academic needs of a growing population of immigrant students.

An English as a Second Language program is essential. However, in states that attract large groups of immigrants who speak a single language, bilingual instruction should be considered.



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