Bilingual class changes are long overdue

The report that Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Robert V. Antonucci wants changes in the delivery of bilingual services is both good news and long overdue.

Education reform, thanks to his leadership, is slowly moving in better directions. The commissioner is to be commended for his patience with the pace of change; but given the current makeup of his policy board, he can now be more aggressive in fixing things like bilingual education.

For more than a century Massachusetts has provided English language assistance for the thousands of immigrants who have joined and enriched us. They were at one time called “Americanization” classes, and were taught by those trained to help newly arrived strangers learn more about the history and language of the United States, so that they might more readily become contributing citizens of the state and nation.

MANY IMMIGRANTS LEARNED Many thousands of foreign-born people used this route toward eventual fully participating citizenship. Alas, as with so many aspects of our social arena, this service to nonnatives has become mired down with doubletalk, bureaucracy, pandering politics, and the expenditures of taxpayers’ dollars for programs that no longer enjoy the support that they once richly deserved.

We have seen mushrooming of various English as a Second Language programs throughout the schools that have both “dumbed down” curriculums and increased the separation of students into increasingly ghetto-like programs that do more to retard then to integrate immigrants into our schools and communities.

CLASSES ALL WRONG It is wrong in many human ways to offer bilingual classes as we do now. In an ideal setting children entering the primary grades should be integrated by the use of English in all classroom and extracurricular work, while nonnative parents are offered English to assist them in communicating with their children, and in enjoying an earlier personal assimilation.

Given the continuing introduction of new immigrants of all ages, however, we must provide classes for older children. Currently this work is done in various ways, and many of these are either inefficient of unnecessary. Schoolroom spaces and staff have been tied up (or down) with offering curriculums in too many languages.

The schools should limit ESL classes of all types to a two-year cap of schoolwork to assist children through age 18 to work, play and learn successfully in the public school setting. The seemingly non-ending growth of language assistance classes and courses needs to be stopped and resources directed at making all students learn more and learn better using standard English as their communication vehicle.

We need change in ways that will guarantee appropriate support, so that our new friends can quickly find success in our predominant language.

The commissioner’s suggestions include mixing age groups and languages of new students. This change will provide the sort of nurturing environment for non-English speakers who can help each other across age and language barriers to become assimilated more quickly.

The class size of this group also will be enlarged if we see the commissioner’s ideas implemented.

These two notions alone will force all of our communities to evaluate more critically their bilingual programs. When this happens and the taxpayer is more completely aware of the costs, further improvement will be possible.

As we read and hear about all of the changes ahead in the next country, and as we marvel at the possibilities of such great technological advances available for our citizens, we should think about these in the context of building upon strong foundations in our homes, school, communities.

STRENGTHS ADDED

Strength of this kind requires the commitment to progress of a united people – and the sooner and more efficiently nonnatives learn English, the sooner they will decide whether or not they wish to stay and join us as permanent American citizens with all of the rights and responsibilities that the citizenship encompasses.

Vincent J. Mara, Ph.D., is president emeritus of Fitchburg State College.



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