Bilingual: the capability of using two languages

According to the National Association of Bilingual Educators, “Bilingual education is a program of instruction that uses the student’s primary language as a tool for instruction while they begin learning English. Only students who have been identified as speaking little or no English and/or have not developed cognitive/academic language proficiency in English are offered this special approach. The program is meant to help the student for three or four years until it is determined that he/she can successfully handle academic work entirely in English.”

Here in Arizona the state has Limited English Proficiency, which has three principal aims: To help students become proficient in English. To empower them to participate effectively in the core curriculum, and to promote the student’s self-image and cross-cultural understanding.

And there we have the misnomer for bilingual education. Unfortunately there has always been a tremendous misunderstanding, or lack of information, about such program. The reality is what transpired last week in California, voters rejecting their “bilingual education.”

The primary reason for the existence of these programs is that during the 1950s and 1960s, the dropout rates ranged from 60 percent to 70 percent. Urban areas such as Chicago and New York experienced higher rates.

So why is it that now the Arizona Department of Education will be publishing a report later this month showing that only 2.8 percent of bilingual education students are placed in mainstream classes?

Not only is the percentage very low, but furthermore, what was being accomplished in the past 10 or more years? What adjustments were being made to the program? Who was supervising the progress and, most important, the quality of the bilingual classroom teachers? Who ultimately has been responsible?

It would be unfortunate if we in Arizona were to a take similar action to what California has done. Certain political groups tend to take advantage by creating turmoil in public opinion. We must be very cautious.

Let’s recognize what bilingual education – as it has been presented to us – is not. Neither is such a program exclusively for Hispanic students. The state LEP program has been a lifesaver tool to assist those students who bring to school only their native language. It has been a transitional program.

True bilingual education is the total educational process presented in two languages. Locally, the Davis Bilingual Learning Center is a good example, one of double immersion, for the Spanish and also for the English-speaking students.

This column has been the first modest effort in trying to respond to the question of the day: What and for whom is bilingual education? I will continue visiting this topic.

Ernesto Portillo is a Spanish-language radio broadcaster in Tucson. His column appears each Wednesday.



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