Bilingual Education Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis Draft

Since the origin of the United States, there has consistently been a diverse population of citizens all differing in culture, tradition, and language, and yet despite the differences between these immigrants the formation of one of most prosperous nations in the world forged. For the country to persevere, the early settlers had to work together, despite the fact that they did not speak the same language. There for bilingual education started with intentions to help new immigrants learn English and integrate into the society. Throughout the years the U.S has continued to grow to be one of the most diverse countries in the world, accompanied by the growth in population the demand for bilingual education in schools increased

However, the debate in modern day America is whether bilingual education is still useful for educating non-English speakers, or if the use and implementation are outdated and unsuccessful. Either side whether in favor of bilingual programs or not want to provide a quality education that will prepare students for life academically. While those in favor of bilingual programs prefer the using the native language of the students as a portion of the curriculum because bilingual educators suggest it aids the student to be fluent in both languages furthering their opportunities in the future. And those against bilingual education argue that focusing on the English proficiency will better prepare students for life in America. Education is continually updated as new research provides improvised methods of teaching, and as a result, many scholarly articles on the subject of education have contrasting viewpoints on whether or not bilingual education is useful for students, with more scholars leaning towards English immersion

But, in contrast to bilingual programs, English immersion programs have a greater emphasis on English reading and writing proficiency integrating non-English speakers into general education classrooms with little or no use of their native language. The goal of EI programs is to use makes English language proficiency a priority in the students’ academic life, because English immersion supporters argue that English first is better for students trying to learn and assimilate in America. Educators in favor of bilingual education argue against the use of English immersion programs, claiming that the utilization of the student’s native language is just as imperative as the English language. The debate on which program is better for assimilation continues to create controversy. Several states have gone as far as banning bilingual programs in their school districts in favor of adopting English immersion programs, while other states do the opposite. In the article “Bilingual education is detrimental to everyone” by Peter Duignan he claims English immersion programs are better than bilingual programs stating “Special English-language instruction from day one gets better results than Spanish-language instruction for most of the day.” Conversely, bilingual education supporters argue against English immersion programs, claiming