Pros And Cons Of Immigrant English Language Learners

With immigration becoming more of a hot button issue in today’s society because of the 2016 presidential election, more eyes than ever are looking upon just what the effects of this process hold in store for our nation. Some argue that immigration is necessary to maintain what our country is built on, while others propose building a wall. Whether a person is an advocate for a more accessible border or a huge wall, there is one common question that loops around that person’s head: what does the United States need to do for the people who are already here?

One of the most overlooked issues is that of immigrant English Language Learners in the public school setting. According to the Center for Public Education, in 2007, English Language

This idea is capitalized on in a study conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts. This research collected data pertaining to much more than just basic student enjoyment. The data compared schools with high arts education and low arts education on a myriad of topics ranging from percent of students attending a four-year college to percent of students voting in a local election. This research suggests that overall, students that are more exposed to the fine arts are more likely to do things such as attain a bachelor’s degree or volunteer (Catterall et al). Integrating all of these studies suggests that implementing the fine arts into a public school education has many more benefits than just improved standardized test scores for the English Language Arts portion of the test for English Language Learners: it ultimately would affect the character of the students participating in the fine

Some researchers believe that the best way to succeed in the STEM fields is to have a diverse education background including studies in math, science, and fine arts. One study conducted a survey asking the question “Should arts and crafts be a part of STEM education?” The response was that 82% of scientists affirmed the question. Their reasoning behind their answer is that the arts provide a path towards higher level thinking and problem solving (Root-Bernstein). This idea is mirrored and explained in an article that discusses the effects of the fine arts on the brain. When a person is engaged in the fine arts, that person is experiencing something called whole-brain learning. This type of learning involves both the left and right or dominant and non-dominant lobes of the brain, therefore, making the experience more memorable and creating more synapses for the brain fire orders through (Respress). Whole-brain learning is the reason the scientists in the survey associated fine arts with higher level thinking. Although the work force has shifted to math and science heavy field, that field still requires thinking that is more outside of the box. The fine arts education may not directly increase standardized test scores in mathematics, which will not matter after secondary school, but it does increase a person’s capacity to think in different ways (Dwyer). That is why there is a current movement to