Monday, September 22, 1997 Bilingual programs frustrate
teachers, minority students EDUCATION: Little support, lack of
resources undermine native language instruction
By Gregory Mena
Daily Bruin Senor Staff
In a Sun Valley classroom, William Chang teaches a lesson in
science and challenges his students to compare the atmospheres of
earth and Mars. The students at Fernangeles Elementary fling their
arms in the air, wait to be called on and then deliver soft-spoken
responses almost entirely in Spanish.
"When it comes to the core subjects like math, science and
social studies, it is hard to explain these very abstract subjects
in a language that they do not understand," said Chang, who is
working towards his teacher’s credential and master’s degree from
the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences.
His classroom is typical of the Los Angeles Unified School
District, which currently serves about 300,000 limited English
proficient students. With a growing movement to end bilingual
education in California, some are beginning to question the
effectiveness of using native language instruction.
Opponents of bilingual education say it keeps students behind
and that one year of native language is enough. Proponents explain
that although bilingual programs are not perfect, they are the best
way to teach students English and to help them succeed in the long
run.
In 1974, the Supreme Court set the stage for bilingual education
when it ruled in Lau vs. Nichols that school districts must take
affirmative steps to maintain educational equality.
As a result, each school implements bilingual education in a
different way, according to the needs of their district.
"There are a lot of ways to implement (bilingual education),"
Chang said.
"But a classroom with an English speaking teacher and a
bilingual teaching aid is not a bilingual program," he said.
In a solid program, a bilingual teacher fosters growth in a
native language while obeying mandatory times set aside for English
instruction. After about three to five years, students are
completely immersed in English-only instruction.
The primary justification for bilingual programs is that
children cannot learn in a language that they do not
understand.
"We have too much evidence that shows that submersion in English
does not work," explained Concepcion Valadez, an international
expert on bilingual education and associate professor at UCLA.
Supportors of bilingual instructions keep the distinction
between immersion and submersion. Immersion is merely a linguistic
change but submersion more accurately describes the psychological
experiences of a minority child taking on the language of the
majority culture.
"Those kids (without bilingual education) usually drop out of
school. (Submersion) is the worst thing that you can possibly do,"
said Kellie MacSwan, a UCLA doctoral candidate and bilingual
teacher at Broadway Elementary in Venice.
But the common response by non-academics is: Why teach them in a
language that they already know? They insist that bilingual
programs waste time that could have been spent learning
English.
Others disagree, explaining that everything a child learns in
the native language can be carried over into English once the
transfer has been made.
"That is one thing that many people do not understand," Valadez
said, "Knowledge is not language specific."
The trauma of being immersed into a new language can be
overwhelming for a child, Valadez said.
"The frustration of trying to learn in a language that you can’t
understand will cause children to react to by hating the teacher,
by hating the subject or by hating themselves," Valadez said.
Supporters say that bilingual programs are always better than
nothing, but most admit that they could use some fine tuning.
"The success of bilingual education varies, but it is never a
waste of time," said Valadez.
Part of the problem is that children need more books, according
to an unpublished paper by Stephen Krashen, a professor of
education at USC.
"Good bilingual programs can help a lot, but there is a limit to
what they can do without books," Krashen writes.
"The energy spent in making empty accusations should be spent in
improving programs and in supporting libraries."
If the solution is a matter of resources, all teachers in
California are aware of the drought of materials.
"We have little professional support and when it comes down to
materials we have to compete with other teachers," Chang said,
stressing that teachers on both sides of the issue have the same
goal in mind.
"We are here to help children retain their own languages and to
teach them to learn English," Chang said."
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
Alternating between Spanish and English, UCLA student William
Chang instructs his fourth- and fifth-graders at Fernangeles
Elementary.
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
How did you celebrate your birthday? William Chang’s class
showcases their drawings and native language accounts of their
birthdays.