Bilingual education often refers to a form of education in which information is presented o the students in two languages. This system forms an intrinsic and inherent part of the American education system and is widely recognized. Different approaches for the education of bilinguals have come up over the years to ensure that they learn both their native language and English.
Some of the most important approaches to teaching bilingual Children have been based on English as a second language (ESL). The most common approach is known as Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE). This approach is the most conventional approach and has been in place for years now but with dismal results. There are alternative approaches to this main and primary approach for education of bilinguals. While one of this approaches calls for dual language programs where bilinguals get equal opportunity to learn both English and a second language, the other approach calls for English Immersion programs in which bilingual students are exposed to English as their primary language. Off late voices for adoption of one of theses alternative approaches over the primary approach of TBE have been gaining significance. While the dual language programs have already been rolled out, English immersion programs have found fewer supporters.
A child’s use of his/her non-English language in classroom should indeed be discouraged and discarded. With most of the developing and developed countries switching over to English to teach their students, it hardly makes sense to use non-English languages as the mediums of education. English is the official language of 63 countries and more than 80 percent of all technological information is published in English and it is the language of major source codes (Peek 2010). The facts signify the importance of English. It is time to give bilingual education a toss and to concentrate on providing children quality education in the world’s most popular language, inarguably English.
References
Peek, Liz (2010). Bilingual Education: Toss it and Teach Kids English.
The Fiscal Times, Retrieved April 13, 2013, from
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2010/08/25/Bilingual-Education-Does-Not-Work.aspx#page1
