Children of parents whose native language is not English should begin learning both languages as early as possible, ideally, simultaneously when they first begin to acquire spoken language so that they will develop the fullest and most fluent bilingualism possible. The main argument against bilingualism does not refute the value of speaking multiple languages; instead, it reflects the concern that when children are taught only their parents' native language, they should not receive academic instruction in any language other than English only because doing so delays and inhibits their absorption of English language skills. There may be some merit to that position but the solution is not simply to refuse to provide any language accommodations for English as second language (ESL). Specifically,...
Instead, the solution is to design bilingual education and educational methodologies that emphasize the quickest and most effective absorption of English language skills within the framework of bilingual instruction. As long as the approach to bilingual education is delivered in ways that facilitate English language skills (and not in ways that discourage learning English), there is absolutely no conceivable justification for opposing bilingualism whether in or out of the educational context.
Second Language Acquisition Advantages and Disadvantages of Bringing up Children Bilingually Much of the debate on bilingual education is wasteful, ironic, hypocritical, and regressive. It is wasteful because instead of directing attention to sound educational practices, it has led to advocating specific "models" based solely on what language should be used for what purpose. It is ironic because most attacks on bilingual education arise from an unfounded apprehension that English will be
Meng and Meurs (2009) examine the effects of intermarriage, language, and economic advantage. They find that immigrants who have some skill in the dominant language of the country to which they immigrate tend to intermarry and earn more income (Meng and Meurs). Marrying outside of one's culture may influence language acquisition due to social and economic needs to advance within the adopted culture. Moua and Lamborn (2010) note that ethnic
The fact is, Russian is useful. In this part of the world, it's the language of business and science" said one Ukrainian ("Ukraine's language," PRI, 2009). Ukrainian is sometimes used in popular music, but that is because it is often used as slang rather than as the dominant language of conversation or commerce. So the dissenting question arises, if Russian is already so dominant, and understood much of the population
teach students who first language is not English continues to be one of the most contested and misunderstood issues facing educators in the U.S. today. Two main educational philosophies and lines of research prevail. Proponents of dual language education assert that the long-term education of students benefits from a bilingual approach primarily because it facilitates cognitive development and is, thereby, a better method to address an achievement gap (Jost,
The acculturation model developed by Schumann (1978) consists of a taxonomy of variables that were developed based on the concept that both social (group) and affective (individual) variables are the primary causative variables as shown in Table __ below. In this regard, the term "acculturation" is used to refer to the learner's positive identification with, and hence social and psychological integration with, the target language group. For instance, Schumann
344). In his seminal work, Second-Language Acquisition in Childhood, McLaughlin (1985) reports that early research into language acquisition by preschool children suggested that interference between languages is not as inevitable or universal as was once believed. "Contrastive analysis, in its traditional form, was not able to account for the vast majority of errors that second-language learners made; in fact, learners from quite different language backgrounds appeared to make the same
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