When roaming through my Google reader today, I found a similar to the article I posted about yesterday. It looks as though, Spanish/English may be more popular that I had even given it credit for!
The article I have chosen, Dual-Language program Moves Ahead, takes us to Nampa Idaho where the educators in the kindergarten class rooms, named New Horizons, are insuring that children will be fluent in both Spanish and English before the students move on to high school.
This unique school, housed in portable classrooms behind Napa’s Ronald Regan Elementary School, just opened this fall to 104 students who come from primarily Spanish speaking homes, while a select few coming from English speaking homes. Apparently this new program is gaining popularity because parents can no longer enroll their children as they please, they must now enter a drawing to be eligible
The goal of these portable bilingual classrooms behind the main elementary school building: to offer the same programs to native English speakers as to native Spanish speakers.
“District Officials say research indicates that students involved in two-way bilingual programs score higher in reading test then do their peers.” – Idaho Press Tribune
The class has many activities that use Spanish as the main form of communication including alphabet work, Spanish songs and worksheets, and math, while many classes including music, library physical education and computers are taught in English.
“The high point for us is seeing the interaction between Spanish and English” – Cano – Principal of New Horizons
You might raise your eyebrow, as I did when thinking about such program, or bilingual education in its entirety, you have even proposed this question: “What if students don’t understand one language enough to understand instruction?” How can a classroom possibly be beneficial if a student struggles with the language of instruction?
“The key to the program is lots of encouragement, lots of repetition and modeling, modeling, modeling!” Viola Fernandez – teacher at New Horizons.
Ms. Fernandez, who admits that his program is difficult for all children involved, typically gives instruction in Spanish, while using gestures to help the native English speakers understand. If the message she is trying to reveal is important she will repeat the instruction in English, so nobody is confused. Even though I feel strongly that bilingual education is essential, I am concerned with the fact that a learning environment that uses two languages will cause stress for a 5 or 6 year old, because to frank: learning a second language is difficult! I’m aware that learning a different language at the University level is much more intense than kindergarten, but don’t you agree that speaking in two languages would be stressful for a child who maybe hasn’t’ even mastered his/her native language? How can such a program be successful?
“Learning a second language is stressful, we’re doing it in a non-stressful environment through songs, games and poems!” – Viola Fernandez
By the end of each school year students are expected to know basic vocabulary, colors, and months of the year and days of the week in both languages. All of these categories are basic knowledge of what a kindergartner should know but these students learn them in two languages, as opposed to one.
“We’re going to make it work because we know our goal. We know what dual language looks like” Viola Fernandez
1 response so far ↓
1
Ashley
// Oct 14, 2007 at 7:10 pm
That is a very important and interesting point that you raise about young students being stressed in the bilingual classroom. I can honestly say that I have never heard this issue of stress brought up in the debate of bilingual education. It’s an interesting thought because we could be teaching our children that stress is a part of learning. We could potentially be giving them the tools to disrupt their learning later in life by keeping them anxious. We could be feeding into our own stressful way of American life and allowing our children to experience it at an age that is much too young. But taking this all into considerations, I really don’t believe that bilingual classrooms are too stressful for these children. All psychological/sociological research has pointed to the fact that there is a critical age for a first language acquisition. This kindergarten age is right at that age, not only for a first language, but also for a second. These young children will pick up the second language at a pace that is astounding to the rest of us. This is the time in their life when they are eager to learn vocabulary and express themselves with language.
I see this bilingual classroom – that seems to be quite competitive – as an ideal environment for our children. They will learn a second language as well as a concept of diversity as they are presented with students of many different backgrounds. I even like the fact that the instruction takes place in these portable classrooms rather than a desk-filled white-walled traditional classroom (at least this isn’t what I’m picturing in my head), because these students may find it a more relaxed environment.
This is an interesting article that you found, along with some in depth though. But I truly don’t see any harm or stress at all in early bilingual education.
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