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No need to jump to Google Translate. If you are one of them, you probably 5.3 million If you’re learning English in public schools, you know that the first sentence describes something interesting that recent data reveals about bilingual students in the United States.
The Ministry of Education called speaking a second language a “superpower” in its announcement. schedule Last year, we supported multilingual education with a grant. In states such as California, new yorkOur students speak 150 languages.
Spanish is by far the most common home language among English learners, accounting for about 75 percent, according to the latest fall 2021 statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics. Spanish’s top position remains stable until fall 2021. Data has been tracked even as the number of English learners in new regions increases.
Arabic, the second most common home language, accounts for only 2.5 percent of English learners nationwide. Strangely enough, English follows at 2.2%. According to NCES, this group includes students who may live in multilingual households or who were adopted from a country where they grew up speaking another language and now live in English-speaking households. It is said to be composed of.
Chinese and Vietnamese are fourth of the top five home languages, each spoken by less than 2% of English learners.
However, relatively speaking, a lower percentage does not necessarily mean fewer students, and language diversity varies by region.
Vietnamese is the second most spoken language by English learners in both Texas and Kansas. That means about 17,300 students speak Vietnamese at home in Texas, but only about 800 in Kansas.
Mandarin ranks second among English learners in California, accounting for approximately 2% of the home languages, representing more than 22,000 students.
For some, it’s “sink or swim.”
The English teaching that students encounter is run gamut from Submerged — “Sink or swim” with a completely English class — Toward a program where reading, writing, and subject matter are taught equally in English and the home language. Not all emerging bilinguals (also called bilinguals) are immigrants, but some school districts may offer programs or schools for students who are new to the country.
Erica Saldívar Garcia, program director for TESOL/Bilingual/World Languages, said it’s not uncommon for new students to find themselves in a sink-or-swim scenario if they are in a school district with few classmates learning English. says. Educated at New York University.
The English as a Second Language (ESL) program is designed to help students quickly learn English so they can participate in all-English coursework. ESL teachers may pull students out of subject matter classes for language instruction, or ESL teachers may attend general education classes with students.
“This works well in many schools because they have limited resources and don’t have enough people to staff every department with English teachers who can support multilingual learners,” Saldívar Garcia said. explains. We have a larger caseload and students of different age levels and grades. Ideally, you will work with class teachers to support students in continental areas such as math and science. ”
ESL is different from bilingual education, where students are taught subjects in both English and their native language. Some of these programs aim to transition students entirely to English-medium instruction, while others aim for 50/50 instruction in both languages.
Bilingual education teachers are expected to teach in their native language, which can make staffing these programs difficult.
April Salerno, an associate professor of education in the University of Virginia’s College of Education and Human Development, said some schools are getting creative to ensure they have enough teachers.
“They partner up teachers so one person teaches in English and the other teaches in the other language,” she says. “For example, a student might spend half the day with an English-speaking teacher and the other half with a bilingual teacher, so they would have two classes.”
This is not the case in ESL instruction where the teacher speaks only English with the students. Salerno added that it is often impossible for teachers to speak all of their students’ native languages, especially in diverse fields.
“I think for teachers, they have a classroom with a great resource of being able to use more and more languages,” Salerno said. “Unfortunately, that’s often talked about as a challenge. I think it’s a great opportunity, but it also means that no teacher can speak all these languages.”
California has the largest number of English learners in the country, with students speaking approximately 130 languages. Hover your mouse over each square to see the percentage of each home language.
Removing Spanish makes it easier to see how common other native languages are to each other.
question of power
Dual language programs are two-way exchanges in which English learners and English-speaking students receive instruction from both and help each other learn a new language.
While this model is considered the “golden rule” in some circles in the bilingual education community, Saldívar García is among those who hold a different view. There are inherent power dynamics at play, she says, because native English-speaking families are generally better off than families of English learners.
Bilingual programs may appease families of English-speaking students who feel that their children will receive fewer resources if schools offer bilingual education only to English learners, but more affluent parents They can also use their fame to influence the program, she explains. direction.
“When bilingual education started, it was a very political act to serve immigrant students who needed language,” Saldívar García says. “There’s literally a lot of research that calls this the gentrification of bilingual education, because bilingual education is becoming a new, sexy, different program that’s available to kids in schools.”
She added that most students, regardless of their linguistic background, will have a positive experience in a dual language program.
“They learn from each other, they become friends, there is a lot of cultural exchange, and most of it is positive,” Saldívar García says. “But what I struggle with is the political part of it. If we’re not careful about creating opportunities for families, whether they’re new or already in the U.S. You’re stepping into dangerous territory where you don’t want these programs to only meet the needs of half of those students, but not the other half.”
help students adjust
Salerno said some school districts may have programs or schools specifically designed for students who recently arrived in the United States.
“In some cases, a newcomer program may be a school within a school, or it may be one class within a school that brings together students who are particularly recent arrivals,” she says. Placement will be determined based on the student’s English proficiency. .
Salerno doesn’t necessarily like the word “rookie,” but points out that it can be a “label.” [or] “It positions students as not really belonging to the school environment or not yet fully belonging there,” she says. This is the most widely used.
Although there will be differences between states and programs, Salerno hopes that families of these students will receive targeted outreach to help them understand and navigate the school system. said.
“Parents may have different expectations for schooling and may not know what the U.S. grading system looks like,” she explains. “So all these things that come with acclimating to a U.S. school are often the responsibility of the newcomer program.”
