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Language Barriers in Education

By: Ashleigh, Sara, and Tom

Bilingual education is a method used to teach language-minority students in public


schools. The concept is that teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) partially in their native
language will enhance their understanding of the curriculum and help them succeed in an
otherwise English-based environment (Education Commission of the States).
One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the
way. Frank Smith. Having a dual language spoken in the classroom is extremely important for
students that do not speak English fluently. From nea.org, In 2000-2001, states reported over
400 languages spoken by English language learners nationwide. The data submitted indicate that
the great majority of ELL students claimed Spanish (79 percent) as their native language,
followed by Vietnamese (2.0 percent), Hmong (1.6 percent), Chinese, Cantonese (1.0 percent),
Korean (1.0 percent), and other (15.4 percent). Society today needs to consider having a
translator present in the classroom. What are students supposed to do today if they do not speak
English fluently? Currently they are trying to understand what their teaching is trying to tell them
and they are left with frustration and feelings of neglect.
Presented from nea.org, In fact, according to a report from the US Department of
Education, "addressing the needs of limited English proficient students" is the professional
development area in which teachers are least likely to participate. The same survey found that
only 27 percent of teachers of ELLs felt "very well prepared" to teach students with limited
English proficiency, while the majority (60 percent) felt only "somewhat" or "moderately" well-

prepared and 12 percent reported feeling "not prepared at all" (NCES, 2001). This is an issue
that needs to be addressed across the United States. There are children and adults coming from
different countries wanting and trying to learn English but they do not know where to start. As a
part of the United States I believe they should have a program that is there to help these
immigrants learn how to survive and thrive in the United States especially in the school system.
Students that do not speak fluent English are struggling in the classrooms. What are
teachers and the board of education doing about this problem? There is sufficient research that
concludes needing a change. From www.bostonglobe.com, He (Juan Carlos Snchez) aspires to
go to college. But he has one major impediment: He doesnt speak English. Even though he is
immersed in English every day at school, he is still struggling to learn the language. I cant
carry a full conversation in English. Im completely lost in classes like biology, where I sit next
to English-speaking students, he says, adding that despite the three daily hours of ESL Level 1
classes he takes, hes not up to speed in English-only classrooms. Hearing the story of Juan
Carlos Sanchez is heartbreaking. As an aspiring teacher we are telling students how important it
is to stay in school and go to college, but when students are struggling to learn Basic English we
need to start making a change in todays society.
Forty-three percent of the citys public school children come from homes where the
primary language is not English. Advocacy groups say the school system hasnt done much to
communicate with immigrant parents in their native languages, even in Spanish, which is the
most commonly spoken language among the citys immigrants (Mary Ann Zeher, 2004). These
numbers are going to be increasing in the next years, so why not make a change now?
Immigrants can be vital to our country, we have to start them with education.

Learning a new language can be very difficult and frustrating. So what can we do to help?
I have proposed a few different suggestions. Require at least 50% teachers to be certified
bilingual or provide accessible translators and language classes for students and parents. These
two suggestions can make a huge difference for dual language learners. This way students have
recourses to help them start learning English. Having teachers be certified in a second language
would be very useful to them and the rest of the faculty present at the school. Our world is
becoming a melting pot, which means many different cultures are migrating to the United States
to receive better education and to get better jobs. As an aspiring teacher, I would love to help
make a difference for students everywhere. Creating a bilingual environment is also beneficial to
the school. Being welcoming to other cultures would benefit the school because more and more
different cultures would feel more welcomed and would want to have their child attend that
bilingual environment.
Hiring translators for a school district would cost about $150,000. But it does not have to
cost money. If we can find volunteers that are willing to help families out this would cost no
money. There are always students and adults that are in need of community service hours. There
are also a lot of students willing to give back their skills and education to their community.
Finding them would be as simple as posting an ad on the Salt Lake Community College website.
There are many people and directors that would want to resist this idea of hiring
translators because of the cost. Faculty and administrations would ignore the idea because of the
cost of money and so would the board of education. Even when people know how important an
idea like this is they think of the money aspect and not about the students. For years, the federal
government and some states have required districts to provide school information to the extent
practicable to immigrant parents in languages they understand. But districts have largely

ignored those laws, according to immigrant advocates (Mary Ann Zeher, 2004). These laws are
being ignored because of the money it is going to take to stop this problem. The Philadelphia
school system, which has 190,000 students, is starting its new office of language-access
services and community outreach with about $150,000 to hire outside vendors and pay bilingual
school employees to translate district policies (Mary Ann Zeher, 2004). Understanding that this
problem is going to cost money to fix, it will also create more job opportunities for those in need
of jobs and are willing to work to learn a second language.
Another place of resistance would be the citizens of the United States thinking that we
should only speak English in America. This idea is not logical. English is a hard language to
learn, but if we are not helping immigrants learn English then how can we expect them to only
speak English? Most immigrants coming to the United States are wanting and willing to learn
English, the immigrants just need help learning the language.
Ashleigh interviewed a few different teachers to get their insight on bilingual classrooms.
It depends on the class. If you are taking a language class, that language is the only one you
should be speaking. It sucks and is difficult, but it is the best way to learn it. If its lower grades,
and they are immigrants from another country, it can be difficult. So it would help to have
someone in the classroom with the ability to speak the language of where they are from; as to
help them better understand directions. But in the higher grades, they should have a basic
understanding of the language, and speak the language of this land in the classroom (Jonica
Whitmore). According to this Jonica thinks that it would be beneficial for a younger grade
classroom to have an interpreter. Jonica understands how hard it is to be in a classroom not
understanding what is going on, how I personally feel in math, so it would be nice to have
someone there helping these students out before they get frustrated and start acting out.

Interviewing a teacher that just moved from Japan gave some great insight to this
problem. I understand where they are coming from because it is really difficult to learn
languages, considering I just moved to Japan. I can relate. But on the other point, if you are
deliberately putting out a sign like that, I dont think that is okay. I think you should be open
minded and that closes the door. When you are working with kids, you need those doors to open.
An exception would be an ELL class (Nick and Laraine Howard). These are Laraine and Nicks
concerns about the language barriers in the classroom: Well, language barriers are definitely a
big one. Like if they are wondering certain words and directions, sometimes language barriers do
not directly translate to what we are saying. For example, some words in languages translate to
two different definitions in another language. Here in Japan, Tyson would be 3 years old because
they believe that once he exited the womb, even though in America he is 2 years old. Since being
over here, the Japanese are so considerate to anybody who is trying to learn their language. Or
even if you are that American that butchers their language. And as Americans, we dont do
that. Hearing what Laraine says about Japan and how different it is from America it shows that
we need someone to help these younger students out. They are not going to be able to learn
English on their own. ELL programs are a great start, but we need to go beyond that and have
interpreters directly in the classroom helping these students learn.
After this paper I hope you will consider taking the time to make a change in this
community. It is vital that someone does something about this problem happening in the
classroom. I know as an aspiring teacher this problem is not going to get solved overnight, but
with the right recourses and volunteers willing to devout their time it can be solved.

References:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2013/05/21/sink-swim-english-onlyclassroom/xONS1ZILQ4mRYOdM0Ex6fN/story.html
http://www.marcelagarcia.net/post/52298006771/sink-or-swim-in-an-english-only-classroom
http://www.nea.org/home/13598.htm
Mary Ann Zeher, Translations Efforts a Growing Priority for Urban Schools. October 8, 2004.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/10/06/06translate.h24.html

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