On July 16th, 2008 karen klinger (not verified) says:
As another NeighborMedia blogger, I want to commend Mark for a post that has generated more comments than I've seen for any previous NM entry. I only wish everyone were willing to attach names to their comments. I don't have any children in the school system, but I've learned a lot from reading this string about the Amigos school. I think it has been very constructive, despite some regrettable flame-throwing comments
That aside, I think we could do with some clarification of "two-way" bilingual programs (such as the one at Amigos) that involve both native English speakers and native speakers of other languages versus the often-reviled "biliterate" or bilingual programs that involve only native speakers of a language other than English. The problem with the latter, and part of the reason voters did away with them in California, was that they tended to stick kids who did not speak English at home into classes where they might spend years learning neither their native language nor English very well. They also segregated immigrant kids from their American-born peers. Critics contended that these classes were little more than employment programs for teachers and that English immersion classes were a better alternative.
But again, that's not what's going on at Amigos. A California Department of Education web page I found explains the two-way concept pretty well and notes that with two-way programs, children who are native English speakers are supplementing their knowledge of English with an additional language. It's language enrichment, rather than replacement of English instruction. A great deal of research has shown that it is critical for children to start learning a second language at a very early age. When I was in school, instruction in a second language never started until high school. By then it is at too late a stage of brain development for most students to become anywhere near fluent.
There are lots of parents who spend money hiring tutors, nannies and so on so that their young children can converse with someone in another language, knowing that as adults, these kids will have to compete in a globalized world. It's not all about Spanish either--there's a large and growing demand for people who can speak Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, etc. In addition, colleges often require a certain level of second-language instruction and AP or SAT tests (mine did). I got into college in spite of--rather than because of--my grasp of French, which improved only years later when I lived in France. I wish I'd had the opportunity to go to an Amigos-style program where I could have learned, and appreciated, another language at a young age.
As another NeighborMedia blogger, I want to commend Mark for a post that has generated more comments than I've seen for any previous NM entry. I only wish everyone were willing to attach names to their comments. I don't have any children in the school system, but I've learned a lot from reading this string about the Amigos school. I think it has been very constructive, despite some regrettable flame-throwing comments
That aside, I think we could do with some clarification of "two-way" bilingual programs (such as the one at Amigos) that involve both native English speakers and native speakers of other languages versus the often-reviled "biliterate" or bilingual programs that involve only native speakers of a language other than English. The problem with the latter, and part of the reason voters did away with them in California, was that they tended to stick kids who did not speak English at home into classes where they might spend years learning neither their native language nor English very well. They also segregated immigrant kids from their American-born peers. Critics contended that these classes were little more than employment programs for teachers and that English immersion classes were a better alternative.
But again, that's not what's going on at Amigos. A California Department of Education web page I found explains the two-way concept pretty well and notes that with two-way programs, children who are native English speakers are supplementing their knowledge of English with an additional language. It's language enrichment, rather than replacement of English instruction. A great deal of research has shown that it is critical for children to start learning a second language at a very early age. When I was in school, instruction in a second language never started until high school. By then it is at too late a stage of brain development for most students to become anywhere near fluent.
There are lots of parents who spend money hiring tutors, nannies and so on so that their young children can converse with someone in another language, knowing that as adults, these kids will have to compete in a globalized world. It's not all about Spanish either--there's a large and growing demand for people who can speak Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, etc. In addition, colleges often require a certain level of second-language instruction and AP or SAT tests (mine did). I got into college in spite of--rather than because of--my grasp of French, which improved only years later when I lived in France. I wish I'd had the opportunity to go to an Amigos-style program where I could have learned, and appreciated, another language at a young age.