Bilingual Education is the teaching of two languages. This would also be the ability to speak two languages. During the 1920's testing among various groups of people began. These tests were conducted in poor testing conditions, overcrowded rooms, poor lighting, and large rooms with poor audibility. Many immigrants were categorized as "simpletons" for receiving zeros on the test because they were unable to speak English, could not read, and were unfamiliar with the American culture. The low-test scores confirmed white Anglo Saxon Protestant beliefs that immigrants were inferior. This gave the congressmen more reason to discriminate against the immigrants. In the 1950's, federal and state laws ruled that discriminatory testing was unconstitutional (What To Do About Immigration? p 327). Bilingual education did not originally grow from the pressures of immigration. It was started as a small
Today, our expectations of bilinguals are very high. We expect them to learn our language fast and accurately. However, we do not teach them well. Instead of running away from this problem by abolishing bilingual education, we should find a way to improve this practice in order to make it a part of our culture.
One solution to this problem is finding a one way to teach that will cover all aspects of the English language. After English is effectively taught, the students should be mainstreamed. Some say the curriculum is not the problem, but the poor teaching instead. The teache's want students to be proficient in a second language in one or two years. These days, there is also a shortage of well-qualified bilingual teachers. We can improve this by hiring teachers who are qualified and fully bilingual (http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/biling.htm).
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