首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Bilingual Education Bilingual education in America is hundreds of years old, hardly a "new" issue. In 1837, Pennsylvania law
Bilingual Education Bilingual education in America is hundreds of years old, hardly a "new" issue. In 1837, Pennsylvania law
admin
2010-03-26
57
问题
Bilingual Education
Bilingual education in America is hundreds of years old, hardly a "new" issue. In 1837, Pennsylvania law required that school instruction be given on an equal basis in German as well as English. In fact, that example provides us with a fairly concise definition of bilingual education, the use of two languages for instruction. But, almost a century later, as America was being pulled into World War I, foreign languages were seen as unpatriotic. Public pressure routed the German language from the curriculum, although nearly one in four high school students was studying the language at the time. Some states went even further. Committed to a rapid assimilation(同化)of new immigrants, and suspicious of much that was foreign, these states prohibited the teaching of any foreign language during the first eight years of schooling.
Despite the long history of bilingual education in this country, many school districts never really bought into the concept. In districts without bilingual education, students with a poor command of English had to sink or swim (or perhaps, more accurately, "speak or sink"). Students either learned to speak English as they sat in class—or they failed school, an approach sometimes referred to as language submersion. If submersion was not to their liking, they could choose to leave school. Many did.
Bilingual education had a rebirth in the 1960s, as the Civil rights movement brought new attention to the struggles of many Americans temporarily without citizenship, including non-English speakers trying to learn in a language they did not understand. And, unlike the 1800s, by the 1960s and 1970s education had become less an option and more a necessity, the access to economic success. To respond to this need, Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act in 1968. This act provided federal financial incentives, using what some people call "a carrot approach," to encourage schools to initiate bilingual education programs. Not all districts chased the carrot.
From the start, the Bilingual Education Act was fraught with problems. The act lacked concrete recommendations for implementation and did not specify standards. Individual school districts and, in some cases, even individual schools, experimented with different approaches. In too many cases, the act simply failed to serve the students it was meant to serve.
During the early 1970s, disappointed parents initiated lawsuits. In 1974, the Supreme Court heard the case of Lau v. Nichols. This class action lawsuit centered around Kinney Lau and 1,800 other Chinese students from the San Francisco area who were failing their courses because they could not understand English. The Court affirmed that federally funded schools must "correct the language deficiency" of these students. Teaching students in a language they did not understand was not an appropriate education. The Court’s decision in Lau v. Nichols prompted Congress to pass the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA). Under this law, school districts must take positive steps to provide equal education for language-minority students by eliminating language barriers.
Typically in the bilingual approach, limited English proficiency (LEP) students learn English as a second language while taking other academic subjects in their native language. The transitional approach begins by using the native language as a bridge to English-language instruction. Academic subjects are first taught using the native language, but progressively the students transition to English, to their new language. This is the most widely used approach. The maintenance, or developmental, approach emphasizes the importance of maintaining both languages. The goal is to create a truly bilingual student, one who acquires English while maintaining competence in the native language. Students are instructed in both languages. English as a Second Language (ESL) supplements either the maintenance or transitional programs by providing special ESL classes for additional instruction in reading and writing English.
As schools struggle to meet the needs of LEP students, bilingual education continues to spark political controversy. Approximately 3 million students speak hundreds of languages and dialects. Misunderstandings are multiplied when language barriers are accompanied by racial and ethnic differences, leading to even greater isolation and segregation for many LEP students. And, while some struggle to make bilingual education work, others believe that it never will:
Opponents of bilingual education point to studies showing that first-and second-generation Hispanic(西班牙和葡萄牙的)students who attended bilingual programs from the 1970s to the 1990s earned considerably less money than Hispanics who attended "English only" classes. Moreover, Hispanic students who dropped out of bilingual programs were less likely to return and complete high school than were Hispanics who attended English-only programs. LEP parents despair over their children’s lack of progress in learning English and graduating from school. The dropout rates for Hispanic students, the largest group of LEP students, hovers around 50 percent. Many parents of students in bilingual programs now oppose these programs, an ironic turnabout, since it was parent protests in the 1960s and 1970s that forced reluctant schools and the federal government to initiate bilingual education. In 1998, more than 60 percent of the voters in California, including a sizable minority of Hispanic voters, supported an initiative to replace most bilingual maintenance programs with a fast-track transition to English.
Bilingual education advocates argue that America is a country with diverse cultures and that diversity should be honored and nurtured. One problem, they point out, is that we simply do not have enough competent bilingual teachers who can respond to the large numbers of LEP children now in our schools.
Through the 1990s, the opponents of bilingual education gained ground as Congress sharply reduced funding for bilingual education. Moreover, a score of "English-only" bills made their way through various state legislatures and Congress. The future of bilingual education is still being defined.
More than two centuries ago, Ben Franklin expressed his fears about the multiple languages heard on America’s streets. His concerns have echoed through the centuries, despite a world in which national borders seem to be blurring or even disappearing. In today’s global community, Russians and Americans are working together in space, such international organizations as the United Nations and NATO are expanding their membership, and corporations are crossing national boundaries to create global mergers in an international marketplace. Moreover, technological break-throughs, such as the Internet, have made international communications not only possible but commonplace. However, for most Americans, these international conversations are feasible only if the other side speaks English. In this new international era, Americans find themselves locked in a monolingual society. How strange that, instead of viewing those who speak other languages as welcome assets to our nation, some seem eager to erase linguistic diversity.
Bilingual education supporters claim that America is a country with ______.
选项
答案
diverse cultures
解析
倒数第三段第一句“Bilingual education advocates…honored and nurtured”的大意是:双语教学的支持者表示,美国是一个多元文化的国家,而且这种多元化应该受到尊敬及拥护。解题关键是要理解原文中“advocate”一词,它与题干中的“supporter”是同义词,意为“支持者;拥护者:倡导者”。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/UGk7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Withinthe1980sandearly’90s,theearningsofwomenofalleconomiclevelsweregettinglessandlesscomparedwiththeirmal
Withinthe1980sandearly’90s,theearningsofwomenofalleconomiclevelsweregettinglessandlesscomparedwiththeirmal
Withinthe1980sandearly’90s,theearningsofwomenofalleconomiclevelsweregettinglessandlesscomparedwiththeirmal
Bythe1950smanyAmericanfamiliesownedtelevisionsets.Duringtelevision’sfirst20years,deafpeoplemissedmostofthefu
Whatisthepassagemainlyabout?Whatistheauthor’sattitudetowardspausesinconversations?
MostAmericansusedtoworkforthemselvesratherthanforothers.Accordingtotheauthor,oneofthedramaticsocialchanges
A、Inthe17thcentury.B、Inthe15thcentury.C、Inthe18thcentury.D、Inthe16thcentury.DWhenwasMr.Finch’scottagebuilt?
Beforethe20thcenturythehorseprovideddaytodaytransportationintheUnitedStates.Trainswereusedonlyforlong-distan
Themodernageisanageofelectricity.Peopleareso【S1】______toelectriclights,radio,televisions,andtelephonesthatit
A、Bettyshouldcallherneighborstocomplain.B、Bettyshouldtalktoherchildrenwiththeneighbors.C、Bettyshouldaskherne
随机试题
正常人血红蛋白β亚基的第6位氨基酸由谷氨酸变成了缬氨酸会产生
血管管腔闭塞及血栓不常见于
患者,男,26岁。饱餐后2小时突发持续性上腹剧痛,很快扩散。查体:腹部有压痛,板状腹,肝浊音界消失,肠鸣音消失,X线检查膈下新月形气体,应诊断为
患者,女,49岁。肝硬化病史10余年,2小时前,突然出现大量呕血,并柏油样便,现出现意识障碍,定向力丧失,计算力下降。血压80/50mmHg,血红蛋白60g/L,血清白蛋白28g/L,血氨160mmol/L,尿少,诊断为上消化道出血、肝性脑病。以下处理不正
极性最大的化合物是
居民个人的下列所得,不并入综合所得计税的是()
关于数罪并罚,下列说法错误的是()
Takethemedicinenow.Ibelieveitwill______yourpain.
Acolddishofrawvegetableswithadressingiscalled______.
A.grouptravelB.touronapersonalbasisC.freeguidedtourD.touristinfor
最新回复
(
0
)