Historial Context of Bilingual Education: Colonial Times

1. Historial Context of Bilingual Education:Colonial Times Colonizers, unified history, with unified traditions, and with a common language; European languages were treated with respect.

2. Colonial Times • Neither an official language nor a government-sanctioned body to regulate speech was adopted; • Absence of a consistent language ideology • Debate over official English has been present creating resentment and a variety of pedagogical practices.

3. 1700’s to 1880s 18th & 19th c., inconsistency regarding language ideology; “Defensive Pluralism” (Havinghurst, 1978), preservation of maternal language and cultures; Laws were passed authorizing bilingual education.

4. 1700’s to 1880’s • Czech was taught in Texas, French in Louisiana, and Spanish in the Southwest; • 1900, 600,000 children, 4% of the elementary school population received instruction in German; • Southwest, beginning of 20th c. Spanish or English was the language of the school curriculum.

5. 1880’s to 1960 1889, American Protective Association promoted English-only schools; 1918 to 1920, the Bureau of Naturalization and the Bureau of Education of the US; 1923, English only instruction in 34 states

6. 1880’s to 1960 • Anti-German hostility during War World I; • Americanization classes and English-only curriculum to prepare immigrants;

7. 1880’s to 1960 • The debate over the role of the mother tongue continued; • 1923, Meyer v. Nebraska, prohibition to teach foreign languages was unconstitutional; • The case had little effect in promoting BE.

8. 1880’s to 1960 • Linguistic and cognitive theories and research findings blamed bilingualism for academic failure and mental retardation. • English was the language of the educated; • Ignorance of English was attributed to inferior intelligence.

9. 1880’s to 1960 • Ethnocentric attitude: American culture more desirable; • Adoption of the sink-or-swim method also known as submersion. • ESL classes served only adults.

10. 1960 to 1980 • Isolated bilingual programs were created with the following characteristics: • English and the students’ native language was used in all grades for language and content instruction; • Some included English-speakers; • Programs were examples of excellence.

11. 1960 to 1980 National Defense Education Act of 1958 aimed at raising the level of foreign-language education in the US ; 1964 Civil Right Act fostered linguistic diversity; 1965 Immigration Act, Asians and Latin American began to enter the country: more language-minority students appeared in US classroom.

12. 1960-1980 • Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution of 1959 fostered BE to prepare children for their return home; • 1963, Cuban community established a highly successful two-way bilingual education program at Coral Way Elementary School in Dade County, FL.

13. 1960-1980 • 1968 creation of the Bilingual Education Act --Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; • Act strove to help language minority students as an offshoot of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty;

14. 1960-1980 • Title VII was unclear with regards to bilingual education; original goal was the maintenance of bilingualism, later replaced by the use of home language to facilitate the acquisition of English only. • Significant step in moving away from English-only.

15. 1960-1980 • As a result of Title VII, many elementary and some secondary BE programs and ESL programs were initiated, especially in the Southwest. • Many states reversed the English-only laws: Massachusetts enacted its Transitional Bilingual Education Act (1971); more than 20 other states followed.

16. 1960-1980 • Program characteristics: • Native language was to be used to initiate instruction; English was taught as a second language, and later introduced in instruction; • Bilingual education was an educational strategy to address the needs of the ELL– the native and the main language did not have the same status.

17. 1960-1980 • 1974, Lau v. Nichols (414 US 5637) case; • Lau v. Nichols verdict: • abolish the sink-or-swim practices of the past; • August 1974, Equal Educational Opportunities Act expanded bilingual practices to all schools.

18. 1960-1980 • 1975 Lau Remedies (Office for Civil Rights): • The law recommended bilingual education as the best approach for elementary education; • Law contained instructions for identification, assessment, and mainstreaming of students.

19. 1960-1980 • 1975 Lau Remedies: • BE should recommended for school districts with at least 20 ELL’s of same language; • BE programs must be based on sound theoretical approach; • BE aimed at biliteracy and biliculturalism.

20. 1960-1980 • Research studies supporting bilingual education: • Pearl and Lamberts (1962), Ben_Zeev (1977), Ianco-Worrall (1972), Segalowitz (1977) demonstrated cognitive flexibility, higher verbal and non-verbal ability, and increased ability to analyze syntax by bilingual speakers; • Ability to differentiate between two languages is not an impediment.

21. 1960-1980 • Research studies supporting bilingual education: • Pearl and Lamberts (1962), Ben_Zeev (1977), Ianco-Worrall (1972), Segalowitz (1977) demonstrated cognitive flexibility, higher verbal and non-verbal ability, and increased ability to analyze syntax by bilingual speakers; • Ability to differentiate between two languages is not an impediment.

22. 1960-1980 • 1981, Castañeda v. Pickard– in a case of violation of civil rights under the Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974; • Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals verdict: • sound educational theory anchoring school plan; • adequate resources and personnel; • program reflecting sound practices and language and academic results.

23. 1960-1980 • 1981, Castañeda v. Pickard– in a case of violation of civil rights under the Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974; • Court verdict: • Emphasis on English language ability did not violate appropriate implementation; • sound educational theory anchoring school plan; • adequate resources and personnel; • program reflecting sound practices and language and academic results.

24. 1980 to Present Reagan: preservation of native languages was anti-American--funds for English immersion programs increased; Lau’s regulations were terminated as were compliance reviews; US English (1983), English Only, and English First began to gain support;

25. 1980-Present • CA Proposition 187 was approved restricting services to illegal immigrants; • CA Proposition 227 passed: English became the primary medium of instruction for language-minority students; • Ron Unz, initiator of the proposition: bilingual programs failed to teach children English; • Other states followed the CA example, including AZ, CO, WA, and MA.

26. 1980-Present • 1999, President Clinton’s administration: • restored funding for BE programs; • dropped a bill article allowing only 2 years to learn English, increasing funding for English-only immersion programs, and hindering the implementation of two-way BE programs. • 2001, President GW Bush proposed the No Child Left Behind Act, replacing the Bilingual Education Act (1968-2001)

27. 1980-Present • 1999, President Clinton’s administration: • restored funding for BE programs; • dropped a bill article allowing only 2 years to learn English, increasing funding for English-only immersion programs, and hindering the implementation of two-way BE programs. • 2001, President GW Bush proposed the No Child Left Behind Act to replace the Bilingual Education Act (1968-2001)

28. 1980-Present • Creation of the Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient students (OELA) in charge of administering Title III of the NCLB Act of 2001.