Promoting Bilingual and Bicultural Education

Alexis Delgado                

Dr. Frost

English 1301

19 November 2014

    Promoting Bilingual and Bicultural Education

Bilingual education, in the eyes of many policy makers and educators, can be seen as an insignificant investment. Nonetheless, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley wishes to establish a bilingual education by aiming to be a bicultural, bilingual, and bi-literate University. This education would include programs that would respond to the Rio Grande Valley’s past, present, and future to come. I believe that the University should instill this type of education because there would be a growth of students’ cognitive skills, an increase in students’ intellectual development, and their ability to effectively communicate with cultures would improve.

In the document, “Bicultural Studies Working Group,” the bicultural studies working group, developed by the new university, gives multiple reasons as to why a bicultural and bilingual education should be supported. Reasons such as the nurturing of skills, adaptability, and open mindedness would further develop a student’s cognitive skills. Furthermore, According to Marjorie Orellana, a professor of education at UCLA, children acquire skills by being monolingual or bilingual. She then mentions that children raised speaking only English have skills, which in the United States, are seen as vital for school success. Yet kids who “move between languages and dialects as they speak” (Orellana 1) gain a greater set of skills. Similarly Marcelo Orozco, a New York University professor, clarifies that students switching between languages gain “cognitive flexibility and the ability to communicate clearly in a setting where cultural diversity rules,” (1) which he believes matters most in education. Comparatively, Vice President of Education Anthony Jackson states, “Learning another language nurtures cognitive skills that are critical for student’s academic success.” (4) Multilingualism can contribute to student’s development of cognitive and academic skills, as well as, offer many cognitive advantages (shown by research).

With this in mind, the Bicultural Studies Working Group also mentions that research has shown that children who have developed an ability to speak second languages “experience cognitive advantages compared to monolingual students.” (17) Bilingualism can contribute to a student’s cognitive skills, such as, divergent thinking, memory and attention span, symbol and pattern recognition, problem solving, and knowledge of a language’s structure. As a result, research debates that a student’s native language is a dominant resource for learning, playing a central role in their education. Furthermore, Dr. Patricia Gandara discusses results of “The Immersion Study 1991.” (Gandara 1) This major study had been commissioned to determine the effectiveness of bilingual instruction. As a result, the study found that the bilingual programs offered from kindergarten to first grade resulted in superior reading outcomes when compared to the English-immersion. Bilingualism contribution to student’s cognitive skills could have been responsible for these results.

Bilingualism also increases a student’s ability to communicate efficiently between regions and cultures. Marcelo Orozco believes that America’s priority in the education is, “simply about job skills.” (1) In Hong Kong, Shanghai, and South Korea, they see other purposes for education, for instance, “doing well economically while being fully and productively engaged with the world.” Additionally, possessing knowledge of a foreign language is not about contracting the next agreement, it’s about being part of the world. Clayton Lewis, a headmaster at Washington International School states, “Knowing a language is a key to understanding a culture.” (2) Americans that have an understanding of two or more languages will realize it’s not a burden, rather, they will experience an advantage in negotiations and social exchange with other countries or regions. Furthermore, Stacie Berdan, a global executive and expert on international careers, asserts that companies want employees to have multilanguage skills and be internationally capable. Moreover, she states, “Language also matters for appreciating cultures, connecting and building relationships around the world.” (3) In addition, Monolinguals in an English-only environment are not as effective in learning or working with native speakers, diminishing human touch. As a result, more programs that teach foreign language are needed as businesses expand worldwide.

As mentioned earlier, Jackson sees multilingualism as a smart investment since language is a “major mechanism for teaching students how to communicate across cultures.” (4) U.S. students must acquire language in order to work around the world with others. In addition, Melanie Ho, a writer and reviewer for Asian Review of Books, believes that it’s not a must to be fluent in many languages, but it could make a student more “proficient.” One of her examples of this “proficiency” is that “a foreign language helps with the understanding of one’s native language.” (6) Correspondingly, the Bicultural Studies Working Group discusses that the integration of the world’s economy and advancement of technology, particularly in communication and transportation, deepens the contact between people, cultures, and regions. Bilingualism and biculturalism is seen necessary for a competitive universal workforce and an increasingly globalized and multicultural world.