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December 04, 2005
Response to Lauren's Question
Lauren asked, “Why don't schools in linguistically diverse areas do bi-lingual programs, after all the primary goal of a school should be to meet its student’s needs,”.
I asked myself this same question as well as I was reading this essay. Certainly it seems that if bilingual programs are the most efficient way to learn a new language, schools should provide the resources necessary for them. Yet this is where, I believe, based on research that I have read, the problem lies. I did my first research report on different methods of second language acquisition. The disadvantage of the bilingual approach, which is also known as the grammar-translation method, is that it is often difficult to combine an individual’s first and second language. Schools simply do not have the resources, monetarily, mentally, or physically to educate the 5.5 million English-language learners in the United States. (Black 36). Of course, this information is extremely disheartening because if this method is as advantageous as experts claim it is schools should be able to find the resources necessary to at least move towards the bilingual method. I definitely agree with your concerns Lauren!
Posted by lciscotis at December 4, 2005 01:03 AM