Bilingual Education

Bilingual education generally refers to program that provides to students with limited English proficiency. Some of these programs teach academic subjects in the students’ home language (example Indonesian) while also requiring language-minority students to take classes in English as a second language (ESL). Other programs aim to teach English to language-minority students by immersing them in English-only classes. Bilingual Education has been a much-debated topic. People in today's society have opposite opinions on how to approach the issue of bilingual education. Some believe that bilingual education is used as a helpful tactic to learn how to grasp the English language faster. Others believe that bilingual education does not help people learn English faster, but prohibits them from moving forward by keeping them at a "lower level" when it comes to education. (www.directessays.com)  in my opinion, Bilingual education has many points out. There are several objectives of the bilingual education program, three of which are help introduce English to students, cultural awareness and help understanding ideas or concepts.

The first objective of the bilingual education is to help introduce English to students. The teacher teaches the students basic academic subjects in their native language therefore increasing their academic progress. The program is also designed to teach the students both reading and writing skills in their native language and eventually to immerse them into classes taught in English. Students in bilingual education programs learn English from the time they enter school. All of their academic classes, however, are taught in their native language. After three years of English instruction, students are put into English-only classes.

The second objective of the bilingual education is cultural awareness. Every language is rich in cultural information, from the way it is spoken to the objects that are represented. In the class, the teacher teaching English not only teach the language of English but also teach the culture of English. Bilingual education preserve students’ native language skills while teaching English as a second language (“Bilingual Education”). Bilingual education program would make it easier for the student to learn English without risking success in academic classes.

The third objective of the bilingual education is help understanding ideas or concepts. Actually bilingual education is ineffective and difficult to carry out, therefore the advantages of bilingual education is inherent in learning about ideas and concepts in the language one is use to and then transferring that knowledge over to the culture's dominant language. Many believe that it is more useful to transfer ideas and concepts into another language once they are understood, rather than to learn them in a new language where the understanding of it is incomplete. For example, the students are learning in English classes sometimes feels confused when she or he should understand ideas or concepts. If they are learning in bilingual education, these programs can help the students to understand idea or concepts.

Based on this explanation above, bilingual education has several objectives for the students. Three of which are help introduce English to students, cultural awareness and help understanding ideas or concepts. In my conclusion, bilingual education has benefit sides for the students. The purpose of bilingual education programs is to teach students basic academic subject in their native language. For recommendation, bilingual education is better because the students can avoid problems such as language clash and cultural isolation. Migrating into a new country is hard on both children and parents alike and ultimately, the choice of bilingual education should be based and attuned to the child's and parents individual interests, circumstances and needs.

 Written by

Umi Nadirotun N

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