No Child Left Bilingual Part I

(First of two videos.) This is my understanding of how NCLB is affecting teachers and students in elementary bilingual/dual language schools in New York. (I used this iMovie to discuss these important issues with my colleagues and students at Bank Street College of Education.)

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• no
• child
• left
• behind
• act
• NCLB
• elementary
• special
• bilingual
• education
• dual
• language
• English
• Language
• Learners
• ELL

[shrutidusaj]

Therefore, why can't you or other immigrants from Spanish speaking countries be satisfied with speaking Spanish at home and using English as the lingua franca? Is there a real necessity for the children of immigrants to be taught Spanish (let alone be taught other subjects IN Spanish) here?

Can integration and immersion in society actually be successful if you steadfastly refuse to adapt to your new (and CONSCIOUSLY CHOSEN) circumstances?

[CrissolNYC]

So I ask you: Why did you study English in your country? To come to a university in the US? You are now reaping the benefits of being bilingual. What if US-born children one day want to go to a Spanish speaking country to study and work?

Also, now that you are here, are you going to give up your native tongue? Will your children speak English only?

[shrutidusaj]

Therefore, why can you or other immigrants from Spanish speaking countries be satisfied with speaking Spanish at home and using English as the lingua franca? Is there a real necessity for the children of immigrants to be taught Spanish (let alone be taught other subjects IN Spanish) here?

Can integration and immersion in society actually be successful if you steadfastly refuse to adapt to your new (and CONSCIOUSLY CHOSEN) circumstances?

[CrissolNYC]

In case you haven't heard, the United States IS a multilingual/multicultural country. By becoming and maintaining our bilingualism/multilingualism we are adapting to our circumstances!

[TAKENnameARGH]

People should speak AT LEAST 2 languages, if there are no cognitive restrictions.

I speak finnish, swedish, english and french. And and a big bunch of senteces, words and grammar of other various languages.

[EkBalam707]

El hecho de dominar los dos idiomas mas hablados en el pais otorga cierta ventaja cultural en cierto dector de la poblacion.

[toughgirly]

People need to realize that this is multilingual and multicultural country, I don't see a problem with bilingualism regardless of the languages being taught. Also, children need to have a strong base in their first language in order for them to pick up a second language just as strong.

[NYKgjl10]

@freetubester Same here in Los Angeles.

[freetubester]

in Miami you cannot get a job at McDonald's if you are not bi-lingual

[akumie]

Native has so much more unique cultur thats slowly dying while example spanish has so much

if I choose a new language to learn I would first think about the unique cultur and history, second about number of speakers and so calles job opertunities

[akumie]

I so agree

If I would live in usa i would expect to speak swedish (my native language) at home but evrywhere else english ONLY (well exept native langiages but thats another story)

I have heard u go to Miami and 70% pf people cant even speak english, heck even in shops u cant order in english...just proves usa should in my opinion have english as language 1 and all other immersion schools should promot native american languages (whites who made native lnguage so small) as second language

[akumie]

french, english bla bla bla

think about the native langages that only are spoken on reservations thatnks to the white man those should also be official languages

[akumie]

svenska, engelska, spanska, lär mig baskiska :)

power to small languages wuth more unique culture then biffer ones

[bluenosedive]

Hey dude I'm also a bilingual Canadian English and French... don't listen to this dum-ass, Canadians should be able to go where ever they want in the country and get servived in one of the two official langauges... and plus I think Quebec did a good job of protecting the French Language in Quebec and all over Canada... just imagine if there were no language laws,French would be a thing of the past just like in the U.S.A

[tarog68]

Unfortunately, there are many that don't understand how one acquires a second language. They need to be told that in order to learn English proficiently on an academic level, one must have a strong foundation in their primary language. If they only want students to SPEAK English, then you don't need them to have a strong foundation in their primary language. But, the latter is not what the students are expected to learn in school, especially in middle or high school.

[5afj]

Happymurderer- with a name like that, I guess I should 'watch it'. Nobody is saying that one shouldn't learn a FOREIGN language. But we are talking about teaching students in a foreign language, which will only retard their progress in English. Whether you wish it were so or not doesn't matter. ENGLISH is the DOMINANT language in the US and if you want to succeed at all in this country.......or you could not learn English and clean toilets.