Bilingual Education: Building Bridges Essay example -- Education

bilingual education, as an educational program, was initially promoted by educators in the seventies (Hunger of Memory 26) and since then has been a topic of many debates in America. well-nigh argue that multilingual education only serves as a detriment to Ameri nooky culture. Others argue that bilingual education is beneficial to those who come to brave out in America and want to become a part of the culture, exclusively lack proficiency in the English wrangle. Two authors, who have distributively taken opposite sides of the debate on bilingual education in America, are Richard Rodriguez and Ariel Dorfman. Richard Rodriguez believes that bilingual education creates a feeling of separateness amid contrary language speakers and American society therefore, bilingual education delays the makeup of a public identity. In contrast, Ariel Dorfman argues that bilingualism in America will be a bridge to better understanding other cultures. I birth the position of being neither, aga inst or entirely in favor of bilingual education. I am in favor of bilingual education because it can be an effective segue to learning the English language and I believe it is very important to remain connected with our familys language and culture. However, I also recognize the negative feeling of separateness from the bigger public that bilingual education can have on foreign language speaking families, which hinders my ability to fully embrace bilingual education. Ariel Dorfman is an Argentinian author who struggled throughout his life to find a balance amongst the Spanish and English languages. As a result of Dorfmans bilingual journey (Heading South 25), he argues that bilingual education is beneficial to American society. Dorfman believes that bilingualism will serve as a ... ....---. Heading South, Looking North. newly York Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998. PrintGarcia, Maria E., Ofelia Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove Torres-Guzman. Imagining trilingualSchools Language in Educati on and Globalization. Clevdon, GBR Multilingual MattersLimited, 2006. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.Hadi-Tabassum, Samina. Language, Space and Power A Critical Look at Bilingual Education.Clevdon, GBR Multilingual Matters Limited, 2006. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.Rodriguez, Richard. Aria A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood. Conversations Reading forWriting. Ed.Gack Selzer. 5th ed. unfermented York Longman, 2003. 153-166. Print.---. Hunger of Memory The Education of Richard Rodriguez. New York Bantam Dell, 1983.PrintSalomone, Rosemary C. True American Language, Identity, and the Education of ImmigrantChildren. Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.