Bilingual Education

Program Overview

Bilingual education focuses on instruction in two languages, including the student's home language as well as English. Bilingual education provides instruction in students' native languages while simultaneously helping them to achieve English proficiency or bilingual fluency. English immersion programs, on the other hand, [Page 73]zero in on instruction in English. Those who favor bilingual education claim that when English language learner (ELL) students are taught in English immersion programs, children receive inadequate support in general education classrooms.

Bilingual education programs are often described as one-way or two-way dual language programs. Oneway dual language programs typically serve only bilingual and ELL students; these programs are likely to exist in schools where one language group, such as Spanish-speaking students, is dominant. Conversely, two-way programs may include native English-speaking children with bilingual and ELL students in the same dual language program.

Historical foundations for bilingual instruction date back to the late 1800s, when assimilation into the American culture, especially the ability to speak and understand English, was strongly desired. The ability to speak and understand English was considered critical to success in America. Moreover, antagonism toward non-English speakers grew during World War I. During this period, bilingual education was all but dismantled with the passage of English-only laws in many states.

Laws and Court Rulings

In Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), a teacher challenged his conviction for violating a state statute that prohibited the teaching of schoolchildren in foreign languages in public, private, or parochial school after he provided instruction in German in a parochial school. According to the Nebraska legislature, the legislation was needed to promote the Americanization of foreign-born students and to ensure that children learned the English language and observed American ideals.

The state supreme court upheld the conviction. In its opinion, the court declared that allowing the children of foreigners to be taught in their native language was a threat to the country. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed in holding that such a statute forbidding instruction in a foreign language prior to students' completion of the eighth grade violated both their liberty interests and those of their parents, rights that were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment. Although bilingual education was not specifically mentioned in the opinion, the Court's decision invalidated English-only legislative efforts that impeded bilingual education.