Historia De Arroz Con Habichuelas

Universidad Metropolitana

Programa Ahora

EDUC 222

July 11th, 2012

6. What Kinds of Programs Exist to Meet the Needs of

English Learners?

It is important to reiterate that federal law requires that all English learners be provided with an educational program that provides them:

(1) access to the core curriculum

(2) opportunities for English language

development.

English language learners find themselves in a wide variety of school programs, from those carefully tailored to meet their specific linguistic and cultural needs to programs in which little is done differently to accommodate them.

Perhaps the simplest distinction among programs is whether two languages or one is used for instruction. Bilingual education programs are defined as educational programs

that use two languages, one of which must be English, for teaching purposes.

Bilingual education programs have taken many forms, but two goals are common

to all:

(1) to teach English

(2) to provide access to the core curriculum through the home language while students are gaining English language proficiency (Lessow-Hurley, 2005).

TRANSITIONAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION. Transitional bilingual education programs

are designed to serve language minority students who are limited English

proficient. Primary language instruction is provided for one to three years. The

purpose of primary language instruction is to build a foundation in literacy and

academic content that will facilitate English language and academic development

as students acquire the new language. After the transition to English

instruction, no further instruction in the home language is offered. The goal is

to develop English language proficiency for limited English proficient students

as soon as possible.

MAINTENANCE BILINGUAL EDUCATION. Maintenance bilingual education is

designed to serve language minority students who are limited English proficient.

It differs from transitional bilingual education in that primary language instruction

is provided throughout the elementary grades and in some cases continues in

middle and high school. English language instruction is also provided throughout

the grades. The purpose of the maintenance model is to help language minority

students develop and maintain their primary language and become fully proficient

in oral and written English. Thus the program goals include full bilingualism

and biliteracy for English learners.

IMMERSION EDUCATION. Originally developed in Canada, immersion programs

are designed to teach a minority language to language majority students. For example,

in Canada, native English-speaking students often learn French as a second language.

In the United States, native English-speaking students learn languages such

as Spanish or Cantonese. In immersion programs, students receive subject matter

instruction through their second language to develop second language proficiency

while learning academic content. Special techniques are used to help them understand,

participate, and learn in the new language. Language, content, and literacy

instruction take place in the students’ new language in the early grades, with the

gradual introduction of English language arts as students progress up the grades.

The ultimate goal is full bilingualism and

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