Yvonne's Tips For Teacher Blog

Yvonne's Tips For Teacher Blog

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Post 115: Case Study of Dual Language Bilingual System Enhancement class

Post 115: Case Study of Dual Language Bilingual System

Two Way Bilingual or Dual Language Model of Bilingual Immersion

In this model, Language Minority Students are grouped together with Anglophones, English speaking students in one classroom. Fifty percent of the students are LMS whose L1 is Spanish and who want to learn English and the other half of the class are English NS who want to learn Spanish.  The Spanish students teach the English NS Spanish, while the English L1 students teach the Spanish L1 students English. It is a mutual exchange of culture, customs and language.  English NS get immersed in Spanish while Spanish L1 get language maintenance and heritage maintenance as both learn content area curriculum in a 90/10. Ninety percent of the day the students learn all in Spanish. And 10% of the day, the students learn content area in English. The ESL teacher teaching the English portion of the day works together with the Spanish teacher as they team teach so they don't repeat material the other had already taught. This is the most successful model for bilingual education because the culture of the Language Minority Students are highly valued as the English L1 students eagerly want to learn about Spanish culture and language so they too can become bilingual. This is what you call an Additive Bilingual Model where the ELL culture and language is preserved and used as a resource for class curriculum. Both groups work hard and have high grades and in this model, being bilingual becomes an asset.

In a Dual Language Bilingual Program, the majority language students teach the immigrant students about English and American culture while the immigrant students teach the language majority students their first language. There is an even exchange of culture, mores, food and language between students, and students learn to respect each other's cultures. Americans learn more about immigrant culture while the immigrants get to retain their heritage, language and develop a respect for their own L1 culture. When language and culture acquisition is not viewed as remedial, but as a language enhancement class, then you have Additive Bilingualism, where the language minority student finds pride in teaching others about his native culture. Out of all the bilingual models we have studied thus far, the Dual Language Bilingual Model is by far the strongest and the most positive.

Nationally, bilingual education has been rechristened “dual-language programs” and is gaining fresh appeal. The templates of dual-language instruction vary—some programs transition students into English-only after several years while others emphasize ongoing two-language immersion at different ratios—but the common strand is an attempt to build literacy and proficiency in more than one language. The approach is found to outperform traditional ESL, where lessons are typically taught entirely in English. Research shows two-language instruction is linked to numerous positive and long-term benefits, including stronger literacy skills, narrowing of achievement gaps, and higher graduation rates. And the academic advantages of two-language programs even carry over to an unexpected group: children who only speak English at home. A Michigan State University study of Texas elementary students in 2013 found “a substantial spillover effect”—higher math and reading scores—for children from English-only homes who were enrolled in schools with bilingual education programs.  (Anderson, Melinda, 2015)

Case Study for Dual Language Bilingual Program

Juan Pablo is originally from Guatemala. He was adopted as a baby by American parents of European descent who speak no Spanish and know very little about Guatemala.  The parents wanted Juan Pablo to maintain his Guatemalan heritage and be able to speak Spanish and English fluently so when Juan Pablo was a baby, they hired a Spanish speaking nanny. From a very young age, Juan Pablo was exposed to Spanish and English and learned to speak both languages fluently. When Juan Pablo got older, his parents let him spend weekends and special Guatemalan holidays with the nanny's family, so Juan Pablo can grow up knowing his family culture.

At school, his parents wanted Juan Pablo to learn how to read and write Spanish, as well as learn academic content in Spanish. Since Juan Pablo grew up with English speaking parents, he did not enter the Dual Language Bilingual Program to  learn English or for remedial purposes to mainstream into monolingual classes, no, Juan Pablo went into the Dual Language program to maintain his cultural heritage while learning to read and write Spanish fluently. Half of Juan Pablo class are other Language Minority students who speak Spanish fluently, but want to learn English, and the other half of his class are Language Majority class English native speakers who want to learn Spanish. Juan Pablo loves this Additive Bilingual program because he and the other Spanish speaking students get to share their Hispanic culture with the Language Majority students and the English speaking students get to learn a foreign language.

When a bilingual program is seen as an enhancement of language skill, rather than remediation, then that program is seen as something positive by parents, staff, teachers, and other students. Juan Pablo is proud to show off his culture and proud to be a part of this program. Juan Pablo loves to read in both Spanish and English. Juan Pablo has high grades and is a high achiever. He is not perceived as a 'dummy' by other students at the school. Being able to show off his Hispanic culture builds Juan Pablo self confidence in himself and promotes a positive self image for himself. Juan Pablo is a happy well-adjusted teenager with his nose in a book most of the time. Of all the Bilingual programs, the Dual Language Bilingual Model is the best in my book.

Anderson, Melinda. (November 2, 2015) The Costs of English Only Classroom.  The Atlantic Newspaper.

Ovando, Carlos and Combs, Mary Carol.  Bilingual and ESL Classrooms: Teaching in Multicultural Contexts. Sixth Edition.

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