Bilingual Education in the United States

Reference work entry
First Online:
Part of the Encyclopedia of Language and Education book series (ELE)

Abstract

The history of bilingual education in the United States has shifted between tolerance and repression depending on politics, the economy, and the size of the immigrant population. Languages other than English have been (and continue to be) primarily seen as a problem to be remediated by the schools. However, the massive increase in students whose primary language is not English (today more than one in five) and who perform at exceptionally low levels in the nation’s schools has once again provoked discussion about the most effective way to educate them. Research has accumulated showing a clear advantage for “maintenance” dual language and bilingual programs over English-only or transitional programs with respect to achievement, attainment, and a number of other outcomes. Nonetheless, many challenges remain to implementing such programs on a large scale: the politics of bilingualism and the shortage of highly qualified teachers are among the primary obstacles. However, if federal and state education policies supported bilingualism as an important goal for all US students, and incentives were created to recruit and train bilingual teachers, the USA could rapidly join other developed nations that have long supported multilingualism and nurtured it in their students.

Keywords

Assets Dual language Maintenance bilingual Politics Teachers Transitional bilingual 
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Graduate School of Education and Information StudiesUniversity of California Los AngelesLos AngelesUSA
  2. 2.School of EducationUniversity of ColoradoBoulderUSA

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