Language is something that separates humans from animals. The ability to teach language, to use language for entertainment or deception, and to learn more than one language are qualities unique to humans. Consequently, there is great emphasis placed on speaking languages well. There are many benefits to speaking more than one language that span across several aspects of life, such as increased mental flexibility, better memory, better selective attention skills, more job opportunities, and increased empathy. Yet, the teaching of foreign languages in the American education system leaves American adults lagging behind their European counterparts when it comes to language proficiency due to the fact that America does not typically begin language
Several countries have implemented this policy like some of the USA states, the UK, Netherland, etc. Even some Asian countries with enviable academic achievements, in spite of having large classes like Japan have chosen this option to improve their level of education (Erhenberg et al. 2001). Several research has been done to find out whether CSR does affect students’ academic achievement or not. The research like Class Size and Pupil Adult Ration (CSPAR) project, California Class Size Reduction Reform and others provides evidences that reject the effects of CSR on students’ academic achievements or say that CSR does not affect students’ academic achievements a lot.
However, overall a bilingual approach to education is a good policy, when done correctly with the intention of providing education in a dual setting for a longer period of time. Opponents of bilingual education state that speaking one language leads to unity, immersion for immigrants and a clear sense of linguistic and cultural identity. Beardsmore puts forth the idea that “some parents fear that a child who does not have a single language fails to forge firm emotional ties with a given linguistic-cultural community” (Beardsmore, 2003, p. 13). This way of reasoning has dire consequences, particularly for students who are forced to assimilate and be educated in
It was the beginning of my 5th grade year and the first time I was attending an only English class. My teacher, Mrs. Galvan, created activities and set us in groups for us to interact with our classmates. My group was friendly to me, and I explained to them that it was my second year learning English and the first time I attended an only English class. They knew Spanish but we were only able to speak English in class, so I tried my best to speak English with them. The last activity we had that day was a competition about previous readings we had to do.
Therefore, contrast to the widely held belief, language mixing has in fact much more positive influences on bilingual language development. Some say that language mixing in input affects the total vocabulary development for bilingual children. According to Byers-Heinlein (2012), parental
This program in theory would very beneficial to a lot of English language learners but the way the course is set up the main focus is not teaching the students content rather than teaching them english. Due to this students are falling behind with learning and don’t have the same opportunities to do as well in school as non ELL students. The bilingual education system doesn 't offer English language learners the same opportunities english speaking students get, the standards for English language learners do not promote their improvement of content retention therefore causing lower test scores, a separation between peers and cause an inequitable system. Bilingual
History of the English Language English did not emerge spontaneously; it has developed with time leading to an increased vocabulary of words and has also developed from very many sources. That is, it has imitated words from the local languages and combining words to come up with a new word. Historical knowledge is not meant to improve an individual’s skills but to promote understanding and also giving the sense of comfortability. It also offers insight on how the student’s background will affect their learning process. The class to take note of when it comes to English is the EFL class; this is the state where the dominant language was not English.
Today we have more people speaking English as a second language than there are native speakers. What consequences do this have on our community, especially one that is ridden with old traditions? Many people are afraid that having a global language will have a negative impact on other languages. Perhaps it will make people lazy about learning other languages, because being raised to learn a language is easier than to learn one from scratch at an old age. They also seem to think that the presence of this language will make many minority languages disappear.
In current educational system, English language is taught in school since we are young. Nevertheless, reality proved that the current way of teaching English is not enough to develop good English command in the children. Therefore, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, the Deputy Education Minister, thinks that with the increasing number of English language periods in schools, the command of English among students will also improve (NST 8, April 2011, p. 4; cited in Thirusanku & Melor, 2012, p. 11). Besides increasing the number of lessons, educators should teach English in more lively way, for example having more group activities or field trips that requires the youngsters to interact with people around using English including friends, family and their teachers too. As to achieve this, an international educational Fulbright programme sponsored by the US government has been launched this year.
The Department of Education and our government strengthen the effort of providing an educational system that will improve student’s comprehensive knowledge in English language. However, programs and projects conducted by schools are not enough to support and sustain the development of English language proficiency and competency to the Filipino students. Teachers have to be competent and competitive enough in using the language to effectively teach students in becoming knowledgeable and confident in communicating with the use of English language. Students must be provided with varied activities and/or learning experiences that could help them reach the optimum level of their communicative