Dive Brief:
- Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Mandarin and Russian are among the languages spoken in dual language programs in the United States, which aim to make native English speakers bilingual by offering them immersion experiences in their own schools.
- District Administration reports these programs are most common in elementary schools, but many districts are exploring extension programs for middle and high school — though it is often hard to find teachers who can lead higher-level courses in languages other than English when the focus is on academic content, not just vocabulary and grammar.
- The Commission on Language Learning is developing a report for Congress about the nation’s aptitude in foreign languages and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages is working to raise awareness of the value of being bilingual and the language learning standards in other countries.
Dive Insight:
The growing popularity of dual language classes is being largely driven by middle class white families who recognize their monolingual children will be at a disadvantage in the global economy without a second language. If districts limit their programs to serving this narrow group, however, it is a major loss. Schools should be thinking of dual language education as an opportunity for native speakers of other languages, like Spanish.
Traditional instruction for English learners prioritizes learning English as quickly as possible and moving students into English-only classrooms for the remainder of their schooling. This means while native English speakers are learning content in two languages and gaining academic proficiency in both, their English learner peers are being asked to ignore one language in favor of the other. They arrive in school with an advantage — a base in a language other than English — and schools keep them from developing the academic proficiency in that language they’ll need to use it professionally.