Education Week – Claude Goldenberg
“A federal appeals court decision last month to side with Arizona’s all-English approach to educating English-language learners at first blush appears to be a setback only for those who advocate bilingual education for these students. But, in reality, it’s a setback for all of us. While employers are clamoring for bilingual or even multilingual employees for an increasingly globalized economy, U.S. schools turn out relatively few students who are even somewhat competent in a second language…A University of Phoenix Research Institute survey, reported in The Wall Street Journal, found increasing demand among prospective employers for workers who speak foreign languages, particularly Chinese and Spanish…Aside from its economic benefits, bilingualism has also been linked to a number of positive cognitive outcomes, such as increased control over attention, abstract- and symbolic-representation skills, and delayed onset of Alzheimer’s…the United States now has nearly 1,000 “immersion” programs, whose students are expected to become bilingual and biliterate…In its reauthorization of the ESEA, Congress should build on this momentum by including provisions and authorizing funding to encourage states and localities to develop and implement bilingual instruction for all students.”(more)