Transitional Bilingual Education and the Socialization of Immigrants

1988 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Spener
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Immigrant Children ◽  
Transitional Bilingual ◽  
Transitional Bilingual Education ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Economic Need ◽  
Academic Fluency

David Spener argues that U.S. educational policies reflect an implicit economic need to socialize immigrants and minority group members to fill necessary, but undesirable, low-status jobs. Transitional bilingual education programs, which provide only a limited period of native-language instruction and do not ensure English mastery, prevent immigrant children from attaining academic fluency in either their native language or in English. The subsequent discrepancy between the learning capacities of immigrant children and their monolingual peers reinforces stereotypes of immigrants and some linguistic minorities, and serves to socially legitimize their economically required limited access to better jobs.

Washington Watch

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-17
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Transitional Bilingual ◽  
Transitional Bilingual Education ◽  
Individual School ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Bilingual Education Act

The Bilingual Education Act Amendment (S.383) proposed by Education Secretary William Bennett seeks to amend the Bilingual Education Act by giving individual school districts greater flexibility in developing programs to educate non-English speaking students. A provision reserving 75% of basic project funds for programs in transitional bilingual education (TBE) is removed, and the 4% cap on funds available for approaches other than TBE is lifted. Should the bill pass, the degree to which classes will be taught in a student's native language is likely to change. Sen. Dan Quayle (R-IN) introduced the bill, which was referred to the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. John Kennedy.

The Effects of Transitional Bilingual Education vs. Dual Language Immersion on English Language Learners' Reading Assessment Scores

2018 ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
Vanessa Colón ◽  
Susan Szabo ◽  
Jacqueline Riley
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Reading Assessment ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Transitional Bilingual ◽  
Dual Language Immersion ◽  
Transitional Bilingual Education

This action research study was completed in a North Texas school district where English language learners comprised 52% of the K-12 student population during the 2015-2016 academic school year. Data from a campus which used a two-way dual language immersion (DLI) program and another campus which used a transitional bilingual education (TBE) program were evaluated. The study analyzed the district's third to fifth grade reading assessment results of 128 students from the DLI campus and 223 from the TBE campus. Researchers compared the scores of students in each program to determine if one bilingual model produced higher scores than another. The results showed that there were greater gains for ELLs in the TBE program at all grade levels (third to fifth). Although the TBE program resulted in higher student scores, limitations make it unclear to what degree the program impacted students' achievement.

Oral language skills of Spanish-speaking English language learners: The impact of high-quality native language exposure

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
PERLA B. GÁMEZ ◽  
SUSAN C. LEVINE
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Transitional Bilingual ◽  
Transitional Bilingual Education ◽  
Oral Language Skills

ABSTRACTThis study examined the relation between young English language learners’ (ELL) native oral language skills and their language input in transitional bilingual education kindergarten classrooms. Spanish-speaking ELLs’ (n = 101) Spanish expressive language skills were assessed using the memory for sentences and picture vocabulary subtests of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery—Revised. Samples of transitional bilingual education teachers’ (n = 21) speech were recorded and coded for syntactic complexity and vocabulary usage. Results revealed considerable variation in ELLs’ language scores, with overall performance below the normative sample. There was also wide variation in teachers’ speech across classrooms. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that gains in ELLs’ expressive language skills were positively related to the diversity of teachers’ vocabulary and teachers’ syntactic complexity. These findings suggest that the quality of teachers’ language input, not just the quantity of their input, plays a significant role in the language learning trajectories of ELLs.

Effects of transitional bilingual education on Spanish-speaking preschoolers’ literacy and language development: Year 2 results

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 921-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
LILLIAN DURÁN ◽  
CARY J. ROSETH ◽  
PATRICIA HOFFMAN
Keyword(s):  
Early Literacy ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Transitional Bilingual ◽  
Transitional Bilingual Education ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Control Study

ABSTRACTYear 2 findings are reported from a longitudinal, experimental-control study involving 31 Spanish-speaking preschoolers (aged 38–48 months) randomly assigned to two Head Start classrooms. In Year 1, classrooms differed only in the language of instruction, with teachers using only Spanish in one classroom and only English in the other. In Year 2, an experimental transitional bilingual education (TBE) model was implemented, with English being gradually introduced in the TBE classroom until a ratio of 30:70 English-to-Spanish was achieved and Spanish being gradually introduced in the predominantly English (PE) classroom until a ratio of 70:30 English-to-Spanish was achieved. Year 2 results were consistent with Year 1, with the TBE classroom exceeding the PE classroom on all Spanish measures of language and literacy development and no significant differences favoring the PE classroom. Results also indicated that Year 2 trajectories were conditional on first-year effects, suggesting that sustained growth in dual language learner's early literacy may depend on early intervention among 3-year-old preschoolers.

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