Lessow-Hurley: Two-Way Bilingual Education/Dual Language Instruction -- EDSS 555

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Subject: Lessow-Hurley: Two-Way Bilingual Education/Dual Language Instruction

Author:
Kristin Schnarr (Inland Cohort)

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Date Posted: 16:56:26 02/05/02 Tue

I have been familiar with two-way bilingual education ever since I did a research paper on it in EDUC 364. Once I completed the research for the paper, I could never understand why more people were not supportive of this form of education. After reading the Judith Lessow-Hurley chapters, I still do not understand the lack of support. Based upon the research I have done, and the arguments Lessow-Hurley makes, this form of education appears to be a win-win situation. The student who complete these programs are bilingual and bileterate. I would love to be both of these, and am disapointed that I did not have the opporunity to be involved in a dual language program at an early age.
I know that there are challenges that come with this type of program (hiring enough teachers who are qualified to teach both languages, for one example), but the positive end results seem to far outweigh the challenges. Besides, what education program does not face challenges?
The fact that two-way bilingual education/dual language programs are becoming more popular in the private school sector implies that there are some people who do recognize the advantages of a society of people who are bilingual. The point that Lessow-Hurley makes about the acceptance of this type of program in private schools, however, is a thought provoking one: "The value placed on bilinugalism by those who can afford to pay for private schooling raises an important issue: Why is dual language instruction desirable for a socioecononimic elite but undesirable for minority language groups? Perhaps experimental two-way enrichment programs will change attitudes about bilingualism and dual language instruction" (Lessow-Hurley 19). I hope that the latter is the case, rather than the former. I don't know about the rest of you, but it is a very discouraging and frustrating thought that our socioeconomic elite are given the advantage of being bilingual, while some minority language groups are not even given equal opportunity to education in one language.

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Re: Lessow-Hurley: Two-Way Bilingual Education/Dual Language Instruction	Greg Johns - Coastal	17:09:19 02/09/02 Sat

Re: Lessow-Hurley: Two-Way Bilingual Education/Dual Language Instruction	Dennis Masur	15:05:26 02/18/02 Mon