Bilingual education remains a highly debated topic in the United States in both local and national arenas. Some people believe that when people use languages apart from English, there springs divisiveness and potential for conflicts. Others argue that people have the right to speak any language that they wish and that is the right mark of freedom in the US. Others think that the other dialects are a luxury which the terrible economic situation cannot support. The different viewpoints only suggest that the topic will continue to be a bone of contention especially with the projected rise in the population of non-English speaking students. Several models of education have been developed to take care of the bilingual students. This paper will discuss the approaches and their advantages.
Submersion
This model is sometimes confused for the immersion approach in the US. It is the model that tends to mainstream the students who do not speak English into regular English-speaking classrooms. The primary goal of submersion is to assimilate the students to be English speakers through forcing them into such classes and thus making sure there are no non-native speakers in the American classrooms and the society ( Spring, 2016) . The first language of the non-English speaking students is not supported therefore eventually lost hence the model is known as subtractive. In most cases, the children that are subjected to such submersions are found to experience a difficult time in studying thus their success in schools become low.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
This type of bilingualism is thought to have an adverse cognitive effect on the non-English speaking students. They can feel marginalized in their classes and frequently drop out before going through high school. The program lacks the supportive features to help students overcome their problems with language. This leads to the program being called ‘sink or swim’ as the minority students can either adapt to the model or get lost along with it in the classrooms. One advantage of this model is that the children may learn the English language as they have no choice due to the forced program ( Spring, 2016) . They will be able to learn it under the strict circumstances because if they do not do, they will fail in their education. As such, it is the fastest way to make a non-English speaking student understand the standard language in America. When placed in mainstream classrooms during kindergarten, the students will comprehend the language and catch up with the rest of their peers as they have the opportunity and coercion needed to pick up English within the shortest time possible.
English as Second Language Pullout
In this approach, students are taken out of some classes to get incorporated into an English class to learn it as a second language. This means they have to forgo some classes and get mainstreamed into others. Like Submersion, the objective of ESL pullout is to assimilate the students to speak English and the outcome to become bilingual. The advantage of this model is that students can get time to learn the language which always ranges from few minutes to several hours in language intensive lessons. The model can be useful in areas where there are variety of ethnic backgrounds, which makes it difficult to get enough bilingual aides and teachers, and areas where there are limitations in resources, mainly financial.
Another advantage of the ESL pullout program is that the students are always in smaller groups than grade-level classroom hence easier to maintain (Dennis et al., 2016). When the students are taught in small groups, it is normal that they will receive the maximum attention of the teacher; therefore, interaction becomes effective in the outcome. In the ESL pullout setting, the students have less talking competition thus each student has more opportunity to embrace and comprehends English as they practice the language when they give answers. In such classrooms, the children have less distraction as there is less activity than in grade-level setting, which mostly has large numbers thus higher entropy. Therefore, the reluctant students can participate as they are always on the radar of the aide or teacher. Smaller sizes of class enable the educators to become more acquainted with their students better (Ryan & Cooper, 2015). Thus, they rapidly get on problem areas for singular children. In the long run, students get more constructive feedback about their skills of language acquisition. In like manner, schools form ESL pullout model as per capacity and ability of the students in language. This implies the ESL educator can work with low-level students on the basics and proficient-state children on grade-level dialect. In this manner, the instructor gives more cases of the real structures and adjusts discourse proper to the children. In any case, the students get intense, singular consideration aimed at expanding their language.
Transitional bilingual model
The transitional bilingual approach makes the student access content in the native language while teaching them in English. First, the children are taught the materials in their native language and then as they progress, English is introduced as the second language. At the same time, the students can take up other lessons such as P.E, music, and art in English to develop their social, linguistic skills as they meet other English speaking children and also because the experiences require less proficiency in the language ( Bourgeois et al, 2016) . One advantage of this model is that it acts as a bridge that connects the students thus helping them to transition from native language to English gradually and steadily (Ryan & Cooper, 2015). Also, the student is taught math, science, and other subjects in their indigenous languages making them compete with their English-speaking peers once the class becomes an English-only setting as they now have the necessary knowledge on the lessons. Many of the skills that are acquired in the native language can be easily transferred to English.
Developmental bilingual model
Also known as two-way bilingual immersion, the model integrates native English speakers and native speakers of other languages and makes learning instructions in both the languages ( Bourgeois et al, 2016) . This approach is aimed at attaining proficiency in both the dialects and unlike ESL model where only the dominant language prevails, it promotes bilingualism while also encourages the minority culture. This program has proved to be useful for the promotion of the academic achievement of the minority and the majority students. Also, the students in this programs have expressed positive attitudes towards school as there is enhanced bonding and fluency of the other languages ( Kim et al., 2015) . The model offers challenges to students hence giving them more confidence in grasping the foreign language than the conventional school programs. This model also provides a stable social structure that ensures the importance of the individuals who are non-English speaking become valuable resources for the future.
The approach that I would choose is the bilingual developmental education. The strategy is aimed at pluralism of the society and appreciates that all the cultures are essential aspects of the country. It values the culture of the minority as it promotes both or all the languages that are spoken in one country ( Kim et al., 2015) . Unlike the other subtractive models, two-way bilingual model treats all the languages as valuable assets of national heritage. An important part is that it helps in keeping the students whose first dialect is not English in schools hence minimize dropout rate. The learners can also use the chance to become useful resources for each other thus helping them have close ties at school and in the communities. On the long run, the students who undergo this program will have great potential to acquire and promote skills needed for the global job market which will in turn help in closing the achievement gap between the students.
References
Bourgeois, L. F., de la Sablonnière, R., & Taylor, D. M. (2016). Revitalizing Indigenous Languages: A Call for Community Action to Address Systemic Discrimination.
Dennis, I. B., Chicken, P., Camps, E., Pat, T. B., Rouse, A., & Shows, G. (2016). What’s inside? ISSUES , (7).
Kim, Y. K., Hutchison, L. A., & Winsler, A. (2015). Bilingual education in the United States: an historical overview and examination of two-way immersion. Educational Review , 67 (2), 236-252.
Ryan, K., & Cooper, J. M. (ed. 2015). Those who can, teach. Nelson Education.
Spring, J. (2016). Deculturalization and the struggle for equality: A brief history of the education of dominated cultures in the United States . Routledge.
