Globalization has led to the world being heralded as a global village, mostly because of the advancements in technology that have made it possible for virtual teams from different corners of the world to work on the same projects without the need to interact physically. However, the effectiveness of such teams is hindered by the fact that team members are drawn from different cultural backgrounds. They do not only differ in terms of their cultural approaches to work, but also in their communication strategies. According to the study conducted by Matveev and Nelson (2004) to examine cross-cultural competence of American and Russian managers, it was established that national culture had remarkable effects on cross-cultural communication competence leading to theoretical and practical implications for multicultural organizational teams and settings. Matveev and Nelson (2004) study and much more like it have contributed to a paradigm shift in the discourse from a focus on bilingual education for student performance, to the incorporation of the need to equip these students with necessary skills to perform optimally in multicultural organization settings.
In the US, emphasis is placed on international students need for English as a second language (ESL), but it does not mean that the natives, to whom English is the first language (EFL), are exempt from learning a second language. Bilingual education, which refers to the teaching of content in two languages, in native and another secondary language with each used to varying degree depending on the program model, is a suitable strategy for equipping interested students with the necessary cross-cultural communication competencies and skills. However, bilingual education programs are faced with the challenge of determining the secondary language to be used in teaching. Unlike the case of an international student in the US or other countries where it is evident that they need to learn the native language as their second language; natives may have different preferences of what their second language should be. Career choices may profoundly determine second language preferences, and it is imperative that bilingual education programs should be developed to accommodate the variations in needs.
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In the US, bilingual education programs exist from the lower levels of education with the objective of ensuring equality; no child or students should be left behind because they cannot speak or understand the language through which content is delivered. Nevertheless, García (2011) posits that bilingual education in the 21st century can be viewed from a global perspective through an integrated plural vision that has the potential to transform the lives of children and adults worldwide. García’s assertions corroborate the hypothesis of the shift in discourse in bilingual education from a mere emphasis on student performance to a global perspective where cross-cultural communication skills and competencies are needed for optimal performance and survival in a highly competitive work environment. As a result, proponents of bilingual education argue that it is the only way to educate a child in the 21st century (García, 2011).
A bilingual school in Japan or America not only focuses on helping children understand the content but also on their ability to function competently in an environment where their native or second language is needed for effective cross-cultural communication. Therefore, students whose career goals span around working in cross-cultural settings must prioritize bilingual education to strengthen their chances of success. It is important to note that while at bilingual education at each level is limited to two languages, one is not prohibited from learning as mangy second languages as they want. For instance, a native whose first language is English can incorporate Spanish, then French, German, and finally Japanese. Such an individual will be equipped with advanced cross-cultural communication skills than those who did a single second language, and can competently function in different settings.
Worth understanding is the manner in which geopolitical forces, sociohistorical positioning, and language ideologies interact in the sustenance of different bilingual education policies worldwide. However, bilingual education programs are incapacitated in some instances by the complexity of different needs, histories, challenges, and aspirations for learners by states, nations, and social groups, heightening the need for various bilingual education programs (García, 2011). According to a report of WIDA Consortium (2013), response to instruction and intervention ( RfI2 ) is the appropriate framework for addressing such challenges. The multi-tiered system of support refers to a systematic, data-based assessment and intervention tools for prevention of academic and behavioral problems for students through the provision of high quality, research-based, early intervention and frequent and authentic assessment of students’ progress (see figure 1 below). Stakeholders charged with the implementation of bilingual education programs can thus use statistical evidence for the development of effective programs because they can identify the weak links in existing programs and correlation with performance outcomes. This is a fundamental framework especially given the understanding that bilingual education can be challenging both to the instructor and the learner as the two may only be connected by language, and the program may not capture the underlying cultural differences due to backgrounds.
Bilingual education is gaining significant recognition that countries around the world have adjusted their practices and policies to accommodate the phenomenon amidst concerns by critics of the need to ensure schools play a role in saving indigenous languages raised in Hornberger (2010). However, it is worth recognizing that opposition of bilingual education because of its role in diminishing the significance of local languages may not stand a chance against the growing wave of the program globally. One can argue that if presented with a choice between being culturally observant and professionally successful in multicultural settings, an individual is likely to choose the latter. The reasoning behind this argument is that a community cannot continue to hide in its cocoon of cultural and traditions at the expense of enlightening its members of the need to be knowledgeable of the developments required to function in a globalized world. A significant number of individuals world take career success any day even if it means abdicating their culture and traditions. Also, criticism of bilingual education is unfounded because the strategies used to seek to balance the use of native and second languages in different proportions depending on the level of progress. Besides, it is unlikely that bilingual education can be employed if the learner in question does not have a first language. In most cases, students of bilingual education are those perfectly understand their native or first language and seek to add a second language for educational or career purposes.
Regardless of the debate on whether bilingual education is necessary or not, it does not deny the fact that there is a global trend toward this phenomenon. As students and prospective employees of companies around the world, it is imperative that educational systems reflect the current discourse to ensure that we are equipped with the right mix of intercultural communication competencies to function optimally at different settings. There is an urgent need for stakeholders in the education settings to revisit the curriculum to ensure crucial elements of bilingual education are instituted and implemented. Collaborative efforts are needed to make sure that such programs reflect the global perspective and emphasize on the performance of students post education rather than just positive results in the classroom.
References
García, O. (2011). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective . New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Hornberger, N. H. (2010). Can Schools Save Indigenous Languages? Policy and Practice on Four Continents: Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Matveev, A. V., & Nelson, P. E. (2004). Cross cultural communication competence and multicultural team performance: Perceptions of American and Russian managers. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management , 4 (2), 253-270.
WIDA Consortium. (2013). Developing a culturally and linguistically responsive approach to response to instruction & intervention (RtI²) for English Language Learners . Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin.
