Is bilingual education really beneficial?
With the rapid development of technology, people around the world have become able to know the trends of the world, do business, understand cultures, and communicate with each other through the Internet and social media.
English, which had already taken the lead as a universal language, has now become an essential language. As exchanges with other countries have become more active in a borderless world, the importance of acquiring other languages has increased. With the fast-paced world trend, interest in learning foreign languages, either at a very young age or later in life, and discussions on bilingual education are also becoming more active among schools and linguists and pedagogists. How does bilingual education really affect children?
What is bilingual education?
Genesis (2004, 548) defines bilingual education as a type of education aimed at improving bilingual (or multilingual) proficiency by using both languages (or all) as a medium for most educational curricula.
In other words, bilingual education is not simply a process of learning and studying a language other than one’s mother tongue as a subject but an integrated process of studying subjects, such as science, art, and mathematics in two languages by putting another language into the actual curriculum.
In fact, many countries have adopted bilingual education to teach second foreign languages from an early age. Some states in the U.S., where there are many Hispanic communities, actively adopt bilingual education with the support and recommendation of educators, while Hong Kong provides bilingual education in Cantonese and English, and the Netherlands with Turkish or Arabic.
For more than 50 years, bilingual education has been adopted and conducted in many countries, but whether it is suitable and appropriate for all children is still a controversial issue.
What are the benefits of bilingual education?
1. Cognitive function benefits
According to the New York Times, confusion can arise in the process of acquiring and using two languages when learning them early. Then, as the brain forces the brain to resolve the conflict process, it exercises so that cognitive muscles can naturally strengthen. In other words, by learning bilingualism early on, it becomes more flexible in cognitive behavior, and the depth of language subtlety can be understood faster. Other studies have shown that people with bilingual education have better concentration, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
2. Cultural benefits
There are many cultural advantages to receiving bilingual education. Language is one of those things used to determine the identity of a country, and learning a language means learning its traditions and cultures. If children naturally understand the unique cultural characteristics of the country from an early age and have a higher awareness of cultural sensitivity, children can develop social skills to adapt quickly to the various cultural situations they experience as adults. In addition, through the process of learning a language, children can develop an important international mind in the era of globalization by gaining a lot of experience in communicating and interacting naturally with people from other countries.
3. Academic benefits
According to a study by the University of Cambridge, bilingual users have better communication, cognitive, and social interaction skills than others. These research results suggest that students who have received bilingual education have higher academic achievement than other general students do. These advantages will greatly expand their choice of universities and countries to which they can apply, and many universities will also appreciate their excellent language and academic skills. If bilingual students go to universities in other countries, they will be able to adapt faster and better to the local way of life and culture through the various cultural understandings they acquired while learning the language as children.
What are the disadvantages of bilingual education?
1. Learning inconsistency
First, bilingual education tends to become less consistent over time. Many countries and regions still do not provide bilingual education, and most of the schools that have adopted bilingual education are only elementary and middle schools. In particular, students are likely to lose the opportunity or ability to learn or actually use a second language over time because bilingualism is not used every day, and high schools do not support or discontinue bilingual education.
2. Learning challenges
It can negatively affect children’s learning when they have to understand the specific parts of a particular subject in a second language while they are still having difficulty learning grammar or vocabulary in a second language. In fact, a major meta-analysis examined by the U.S. Department of Education showed that students receiving bilingual education had equal or lower performance evaluation scores in the early years compared to those who only taught in English. In other words, if a child whose native language is Hangul has difficulty with English grammar and vocabulary and has to understand division in math, which is a difficult concept for him, it will negatively affect the child’s learning.
Conclusion
How can bilingual education be improved?
Although there are many concerns in the education industry about bilingual education, the general assessment of most schools and educational institutions that have been conducting education so far is that there are many more positive factors than negative factors. Then, what should be improved for better bilingual education?
Classroom Management
1. Improve children’s understanding of classes based on their mother tongue
Forcing people to use only other languages when learning new concepts can be counterproductive. When children need to understand an important part of a subject or a new concept, they can use their native language to understand the concept and content in the learning process to improve content proficiency.
2. Set exact goals and direction for bilingual classes
Set distinct academic goals to be achieved through bilingual classes, and adopt detailed curricula and strategies to reach them.
Parent involvement
Create partnerships between schools and families so that children can use bilingualism at home, allowing teachers and parents to work together to create projects that can help children.
Qualified teachers
In the global era, the demand for bilingual education experts continues to increase according to the importance of language. According to a research institute, the demand for bilingual education professionals will increase by more than 10 percent over the next 10 years. Develop and activate curriculum and education fields specializing in bilingual education so that bilingual education experts can be trained.
References
- Abelardo Villarreal, Ph.D., 1998. Effective Implementation of Bilingual Programs: Reflections from the Field. [Online] Available at: https://www.idra.org/resource-center/effective-implementation-of-bilingual-programs/> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
- Bialystok, E., 2018. Bilingual education for young children: review of the effects and consequences. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(6), pp.666-679.[Accessed 4 May 2022]
- Help International School, 2021. 5 Benefits of a Bilingual Education. [online] Available at: https://his.edu.my/5-benefits-of-a-bilingual-education/ [Accessed 1 May 2022].
- International school parent, 2022. The Benefits of a Bilingual Education. [online] Available at: https://www.internationalschoolparent.com/ [Accessed 4 May 2022].
- Kathy Quirk, 2020. The language of learning. [online] Available at: https://uwm.edu/news/the-language-of-learning/ [Accessed 7 May 2022].
- Michelle Margaret Fajkus, 2020. The Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education for Kids. [online] Available at: https://www.spanish.academy/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-bilingual-education-for-kids/> [Accessed 7 May 2022].
- Rethinking schools, 2022. History of Bilingual Education. [online] Available at: https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/history-of-bilingual-education/ [Accessed 1 May 2022].
- Rossell, C.H. and Baker, K., 1996. The educational effectiveness of bilingual education. Research in the Teaching of English, pp.7-74.
- Texas A&M International University, 2021. Teaching Strategies for Bilingual Education. [online] Available at: https://online.tamiu.edu/articles/education/strategies-bilingual-education.aspx#:~:text=Use%20new%20words%20multiple%20times,both%20English%20and%20native%20languages [Accessed 7 May 2022].
- The life virtue, 2021. 15 Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education – Advantages & Disadvantages Explained. [online] Available at: https://www.thelifevirtue.com/15-pros-and-cons-of-bilingual-education-advantages-disadvantages-explained/ [Accessed 7 May 2022].
