Posted: September 13th, 2015

A Speech Community Model of Bilingual Education

A Speech Community Model of Bilingual Education: Educating Latino
Newcomers in the USA written by Ofelia Garcı´a and Lesley Bartlett
Directions: Write a critical summary of this article. Some questions to think about:
1. How does a high school take a group of newly arrived immigrant youth who cannot speak (much less read or write) much English, and within a few short years, educate them so that the vast majority are able to pass demanding standardized exams?

2. How does such a school achieve a drop-out rate significantly lower than the local average for comparable students, a graduation rate significantly higher than the local average for comparable students, and an excellent attendance record and college acceptance rate?

3. What do you know about bilingual education–history, policy, and practice—in the state of California and nationally?

4. What is your understanding of the following terms pertaining to bilingual education or ESL?

Maintenance bilingual education Transitional bilingual education
Elite bilingual education Immersion/submersion ESL
Sink/swim method One-way immersion program
Two-way dual language program Communities of practice
Social identities Power relations
English-Only/English Plus Additive/subtractive bilingualism

5. Why is it more likely that an American child, whose first language is English, would do well in France in an all-French school but a Mexican child, whose first language is Spanish, would have more difficulty in the U.S. in an all-English school?

6. Is it an advantage to know two languages or a disadvantage?

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