The benefits of Spanish Dual Language Education programs in New York City’s Early Childhood Education (ECE)
By Angela Villanueva
Why are English-Spanish Dual Language education programs important in early education?
Being aware of the benefits of Dual Language Programs is very important for the Spanish speaking community because it will help them feel welcome into the education system. Young Latino children usually attend school with a wide range of proficiencies in Spanish and English or low on both (Collins 2014) these languages can either be considered their first language(L1) or second language (L2) that are acquired at home, community, and friends primarily for communication. Spanish is the most frequently spoken language in the U.S (Gimenez-Arce); Dual language education aids to conserve and also develop the native language alongside with the second language (Christian 3). Lisset Gimenez-Arce demonstrates in her study that 50% of U.S. Latino 2nd generation speak Spanish and English, however the percentage drops to 23% of 3rd generation Latinos. The New York City Spanish speaking community has the right to be able to look for resourceful education programs to maintain their native language alive. Such as the Dual Language education programs. These programs include several languages, but this essay will focus on the benefits of English-Spanish Dual-language programs in Early Childhood Education (ECE) as Dual Language learners (DLL’s) or bilingual.
What is Dual Language Education?
Ever been a nine-year-old victim of your parents scolding just because you couldn't translate their government documents from English to Spanish? If you answered yes, join the club. I remember being told by my parents “Entonces, ¿para qué te envío a la escuela?” and I’ll just say:
My first language was Spanish. However, I spoke English with my classmates, my reading books were English, writing in English, watching cartoons in English etc. I attended Elementary School through High School at New York City public schools where I was taught the dominant English language, while my Spanish was fading away due to the lack of the Spanish language exposure in my classes. I always wondered, did my parents have any idea about Dual language education programs? Did they have any available resources to learn about it?
Dual language programs are aimed to continue developing students’ home languages, as well as English language skills, throughout schooling. According to the NYC department of education Policy and Reference guide for Multilingual Learners/English Language Learners (ELL), “The primary language acquisition goals of dual language programs are the development of grade-level-appropriate bilingual and biliterate academic skills in both English and the target language for all students”(45) the NYC department of education website communicates that the purpose of the dual language education is for students to learn how to speak, read, comprehend, and write in two different languages, as well as to learn and appreciate other cultures. Dual language programs assist both ELL students in need of developing the English language and English-proficient students who intent learning a second language (NYCDOE45). In dual language programs the new language that is introduced to the students is denoted to as the target language e.g. (Russian, Spanish, English, Chinese) Students that attend to schools that have dual language programs in NYC spend 50% of the time with a target language immersion teacher who uses only the target language. The lasting part of the time is spent with a teacher who instructs only in English.(NYCDOE 45) There are two different types of dual language programs:
One-Way Dual Language Program: it is created of students from the same language that is spoken at home, or share the same background. The teacher provides content instructions in both English and the home/target language. One-way program supports for one group of students to become bilingual, for example if a student’s primary language is English, that student will learn in English and Spanish or vice versa.
Two-Way Dual Language Program: it is composed of native English speakers and English language learners. The teacher provides content instruction in both English and the home/primary language. two-way programs focuses on the two groups and give instructions half using their primary language and the remaining of the instructions in the target language.
How many dual language education programs are there in New York City?
Figure 1. Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza Announce 47 New Pre-K Dual Language Programs Across Every Borough. Taken from https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2018 it is estimated that New York City’s population is at 8,398,748, where 2.5 million Hispanic reside (NYC Planning). Although half of New Yorkers speak another language other than English, bilingual education hasn’t always been something that was considered. Linguistic professor Kate Menken suggests that “The de Blasio administration's push for bilingual programs is a long-awaited change” (Kaufman M.) As of this year 2019 in New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza have announced 47 new pre-k Dual Language Programs, making a total of 107 programs across every borough that will include four new languages; Haitian-Creole, French, Hebrew and Japanese (NYC.GOV) The new programs include six in the Bronx, sixteen in Brooklyn, eight in Manhattan, sixteen in Queens, and one on Staten Island. How can parents learn more about dual language programs? School.nyc.gov presents that all New York City public schools have to hold a meeting for families that are newly enrolled as ELL.
What are the benefits of Dual Language Education?
There are several benefits that Dual Language Education programs at an early age help children acquire. Dual language also challenges a child cognitively. (Barac et al. 2015) (Espinosa 2015)(Wallstrum 2009). For a long time researchers considered bilingualism as a mental impairment (Barac et al 2015) “The findings showed lower intelligence scores in bilingual children from rural areas at all ages tested (i.e., 7 to 11 years), with the gap in performance between the two language groups becoming larger with age. The author interpreted this finding as a sign of “mental confusion” encountered by the bilingual child.”(Barac et. al 2015) However, after analyzing the studies carefully, a lot of flaws were found in the early studies.
a) the groups of comparison were not properly matched on variables such as age, gender, and socio-economic status b) the testing was typically conducted solely in one language (L2), and bilingual children varied in the degree to which they comprehended and produced the language of testing c) bilingualism was not properly defined and quantified, and sometimes bilingualism was simply assumed in children based on parents' names and country of birth (Barac et. al 2015)
When children are bilingual or emergent bilingual they have an intellectual advantage over those who are monolingual their brain Is working twice are hard to translate prior knowledge of one language to another, there is also using the languages for better “reasoning processes and classifying words on the basis of semantics”(Wallstrum 16). Bilingual young children also have demonstrated superior mental flexibility when shifting through learning task and have better executive function abilities; e.g. working memory.(Barac et al 2015)(Espinosa 5) These benefits are extremely useful and considered as part of school readiness when children go beyond ECE. (Espinosa 5) Cognitive neuroscientists have researched that from earliest day of a human (babies) “have an extensive and innate capacity to hear, process, and learn multiple languages.”(Espinosa 4) this is currently being used to study language processing and bilingual brain conditions evolving through early years.
Figure 2. Brain benefits of bilingualism. Taken from Pinterest
Other benefits of Dual Language education is Social benefits and cultural awareness (Liddicoat A. 2011) (Wallstrum 2009) Within a Dual language classroom there is diversity. As Liddicoat proves in his research finding; intercultural language teaching and learning (837) the basis is to understand the role of language education by getting language learners ready to communicate in meaningful ways outside of their own cultural environment (837) “to have a sense of themselves as mediators between languages and culture”(liddicoat 837). Wallstrum also elaborate in this idea by implying in her research that the purpose of exposing multicultural awareness through language education is for the learners to successful participate in the workforce and their community in the long run (18). She also writes that in her findings. The social relationship that a teacher has with the student predicts academic success “as more Spanish was spoken to a Spanish-speaking child by their classroom teacher, the child was less likely to be the victim of aggression, teasing or bullying by his peers”(Wallstrum 19)
Figure 3. Multicultural Awareness. Taken from: Becoming a Teacher https://arbehc.weebly.com/multicultural-awareness.html
Conclusion
Parents should be able to have a many resources to learn more about the availability of the dual language programs and the language being used in the programs in which their local school should be able to provide. Being aware of the benefits of dual languages education for the Spanish speaking community is significant not only to maintain their home language vivid while acquiring a second one, but to also be aware of how it can help children at early age develop great executive function abilities, successful social skills, and learn to respect and appreciate different cultures outside of their own.
Works cited
Barac, Raluca, et al. “The Cognitive Development of Young Dual Language Learners: A Critical Review.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 4, 2014, pp. 699–714., doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.02.003.
Collins, Brian A. “Dual Language Development of Latino Children: Effect of Instructional Program Type and the Home and School Language Environment.” Early Child Res Q, 3rd Quarter, 2014, pp. 389–397., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4171734/.
Espinosa, Linda M. “Challenges and Benefits of Early Bilingualism in the United States’ Context.” Global Education Review, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 14–31., https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1055271.pdf.
Gimenez-Arce, Lissete, "Language Access in Early and Late Spanish-English Bilinguals: An ERP Study" (2019).CUNY AcademicWorks
Hinkel, Eli. Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Vol. 2, Routledge, 2011.
“Mayor De Blasio Announces 47 New Pre-K Dual Language Programs Across Every Borough.” The Official Website of the City of New York, 4 Feb. 2019, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/077-19/mayor-de-blasio-chancellor-carranza-47-new-pre-k-dual-language-programs-across-every#/0.
POLICY AND REFERENCE GUIDE FOR MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS / ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS. NYC Department of Education, Aug. 2019.
“Population - New York City Population.” Planning-Population-NYC Population Facts - DCP, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/planning-level/nyc-population/population-facts.page.
“Programs for English Language Learners.” English Language Learner Programs, https://www.schools.nyc.gov/multilingual-learners/process/programs-for-english-language-learners.
Wallstrum, Kiara. “Benefits of Dual Language Education .” DUAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION, Aug. 2009, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED506123.pdf.