III.

Controversy over Bilingual Education

Debate about bilingual education centers on whether it is legitimate for LEP students to receive a substantial amount of their instruction in their native language rather than in English. Supporters of bilingual instruction believe that students should gain confidence in using their native language before being introduced to the English curriculum. They believe that competency in one’s native language provides important cognitive and social foundations for second language learning and academic learning in general.

Opponents of bilingual education believe that if LEP students are taught English at an early stage in their education, they will gain an advantage in both learning and language. Opponents advocate minimal use of the minority student’s native language and introduction to the English curriculum at the onset of the student’s schooling experience.

During the 1980s, opposition to bilingual education was fueled by a political movement that became known as “English Only.” Support for this movement came from cultural conservatives who argued that social cohesion and the dissemination of a shared system of values required that citizens use a common language. English Only supporters objected to bilingual education programs because they felt such programs contributed to the social and cultural separation of ethnic and racial groups. By 1988 the movement had spent nearly $18 million in 39 state campaigns to pass legislation making English the official language. The power of the English Only movement diminished during the late 1980s with revelations of links between its supporters and organizations advocating immigration restrictions, population control, and eugenics.