History of Bilingual Education
(Data from Ovando, 2003)
Colonial Times
•The colonizers came to America with a unified
history, with unified traditions, and with a
common language;
•European languages were treated with
respect;
•They wanted to preserve their ancestral
traditions –one way was maintaining their
native language.
• Neither an official language nor a governmentsanctioned body to regulate speech were adopted;
• Period marked by the absence of a consistent
language ideology;
• However, debate over official English has been
present creating resentment and a variety of
pedagogical practices.
1700’s to 1880s: Permissive
Period
Period marked by linguistic tolerance
•inconsistency regarding language ideology;
•“Defensive Pluralism” (Havinghurst, 1978),
preservation of maternal language and cultures;
•Czech was taught in Texas, French in Louisiana, and
Spanish in the Southwest; German, Swedish,
Norwegian, Danish in the northern states
•1900: 600,000 children, 4% of the elementary
school population received instruction in German;
1880s to 1960s: Restrictive
Period
Linguistic and immigration restrictionism;
repressive policies
•1889, American Protective Association promoted
English-only schools;
•1906 Naturalization Act: English required for
naturalization;
•1918 to 1920, the Bureau of Naturalization and the
Bureau of Education of the US provided funds for
the teaching of English skills;
• 1923, English-only instruction was offered in 34
states;
• War World I: Anti-German hostility during resulted
in push for monolingualism; teaching of German was
eliminated in most districts;
• Americanization of classes and English-only
curriculum were the rule to prepare immigrants for
assimilation to the mainstream society;
• Language was used as a unifying force;
• Submersion/swim or sink practices were the rule in
language teaching;
• Students themselves had to make all linguistic,
academic and cultural adjustments
• 1923, Meyer v. Nebraska decreed that the
prohibition to teach foreign languages was
unconstitutional; law had no effect on promoting
bilingual education;
• English-only measures were a means to maintain
colonial domination; however, the debate over the
role of the mother tongue continued;
• Linguistic and cognitive theories and research
findings blamed bilingualism for academic failure
and mental retardation;
• English was the language of the educated;
• Ignorance of English was attributed to inferior
intelligence.
1960s to 1980s: Opportunist
Period
Period marked by the need to create bilingual
programs and by laws enforcing bilingual education
• Massive school failure prompted bilingual education.
Isolated bilingual programs were created with the
following characteristics:
– English and the students’ native language was
used in all grades for language and content
instruction;
– Some included English-speakers;
– Programs were examples of excellence.
•World War II: after the war, the government saw
the need to foreign language education; 1958,
National Defense Education Act: promoted
foreign-language education in the US;
•1964 Civil Right Act; fostered linguistic diversity;
rebirth of instruction in other languages brought
changes in immigration laws;
•1965 Immigration Act: ended the Naturalization
Acts of 1906 and the 1924 national origin quota
system, allowing Asians and Latin American to enter
the country--more language-minority students
appeared in US classroom.
• 1963, first two-way bilingual education program at
Coral Way Elementary School in Dade County, FL;
• 1968, Bilingual Education Act --Title VII of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act:
– it constituted a significant step in moving away from
English-only measures and Darwinian sink-or-swim
practices;
– Schools receiving funding were accountable for academic
progress of their LEP population;
– Act began to undermine English-only laws.
• Many elementary and some secondary BE programs
and ESL programs were initiated, especially in the
Southwest;
• Many states reversed the English-only laws
enacting enacted transitional bilingual education.
• Bilingual Program characteristics:
– Native language was used to initiate instruction; English
was taught as a second language, and later introduced in
instruction;
– Bilingual education was an educational strategy to address
the needs of the ELL– the native and the mainstream
language did not have the same status.
• 1974, Lau v. Nichols:
– verdict abolished the sink-or-swim practices of the past;
– Led to the 1974, Equal Educational Opportunities Act
expanding bilingual practices to all schools;
• 1975 Lau Remedies: provided guidelines for bilingual
education, suitable pedagogical strategies and the importance
of moving ELL’s into mainstream classrooms in a timely
fashion:
– recommended bilingual education as the best approach for
elementary education;
– law contained instructions for identification, assessment,
and mainstreaming of students;
– Program was to be implemented at districts with 20 or
more LEP at the same grade level representing the same
language;
– BE programs must be based on sound theoretical approach;
– BE aimed at biliteracy and biliculturalism.
• 1981, Castañeda v. Pickard: verdict established a
3-step test for determining whether school
districts were taking the appropriate action to
educate ELL’s;
– Program must be based on sound educational theory
anchoring school plan;
– adequate resources and personnel;
– program must reflect sound practices and language
and academic results.
• 1972, US Commission of Civil Rights found that only a
small percentage of LEP’s were receiving bilingual
instruction violating legislature
1980 to Present
•Under construction