Blog Entry #1

Rossell, Christine H., and Keith Baker. "The Educational Effectiveness of Bilingual Education." Research in the Teaching of English 30.1 (1996): 7-74. Web. 27 Jan 2010.

Following the theme and discussion of last week’s class, “Language & Ideology,” I couldn’t stop thinking about the articles written by Garcia and Gonzalez and the concept of “English-only” instruction within the ESL classroom. I have so many questions about this concept and want to learn as much as possible about it and therefore, have chosen this topic had to be the focus of my blog for this course.

After spending a great deal of time researching different articles in several journals, I finally settled on Rossell and Baker’s article as posted above. Though the article was published over ten years ago, I felt that I should start my research on this topic further back in time in order to gain a better understanding of its development. Additionally, Rossell and Baker direct their focus on the question that I am most interested in, which is “whether bilingual education is the most effective instructional approach for LEP (Limited English Proficient) [students]” (8). The authors first establish what they call “transitional bilingual education” or TBE, a method in which “the student is taught to read and write in the native tongue, and subject matter is taught in the native tongue…[and] as the child progresses in English, the amount of instructional time in the native tongue is reduced and English increased” (10). The method of TBE is then studied in comparison with three other educational programs: submersion, English as a Second Languge, structured immersion. Of the 300 studies that the Rossell and Baker began with, only 72 proved to be “methodologically acceptable,” and they provide the quantitative data from these studies in an easy-to-read table format (19-20). The data was surprisingly very different than what I had anticipated, as a majority of the studies showed that the method of TBE had little or no effect on students’ academic success in comparison to the three other educational programs. In several instances, TBE actually proved to do more harm than English-only instruction (43). I was discouraged after reviewing the quantitative results as I had expected that TBE would prove to be extremely successful over the other methods. However, Rossell and Baker spend the rest of the article explaining that there can really be no “methodologically sound” studies in measuring this specific question and that it is near impossible to produce accurate quantitative data regarding the success rate of TBE. They conclude the article with an air of perseverance, as they offer two new hypotheses for testing in which (1) native tongue is used very minimally in LEP instruction, and (2) instructors are used for LEP students who are “familiar with, but not fluent in, the child’s native tongue” (40).

While this article did not provide the evidence that I had anticipated (or hoped for), I would still recommend it to anyone who is interested in bilingual education. The educational programs were interesting to learn about and the quantitative data provided some interesting findings.

Initial Entry: Framingham Adult ESL Plus Website

The representation of second language learning that I chose to examine for the first initial entry of my L2 blog was the Framingham Adult ESL Plus Website. After researching several websites and other sources, I decided to focus on this site, as I felt it reflected much of what was discussed by the authors of the readings assigned for week 3.

Framingham Adult ESL was first established in 1984 by a small group within a Massachusetts community. Their primary goal was to assist international students in transitioning to life within the United States by offering academic courses leading to a GED, as well as assistance in obtaining citizenship, employment, and a better understanding and knowledge of the culture. FAESL now assists thousands of international students each year from 33 countries and ranging from ages 18-92 (Faesl.org).

While browsing FAESL’s website, I noticed many aspects of their organization that echoed the thoughts expressed in week’s readings. Gonzalez’s studies produced valuable findings in analyzing which strategies work best and prove to be most successful in teaching ESL students and FAESL has put into practice many of these strategies. For example, Gonzalez found that “immigrants who complete a course to learn English are about 9 to 13 percent more likely to be proficient at reading and writing, and about 14 to 20 percent more likely to be proficient at understanding and speaking English than [those] who never enrolled in English-language classes” (Gonzalez 217). FAESL offers a wide range of English-language classes for both children and adults, focusing on reading, writing, and communication skills. Additionally, in order to reduce frustration or a “lost” feeling among ESL students, FAESL offers six levels of English as Second Language instruction and three levels of Basic Adult Education. McLeod’s studies prove this strategy to be effective, as she noted that the most successful schools “grouped [students] more flexibly and on a continuous basis to meet the changing needs of their native- and second-language development” (Garcia 96-97).

FAESL exhibits a commitment to ESL students by taking into consideration the varying schedules that each may have. Gonzalez emphasizes the importance of this aspect, stating “given the demands of attending ESL courses, plus the need to provide for a family by working one or more jobs…it is necessary to structure courses which are flexible enough to meet the needs of immigrants” (Gonzalez 218-219). FAESL strives to accommodate every type of schedule that a student may have by offering classes at many different times and locations several days of the week. In recognizing the importance of family life, FAESL incorporates courses such as Family Literacy which Garcia refers to as a key component of successful ESL education (Garcia 98). FAESL also offers field trips and community involvement activities, which supports the idea that “learning is enhance when it occurs in contexts that are both socioculturally and linguistically meaningful for the learner” (Garcia 99).

While FAESL is an organization that only reaches a small percentage of ESL students in the United States, their work is commendable and they seem to be putting into practice many of the strategies that have proven to be successful in other instances. I believe that many of the authors of this week’s readings would agree with their methods and support what they are doing.