Bilingual Library Books
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To meet the needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students at an elementary school, the school library will acquire a number of books in Spanish and Spanish-English editions of English-language books. The manipulation has two purposes. The first is simply to encourage reading among LEP students. The second is to acquaint LEP students with the traditions and customs of the majority culture through the use of bilingual books, books that include a Spanish-language translation of an English text side-by-side with the original English version. Making both types of books available is a way of meeting the dual goals of contemporary bilingual education programs: Minority students will be encouraged to appreciate the values of their own culture; they will also be exposed to the traditions and values of the majority culture. Therefore, the acquisition of the special books is an element of a pluralistic approach to bilingual education (Padilla, 1982). It is predicted that a year of exposure to Spanish-language and bilingual books through their availability in the school library will have a positive effect on LEP students' skills in both English and Spanish, as measured with instruments developed specifically for that purpose. In the school selected for this study the majority actually consists of students with Spanish surnames. A large number of the students speak little or no English. test scores will be compared with those at a similar school where no book acq
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he minority culture.
In many respects, pluralism in bilingual education occupies the middle ground between assimilationism and separatism. A pluralistic philosophy acknowledges the value of different languages and cultures within a larger society. Pluralistic programs attempt to accommodate cultural differences, and teach members of minority linguistic and cultural groups to function within a largely English-speaking society.
The essential and critical argument is that the schooling experience is enriched for all children if education is conducted bilingually and biculturally. Ideally, a bilingual program organized around a philosophy of cultural pluralism offers a schooling experience that is "two-way." That is, students of both the minority and majority group learn essential skills in both languages (Padilla, 1982, p. 56).
Although pluralism probably comes closest to the official and quasi-official position of those responsible for administering bilingual education, the actual goals of bilingual education are usually assimilationist in tone (Fradd, 1987). Most of the students who enter special English language programs, for example, actually receive instruction in English only. As time goes on, however, the failure of
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Approximate Word count = 5180
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page)
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