s in American schools with a limited proficiency in English than there have ever been. Indeed, the diversity of the American "melting pot" has increased in recent times. The rates of population growth among minorities far exceeds the general rate of population growth (Cortes, 1986). Between 1970 and 1980, the overall population growth in the United States was 11.6 percent. Among Hispanics it was 61 percent, and among Asian Americans it was 233 percent. It is likely that the Hispanic population of California will more than double in the last two decades of this century. Consequently, many of the new students coming into the schools will have limited English proficiency. Just as the need for meeting the language needs of a new generation of students has increased, so has the controversy about doing so.
Partly because of the politically explosive nature of the topic, there has been considerable confusion about the definition and structure of bilingual education in the United States. Ove
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