Program Choice and English Language Learners

Over the last five years, educators in the New York City public school system have begun to acknowledge the need for schools to nffer increased program choice for the wide variety of English Language Learners (ELLs) entering the New York City public school system. Current language programs in New York can be classified under four categories: two-way bilingual programs, transitional bilingual education, English as a Second Language (ESL) and English immersion programs (Rappaport 1). Due to the shortage of funding and qualified teachers, the majority of ELLs has either been placed in transitional bilingual programs or ESL programs. Unlike ESL programs that offer instruction to students solely in English with a pull-out component for English instruction, bilingual education programs offer English language instruction to students and academic instruction in the native language (Westchester Institute for Human Services Research 1).

In spite of the fact that many educators and policymakers agree that ELLs require additional support to enable them to acquire the English language, they disagree on the type and the length of the support that should be provided to students (Rappaport 1-3). While supporters believe that the most effective approach is to immerse students in an English-only classroom such as the ESL program, opponents believe that ELLs will be more likely to succeed academically and acquire English in a bilingual education classroom (Goode 12). In this paper, the

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fore, contrary to the perspectives of opponents who state that instruction in the native languages will undermine the students' acquisition of the English language, researchers argue that the mastery of the native language can actually bolster the acquisition process (cited in Rappaport 5-6). An even more radical conception of bilingual education programs is the two-way, integrated bilingual programs. As described by Thomas and Collier, the 50-50 two-way programs offer classes at grade level in Spanish for half a day and then in English for the remainder of the day. These programs are particularly ideal for New York City with its large Spanish-speaking ELL population. Researchers have found that students who participate in these two-way programs often outperform students who are only exposed to the English language, regardless of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds (cited in Thomas and Collier 24). The success of these programs can be attributed to several factors: Provision of peer tutors: Since students from both the languages attend class together, they serve as peer tutors for one another. Even as they help the non-native speakers increase their proficiency in the second language, students are also able to

Category: Psychology - P