EDUCATION
Do you speak my language?
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The benefits of bilingual education extend far beyond the acquisition of fluency in a second language. Elizabeth Jerabek reports
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aising and educating children in a culturally and linguistically dense community like Discovery Bay is a privilege but it can often feel overwhelming. Many of us would like our children to become fluent in two languages, for instance Cantonese and English, but this can seem like too big an ask, particularly if we are considering a totally immersive learning environment where the child’s second language (Cantonese or English) would be the language of instruction. Can children learn enough in a second language in order to succeed and do well in school?
The short answer to that question is ‘Yes,’ though you need to be in it for the long haul – it can take five or more years for a child to master a second language. The next question, then, is, ‘Is it worth it?’ Will the long-term benefits children gain from being bilingual outweigh the challenges of getting them there?
Academic performance
as a second language in US public schools, Virginia – who grew up as an expat kid in Central America, speaking both her native US English and Spanish – set out to answer the questions: How long does it take non-native language learners to become academically able to do well in school in a second language, and what are the things that influence that process?
One of the leading proponents of bilingual education is Dr Virginia Collier, Professor Emerita of Bilingual/ Multicultural/ ESL Education at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. After years of teaching English
Virginia and her research partner Dr Wayne Thomas spent 32 years examining 7.5 million student records in their effort to answer these questions. They designed a longitudinal study that allowed them to follow the academic
March 2021 www.arounddb.com
