The benefits of bilingual education<\/p>\n
Rachel Davies, Sydney<\/p>\n
Many parents in Jakarta, and other major cities of Indonesia,
\nare working and thinking hard on and about their children's
\neducation. Almost inevitably this means that the topic of English
\ncomes to their minds, as they recognize, firstly, that their
\nchildren need English for their future careers and, secondly,
\nthat many schools now have English not just as a foreign language
\nto learn but also as a language of instruction.<\/p>\n
The second condition leaves many parents worried because they
\nmay feel that their children's ability in the English language is
\nnot sufficient for them to follow instructions and so study in
\nEnglish.<\/p>\n
But, of course, any good school that is targeting the use of,
\nit has to be admitted, a second and foreign language should be
\nable to support its incoming students with remedial programs
\nwhere necessary. But still it can be difficult for parents to
\nfeel fully comfortable with this kind of situation.<\/p>\n
Some parents mention how they are concerned that their
\nchildren may suffer from a kind of confusion of languages that
\nleaves the children being poor in both languages. It is valuable
\nto understand that as a child is developing the ability to use a
\nsecond language, the first or second language may come to
\ndominate as the child uses that language at a given time. When
\nchildren show a lack of proficiency in both first and second
\nlanguages, it is likely to be a developmental phase.<\/p>\n
Developmental phases are normal and a quite healthy part of
\nlearning. What the children may be going through is what is often
\ntermed as "language imbalance". Again this is perfectly normal;
\nit is not all that common for bilinguals to have both languages
\nin perfect balance. But most children that are developing
\nbilingualism will attain an age-level appropriate proficiency
\nprovided they have good exposure and opportunities to practice
\nlanguages.<\/p>\n
Parents also express their concern that their children will
\nmix the languages and this adds to the general confusion. Again,
\nhowever, this kind of behavior is not new and is actually a
\nrecognized pattern in achieving bilingualism. Little children
\nthat are achieving bilingualism will quite often insert words
\nfrom one language into another. Slightly older children, of about
\nten years old and above, will insert phrases or even sentences.<\/p>\n
Bilingual education can really be successful where the
\nchildren are exposed to a genuinely language-rich environment.
\nThis means that they need to be given opportunities to extend
\ntheir vocabulary and interact with peers to use the language
\ncommunicatively and purposefully. But talking alone is
\ninsufficient. It is very important that the language-rich
\nenvironment for school children includes reading and writing.<\/p>\n
Literacy activities will significantly boost the learning. For
\nschool children this means that the teachers must be able to make
\nreading and writing interesting activities. Keeping reading and
\nwriting close to the children's world will help. So for example,
\nchildren can and should be encouraged to write about people and
\nplaces that they know and activities and events are important for
\nthem.<\/p>\n
By keeping the use of the language close to the children's
\nsphere of experience, teachers will motivate the children and
\ngive them clear and concrete sources for their writing and their
\ncommunication generally. This helps because children need to feel
\na sense of freedom and ease to take risks in the second language
\nthat allows them to experiment and so expand their own use of it.<\/p>\n
We can see then that experimentation with the language is
\nuseful and even important. But experimentation does mean taking
\nrisks, taking a chance to have a go and this means that we are
\nworking in areas of uncertainty; but this ok. The process of
\nlearning a second language is very much like learning a first
\nlanguage.<\/p>\n
Through these kinds of processes children are trying to work
\nout patterns and basic rules that guide the language.
\nExperimentation can be a process that leads to many mistakes
\nbeing made but again this is an acceptable and understood part of
\nthe learning process.<\/p>\n
Parents that seek out bilingual education for their children
\nare, understandably, taking on a challenging environment for
\ntheir child's education but the fruits and benefits that can be
\nharvested from this approach to education are considerable and
\nworth the challenge. But a critical point here is, I think, to
\nacknowledge that we are talking about the development of two
\nlanguages.<\/p>\n
Children that get the opportunity to pursue a second language
\n-- with the aim of achieving sufficient proficiency to be called
\nbilingual are potentially achieving something great. They are
\nachieving a much broader and deeper ability to communicate in the
\nworld. But it, essentially, does mean that children should be
\nplaced comfortably in a position of pursuing a second language
\nbut maintaining their first language.<\/p>\n
This can mean, for example, that where children are from homes
\nwhere English is not the primary language of communication, they
\ncan still be encouraged to develop their home language as well as
\nEnglish. Encouraging the first language helps the second language
\nand means that genuine and very beneficial bilingualism is
\nactually being achieved.<\/p>\n
The writer is an education consultant and can be reached at
\nrachdavies@hotmail.com.<\/p>",
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