Bilingual Education 1980-1990 by Ali Woods

Passage of AB 507 -1980

a7delgado — 2023-11-01 00:15:05 UTC

The early 80s were a time of great triumphs for bilingual education, specifically with the passage of AB 507 in 1980, which made it mandatory for bilingual education to be taught if there were more than 20 students in a grade level with the same primary language (Olsen 6).

Proposition 63 (1986)

a4woods — 2023-11-01 00:18:13 UTC

The passing of Proposition 63, an English Only initiative in California was catastrophic to bilingual education in California and across the country because they were the leading force pushing for this type of education and it started to crumble with the passing of Prop 63 (Olsen 7).

Research of Bilingual Education (1989)

jih128_ — 2023-11-01 00:18:40 UTC

A research indicated the benefits of bilingual education, including psychological and educational benefits. Students learn subject content in their mother tongue while also developing their knowledge of a second language. This approach allows students to learn subject content and enhance students' cognitive skills in the transition between languages.

Bilingual education can also have a positive impact on students' confidence and self-esteem because it actively integrates students' previous knowledge into daily teaching(A Brief History of Bilingual Education in the United States, pg. 68).

President Regan (1981)

a4woods — 2023-11-01 00:23:21 UTC

‘‘It is absolutely wrong and against the American concept to have a bilingual education program that is now openly, admittedly, dedicated to preserving their native language and never getting them adequate in English so they can go out into the job market”

He believed that the preservation of the native language meant English language competence would be neglected. He was pro-submersion and traditional education rather than bilingual education.

Senator Ralph Yarbrough (1980)

ajhernandez4 — 2023-11-01 00:35:52 UTC

Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough had a significant impact on bilingual education. He was a strong advocate for bilingual education policies and worked to promote and support programs that aimed to provide educational opportunities for students with limited English proficiency. Yarborough's efforts helped shape legislation and policies that recognized the importance of bilingual education in Texas and beyond. His contributions played a role in advancing the rights and educational opportunities for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. (Language Politics, p.54-56)

Late 1980s

a4woods — 2023-11-01 00:36:13 UTC

Large wave of immigration led to an economic decline which resulted in a lot of public backlash of both immigrants and bilingual programs.

Bilingual Education Report (1981-1983)

jih128_ — 2023-11-01 00:40:47 UTC

The report by Keith Baker and Adriane de Kanter indicated that “The case for the effectiveness of transitional bilingual education is so weak that exclusive reliance on the instruction method is clearly not justified."

By compiling and analyzing previous research findings, they concluded that bilingual education was not an effective means of meeting the needs of language minority students(A Brief History of Bilingual Education in the United States, pg. 64).

Criticism of Bilingual Education (1981)

ajhernandez4 — 2023-11-01 00:42:41 UTC

In 1981 congress wanted to make English the official language since a California Senator felt the bilingual education in schools along with multilingual ballots threatened to divide the U.S along language lines. Not only that but in the eighties people were also very against bilingual education since they believed the U.S as a nation was at risk of being divided and non-English speaking communities were blamed for it.

a4woods — 2023-11-01 00:47:01 UTC

Towards the beginning of the 1980s there was a heavy push for bilingual education specifically in California. Conversely, there was a lot of backlash by public figures who saw it as unnecessary or even detrimental to the country. These opinions would later also be shared by a lot of Americans due to the influx of immigrants to the country. These opinions grew among the popular opinion because of the economic decline that happened around the same time. They blamed it on immigrants and the cost of programs. This wave of disapproval led to the suffering of bilingual education programs.