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Rep. Judy Chu:
American Children Need Bilingual Education
New America Media, Question & Answer, Vivian Po, Posted:
Nov 17, 2010
Chu, a Democrat who represents East Los Angeles, where dual-language programs are increasingly popular, spoke with NAM reporter Vivian Po about how promoting early bilingual education on a national level would benefit both English learners and native English speakers.
Why is it important to push early bilingual education on a national level?
It is because Americans need to be competitive in this world and gain knowledge of foreign languages and cultures. We are becoming a global marketplace fueled with international businesses. [Yet] as a nation, we have fallen behind with regard to the number of people learning second languages. Twenty out of the 25 leading industrialized countries start teaching second languages from K to 5th grade; 21 of the 31 countries in the European Union require nine years of another language. In order to catch up with these countries, we have to promote bilingual education or dual-language education in preschool, when students have the best chance to learn those languages and sustain it through later grades. It would be something that benefits them for the rest of their lives.
Many people think that only urban areas, like Los Angeles and New York, have a large number of English learners. Actually, Midwestern and Southern states are also witnessing increasing numbers of English-learner students. In fact, it does not matter if they are English learners or not— every student can benefit from learning a foreign language because it can only open their options and increase their marketability.
How much does GLEE cost? Is it designed to support English learners?
The bill would authorize a fund of $100 million: 5 percent for planning; 15 percent to fund a research council of experts to guide comparative studies on teaching approaches, and the other 80 percent for implementation—supporting schools selected by the U.S. Secretary of Education in a competitive process.
The bill funds three bilingual instructional models: 1) a program that enables native English speakers to gain proficiency in another language; 2) a dual-language program that allows native English speakers and English learners to be in the same classroom and learn a second language without sacrificing their original language; 3) a program that allows English learners to gain proficiency in English. Any of these three models can be funded through this bill.
Why did you decide to introduce GLEE during a time of economic hardship and budget cuts?
We are at a critical junction. As we are discussing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Reauthorization, now is the time to think how we want to reform our public education. Though No Child Left Behind has been renewed, many recognized it as an inadequate national education system, and it was very inadequate for treating the education of our English-learner students. A high-quality early education is necessary to help close the achievement gap. Moreover, early education offers one of the highest returns of any public investments—more than $7 in return for every dollar spent.
According to the GLEE concept paper, priority will be given to schools that partner with private or public entities to achieve a more efficient and high-quality program. What is your vision behind it?
There are so many opportunities already existing in the community that can be helpful. For instance, if you have a dual-language course in Chinese, organizations in the Chinese community will have many natives speakers that can come to the class. Not only that, I have visited many Chinese schools around the nation and I believe they can truly be part of the community partner model. I would like to see [a high level] of community involvement in the program, integrating community participation into the schools.
Many ethnic parents have concerns that early bilingual education might prevent their children from learning better English.
I have heard many stories from people of my age whose parents thought that it would be better for them to be immersed in English, and they felt unfortunate to miss out learning another language. In fact, I was one of those who ended up being immersed in English. My parents put me in a weekly Chinese school but it did not stick, and by the time I felt serious about learning Chinese, I was already in college.
Studies have clearly shown that bilingualism increases cognitive ability and allows children to think or talk about the same concept in different ways, which will also help them in other subjects, such as social studies and math. More parent education, such as inviting experts to present concrete studies to parents, would be good. We can also create easy-access websites where articles on bilingual education are consolidated in one place for parents to read.
On the other hand, there are many parents who are extremely excited about the idea. We know that because after bilingual classes were introduced in Los Angeles Unified School District, parents re-enrolled their kids back to the district.
Los Angeles is a pioneer in introducing early bilingual education. Can you share some of the outcomes you observed?
I just did a visit at a local school named Brooklyn Early Education in L.A. that has a strong Spanish dual-language program. The dual model allows students to go back and forth between Spanish and English, so that young kids never lose their ability in understand concepts in both languages. It was very inspirational, and what impressed me most was that the school is located right in the middle of a low-income neighborhood. It shows that bilingual education does not need to be in a wealthy neighborhood in order to be successful.
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Senator hopes to bridge feds foreign language gap
July 30, 2010 - 6:29am
For Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), foreign language proficiency by federal workers isn't just a luxury - it's mission critical.
"Foreign language skills are necessary to provide vital services to people with limited English abilities. Because of the rich cultural and linguistic diversity in my home state of Hawaii, I understand well the need to communicate about disaster relief, social services and other government programs in a variety of languages," says Akaka Thursday during a hearing.
And that's why Akaka, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia, convened yesterday's hearing exploring how Congress and agencies can close the language gap and improve the government's foreign language capabilities. It's his latest in a series of hearings spotlighting this deficiency.
"Understanding foreign languages is also vital to our economic security as Americans compete in the global marketplace," he says. "According to the Committee for Economic Development, American companies lose an estimated $2 billion each year due to inadequate cross-cultural skills. Moreover, foreign language proficiency and cultural understanding are essential to protecting our national security."
Akaka says the deficiencies in language proficiency at the Pentagon, the Homeland Security Department and several other agencies are well known, having been documented in a number of studies by the Government Accountability Office, and dating as far back to the report of a Presidential Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies more than three decades ago.
A year ago, Akaka tried to begin the process to fix this long-standing shortfall. He introduced the National Foreign Language Coordination Act to set up an effort across government to battle foreign language deficiencies. That bill is currently pending in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
David Maurer, GAO's director of the homeland security and justice team, found little progress over the years. Auditors found the State Department suffers from an ongoing shortage of foreign language skills.
"In September 2009, we found that 31 percent of Foreign Service officers could not meet the foreign language requirements for their overseas positions," Maurer says. "With such key shortfalls in such languages as Arabic and Chinese, State has several initiatives to address the short falls including language training and pay incentives."
(Copyright 2010 by FederalNewsRadio.com. All Rights Reserved.)
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CIA Ups Foreign Language Requirement
January 29, 2010 (AP)
Panetta sent a note to CIA staff saying he expects these high-ranking employees "to lead the way in strengthening this critical expertise."
"While many senior Agency officers have tested proficient in a foreign language over the course of their careers, some have not kept their skills current," the CIA said in a release. "Under the new policy, promotions to SIS for most analysts and operations officers will be contingent on demonstrating foreign language competency. If an officer is promoted to SIS and does not meet the foreign language requirement within one year, he or she will return to their previous, lower grade. This is a powerful incentive to maintain and improve skills critical to the Agency's global mission."
Panetta said the change will allow the CIA to be "better positioned to protect our nation in the years ahead."
"Deep expertise in foreign languages is fundamental to CIA's success," he said. "Whether an officer is conducting a meeting in a foreign capital, analyzing plans of a foreign government, or translating a foreign broadcast, language capability is critical to every aspect of our mission."
As part of a five-year initiative, the CIA is working to double the number of analysts and collectors who proficient in a foreign language, expand the number of officers proficient in "mission-critical languages," including Arabic, Pushto, and Urdu, and make language skills more central in CIA hiring decisions.