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The Official Language Movement The Hispanic American minority includes the Spanish-speaking people from Spain, Mexico, Caribbean Islands, and Central and South America; the three largest Hispanic groups in the country are the Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and the Cubans. According to Morton Winsberg, a professor of geography at Florida State University in Tallahassee, these three ethnic groups comprise three-fourths of the total U. S. Hispanic population while the rest of the other groups are Brazilians, Nicaraguans, Salvadorians, Peruvians and Colombians. An article in USA Today (El Nasser, 2003) reported that there are about 38. 8 million Hispanic Americans as of July 1, 2002 in the United States; and the number is still soaring because of the immigration influx plus the Hispanic record of higher birth rates as compared to other ethnic groups. The steady surge of Hispanics has changed the fabric of life in the United States, from the mundane food on grocery shelves to the prestigious fields of entertainment, politics and education.
The surging population gain is reflected on the American society's response of embracing and supporting bilingualism especially in the fields of politics (e. g. election ballots in Spanish, Democrats seriously studying Spanish with the Republicans following suit), education (e. g. bilingual instructions in school) and even in entertainment (e. g.
Nickelodeon's bilingual Dora, the Explorer as well as Hispanic family comedy shows on commercial TV). With the continual upsurge in the community's interest as well as the importance the Hispanic American Culture puts into the language movement, many language specialists are concern with the future and integration of a bilingual system in the country today. Below are four articles that present information both for and against and comments about the use of English-Spanish bilingualism in education and politics. Each study will be describe and the main points will be presented. Title of Article: The Overwhelming Allure of English Author: Gregory Rodriguez The New York Times Sunday, April 7, 2002 web This article comments on the prolific use of Spanish in America -- - political debate in Texas, automated teller machines in digital Spanish.
It paints the picture of how Spanish integrates into American society and what is its effect on the nations primary language. The report stressed on the fact that bilingualism (Spanish-English) persists in the community but English language is still the dominant one. Some American sociologists claim that bilingualism will be very hard to maintain in the US because the English language is still the dominant and preferred language by many people. Proof in fact is its apparently growing global prominence.
Title of Article: The Cross-linguistic Role of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency on Reading Growth in Spanish and English Author / s : Wilda Laija-Rodriguez, Salvador Hector Ochoa and Richard Parker Bilingual Research Journal, Spring 2006 web study investigated the cross linguistic relationship between the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) in primary language (L 1) and second-language (L 2), as measured by the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey (WMLS) and reading growth, as measured by Curriculum Based Measurement Oral Reading Probes, with 77 second- and third-grade students in transitional bilingual classes. The hypothesis is based on the widely explored relationship between the L 1 and the L 2 with the consideration on the language proficiency affecting a students academic achievement. The findings resulted to a significant, but weak relationship between Spanish CALP Broad Standard Score and English CALP Broad Standard Score with reading growth in Spanish and in English, respectively. Title of Article: Differential Outcomes of Two Bilingual Education Programs on English Language Learners Author / s : Maria G Lopez and Abbas Tashakkori Bilingual Research Journal, Spring 2006 web A mixed methods design with both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses phases was employed in this study to investigate the effects of two types of bilingual programs (two-way and transitional) on the academic performance and attitudes of fifth-grade students who entered kindergarten or first grade with different levels of English proficiency. The results of the quantitative data analyses indicated no significant differences in standardized measures of English achievement. The significant differences were found in other measures, including measures of oral language acquisition in English, Spanish-reading ability, students' attitudes, and perceived levels of proficiency in English and Spanish.
Findings from the qualitative data analysis showed that the students in two-way bilingual education programs were more likely to express positive attitudes towards bilingualism. Using the mixed media data, the study concluded that although there are some similarity in the effects, each of the bilingual programs examined has its own unique effects. Any policy decisions should be made on the basis of relative importance, value, and the costs of these unique advantages and disadvantages. Title of Article: NO ENTIENDO: The Effects of Bilingualism on Hispanic Earnings Author: Jeronimo Cortina, Rodolfo de la Garza and Pablo M. Pinto 1 Department of Political Science, Columbia University web The paper examines the economic consequences of Spanish/English bilingualism in the United States. With the rising increase in the Hispanic population the researchers explored the question whether the ability to effectively communicate in both English and Spanish is an advantage in terms of salary rate and benefits in labor markets.
The study found out that bilingualism is associated with higher income though its total effect is substantially small other factors play a role on the reward aspect in the labor markets. Aside from its marginally low effect, data also shows that bilingualism is not rewarded in all segments of the labor market. While the correlation between bilingualism and income is positive among non-supervisory laborers in manufacturing, the association turns negative among those in managerial positions. And thus the conclusion is on the negative especially on the opportunities available to Hispanic immigrants. Findings show that even when fully bilingual Hispanics earnings are systematically lower in different segments of the labor market suggest that only few Latinos will be capable of experiencing a conventional path to assimilation.
The findings could also be construed as revealing the existence of a deeply institutionalized pattern of discrimination. References Cortina, Jeronimo, Rodolfo de la Garza and Pablo M. Pinto. NO ENTIENDO: The Effects of Bilingualism on Hispanic Earnings. Department of Political Science, Columbia University. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 5, 2007 < web >.
El Nasser, Haya. (2003) 39 million make Hispanics largest U. S. minority group. USA TODAY Posted 6 / 19 / 2003 5: 13 AM.
Updated 6 / 19 / 2003 6: 39 AM. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 5, 2007 <>. Laija-Rodriguez, Wilda, Salvador Hector Ochoa and Richard Parker. (2006). The Cross-linguistic Role of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency on Reading Growth in Spanish and English.
Bilingual Research Journal. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 5, 2007 < web >. Lopez, Maria G. and Abbas Tashakkori. (2006). Differential Outcomes of Two Bilingual Education Programs on English Language Learners. Bilingual Research Journal.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 5, 2007 < web >. Rodriguez, Gregory. (2002). The overwhelming allure of English. The April 7, 2002. New York Times. Posted on the American Immigration Law Foundation.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 5, 2007 < web >
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Research essay sample on Bilingual Education Programs English Language Learners
