[etni] bilingual education

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Dear all -
I'd like to admit my perception of the bilingual in the context of the
article we were discussing education was wrong. It was actually about
teaching content - either in immersion (English-only) or in bilingual
(English-Spanish) mode, and not about methodology of teaching ESL per
se.

However, there are certain implications that still make this issue
relevant for our teaching context, I believe. Read the article by Prof.
Krashen - 
http://www.azusausd.k12.ca.us/bilingual/pdf%5CKrashen15.pdf  [you'll
need Acrobat Reader to view this document] where he talks about test
score dynamics in California, and decide for yourselves. I would say
that of particular interest is the paragraph in page 1 where he talks of
pressure exerted upon school administration as one of the reasons for
scores going up without increasing pupils' competence. He specifically
mentions cases of excluding weaker learners from participating in these
tests. Does that ring a Meitzav bell?

All in all, judging by what Krashen says, bilingual instruction does NOT
hamper ESL acquisition. Consequently, I dare suggest that the use of L1
in EFL should not be banned either (I can still remember a few
coordinators I worked for who, after observing my lessons, would tell me
to use English and refrain from using Hebrew). It would be interesting
to hear what the policies are in the field. Does anyone specifically
hear the "don't use L1" tune?

Best -

Lev Abramov



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