As noted earlier, developing literacy in the first language is a short cut to English literacy. It is much easier to learn to read in a language one understands, and once a child can read in the primary language, reading ability transfers rapidly to English.

Teaching subject matter in the first language stimulates intellectual development and provides students with valuable knowledge that will help the child understand instruction when it is presented in English.

What controlled studies say

A valid way to determine the effect of bilingual education is to perform controlled studies. In these studies, programs are compared in which the only difference is the use of the first language.

Such scientifically valid controlled studies have been done, and they consistently show that students in properly organized bilingual programs acquire at least as much English as comparison students in all-English programs, and usually acquire more. Willig (1985), Greene (1997) and Slavin and Cheung (2005) conducted reviews of the research in bilingual education using statistical tools far more precise and sensitive than those used in other reviews, and concluded that the use of the first language in instructing limited English proficient children has beneficial effects on English language development.

A recent study of the effectiveness of bilingual education was done by a research team headed by K. Oller and Eilers (2002). At grade five, students in a bilingual program (60% English, 40% Spanish) did as well as comparisons in an all-English program (with an optional 10% of the day in Spanish) on tests of English literacy, and did far better on tests of Spanish.

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