Let's Tell the Public the Truth about Bilingual Education

Stephen Krashen
Presented at the NABE Conference, Keynote Plenary Address, Albuquerque, Feburary, 7 2004

Abstract

Despite strong empirical support, a reasonable rationale, and mildly positive public opinion, bilingual education was dismantled in three states. There is little evidence that xenophobic attitudes were to blame. Rather, the voting public was ignorant of the nature and effectiveness of bilingual education, and the profession made no organized effort to inform the public about bilingual education or to respond to attacks during the campaigns. This has resulted in more negative views of bilingual education. The cure is better communication with the public, more focused research efforts, and continued improvement of existing programs.

"In the intellectual battle over bilingual education, the campaigns opposing Ron Unz surrendered without firing a shot" (Crawford, 2003).

Bilingual education has been dismantled in three states, and is slowly dissolving in several others. This is a major attack: The three states that passed anti-bilingual education initiatives enroll 43% of the English language learners in the United States (Crawford, 2003).

This should never have happened. The case for bilingual education is very strong, but somehow this information has never reached the public. I will briefly review the strong case for bilingual education, discuss what went wrong, and suggest what could be done about this in the future. I will suggest that the cure is better public relations (but not necessarily from public relations professionals), and even better programs.

The Strong Case for Bilingual Education

Bilingual education has two independent goals, and both are worthy, but they are independent. One goal I term English, and by this I mean what Jim Cummins means, academic English, the language of school, coupled with academic success. A second goal can be termed the Heritage Language goal, the maintenance and development of the heritage language and an appreciation of the heritage culture.

The Research is Impressive

In terms of the first goal, English, bilingual education has done well. The research is consistent: students in bilingual programs typically do at least as well on tests of English reading as comparison students in all-English programs, and often do better (for reviews, see Willig, 1985; Greene, 1997; for a current exemplary study, see Oller & Eilers, 2002).