Research Paper on Bilingual Education: Enhancing Quality Instruction & Achieving Academic Success

Introduction

An effective bilingual program plays a significant role in enhancing the quality of instructional programming for students who are not proficient in English. Research indicates that the introduction of bilingual education programs in ESOL education has resulted in successful students in various aspects of academic activities. Furthermore, research indicates that schools that have implemented bilingual education programs effectively have emerged to have a stronger competitive advantage over the others. Gandara (2015) argued that bilingual program may be designed to help language minority or majority students or the programs can be combined to aid the first and second language development of both sets of students simultaneously. The demand for bilingual program in ESOL education has greatly increased due to high success level especially to individuals who had at one time attended and committed to search programs Chen (2017) claimed that current decrease in the number of school-age children who spoke English with difficulty is not just accredited to rise in the bilingual programs in ESOL education but also the effective and enhanced understanding of the program.

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Despite everything, the bilingual education program faces a lot of critics and hence remains the subject of disdain especially in some given regions of the United States. There are a lot of controversies associated with the bilingual education program and this may be because some people view the bilingual programs in ESOL education as being politically motivated (Buttjes, 2015). However, it should be noted that bilingual education if effectively implemented, comes with more merits than the purported demerits. The research will focus on the various way of implementing effective bilingual and ESOL education programs. Ultimately, the study will have successfully solved the main research problem - Effective Bilingual and ESOL Education Programs.

Literature Review

Program Leadership

This refers to the importance and priorities that are attached to bilingualisms at levels of the organizations of the ESOL education program. Buttjes (2015) argued that leadership ensues at all levels and that students can provide leadership by having an aspiration of becoming bilingual. Chen (2017) further stated that parents should become the voice of the community and develop proper support networks that ensure sustainability and nurturing of the significant roles played by schools in the promotion of bilingualism. Teachers should develop an opportunity for learning for students to enjoy the benefits associated with bilingualism. The school administrators are the informed and pro-active voices within the community and are directly responsible for the orchestration of resources that ensures that bilingualism is a reality in ESOL education systems. This would create a conducive atmosphere where students have all that it takes to effectively advance academically. Leadership, therefore, plays a pivotal role in ensuring that bilingual and ESOL education programs are effectively implemented to benefit the students and hence the society-at-large. The absence of effective leadership in school makes bilingual and ESOL education program doomed and consequently results in its distress and failure.

Linkages to Central Office Staff

The feeling of "loneliness in the wilderness" is very pronounced in most schools that have attempted to have an effective implementation of bilingual education in ESOL education programs. This has been attributed to the fact that the central administration is hesitant and gives little or support for bilingualism in ESOL education programs. It becomes even worse when antagonism erupts as a result of the misunderstanding of the central administration about the benefits of the bilingual programs. Gandara (2015) argued that schools that operate in this kind of environment have to generate strength from within and have to make extra effort to undertake public celebrations concerning their success with the community. The central administration needs to have a clear understanding of the benefits of bilingual education programs and provide the necessary resources that ensure that the bilingual education program in ESOL education if effectively implemented. This, therefore, follows that effective implementation of the bilingual education program in ESOL education is solely dependent on the support that academic institutions get from the central administration.

Parent Involvement

The most effective way of implementing the bilingual program in ESOL education is by involving the parents of the students. The parents of the students who are not proficient in the English language are informed of the bilingual program and the prevailing curricula and other activates that the students are expected to participate in. The letter that is sent to parents at home should be written in their home language just like the information they receive in school. The parents of the students who are less proficient in the English language should always find themselves come and encouraged to have interactions with the school and also by parents of the English-dominant students (Chen, 2017). The involvement of these parents in school may vary and they may be encouraged to assist at home as well as in the classroom and to have substantial input in different decisions that schools have to make. The parents' involvement will result in mutual participation in the development and implementation of the new bilingual program. The understanding of the bilingual education programs by parents will help reduce any criticism that they might label against the program.This in-turn will ensure that the bilingual program is effectively implemented in the ESOL education system.

Staff Selection and Development

Successful implementation of bilingual education in ESOL education requires the presence of teachers who can handle, with ease, the first language of the students and English. This means that the teachers must be proficient in both languages. The schools should provide classes in the first languages for those teachers who would like to be proficient in certain content areas (Gawinkowska, Paradowski, & Bilewicz, 2015). For instance, the themes of social studies that are addressed in classrooms may be used as the main content for the development of the language. Teachers, therefore, are granted the opportunity to create vocabularies that are related to the themes and further issued with the chance of discussing the topics with other peers. Buttjes (2015) claimed that it should be recognized that teachers are one of the most essential elements that must be present for the implementation of any curricula in any academic institution and therefore their involvement is very paramount. It thus calls for the selection of competitive teachers who can help in handling students who need the bilingual program to hasten their academic performance. The teacher selection and development in the line of bilingual education will affect producing competent teachers who can implement bilingual curricular with a lot of ease and efficiency (Roberts, 2018). This will thus enhance the effective implementation of bilingual education in ESOL education hence boosting the academic performance of students who are less proficient in English.

Critique

The critics of bilingual education take it that the program of bilingual causes more harm to students than good. The primary program of bilingual education academically bars students since they do not develop a strong understanding of the English language hence making them lag in their studies (Gawinkowska et al., 2015). Critics also emphasize the rates of dropout that is high in the United States, especially for Hispanic students. It states that the rate of Hispanic dropout is higher because of the United States' failure in bilingual education programs (Jones, & Saville, 2014). Han, Starkey, and Green (2014) claimed that the program of bilingual education is not accomplishing their goals since a large number of Hispanic students do not wholly attain academic accountability in English. Critics blamed the rates of dropout only on the programs of bilingual education while not putting consideration on other cultural or social factors that firmly influence the dropout of Hispanic students from high school.

Furthermore, another critic takes it that some parents who never requested for their children to undergo bilingual education that it unfairly forced on their children by the school system if education (Gawinkowska et al., 2015). Parents have the feeling that individual school districts only view their kids as a way of qualifying for receiving their state and federal funding by claiming to provide services to students with the program of bilingual education (Gawinkowska et al., 2015). Parents also have the feeling that the kids are participating in the program of bilingual education based on surname, test scores, and nationality (Garrity et al., 2016). Critics take it that students are viewed as a percentage, statics, or a number. Furthermore, critics have raised concern that most school system is taking advantage of the bilingual education program as a way of securing many jobs via federal funding. Linville (2015) argued that if the United States loses the federal funding of the education system, then thousands of its citizens would feel the direct consequences; many people would be rendered jobless. Generally, most critics are not in agreement with any aspect of the bilingual language education program.

In as much many people have criticized the bilingual education system, it worth noting the bilingual program in ESOL education, if well implemented, plays a very vital role in enhancing future success, both academically and socially. Despite all the critics, no research has shown the adverse effects of the bilingual education system, either socially or academically (Garrity et al., 2016). The ministry of education should, therefore, come up with a provision that ensures that bilingual education programs are effective (Jalata, 2015). A favorable political climate should be created to enhance the execution of bilingual education programs.

Conclusion

The role of bilingual education has been commonly misunderstood by most individuals. This is attributed to the fact that most people don't have an understanding of how to achieve second language learning development in bilingual classes (Roberts, 2018). This research has investigated and come up with the best ways of effective implementation of the bilingual programs in ESOL education. This will ensure that the learners can fully attain the intended benefits that are associated with the bilingual education program (Buttjes, 2015). The research discovered various aspects that can help ensure effective implementation of the bilingual programs in ESOL education. Some of the measures that have been discovered by the research include program leadership, linkages to central office staff, parent involvement and finally staff selection and development. However, critics also find its way into bilingual programs in ESOL education. Some critics have stated that the bilingual education program causes more harm to students than good. It has also come out from critics that some parents who never requested for their children to undergo bilingual education that it unfairly forced on their children by the school system if education (Gawinkowska et al., 2015). However, it is worth noting that despite all the critics that may have been labeled against bilingual education program in ESOL education, not even a single researcher has come up with findings that shows the negative implications about bilingual program in ESOL education. This therefore means that is effec...