As an ESL teacher for the past several years, I have always felt like the minority taking graduate classes, however, I tended to listen and not make many comments as I did not want people to look down on me. I thoroughly enjoyed learning other languages during my school career, and did not understand why students attending school in the US did not feel the same way. I have now studied the many viewpoints concerning Bilingual Education vs. English only (or ESL), and do see the benefits of BE, especially first language maintenance. As a teacher in New Jersey, I do not think that BE is fiscally feasible unless you are teaching in an area where there are many students speaking one 2nd language, i.e. Spanish, Punjab, etc. I do agree that a passionate, dedicated teacher advocate is just as important.
Any comments?
ESL Teacher Conflicted about Bilingual Education
Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2