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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Bilingual Education?
What is the difference between Bilingual Education and English as Second Language(ESL)?
Is Bilingual Education Effective?
Do students in bilingual education programs really learn English proficiently?
Is English-Only instruction as effective as many claim?
What are the rights of parents whose children are being placed in bilingual education programs?
How many students are enrolled in bilingual or ESL programs in Texas?
What does it cost to educate English Language Learners?
How are ELL's identified?
What is Bilingual Education?
Bilingual Education is a way of educating students using two languages for instruction in the classroom.
There are many nations around the world that use this type of program in their schools to teach in hundreds
of languages. In the United States bilingual education refers to teaching in English and another language and
has existed in different forms for over 200 years.
What is the difference between Bilingual Education and English as Second Language (ESL)?
While bilingual education also for instruction to be conducted in two languages, in this country English and something else,
ESL students are taught their contest area material in English and at some point in the day receive instruction in English language
skills such as vocabulary and grammar. This instruction can take place either inside the classroom or as a pull out program both
taking time away from content instruction.
Is Bilingual Education Effective?
A majority of research done conducted on this subject demonstrates success for students in bilingual education. Students tend to
acquire academic English better than those who are English language learners and not in bilingual programs as well as perform
better in content areas such as math and reading. For more information on the effectiveness please see the research link above.
Do students in bilingual education programs really learn English proficiently?
Yes. Students in these programs almost always have time in their school day set aside for English language instruction and in
many programs content areas like math and science are taught in English after a year or two requiring students to use their English
skills while still having the support of their first language. Students are transitioned out of the bilingual program and into an all English
classroom after 3-5 years depending on the program without having lost any content learning time.
Is English-Only instruction as effective as many claim?
No. Many of the studies that advocates for English -only instruction use to promote their cause are not as scientific as they should be.
Many highly respected researchers have found that students in bilingual education programs out perform their counterparts in
English-only classrooms.
What are the rights of parents whose children are being placed in bilingual education programs?
Any parent whose child is placed in a federally funded bilingual education program must be told why their child is being placed i
n the program, be given alternatives, and be given the choice to not enroll their child in the program. Finally, this information must
be explained to the parent in a language they are able to understand.
How many students are enrolled in bilingual or ESL programs in Texas?
For the 2001-2002 school year, the Texas Education Agency identified over 600, 000 LEP students in the state system (see figure below). These numbers reflect a concentrated use of bilingual education in elementary grades where provision of bilingual education is mandated when 20 or more students in the same grade level are identified as LEP. ESL is the program in place for middle and high-school grades and may substitute bilingual education in lower grades if there are too few students for such a program. See the Facts and Figures page for more information.
What does it cost to educate English Language Learners?
The cost of bilingual education is approximately 25 to 34 percent above the cost of regular classroom instruction. In 1996, Texas spent $3,510 per child for basic education and an additional $230 for each child in a bilingual program. (The additional cost was less than one percent of the State's education budget.)
Texas only spends one-third of what is needed for an effective bilingual program. Investing $230 in a bilingual program can successful prevent the retention of a child in a grade at the cost of $3,510 to the State.
How are ELL's identified?
Testing and classification of students for identifying limited English proficiency shall be determined by administering an oral language proficiency test in the home language of the students who are eligible for being served in the bilingual program. Professionals or paraprofessionals who are proficient in the language of the test should administer testing. The scores on each test, which shall identify a student as limited English proficient, shall be established by TEA. (This is from www.tcbee.org)
Questions? Alma Perez asperez@mail.utexas.edu, Stacey Crawford staceycrawford@mail.utexas.edu , and Jessica Mejia jmejia@mail.utexas.edu
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