Impact of English-Only Classrooms

03/21/2008

Impact of English-Only Classrooms

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.
E.B. White

"On March 29, 2007, Idaho became the 29th state in the nation to adopt English-only as its official language," reports early developments (Fall 2007; www.fpg.unc.edu). "It's the latest success of the 'English-only' movement...[whose] supporters...assert that bilingualism is harmful to children, hurting their self esteem and preventing them from becoming proficient in English thereby impeding their academic success and fueling the achievement gap."

To learn more about the impact of language and young Spanish-speaking children, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute researchers examined experiences of 345 Spanish-speaking children in 161 pre-kindergarten programs. An overall conclusion of the study was that English-only classrooms may not help native Spanish-speaking children become better prepared for school. Some of the findings:

Spanish-speaking children with teachers who spoke some Spanish were rated by their teachers as having better social skills and closer relationships with their teachers than children with teachers who did not speak Spanish.
Spanish-speaking children with teachers who spoke Spanish were less likely to be the victims of aggression, bullying or teasing.
When speaking to a group of children, teachers typically used English. Yet when teachers spoke Spanish, they had more elaborate conversations with the children.

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