Brenda Loew

Bilingualism and Bilingual Education In America Brenda Loew

Bilingual education is the practice of teaching non-English-speaking children in their native language, while they are learning English. Developed in the 1970's, the basic idea was to teach the school subjects-math, science, social studies-in the child's first language so the child would not fall behind his English-speaking classmates. English language lessons were also provided. Massachusetts was the first state in the U. S. to pass a law requiring bilingual teaching (Transitional Bilingual Education, 1971). The idea was well-intentioned, but was proven to be a failure. In 2002, Massachusetts ended the program, replacing Bilingual Education programs with English Immersion programs. - ProEnglish.org 2019. (This book is a PDF of the author's original Master's Thesis, Department of Linguistics, Brown University, 1973.)