ESL programs are very critical for assimilation

This is an opinion by a former teacher about teaching immigrant children in English-only classes or in bilingual classes. DP

By Kate Menken, Professor, City University of New York

This letter to the editor is in response to the letter, "It should be English only in the schools"

Beyond making bogus claims, the Rev. Hoins-Hand's letter is harmfully misguided. While she portrays the English-only education of past waves of European immigrants as a model, the facts are against her.

Historically, immigrants who arrived in the U.S. during the period she mentions were typically unable to succeed in school and achieve economic success; just as today, it took immigrants many years to learn English and the second generation was more likely to succeed than the first. In fact, immigrants to the U.S. today assimilate far more rapidly. By banning the use of immigrant students' native languages in school, we would do away with the greatest resource in our efforts to educate them.

The research is clear that immigrant children will learn English better if their native language is used in this process. If Hoins-Hand believes as she purports that it is necessary in today's world to be bilingual, then her gross statement that English alone should be spoken in all classes makes no sense, as doing so would prevent native-English speakers from the chance to learn other languages and would bar immigrant students from the best pathway to learning to read and write. Instead, we should offer all students the opportunity to learn English and other languages in school.

Moreover, as a former teacher at Mennies Elementary School in Vineland and scholar of language learning for more than 15 years, and a second-generation Ukrainian immigrant, I find Hoins-Hand's implication that European immigrants placed greater emphasis on academics than Hispanics do to be steeped in racism.

Like those before them, many immigrants today come to the U.S. in the hope of improving the lives of their children, which includes their education. Hoins-Hand's argument is baseless, and should be ignored.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.