Dual language

Dual language is a form of education in which students are taught literacy and content in two languages. The majority of dual language programs in the United States teach in English and Spanish, although increasing numbers of programs use a partner language other than Spanish, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Hawaiian, Japanese, or Korean. Dual language programs use the partner language for at least half of the instructional day in the elementary years.

Dual language programs generally start in kindergarten or first grade and extend for at least five years, although many continue into middle school and high school. There is one higher education (baccalaureate and masters) program in Florida. These programs aim for bilingualism (the ability to speak fluently in two languages), biliteracy (the ability to read and write in two languages), academic achievement equal to that of students in non-dual language programs, and cross-cultural competence. Most dual language programs are located in neighborhood public schools, although many are charter, magnet, or private schools.

The initiation of dual immersion programs in the United States is characterized by the coalescence of local politicians and community members. Coral Way Elementary, a K-8 school in Dade County, Florida, is cited as the first two-way bilingual school, beginning in 1963 [1]. The program was started by Cuban citizens who were seeking refuge in Florida from the Castro regime and believed that their children would eventually return to Cuban schools [2]. The Ecole Bilingue, a French/English school in Massachusetts, was formed around the same time [3]. In 1968, the passing of the Bilingual Education Act served to address the reality that Limited English Proficient(LEP) students were in need of proper instructional support to achieve academic gains, and in turn provided federal funding for primary language instruction in local school districts [4]. The Lau v. Nichols ruling of 1974 further affirmed a student’s right to educational opportunity via appropriate instructional services (Calderón, 2000). Schools were thus charged with the mission to implement programs suitable to the needs of their language minority students.

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