
People from all over the world have been learning multiple languages as a means of communication from one region to another for millenniums; the existence of a bilingual education is not new to society.  Especially in countries such as Belgium and China, where many different languages and dialects inhibit neighboring territories, the ability to communicate with one's neighbor has always offered a multitude of benefits including enhanced trade, shared ideas, and negotiations of peace.  Even today, the countries of Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, and many South American countries require their students be raised with a pluralist bilingual education (Garcia). In the United States, we have only half heartedly educated our youth in another language and we have failed to produce results up to par with our fellow nations. Unfortunately, the push for bilingualism is also fading, as middle schools decrease their foreign language programs and high schools remain stagnant in their offerings (Altschuler, Skorton). As Ken Robinson eluded to in his widely popular TED talk, schools must strive to educate their students on how to increase and enhance their natural born creativity.  Robinson advocates for a more holistic approach to education, with arts and culture being considered just as valuable as grammar and math (Robinson).  Our poor language programs have caused American students to miss out on the key benefits that are offered by a bilingual education: increased communication skills, increased executive function, favorable restructuring of the brain, enhanced nonverbal skills, and an increase in positive thinking. A pluralist bilingual education should be implement and funded by the United States government, be continued throughout a child's public education, and should utilize a structured immersion program to teach all students Spanish and English to the point of fluency. 

A bilingual education program is not new to the United States.  In the 1960, there was a large push by the federal government to help Spanish speaking students integrate into the American school system.  This translated into the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, which produced programs including English as a Second Language (Secada). The Bilingual Education Act was implemented as part of the Civil Rights Movement to respect the needs of the primarily Hispanic population, although it also instructed children of varied cultural backgrounds.  This program received federal funding to teach Spanish speakers English, using the native tongue "to the extent necessary" (Secada 100). However, this wording grew into a large issue for many students, school boards, and teachers.  The need to slowly assist a child into learning a foreign language comes from research showing that many students felt overwhelmed when thrown into classroom without a comprehension of basic English.   From this information, teachers and administrators took teaching in the native tongue to an extreme, and the native tongue became a crutch for these students.  They were pulled from the general classrooms for hours a day to be taught English in their native language. This program was to last no more than three years for each individual student, however most students were not deemed "ready" to leave these segregated classrooms of Spanish for an English speaking classroom until six or seven years later (Porter). Rather than mixing with other American students, these students were segregated into small classrooms with other nonnative speakers. In turn this has lead to a large outcry against bilingual education from both Hispanic American families and Anglo-Americans.  The Bilingual Education Act is now equated, in many minds, as a failure of bilingual education at large. It further steamed into the way American students were taught a foreign language, which we all know fails to produce favorable results amongst the general population.  Therefore, the Bilingual Education Act and bilingual education as a whole was deemed a failure, the culprit being its focus of political correctness rather than enhancing the teaching techniques and learning environment best suited for a children's progress (Secada).  

An additional push back for bilingual education comes from its cost and the unsatisfactory results produced despite such a large expense.  In 2011 the federal government spent $800 million dollars on foreign language programs; yet the programs have been deemed a failure in many researchers' and parents' eyes (Baker, Rossell). It failure comes from the poor teaching foundation perpetuated by the Bilingual Education Act.  It is clear that the American school system has failed to produce a large number of competent bilingual young adults, especially relative to the cost.  Many students can attest to the years of French or Spanish they took in high school, but very few can hold a conversation.  Only 18% of Americans claim to know another language to the point of conversation level. Put this in comparison with other developed nations in Europe, where 

53% are able to hold a conversation in another language, and it is clear that our language policy has failed (Secada). We have spent an exorbitant amount of money on programs that do not work, and this is due to a failed system, not a failure of the students (Peek).  The approach of using the native tongue to communicate does not work, as Dr. Rosalie Porter eluted to in The Fiscal Times article: "bilingual education is a 'wrong-headed theory that doesn't work." Her preference is an approach called "structured immersion" (Peek). In this approach, one is taught in the language they are to be learning, with the instructor having a grasp of the native tongue of the student as well as fluency in the langue being taught (Baker, Rossell).  Dr. Porter believes that through structured immersion, a student can reach the level of fluency in two years that would take a children of the American Bilingual Education Act six or seven years to reach (Peek). It is through immersion that one learns a language, and the money spent on a pluralist bilingual education would go towards a worthy cause, one that is successful in its mission to achieve bilingualism.

I personally have participated in a structured immersion program for French.  After one month in this program I could hold a conversation in French, order at a cafe, ask for directions, and understand the basic context of conversations I hear or read in French.  Compare this to the five years I spent formally studying Spanish in a public school system, I finished my courses only having the confidence and ability to say "hello" and a few other common phrases.  The results are astonishingly different in a structured immersion program.  In my program, I was encouraged to speak despite my many grammatical flaws, I was given confidence to make errors and to attempt to communicate as best as I could.  I was given the opportunity to apply information as I learned it, rather than memorize a list of vocabulary and grammar points without the opportunity or confidence to apply them to communication (Jaiswal, Young).  Structured immersion programs focus on this idea of encouragement, placing students with peers of their equal speaking level in classrooms with a bilingual teacher. This teacher is able to understand the students attempt to translate their language into the new language, and can make minute corrections along the way.  However, the focus is always on positive feedback and reinforcement of speaking (Baker, Rossell).  This positive reinforcement in language speaking is supported by Waring's article regarding "explicit positive assessment in the language classroom" (Waring). The use of positive reinforcement is a common tool in structured immersion and goes beyond language application.  Its applicable in all aspects of life and can be used to shift the mindset of the way one approaches life, work, and relationships. This positivity begins to touch into the idea of the "happiness advantage". Learning another language in a positive environment created by a structured immersion program will guide schools into changing their approach to education as a whole. Students will be encouraged to adopt a more positive and outgoing attitude towards learning, which will eventually alter the way their view themselves and their lives (Achor).  Robinson calls for such change in his TED talk, claiming schools that focusing solely on the right and wrong or the black and white have killed the creativity and the hunger for knowledge that most children are born with (Robinson). 

 I see the benefits of being bilingual as vital to the progression of society, communication, and equality in addition to the confidence gained from speaking a foreign language and the positive effect it will have on the learning environment of schools (Brown, Hunter). Such benefits include increased executive function and rewiring of the brain, enhanced nonverbal communication skills, and social awareness. The importance of executive functions cannot be understated; executive functions dictate task setting, organizing, and various other tactics needed to become a high performing employee and individual (Porter; Secada).  Individuals who fail to properly organize, multitask, or pay attention will fail to find success paralleled to those who are superior in these skills.  These skills are what are needed for many high powered positions and leadership roles and bilingualism can provide such skills.  Bilinguals show a distinct advantage over monolinguals in their ability to resolve conflict related tasks and excel in all "executive control [functions], such as attentional mechanisms, monitoring processes, and task switching" which is supported by the research done on bilinguals against monolinguals (Karen et al, 1206). It is assumed that people are naturally talented in such skills, however this it is being discovered that this is not the case. Rather these skills are acquired. It is activities that one engages in and the mindset one takes towards their work and their surroundings that dictates their skill level in executive functions. The world needs more people equipped to handle a role of leadership, yet schools are failing to produce such people (Robinson).  Through the implementation of an immersion bilingual program, students will be given an edge and enhancement in these skills as a subconscious result of learning of a foreign langue. And the more advanced one becomes in a foreign language, the more tangible the benefits in executive functions.  It has also been discovered that fluency produces the greatest results executive functions, among other increased brain and communication benefits (Emmorey). 

Not only are there benefits found in the task skills of an individual, but in the structure changes of one's brain when processing information as well.  Individuals were placed in MRI brain scans to view how a monolingual versus a bilingual processes information; the results showed that the brain of a bilingual light up in far more in the areas regarding communication and information processing. Bilinguals also experienced more brain activation overall, even in areas that were previously not thought to be involved in communication.  A monolinguals approach to communication is far more rigid and narrow than a bilingual's. This study was done with individuals who were raised in a bilingual environment with children below the age of six, the best results being relative to the level of fluency in two or more languages (Wei).  The connection of how one processes information as a bilingual can be tied to the enhancement of executive functions.  Imagine this, when one enhances their interpersonal communication skills, the communication skills of their brains is also enhanced. Visualize a monolingual's brain performing a square dance in their mind, while bilinguals can perform an advanced ballet sequence between the different compartments of their brain. Similar results of brain communication enhancement were found in high level athletes, musicians, and artists (Wei).  However, I believe the teaching of another language, especially Spanish within the United States, would be a greater benefit to society than the nationwide funding and implementation of music, art, and sports programs.  All are vital to the education of a student, but a foreign language known to the point of fluency is the most versatile skill, thus more advantageous to teach (Robinson; Jaiswal, Young).

The United States is already on the rise to becoming a bilingual nation, and accepting this fact will allow us to greater harness the benefits of bilingualism. The benefits of being raised in a bilingual environment can be seen as early as four years old. In a recent study, children were part of a conversation where they had to "consider someone else's perspective to understanding her meaning. For example, an adult said to the child: 'Ooh, a small car! Can you move the small car for me?' Children could see three cars  --  small, medium and large  --  but were in position to observe that the adult could not see the smallest car. Since the adult could see only the medium and large cars, when she said 'small' car, she must be referring to the child's 'medium'" (Kinzler 1).  The result of this study was that bilingual children were far superior to monolingual children at interpreting the implied meaning of what the adult was saying.  A bilingual child would point to the "medium" car from their perspective because they understood that the adult was asking for the car size she saw.  Being exposed to several languages, especially at a young age, requires a child to consider the context of the situation over the word; the word is seen as a mode of transportation rather than a firm entity with rigid meaning (Kinzler; Hernandez).  Even more interesting, the children tested were categorized by the amount of exposure to another language rather than their abilities in speak another language. The researchers went a step further and tested the executive function of true bilingual children and monolingual children raised in a bilingual environment.  While communication skills did not differ in these two groups, there was only enhanced benefits of executive function from true bilinguals (Kinzler). 

This car experiment showcases the phenomenon known as the subconscious of the brain, where a large majority of our learning takes place and information is shifted into long term memory (Mlodinow). Another important correlation between the subconscious mind and language is in relation to social communication.  As Mlodinow explains: "language is handy, but we humans have social and emotional connections that transcend words, and are communicated -- and understood- without conscious thought" (Mlodinow 80).  The ability for a bilingual to see words as a medium for their message rather than a concrete entity allows for the widows of communication to widen drastically.  Thus we must look to the methods of teaching a language that allow for the flow of communication rather than the suppression of a language learner (Lewis). Most classrooms today boggle down their students with the formalities of language learning.  But we must branch away from placing such a large value on specific words and grammatical points; we must rather focus on the social context and meaning of what is communicated. It is through viewing ourselves as social beings that thrive off of community, acceptance, and communication that we will be able to properly implicate language learning (Waring).  Through this shift in viewpoint, the benefits include decreased segregation, cultural acceptance and understanding, and decreased bigotry in American society (Lewis; Jaiswal, Young).

Why is it necessary to decrease bigotry and segregation in the US? As a nation we are becoming bilingual in our population, with one in four students entering kindergarten being of Hispanic background. Spanish is spoken by over 35 million Americans and is second to English in the most widely spoke language in the United States; Chinese being third with a measly 2.5 million (World Atlas). To ignore this large and growing demographic of Spanish speakers is not wise nor beneficial to the United States or its citizens. Many of these children speak only Spanish upon entering the school system.  This is what initially let to the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, but because of this act, Hispanic children have been routinely segregated from their English speaking peers. Their skill sets in all areas have suffered and they have further been segregated from their peers, making friendships with English speaking students more difficult and creating a divide in schools (Porter). I believe these students should be integrated into English classrooms via a structured immersion program, where they would be able to enter an English speaking classroom in less than two years when it has traditionally taken six (Baker, Rossell). And I also believe they should be given the opportunity to progress their Spanish throughout their education, instead of choosing a "one over the other" approach and potentially losing touch their native tongue. But if Hispanic students are to be thrust into American classrooms with little knowledge of English and expected to learn the language, I believe English speaking Americans should be put into the same situation during their education.  One in every four children entering kindergarten in the United States is Hispanic, with many being raised primarily in Spanish prior to starting school.  There is a large precedence for Hispanic students to drop out early, as well as face discrimination and prejudice throughout their life (Peek).  Yet their population numbers are only rising, as many are calling for the United States to even declare ourselves a bilingual nation; the numbers are that large.  In implementing a pluralist immersion education of both Spanish and English, we would educate students not only on the ideas of cultural inclusion of their peers, but also provide key benefits in their education, both tangible and intangible.  

A proper bilingual education would utilize the techniques similar to the Ontario Canadian school system, which is an immersion program aimed towards teaching nonnative English speakers in English as efficiently as possible.  There is also a duel progression of French for the entire student popular, thus creating a pluralist approach of learning two languages to the point of fluency. There are specific guidelines as to what should be achieved at each grade and an expectation of rapid language learning.  There is also a large emphasis on the inclusion and mixing off all students, to allow the student body to accept diversity rather than to segregate (Canada). The students are taught primarily in the language they are learning as well, thus allowing them to progress much faster, despite an initial period of discomfort or lack of confidence (Baker, Rossell).

It is a bold claim to say a pluralist bilingual education will hold such great promises for an individual's mind and for American society but it is rooted in hundreds of scientific papers and testimonials.  Imagine if all American citizens had access to these enhanced brain and social functions; bilingualism is the "smart pill" of tomorrow's generation.  To go about implementing a pluralist system, I believe we should utilize a structured immersion program, popularly used in private language learning academies as well as in, but not limited to, the countries of Canada, the Netherlands, and Aruba.  I am not alone in this belief that structured immersion is the superior form of language learning.  Baker and Rossell concluded in their meta analysis of all US federally mandated language programs versus privately funded language programs that structured immersion yielded the fastest results in the actual speaking of the language (Baker, Rossell).  A structured immersion program yields results up to 3 times faster than programs that slowly build up to speaking the second language (Peek).  This is due in part to the acquired confidence trained through structured immersion; one is put into a classroom with other students of similar speaking abilities and must communicate to their teacher, who only allows the speaking of the intended language. A glaring issue in previous studies showing that students' confidence falters when thrust into a foreign language too quickly is that there was no measure of the change of confidence over time (Baker, Rossell).  Instead, the lack of confidence was ascribed to the first two weeks of learning a foreign language through immersion. After these initial two weeks, most students experience a raise in confidence; 

A pluralist bilingual education can bring many great benefits to the United States. It will provide a platform of inclusion in the public school system for the growing population of Hispanic students.  It will enhance the cognitive, social, and communication skills of all students. It will reform the school system in its approach to education and subconsciously inspire a shift in mind set toward acceptance and understanding of another culture rather than blunt rejection.  My journey of language learning has opened so many doors in my life and in my mind.  It is something I did not understand how to participate in until I began my structured immersion program in Paris two years ago.  I learned how to speak freely without the fear of error but I also learned how to listen intently for key context. Words took new meaning and new value.  My whole perception on communication began to shift as my thoughts became enveloped in French.  My hunger to learn more languages is already growing, yet when I sit in my French class here at USC I am faced with the repercussion of the Bilingual Education Act.  It is a class solely taught in English, with very little French spoken.  I am often corrected and feel suppressed in my ability to learn the language; many of my classmates cannot speak French at all.  It is a failed system, but I know there to be a better way.  I wish to share this with all of America, as it is not only possible, but necessary for our progression as a Super Power in the international market.
