Should a child that has not been taught english be allowed to enter the public school system?

Answer 1

no

Answer 2

YES, YES, YES. Learning English is a MUST. As the old saying goes: You are literate if you can speak 3 languages, You are illiterate if you can speak 2 languages, and YOU MUST BE AMERICAN if you can only speak one language. It seems that people in America are so against diversity. It seems so ironic to me for American citizens to be so closed minded when almost ALL of us came here in the same way. We were all immigrants at one point in time. (Okay minus the slavery factor...) Our ancestors wanted to make a better life for themselves and the generations to come in the "Land of Opportunity". What does the Statue of Liberty say? "Give us your tired, your hungry, your poor...." How can we as a country deny others the right to a better life that was so genrously given to our ancestors? Anyway, this is a very touchy subject...and I can very well see the debates on both sides, but tend to be confused with a nation that was founded on these very words can deny anyone this right. So, I will move on to the topic at hand.

First of all I am a teacher and this is what I do for a living. I teach English Language Acquisition and Bilingual Education, also known as, "teaching students English" in public schools. Yes, it is true, that the law mandates all children to be in school. The law also states that an education cannot be denied to any student legal or not legal. Yes, the predominant language in the United States IS indeed, English, BUT it has never been voted as a National language, the USA does not have a national language. That being said, if students are supposed to be in school and cannot be denied an education, how are they supposed to learn anything if they are NOT allowed to learn English??? Do we want to continue to have more and more people not be able to communicate with each other if we have this language barrier? I think the answer is no.

So my question is: Why would you NOT allow them to? When you stop to think about it, it is not the child's decision to move. It is the child's family's decision. Why ostracize this child for something that is not in their control? How is this child going to be a productive member of society if we do not allow this?

Just giving you some food for thought.

Answer 3

I had a couple of English class in the refugee camp in the Philipines. That's close to "has not been taught." I entered 6th grade here and did just fine. Had ESOL class but I don't think it helped much. Teachers didn't have to work extra for me nor they ever offered any help.
Immersion is the key. Although I didn't speak much, I understood everyone. I took the books home and translated each word I didn't understand.
I had two thing going for me. My native language has similar alphabet characters as English's, and I have always been a bookworm.
I can imagine it'd be difficult for someone from China or Russia where the alphabets are different than English's.

Answer 4

Yes of course! Education is VERY important how else will they learn?? ESL/Bilingual programs are excellent! We're already paying for it! Wouldn't you rather them learn English at school at an early stage (cause that's also important) then them not learning and us (the rest of the nation) having a hard time dealing with the language barrier?

My mother is the best example for this question, she came to this country not knowing a drop of English. She went to the local community college that was offering bilingual classes or ESL (she was surprised that Hispanic was not the only race) and learned English and later received her GED. After that she took a few courses and today she is a successful CFO of a major company! This country was built on immigrants. These so-called Americans need to stop being so closed minded and start realizing that these "illegals" were once their great great grandparents!

Answer 5

Actually, America has no declared national language.

The majority speak English but it isn't an "official national language" This is the reason that all government documents have to be made available in other languages and many non-English speaking children are in schools. I think a better idea would be to start teaching a second language (Spanish, French, etc) in elementary school when children absorb language more easily. It is tough on any non-English speaking child, but how are they going to learn English if their parents don't speak it and they aren't allowed in school.

Answer 6

Of course. If the child is not being taught English at home, school is the best opportunity to learn it.

My Great-grandmother never did speak English well, because she came to this country as an adult. Her children, however, attended public school and became fluent in English thereby.

Answer 7

In a lot of European countries they encorage it. Below age 7 and the child will pick up the new language quite quickly.

There is some stress but its a lot less stressfull learning a foreign language at home before going to school.

After about 7 then it gets tricky. Kids depend on language more and the vocabulary is a lot more subtle. Additional tutoring is needed.

In fact after that age I would question the wisdom of moving to a different language area at all

Answer 8

Yes. The child should not be penalized because his or her native language is not English.

To put it another way: When I was seven, my mum wanted to move to Mexico. Being a little kid, I had no say in the matter (thankfully, we stayed in the US, near our family). Should I have been allowed to attend school there, even though I didn't speak Spanish?

The answer is yes. The child should be taught English by the school system, just like every child who ever goes through the school system is supposed to learn how to parse a sentence, write a paragraph, and eventually be able to write an effective research paper or essay.

Answer 9

I believe they should but not in a regular classroom. They should have to first learn enough English to communicate then be able to attend regular classes. By letting a non English speaking student attend a normal class you are taking away time from the students who already know English, and its not fair because they should have priority. I'm not racist I just think that's how it should be.Why should everyone have to learn at a slower pace because one or two students can't speak english, its just not right depriving the kids the time they need.

Answer 10

I don't think so. I think it slows down the other students. I also think they should be required to take English classes instead of electives if they make it to middle and high school without being proficient in English. Why do they need to learn sewing if they can't speak enough English to buy thread? I'm really not trying to be mean. I just see what's happening in the school system, and my kids are suffering for it.
I think they should have private tutoring in English for at least a few months before entering school. I am not at all advocating denying them an education. I just don't think they should be mainstreamed until they are ready.

Answer 11

The English ruled the Irish with an iron fist. Many Irish emigrated to the U. S., even while they had to almost sell themselves into slavery. The English have been Protestant, and the Irish have been Catholic, and so the English persecuted the Irish Catholics, which led to a marvelous type of spilled blood.