Williams Ch. 7

In this chapter Williams describes the differences between those that want a bilingual America and those that want a monolingual America. Those that want multiple languages, a child's home language and English, to be taught in schools argue that bilingualism adds to the diversity and richness of life. On the other hand, some say that all students should be immersed in English so that they can have the socioeconomic opportunities that come along with English fluency. Do you think that multiple languages or just English should be taught to non-native English speakers who migrate to the U.S?

I think that both a student's home language as well as English should be taught to non-native English speakers in our schools. Although this may be impossible to do with all students and their foreign languages due to economic and teacher shortages, I think that learning one's home language and English has more benefits that just learning English. For one, studies show that the extent to which one masters a foreign language is based on the mastery of their native language. Therefore, immigrants will have an easier time mastering English if they continue to receive instruction in their home language. Furthermore, no matter how many languages one knows, they still think in their native language. Thus continuing to education immigrant children in their native tongue will further improve their thinking abilities.