Research/FIG issue

So far, the research is going well. I have not done that much since we went to the library that one day to find sources, but the ones I found and included in my annotated bibliography were really good. I have been able to narrow down which kinds of sources will work for me, and which kinds won’t. I am really glad to have been given the opportunity to learn how to navigate several online databases. I was able to print out a few of the articles I found through them, but I have to go to a few of the libraries on campus and find the sources myself. I usually get really overwhelmed when it comes to finding sources that will fit well in my paper, but I don’t feel that way this time. I like that this is a longer process and we are taking baby steps until we get to the final paper. I finished my annotated bibliography already, so I think I am going to try and start writing bits and pieces of the final paper so that it can be done before the due date. Overall, the research is going well and I am where I want to be at at this point in time.

One issue that is being addressed in the FIG course was discussed in this week’s section and Tuesday’s lecture. The issue was is bilingual education harmful to children. According to Editors of The New Republic, bilingual education is harmful to children. It doesn’t help with assimilation because they will fall behind in relation to higher education and jobs. Some parents don’t want it for their kids because it will prevent them from moving up the social ladder. Having bilingual education will cost more money because the schools will need to specially train teachers to make sure they are capable of being able to teach two languages. In the long run, it could be harder for the child to learn English if they are given so much instruction in their native tongue. However, according to James Crawford, bilingual education would benefit children. He thought that if children had general knowledge of the world and subject-matter knowledge, it will help make the English they hear more comprehensible. Also, literacy transfers across languages. We learn to read by making sense of what we see on a page. This will make it easier to learn to read in a language we already understand. Once you learn to read, you can read, and the ability to read transfers across languages. Crawford that that language acquisition is natural, developmental process cannot be rushed.