Teaching Children Through Dual-Language Immersion

In America, we are used to the world wanting to speak English. After all, the United States is a leader in the world economy, and it is a benefit for many throughout the world to learn English. This creates an attitude in this country where many think that learning languages outside of English isn’t important. However, learning multiple languages is a benefit for everyone, including Americans, and I believe our schools should focus on teaching dual-language immersion, and, specifically, we should be teaching English alongside Spanish.

Some believe that we should teach only English and that this country should adopt it as its official language. This, I believe, limits us and our children. The United States, as most know, is the land of immigrants. Sure, many people here speak English, but many don’t as well. We have many people with Chicano/Latina roots who speak Spanish. Only speaking one language limits our ability to speak with many people who are and becoming citizens of this country. This has obvious consequences for the economy because many people who work and produce in this country speak Spanish.   

But outside of the economy, we’re also limited culturally. Separating people by language prevents us from learning about their culture in deep, meaningful ways. For example, I learned from the phrase “Abo Trenton” (أبو ترينتون) in Arabic. Were I just to learn it through an English translation, I would know it means “father of Trenton.” (My son is named Trenton, so anyone could just swap in the name of his/her child). But by learning it from people who speak Arabic, I also learned that this phrase shows a great source of pride from being a father. We often say in English, “I am the son of..,” but this reverses it and gave me insight into the importance of family in Arabic culture. This shows I am the one who is privileged to have my son and is, thus, a beautiful statement about the importance of your children. Language is where we define our thoughts and ideas, and exchanging them through multiple languages is essential to making us better people and a better country. 

Teaching only one language also creates a monocultural worldview. This means that people believe only their culture matters. If we expect everyone to learn English we’re saying that “sure, we can exchange ideas, but ours are better and you have to conform to our culture.” This is a hostile and unproductive way to be a global citizen. We want our children and citizens to be open minded and respect all cultures on their terms, and learning another language through dual immersion urges people to see the value of multiple languages equally. 

Dual immersion means that schools teach at least two languages at the same time. How it works now is schools focus on teaching non-English speakers English. I argue for teaching Spanish alongside English mostly because it makes sense given a large segment of the population of Spanish speakers in this country. However, the second language isn’t as important as what teaching two languages accomplishes. It allows us to communicate with more people, learn new ideas through language and it shows that all cultures and languages are equal. In a world that is connecting in more and more ways, I believe dual language makes us, and the world, a better place.