Is Bilingual Education Shortchanging the Chicano?
Investigating non-linguistic factors which may have contributed significantly to Chicanos’ educational problems, the study determined that the major objective of bilingual education should be to correct the Chicano child’s negative self-image. Fatalism, a legacy of poverty, dropouts caused by language and culture conflicts, low achievement on English-based IQ tests, and acculturation demands that negate native cultures were cited as factors that deter the progress of bilingual education. Bilingual education often merely taught children to “parrot” English, instead of supporting bilingual-bicultural opportunities. One program that has incorporated 2 languages and 2 separate cultural systems is the Bilingual/Bicultural Follow-Through Model for Grades K-12 at the University of California, Riverside. This program included parent involvement, Spanish as a second language for teachers, community participation, home teaching and heritage curriculum development, and culture-matching teaching s
