Bilingual Education
Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model. Bilingual education refers to the utilization of two languages as means of instruction for students and considered part of or the entire school curriculum.
There are several kinds of bilingual programs in American schools for immigrant children
- Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) programs: students receive instruction in both English and their native language, and the native language support is gradually phased out over two or three years.
- Bilingual Maintenance (BM) programs: students remain in bilingual classes for their entire educational experience.
- Dual Language Immersion: Enrolls English-speaking children and students who are native in another language in roughly equal numbers.
Bilingual Education in Honduras
In Honduras, at least ten thousand young bilingual professionals graduate each year coming from 851 schools ready to enter the labor market dominating English as their second language. (National Education Ministry)
There are two main problems in Honduras when we discuss about ESL:
- Native English teachers. Because students listen to, learn from, and practice their English with native English speakers, they can self-correct errors and develop accurate pronunciation. One of the largest challenges facing Latin American countries who want to expand English language education is a lack of proficient English speakers to educate the next generation. Unfortunately, the opportunity to learn from native English teachers is the exception, not the rule, in Honduras.
- Access to books. In Honduras, books are expensive and difficult to find, especially books in English. Public lending libraries are essentially non-existent.
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