Emergent Bilingual Children

Decent Essays
Bilingualism is an important factor in cognitive development. Children’s knowledge of two language systems results in a more analytical orientation to language. Bilingual kids have two ways to describe the world and have more flexible perception and interpretation. Most education programs for emergent bilinguals are based on the fact that English only should be used. The pullout ESL approach continues to be the program of choice in the U.S. While research shows that it takes 5-7 years for ELLs to develop proficiency in academic English, many state policies only allow emergent bilinguals to stay in language programs for only 1 year or for maximum of 3 years. As J. de Jong (2011) underlines that educators who understand theories about bilingualism,

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