ilbegone
12-26-2009, 07:58 AM
Excerpts from a Linda Chavez column devoted to recommended reading. The books recomended here are by an Italian Immigrant who became a bilingual education teacher and who eventually realized the folly of bilingual education.
Finally, Rosalie Pedalino Porter's book "An American Immigrant: My Life in Three Languages," is a heartfelt memoir by a woman who has played a critical role in the debate over bilingual education in the last several decades.
Porter traces her journey from her native Italy to New Jersey during the Great Depression and her eventual emergence on the policy scene. Having started her career as a bilingual education teacher, she came slowly to the realization that teaching immigrant children in their native language was a tremendous disservice to them.
She eventually became a leader in the fight to replace bilingual instruction with English immersion and an advocate for children who, like herself, started life speaking a language other than English.
Porter's previous book, "Forked Tongue: The Politics of Bilingual Education," is a classic on the subject.
The whole column: http://www.creators.com/conservative/linda-chavez.html
Finally, Rosalie Pedalino Porter's book "An American Immigrant: My Life in Three Languages," is a heartfelt memoir by a woman who has played a critical role in the debate over bilingual education in the last several decades.
Porter traces her journey from her native Italy to New Jersey during the Great Depression and her eventual emergence on the policy scene. Having started her career as a bilingual education teacher, she came slowly to the realization that teaching immigrant children in their native language was a tremendous disservice to them.
She eventually became a leader in the fight to replace bilingual instruction with English immersion and an advocate for children who, like herself, started life speaking a language other than English.
Porter's previous book, "Forked Tongue: The Politics of Bilingual Education," is a classic on the subject.
The whole column: http://www.creators.com/conservative/linda-chavez.html