learning english

Limited English Ability: Attempting to excel academically in a language in which you have very limited proficiency is a set-up for failure. In many urban and “minority-minority” schools chances to speak English socially with native speakers are sparse. Immigrant children are highly motivated to learn English, according to Harvard Immigrant Education experts Carola and Marcel Suarez-Orozcos. But other factors can undermine their mastery of English proficiency:

· Age at immigration: younger children generally have a longer period of acclimation and so seem to speak English better by high school. Whether this is true is hotly debated. They are mostly better at accentless pronounciation.

· Proficiency in native language/education of parents: Learning a second language is easier when you know your own language and grammar well. If parents’ education level is low, it correlates with less mastery in a second language.

· Casual social contact with native speakers: Students who socialize with educated English speakers are able to pick up academic English more quickly.

· Quality of English Instruction: the Suarez-Orozcos found that dual-language programs “most consistently produce the best results.” But they acknowledge bi-lingual education quality varies widely thought the US – and is a political hot-potato in some regions. They describe some bi-lingual ed programs as underfunded “ghettos” within schools.

Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society by Carola Suarez-Orozco & Marcel Suarez-Orozco. 2008, Belnap Press of Harvard University Press. , Cambridge, Mass