Bilingual Education - A Historic and Programmatic Overview

This study is an archival research for historical understanding documenting historical trends in bilingual education in the United States. Relevant documents and literature were reviewed, analyzed, and coded to form the themes that examine the historical and programmatic development of bilingual education in the United States since its formation. It is particularly important to examine these roots of bilingual education in light of the ongoing political tensions around immigration issues. What historical events have impacted the emergence and shaping of and the resistance to bilingual education in the United States? What political and social forces have impacted the emergence and shaping of and the resistance to bilingual education in the United States? Upon this background it is necessary to understand the forces that encourage these programs and the ones that prevent them from being implemented and further developed. Those forces included nationalistic and assimilationist ideologies working against bilingual education to implement English-only educational practices. This study gives a deeper understanding of the historic process that led to the current situation of bilingual education in this country. Dual language bilingual education is presented as a possible method to bridge the political positions on bilingual education