Qualified Public Support for Bilingual Education: Some Policy Implications

Abstract

Bilingual education has become politicized. It is surrounded by controversy, the outcome of which may play a greater role in deciding its future as an educational program than its educational successes. To better understand this political debate and its possible outcome, the present article examines attitudes toward bilingual education among the Anglo majority, in terms of general support levels, the origins of support, and its future trajectory. We find that currently the majority feels moderately positive toward bilingual education. Opposition is greatest among those who have generally negative attitudes toward minority groups and immigrants and who oppose special favors for them and among those who oppose increased government spending and spending on foreign-language instruction. Anglos' actual personal experience with bilingual education plays only a minor role. Opposition is greater among the well informed, suggesting that opposition may increase further as the issue attains greater national visibility. Opposition is also likely to increase if bilingual education is presented as promoting linguistic and cultural maintenance among language-minority students rather than as a mechanism for teaching English.

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