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America and Bilingualism: Who Gets the Last Word? 美国的双语教育

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

With approximately twenty million Spanish speakers, two million Chinese speakers and many others, the United States is something of a modern day Babel. Though English is clearly the de facto language of the U.S., immigrants have often pushed for the right to be educated in their native tongue. As the U.S. had no official language, this is understandable; but without English fluency, most achievements are unthinkable in America. Therefore, the government has consistently pushed for rapid integration into the English-speaking mainstream. However, whether unilingual education (English-only) or bilingual education (English plus a native language) generates English fluency more rapidly is an unresolved political and educational issue.

美国大约有二千万人讲西班牙语，二百万人讲华语，再加上其他许多种语言，语言种类之繁复，情况很像是现代的巴贝尔塔【注】。虽然英文显然是美国实际上的正式语言，但是移民经常争取权益，要求能以自己的母语接受教育。美国没有正式的官方语言，这情形是可以谅解的；但在美国若英文不够流畅，很难办得成什么事情。所以美国政府持续倡导语言融合，以迅速让英文成为主流。不过究竟单语教育（专指英语）或双语教育（英语和另一种母语）何者可以更快达成英语运用的流畅，仍是一争论不休的政治和教育问题。

Supporters of bilingual education claim it permits learners to build on the more advanced cognitive development they have reached in their native tongue, thereby accelerating second language acquisition. Conversely, others believe unilingual education forces learners to “sink or swim”; that is, to learn a new language quickly to survive.

支持双语教育的人士宣称，双语教育可以让学习者利用母语既有的和深度发展的认知机制学习，所以可以加速第二种语言的学习成效。另一派人士则认为，单语教育置学习者于死地而后生，也就是让他们为了生存而快速学会一种新语言。

Until masses of immigrants arrived on American soil in the early twentieth century, the U.S. was often tolerant of bilingual education. New York, Chicago, and other cities funded bilingual schools throughout the nineteenth century. However, anti-immigrant backlashes convinced Americans that unilingual education was the only option and, moreover, that it had always been so.

在廿世纪初大量移民涌入美国之前，美国都是接受双语教育的。整个十九世纪当中，纽约、芝加哥和其他城市都设有双语学校。不过后来反移民运动的强烈思潮使得美国人坚信只有单语教育是唯一的选择，而且坚信向来就是如此。

【注】：巴贝尔塔（圣经中古巴比伦建一塔，巴贝尔塔。建塔者欲使该塔高达天庭，触怒上帝，使建塔者突操不同语言，彼此无法沟通，因此未能建成该塔；或译为巴别之塔，Gen,11: 1-9。

Vocabulary

单词发音

the last word 定论, 最后决定权

something of a 有几分

Babel [ˋbeb!] n.（圣经中城市）巴贝尔塔

de facto【法】事实上（的）

tongue [tʌŋ] n. 语言；方言；口语

achievement [əˋtʃivmənt] n. 成就，成绩

unthinkable [ʌnˋθɪŋkəb!] adj. 极端不可能的

integration [͵ɪntəˋgreʃən] n. 整合；完成

bilingual [baɪˋlɪŋgwəl] adj.（能说）两种语言的；双语的

fluency [ˋfluənsɪ] n. 流畅的说话（或写作）

build on 以…为基础；依赖

cognitive [ˋkɑgnətɪv] adj.【正式或术语】认知的﹐ 认知过程的

accelerate [ækˋsɛlə͵ret] v. 加快﹐加速

acquisition [͵ækwəˋzɪʃən] n.〔新知识﹑新技能等的〕习得﹐得到

conversely [kənˋvɝslɪ] adv.【正式】相反地; 另一方面

sink or swim  孤注一掷, 不管好歹

backlash [ˋbæk͵læʃ] n.〔对重大事件的〕强烈反应﹐反冲

Sentence of the Day

They drew the shortest straw.

他们抽到了下下签。

课文讲解

The U.S. reintroduced bilingual education in the early seventies, prompting the formation in 1983 of “U.S. English”: a highly influential lobby group which campaigns to establish English as the official language of the United States and to eliminate bilingual education. California revisited this conflict in 1998 when its citizens voted in Proposition 227 requiring that students be instructed “overwhelmingly” in English. Ironically, a proposal to dictate English usage in 1780 was dismissed by the Continental Congress as undemocratic.

直到七十年代早期，美国才重拾双语教育，这促成「美国英语」在1983年成立：这个具高度影响力的政治游说团体，目标是要让英语成为美国的官方语言、并消除双语教育。加州在1998年重拾这个争论，当时加州公民投票表决第227条法律提案，要求学生所受的教育，决大多数以英文进行之。不过很嘲讽地，1780年美国国会【注】则曾以不符合民主为由，废除了一项独尊英文的建议案。

What are the facts concerning the effectiveness of bilingual education? Research is limited, but recent longitudinal studies conducted in California support two conclusions: (1) Immigrant students instructed at least partly in their native language often experience greater success in all subjects; (2) Similar students in English-only classes often cannot catch up academically with their native English-speaking peers. Another study found it took up to four generations for students of immigrant families to close this performance gap. When it comes to sinking or swimming, most students flounder.

有关双语教育的成效事实论点究竟有哪些？虽然研究很有限，但最近在加州所做的长期纵观研究支持以下两个结论：(1)至少接受过小部份母语授课的移民学生，通常大部份学科都较为优秀。(2)同样是移民学生，但全部都只用英语授课的，通常学业成绩不如同侪中以英语为母语的本地生。另一项研究则发现，移民家庭必须历经四代才能完全消除学业表现的差距。若说要完全以非母语来学习，大多数移民学生都得痛苦地挣扎。

What moral can be drawn from the American experience of bilingual education? Perhaps, that it is better to assist, rather than insist, if we want someone to learn a language quickly. This allows students to build on their existing strengths while they develop new ones.

美国的双语教育经验，带给我们什么教训？或许就是希望别人快速学会一种语言时，教育应该多给予协助，而不是一味坚持。如此才能让学生成长茁壮，并发展出新的优点。

【注】：The Continental Congress大陆会议，1774到1789年间英属北美13个殖民地的代表会议，美国独立战争期间的立法机构。这段期间包括美国独立革命时期和13州邦联宪法时期。

Vocabulary

单词发音

prompt [prɑmpt] v. 促使；激励

lobby [ˋlɑbɪ] v. 对（议员等）进行游说（或疏通）

campaign [kæmˋpen] v. 从事运动

revisit [riˋvɪzɪt] v. 回到〔某问题以重新讨论〕

proposition [͵prɑpəˋzɪʃən] n.〔尤指商业﹑政治上的〕提议﹐ 建议

dictate [ˋdɪktet] v. 命令，规定，要求

dismiss [dɪsˋmɪs] v.【律】驳回，不受理

undemocratic [ˋʌndɛməˋkrætɪk] adj. 不民主的

longitudinal [ˋlɑndʒəˋtjudənəl] adj.【正式】历时性的; 纵长的﹐纵向的

flounder [ˋflaʊndɚ] v. 挣扎；蹒跚

moral [ˋmɔrəl] n. 道德上的教训；寓意

assist [əˋsɪst] v. 帮助，协助

Sentence of the Day

They're not speaking the same language.

他们各说各话，没有交集。

speak the same language  有共同的信仰观点

课文讲解

Miguel from Los Angeles is visiting Judy in Taipei on a teachers exchange. They are discussing Judy’s class: 洛杉矶的米谷耶因为一项教师交流计划来台北拜访茱蒂。两人讨论到茱蒂的班级：

M: Your ten-year olds are certainly comfortable speaking English, considering how little opportunity they have to practice English outside of class.

妳班上那些十岁孩子讲英文毫不别扭，想想他们在课堂外，其实并没有多少机会讲英文的。

J: Thank you. I think it’s because we give them time to consolidate their Chinese before they start English in grade three.

谢谢赞美。我想是因为他们国小三年级开始学英文以前，我们先给他们足够的时间，把母语中文扎下了结实的基础。

M: They start that late? Surprising. I’m a firm believer in bilingual education – I went through a Spanish-English program myself in L.A. – but it strikes me that the younger one starts learning a new language, the easier it is.

他们这么慢才开始学英文吗？真想不到。我是双语教育的衷心支持者，我自己在洛杉矶参加过一项西班牙语和英语的双语教学计划，得到的结论是：要学一种新语言，愈早起步愈容易。

J: Considering the number of little ones in English preschool, many Taiwanese agree with you. But our Ministry of Education recently decided that public English instruction should begin in grade three so that kids won’t be disadvantaged in Chinese.

想想台湾现在有这么多小孩要读英语幼儿园，有很多人和你想法一样。不过最近我们教育部决定，公立学校的英语教学从国小三年级开始，以免母语中文所奠的基础不够扎实。

M: I’m not sure students are disadvantaged by learning a second language early. I wholeheartedly agree with supporting students’ native languages, but look at Canada’s experience of bilingual education.

我不晓得学生很早就开始学习另一种语言，是否会伤及母语基础。我完全赞成支持学生的母语教学，但是最好借镜一下加拿大的双语教学经验。

J: What happened in Canada?

在加拿大实行的结果如何？

M: Many people believed English students who studied in French immersion would suffer in their English studies. It didn’t happen.

很多人认为以法语是母语的学生，在课堂上用英文学习有障碍，但是结果并没有问题。

J: These are tough issues. But if students are happy and learning, that’s what’s important.

这些都还有待讨论，不过学生是否快乐学习，那才是最重要的。

－by Iain Ferguson

Vocabulary

单词发音

consolidate [kənˋsɑlə͵det] v. 巩固，加强

strike [straɪk] v. 打动，感动，给……以印象

preschool [ˋpriˋskul] n. 育幼院；幼儿园

disadvantage [͵dɪsədˋvæntɪdʒ] v. 使..处于不利地位；损害

wholeheartedly [͵holˋhɑrtɪdlɪ] adv. 全心全意地

immersion [ɪˋmɝʃən] n. 专心〔做某事〕﹐投入

Sentence of the Day

They're talking shop.

他们在讨论本行的东西

talk shop  谈论本行