For Immediate Release: April 27, 1998

European Expert Disputes Unz's Claim on Bilingual Education

Supporters of Proposition 227 claim that immigrant students in Europe are successful in the type of short-term English program outlined in the initiative.

"I want to emphasize that this is not the case," said Stuart Scott, the director of Intercultural Education Partnership, a network of European educators based in London. "We were very shocked and surprised to hear about the English only-proposition currently before Californian citizens. The European Economic Community is active in promoting bilingual education." Scott's comments came in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle, published on April 24.

Lead sponsor of the proposition, Ron Unz, claims that European schools are using his method, which first immerses students in English for one year, then places them in mainstream classes without primary language assistance. Unz also maintains that bilingual education is almost non-existent outside of the U.S.

"Not only are bilingual education programs used in nearly every country in Europe, there is convincing evidence that it is the the most efficient method for helping students acquire the language of the country," said Stephen Krashen, professor of education at the University of Southern California.

U.S. studies have found that bilingual education students progress faster in learning English and do better in school than the students getting little or no support in their native language.

Krashen notes that the same is true in Europe. For example, studies show that Punjabi-speaking students learning English and Turkish and Moroccan-speakers learning Dutch outperform students in other programs in tests of oral and written second language proficiency.

Students in bilingual education programs in the United States learn English while they keep up with their school subjects such as math, science, and social studies which are intially taught in their native language. As soon as they are ready, students are taught those subjects in English.

This gradual exit from native language courses ensures that students match their English-speaking peers' progress in school as they develop high levels of English. These are precisely the outcomes documented by researchers in Europe, according to Scott. "There is certainly no support for the Unz proposition in Europe."

Issue Brief: Do Other Countries Do Bilingual Education? by Stephen Krashen