Bilingual / Bicultural Education in the United States.
Description:
The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Linda Fregoso examines the history of bilingual/bicultural education and its strategies and goals. Anglo society has been skeptical about the need for bilingual education programs, which Chicanos began to demand in the 1960s. Walter Smith, a professor of bilingual education in San Antonio, discusses the origins of Anglo intolerance to bicultural/ bilingual programs. He explains that his vision of bicultural education would apply to all citizens and teach them to be fluent in other languages and cultures. Fregoso then speaks with Jose Cardenas, a researcher with the Intercultural Development and Research Association, who discusses the history of bilingual education. She also speaks with Norma Solis, a lawyer with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, about the Supreme Court case that mandated bilingual programs for non-English speaking children. There are two types of bilingual/bicultural education. The first seeks to maintain the children's first language and culture while teaching the children English, and Smith discusses the ideology behind this approach. The second seeks to transition the students into English speakers, which Smith believes is essentially assimilationist. Fregoso then visits a bicultural/bilingual classroom in Austin, Texas. She speaks with Alma Rincones, the teacher, who explains how the class works and discusses the children's progress. Fregoso also speaks with Cardenas about the negative effects of forcing non-English speaking children to learn in English and the feelings of inferiority and rejection it often creates. Keywords: Alma Diaz, Alma Rincones, American Indian Movement, Assimilation, Austin, Texas, Bicultural Education, Bilingual Education, Chicano Culture, Chicano Movement, Children, Chinese Americans, Civil Rights, Constitution, Cultural Pluralism, Education, Ethnicity, Illegal Alien, Immigration, Intercultural Development and Research Association (IDRA), Intolerance, Jose Cardenas, Lau v. Nichols, Maintenance Approach to Bilingual Education, Melting pot, Metz Elementary School, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Migrant Labor, Norma Solis, Pedagogy, Public Education, Racism, Segregation, Self-Esteem, Supreme Court, Teachers, Texas, Transitional Approach to Bilingual Education, University of Texas San Antonio, Walter Smith, World War I, Youth Culture. Broadcast date: 1981-02-16.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Fregoso, Rosa Linda. (host), Rincones, Alma (interviewee), Cardenas, José (interviewee), Solís, Norma (interviewee), and Smith, Walter (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
2/10/1981
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin
sound recordings, grabaciones sonoras, radio programs, programas de radio, and Audio
Extent:
24 minutes, 42 seconds
Rights - Use and Reproduction:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Language:
English
Place of Publication:
Austin (Tex.)
Topic:
Spanish language, Segregation in education, Discrimination in education--Law and legislation, Education, Bilingual--Law and legislation, Educational equalization, and Igualdad en la educación