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It highlights common misconceptions embedded in school policies and teaching practices, then reviews research on bilingual children’s cognitive development, especially executive functioning, including attention control, working memory, and task shifting. 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does the article criticize the “language-as-problem orientation” in U.S. schools?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It argues that this perception treats speaking a non-English language as a deficit, which drives counterproductive policies and beliefs rather than reflecting research evidence.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What cognitive advantages does the article describe for bilingual children?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The article reports stronger executive functioning, including inhibitory control of attention, improved working memory, and better shifting between tasks compared with monolingual peers.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the article connect bilingualism research to classroom teaching and school policies?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It links findings to U.S. educational contexts and outlines why teachers and schools should adjust practices to support bilingual students and families, including strategies for learning English 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\nILLUSTRATIONS BY LIZA FLORES  \nBy Chan Lü  \nAbout one-third of children under age 8 in the United  \nStates have at least one parent who speaks a language  \nother than English at home.1 And as of 2016, 9.6 percent  \nof all U.S. public school students were identified as English language learners.2 It is obvious that the American student population is becoming increasingly multilingual.  \nThis trend is often widely celebrated in other countries. But as scholars who have focused on an array of issues related to borders and democracy have noted, the United States has a complex history with bilingualism:  \nIn many countries, the ability of children to speak more than one language is seen as important. Such is generally not the case in the United States. As sociolinguist Joshua Fishman and his coauthors have claimed,“Many Americans have long  \nbeen of the opinion that bilingualism is ‘a good thing’ if it was acquired via travel (preferably to Paris) or via formal education (preferably at Harvard) butthatitis a ‘bad thing’ if it was acquired from one’s immigrant parents or grandparents.”3  \nFishman made that claim more than five decades ago, but it still rings true—if not quite as loudly—today. For instance, Richard Ruíz and other scholars contend that in the United States, speaking a language other than English continues to be perceived as a problem, which they term a “language-as-problem orientation.”4 Perhaps because of this perception, the burgeoning multilingualism of our nation’s children is challenging our current instructional practices and even more so our educational systems. Across the country, we lack the preparation, materials, supports, or infrastructure to handle our children’s linguistic diversity. Given the multiple benefits of speaking more than one language fluently,* we should actually celebrate this diversity—and we can.  \nChan Lü is an assistant professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature and the Chinese language program coordinator at the University of Washington, and the author of Chinese Literacy Learning inan Immersion Program (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).  \n*For more on the benefits of second language learning, see “Beyond a Bridge to Understanding” in the Summer 2018 issue of American Educator, available at www. [aft.org/ae/summer2018/abbott](aft.org/ae/summer2018/abbott).  \n22 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SUMMER 2020  \nThere are in fact cognitive, social, and economic benefits to being bilingual and biliterate.  \nOur systems and practices are geared mostly toward monolingual English speakers. The language-as-problem perception has contributed to the spread of several counterproductive and inaccurate beliefs,5 such as:  \n• the two languages a bilingual person speaks are separate and distinct systems, as if bilingual students were two monolinguals in one;  \n• languages can be simply added or subtracted from the minds of bilingual speakers;  \n• restricting the use of the home language or only using it temporarily will transition students as quickly as possible to the dominant school language; and  \n• students’ languages in school, if used at all, should be strictly separated by time, day, or subject.  \nDecades of research have shown that these beliefs are misconstrued; there are in fact cognitive, social, and economic benefits to being bilingual and biliterate.6  \nIn this article, I will address the following questions that relate to our school policies and teaching practices: Do bilingual† children suffer from cognitive and linguistic disadvantages, or do they enjoy advantages unavailable to monolingual speakers? Is it detrimental to learning English at school if a child speaks, reads, and writes in a different language at home? What are some of the strategies teachers can use to help bilingual students and families? While across-the-board answers are impossible, I will briefly summarize relevant studies ","cbCaiffzysLtcFh9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiffzysLtcFh9","pdf",285476,"English","# Launching Literacy\n## Bilingualism and Biliteracy for All\n## Challenging Misconceptions in School Practices\n## Bilingualism and Cognitive Development\n## Classroom Implications and Strategies","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article criticize the “language-as-problem orientation” in U.S. schools?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that this perception treats speaking a non-English language as a deficit, which drives counterproductive policies and beliefs rather than reflecting research evidence.\"},{\"question\":\"What cognitive advantages does the article describe for bilingual children?\",\"answer\":\"The article reports stronger executive functioning, including inhibitory control of attention, improved working memory, and better shifting between tasks compared with monolingual peers.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article connect bilingualism research to classroom teaching and school policies?\",\"answer\":\"It links findings to U.S. educational contexts and outlines why teachers and schools should adjust practices to support bilingual students and families, including strategies for learning English while using the home language.\"}]","LAUNCHING LITERACY - Bilingualism and Biliteracy for All - Celebrating Our Linguistic Strengths | PDF",1792073050,18]