For centuries, due to the political concerns of the upper class, being from a different

nation has brought problems on different aspects. Foreigners have always been marginalized

by society. Language is one of the most important things about a person’s nationalism.

Therefore, not providing bilingual education for ethnic minorities is accepting discrimination

in your country. To restrict access to it in any way is attacking a person’s nation. Bilingual

education is not a privilege, but a right. This essay discusses three different articles about

bilingual education rights of immigrant children.

Minority education is organized in a way that not only compensates for reliable

scientific evidence, but also violates basic linguistic and other human rights, all around the

world. Many people, including the authorities of a country, praise human rights by word of

mouth, but only accept the rights if they conform to their own cultural norms. In theory every

country would support any human rights but in practice many countries violate even basic

human rights. Unfortunately, many do not except that there is a minority existence in their

country. This may be due to the lack of a clear definition of minority. Skutnabb-Kagnass

(1994) defines minority as, a group which is smaller in number than the rest of the population

of a state, whose members have ethnical, religious, or linguistic features different from those

of the rest of the population, and are guided, if only implicitly, by the will to safeguard their

culture, traditions, religion, or language. This being said, using terms such as linguistically

diverse students, limited English proficient or no English proficiency violates the linguistic

rights by addressing the children’s deficiency on the terms of situated country. What

Skutnabb-Kangas (1999) said summarizes this situation perfectly, ‘Linguistically diverse

students have no protection in international law. Minority students do.’.

It is important that minorities have access to an integrated bilingual education in order

to immigrants to blend into the society and academic environment. Immigrant students can

easily get frustrated because they understand the language incorrectly. Beck argues that, a
right to bilingual education should exist because social and economic success depends on

education in Germany. Success in school primarily depends on clear understanding of

language of instruction. Due to this reason, the authorities provided language or bilingual

programs, most of which do not help children to be successful but hinder their success. Beck

(1999) noted that, reports on such programs since the 1950s have shown that, while some

appear to be beneficial, others appear to hinder the children’s success. These reports often

have been used in the argument against bilingual programs. The reason for the failure of the

program is not because the bilingual program cannot be executed, but because of its

technique. German authorities tried different procedures under the names of immersion,

submersion, transition, and maintenance. So called programs never succeeded and never will

be. Considering programs do not study the core problem which is the pedagogic aspect of a

learning process. In 1999 Beck noted that, a program which respects the language rights of a

child and aims for the best possible results should be additive in form. It refers to the

immersive and maintenance method, which is additive bilingual, in which they add another

socially relevant language to the child's skill base without replacing their native language. In

this way, the child will not feel isolated from society and will be able to continue receiving

education without interference. However, the German jurisdiction seem to disregard these

departures only to discriminate Turks, because Turkey is not a member of the European

Union, which makes Germany a notion of immigration. Therefore, it seems that every child

has the right to receive bilingual education, but those who can do the right thing do not take

any actions towards it because of political concerns.

In the context of the history of ethnic conflicts, a policy that recognizes diversity and

finds ways to adapt to different cultures is a must for a peaceful society. It is completely

understandable there to be an official language for a country in the sake of a healthy

communication if every member of the community is included. Most of the time it has been
pursued without consultation of the speakers of minority languages and without thorough

consideration for their rights which polarizes the society to irreversible extent. A person’s

language is one of the most important part of her or his identity. Further its token value lies a

practical one which helps a person to become an intellectual. In the same context taking away

a person’s linguistic rights and not applying them properly also effects their participation in

public life. Mijatović (2019) stated, excluding them from discussions, or carrying out only

token consultations, has led to social unrest and the further alienation of minorities in different

countries, referring to the ethnic minorities. Hence, before adopting new measures to organize

language use, authorities must carefully appraise the impact of such measures, especially the

impact on ethnic minority populations. Mijatović (2019) stresses importantly, a particularly

important incentive is to ensure that there are enough opportunities for learning the state or

official language and that the offer is accessible and of adequate quality. Instructors should be

educated and conversant with both languages thoroughly to be qualified to both understand

and teach her or his scholar. In addition, the lecturer must be familiar and polite with language

rights. Separation not only discriminates children, but also damages children’s cognitive

abilities. The only way to make a child believe existence is unilateral, will not only harm her

or him, but also harm social issues by dividing the child’s ideology. Which, in the end creates

a polarized society. So, defending and promoting bilingual education creates a healthy and

balanced society.

It is crucial for immigrant children to have access to a bilingual education, to be an

individual and a part of the society. Education is a basic human right and every people have a

linguistic right to receive it in their own language. It is discrimination of a culture to not

provide and acknowledge these rights. Authorities have a big responsibility on this issue and

have power to supply the decent conditions to eliminate segregation. Understanding each

other is the most important element of being a fully functioning community. For the purpose
of creating that environment, bilingual education provides primal need of immigrant children,

it can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who are not.
 Reference

Beck, E. (1999). Language Rights and Turkish Children in Germany.

Mijatović, D. (2019). Language Policies Should Accommodate Diversity, Protect Minority

Rights and Defuse Tensions.

Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1994). Linguistic Human Rights: A Prerequisite for Bilingualism.

Skutnabb-Kangas, T. & Phillipson, R. (1997). Linguistic human rights, past and present.

Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1999). Linguistic Human Rights—Are You Naive, or What?

Dunbar, R. (2008). Minority Language Rights in International Law.