GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
The American public strongly supports the idea of the "immersion" of non-English-speaking public school students in regular classes, by a 63% to 33% margin. These national poll results closely mirror the results of a ballot initiative approved by California voters earlier this week which called for the elimination of bilingual education in that state.
Proposition 227, approved by a 61% to 39% margin, generally outlaws bilingual education in California in favor of programs which provide a year of intensive English instruction followed by transition into regular classrooms. A good deal of speculation since Tuesday's (June 2) election has focused on the implications of the initiative on bilingual programs elsewhere across the country.
Gallup poll results from a May survey show that Americans are generally in agreement with California voters in their opposition to bilingual education. The Gallup question offered two options: bilingual education, which provides for teaching students in their native language with gradual transition to English, or immersion, which means teaching students in English while providing intensive training in how to read and speak English. The public chose the immersion option by a 63% to 33% margin, quite similar to the results in California.
Young Americans Most in Favor of Bilingual
Education
Exit polls in California showed that white voters supported the
initiative at a significantly higher level than did others. Across
the United States, however, there is little difference in support
for immersion versus bilingual education between whites and
non-whites. The biggest differences are in terms of age, with young
people--particularly those 18-29--significantly more in favor of
bilingual education than are older Americans. Liberals are also
stronger in their support than are conservatives, although the
immersion method wins among all ideological groups.
Current Results Similar to Those Measured in Gallup Polls
Since 1980
Support for bilingual education has been weak in Gallup surveys
conducted for the past twenty years for Phi Delta Kappa, the
national education society. In 1980, an overwhelming 82% of the
public approved requiring children who cannot speak English to
"learn English in special classes before they are enrolled in
public schools." In 1988 the following question-- "Would you favor
or oppose the local public schools providing instruction in a
student's native language, whatever it is, in order to help him or
her become a more successful learner?"--received only 42% approval,
with a plurality, 49%, disapproving.
A poll in 1993 offered three choices for dealing with students who do not speak English. Only 27% of the public supported an alternative of providing instruction in the students' native languages while they learn English. The rest preferred requiring students to learn English in special classes before receiving instruction in any other subjects (46%) or the more Draconian solution of requiring students to learn English in classes paid for at their parents' expense before being allowed to enroll in public schools (25%).
Methodology
The current results are based on telephone interviews with a
randomly selected national sample of 1,005 adults, conducted May
8-10, 1998. For results based on a sample of this size, one can say
with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling
and other random effects could be as much as plus or minus 3
percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording
and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce
error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
When there are a large number of non-English speaking students in a public school, these students are usually taught using one of the following two methods. After I read both methods, please tell me which one you prefer -- bilingual education, which means teaching these students their core subjects such as math and history in their native language, while providing them gradual training in how to read and speak English, or, immersion, which means teaching these students all of their subjects in English, while giving them intensive training in how to read and speak English. (ROTATED)
| Immersion | 63% |
| Bilingual | 33 |
| Both/depends (vol.) | 1 |
| Neither/other (vol.) | 14 |
| No opinion | 2 100% |