D. Jill Savitt
There are numerous opinions and strategies that have emerged concerning bilingual education in America. The unit attempts to overview the history of bilingualism in this country; at the same time, a detailed justification for the necessity of bilingual programs for a growing Puerto Rican population in New Haven is presented. A convincing argument is made for the uniqueness of the Puerto Rican experience: youngsters are brought to the States for several years with the expectation that they will be returning to Puerto Rico after a brief interval. These students have bicultural identities that must be maintained through bilingual programs that are inherently holistic and that deal with both halves of the students’ worlds. Certainly important to the unit is the development of pride in both American and Puerto Rican culture. The lesson plans stress this need for identification through Puerto Rican literature. The lessons are divided by genre and include literary terms (defined in Spanish), vocabulary lists, and content questions. Finally, a brief review of biographical data for suggested authors is coupled with a short summary of the reading materials selected for study.
Key Words
Bilingualism Spanish English Literature Hispanic Puerto Rican General
