Bilingual Education: An Opportunity for Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

Danielle Rogers, PharmD

PGY1 Pharmacy Resident

Children’s National Hospital

Bilingual education is defined as the teaching of academic content in two languages, in a native and second language.1 Varying amounts of each language are used depending on the outcome goal of the model. There are different program models used in bilingual education. A transitional model involves the use of a child’s home language when the child enters school, and later changes to the use of the school language only.2 The goal of this model is to transition students into an English-only classroom quickly. Maintenance bilingual education is another model that involves using the child’s home language when the child enters school, and then gradually changes to the use of the school language for some subjects and the native language for teaching other subjects.2 As the United States continues to become more diverse, with 18.4% of the population identifying as Hispanic or Latino, our education system must evolve as well.3 

As I progressed through professional school and begin to interact with patients, I quickly realized that a classroom that offered bilingual education would prove useful for interactions with patients who do not primarily speak English. Medical education focuses on teaching students to be sensitive and aware of other cultures, but we are not exposed to other languages in regard to communication skills and vocabulary.

The growing diversity of the United States provides an opportunity for medical education to amplify cultural diversity in the classroom to better prepare medical professionals for interactions with non-English speaking patients. By implementing bilingual education during professional school, students will be more prepared to provide optimal care. Counseling, medication reviews, and screening patients in their native language will allow for patient satisfaction, increased compliance with medications, and a sense of comfort that the healthcare provider is aware of other cultures.4

The number of non-English speaking residents continues to rise across the nation, the medical community must continue to meet the demand for bilingual or multilingual health care practitioners. Practitioners who speak multiple languages say that they have seen benefits in patient care, as well as personal benefits.4 When applying to medical residency programs, a medical student stated that she was sought out by various programs for her linguistic abilities. Regarding patient care, it has been said that knowing a patient’s language helps you build trust and a connection with your patients.4 This trust can lead to better patient outcomes and improved patient satisfaction.

References:

1. “The Benefits of Being Bilingual.” PracticeLink Magazine, 13 Jan. 2010, journal.practicelink.com/featured/the-benefits-of-being-bilingual/.

2. “Bilingual Education - What Is the Definition?” Renaissance, www.renaissance.com/edwords/bilingual-education/.

3. “Census Data.” Data.census.gov, data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?q=United+States.

4. Kamenetz, Anya. “6 Potential Brain Benefits Of Bilingual Education.” NPR, NPR, 29 Nov. 2016, www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/29/497943749/6-potential-brain-benefits-of-bilingual-education.