EQUITY
Pass the Mic
United for
Bilingual Education
Juan Valdez, Diane Rodríguez, and Elisa Alvarez report on the movement to establish the
Dominican Republic as a truly bilingual society
A
s we move further into the mil-
lennium, many national and local
educational systems are considering
how best to meet the changing needs and
demands they face, especially in developing
countries. Arising from those reflections is an
increased interest in teachers and teach-
er training because teachers are uniquely
positioned to implement any changes with
children and youth. In this context is the
34
edited by Ayanna Cooper
Dominican Republic (DR), a developing
country situated in the Caribbean, sharing its
island with Haiti. Rich in cultural diversity and
natural resources, the DR has a population
of just under 11 million. Santo Domingo is its
capital and largest city, as well as the largest
metropolitan area in the Caribbean by pop-
ulation, hosting more than 36% of the 3.5
million national public-school student pop-
ulation. The official language is Spanish and
languagemagazine.com
English is taught as a Foreign Language to
more than 1.3 million public-school students.
Dominican Republic TESOL (DR-TESOL) is
officially advocating for the approval of the
Law of English as a Second Language and
the continuity of the Situated English Teacher
Training Strategy in over 500 public schools
all around the country.
Understanding who teachers are, and
how they see themselves, becomes increas-
ingly important as educators, policymakers,
and communities consider what they want
their educational system to accomplish. This
seems especially important now, when many
teacher-training programs, such as those in
the DR, are facing major reforms and restruc-
turing. Educational research and literature
often recognize that teacher identity is a key
factor that influences teachers’ sense of pur-
pose, self-efficacy, motivation, commitment,
job satisfaction and effectiveness (Cummins,
2021; Wernicke, Hansen, & Schroedler,
2021). Intertwined with teacher preparation
are the students’ learning outcomes. In this
case, history will begin to be made in the
DR, because it will allow students to become
bilingual citizens with skills to excel in the
workplace, and with greater capability to
interact with a larger portion of the world’s
people.
Current State of Bilingual Education
The educational system in the DR is regulat-
ed and administered by the Ministry of Ed-
ucation. Education is a right for all children
and youth. However, bilingual education
is limited. Even though teaching English
in school has been mandatory since 1961,
English language learning in school has
never been a priority for the local authorities.
English teachers complain that the subject
July 2022

is regarded as a façade and considered by
many as a merely a gesture in the school
curriculum. Consequently, for the last 60
years, all Dominican public-school students
have been destined to monolingualism, in
contrast to the small number of students
from middle and high-income families who
are the only ones afforded an international,
bilingual school.
This is considered by Dominican Repub-
lic TESOL as the biggest factor of educa-
tional injustice and inequality in the country.
This is why, in 2014, DR-TESOL started the
movement for a Bilingual Republic. English
teachers in Dominican public schools have
demonstrated for years their commitment to
their professional development and their will-
ingness to give all their time and knowledge
to improve student learning outcomes.
If educators really want better learning
results, the first thing educators need is
an objective and scientifically valid vision
of a strong bilingual educational program,
which they have recently adopted with the
implementation of a Situated Professional
Development Strategy for Learning English
as a Foreign Language, for over 300,000
public-school students nationwide.
This strategy involves over 1,000 English
teachers in both primary and secondary
school, and is funded by the National
July 2022
Teacher Training Institute of the Dominican
Ministry of Education (INAFOCAM). This
strategy is defined as a situated, wholistic,
and simultaneous approach which involves
daily class observation and needs analysis,
the implementation of a reflective teaching
approach for public-school English class, the
provision of learning and teaching materials,
as well as continuing education programs on
Language Teacher Supervision, Language
Skills Development and Pedagogic Training.
Since this strategy was originally piloted,
designed, and proposed by local educa-
tors, DR-TESOL argues that this proves that
teachers and students are not the problem
of Dominican education but the solution,
contrary to what some local groups claim.
Benefits of Bilingual Education
Our world today presents global needs,
changes, and interdependencies we have
with one another. Information and commu-
nication technologies enable people from
various cultures to communicate and connect
with each other. Indirectly, digital technolo-
gy may be used to translate text from one
language to another, but errors in translation
certainly occur. The most important skill in
communicating with others is being able to
do so in their native language. Promoting
bilingualism in the 21st century is a responsi-
languagemagazine.com
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bility of educational institutions.
Language continues to be the bridge
that unites people from all walks of life. Mu-
sic is often celebrated as an art for sharing,
on a global platform, the sentiments of a
culture, including the struggles of a commu-
nity. Therefore, presenting our children with
the love of language in their early develop-
mental years is a gift to foster a society that
is empathetic, intuitive, and full of critical
thinkers.
Research states that bilingualism is
positively linked to improved student per-
formance. Bilingual students often pursue
higher education and become much more
comfortable integrating with multiple com-
munities (Cummins, 2021; Rodriguez, Carras-
quillo, Lee, 2014). The benefits of bilingual
education extend much further. Neurosci-
entists have also studied the implications of
proficiency in bilingual education and have
presented evidence to state that active use
of two or more languages helps protect the
brain against cognitive decline and age-relat-
ed dementia.
The commitment of every educational
institution is to prepare their students to be-
come contributors to society. As advocates
for children, we are to ensure that all schools
provide the children with an equitable
education. Bilingual education is equitable
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 EQUITY
education, and highly beneficial to students.
Promoting Bilingual Education: Massive
Communication Effort
For many people, the goal of becoming a bi-
lingual country is not a new idea. Eight years
ago, a group of educators in the Dominican
Republic established the Dominican Republic
TESOL (DR-TESOL), a national association
of professionals and aspiring profession-
als whose main goal is to develop quality
teaching and learning of English in the Do-
minican public schools through professional
development, research, and advocacy. Since
2014, DR-TESOL has maintained a massive
communication campaign through TV, radio,
newspapers, and social media, in an effort
to raise public awareness about the need to
guarantee the learning of English in public
schools and to advocate for educational
justice and improvement.
In a study conducted by Professional
Training Systems, 90% of Dominican students
are highly interested and motivated to learn
English as a second language, 85% have
positive attitudes towards learning English
and 95% believe that learning English is very
ORA: 18073107-IRB01 Date IRB Approved: 12/28/2020 Amendment Date: 7/28/2022
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36
important and a highly transferable academic traditional political barriers faced by teachers
skill (Valdez, 2013). Accordingly, Dominican and students in trying to improve English
Republic TESOL maintains that in order to proficiency levels in public schools. Accord-
deliver effective and equitable instruction in ing to DR-TESOL, empirical research shows
public-school English programs, the edu- that having English as an official subject
cational system, at all levels, must address of the school curriculum has not proven
the curriculum, instructional methodology, sufficient in 60 years; rather, implementing
teacher preparation and support systems, a legally sustained, national strategy for the
student proficiency levels, and school system improvement of English language learning is
policies and context. required.
For successful implementation, the This law aspires to guarantee that more
government must also allocate financial re- than 2.3 million children and youth have
sources to guarantee the continuity of efforts access to quality English language learning
like this and the dissemination of research in all public schools, from 4th to 12th grade,
and information about bilingual education. and that thousands of local teachers be
Both advocacy and research are important internationally certified in teaching English as
to propel the learning of English as a foreign a Second or Foreign Language.
language to all school-age children and
youth throughout the country. The study by Enhancing Bilingual Education: DR-TESOL
Professional Training Systems, referenced Convention
above, also reveals that the discontinuity of The 8th Annual International Convention of
well-established programs like this, and the Dominican Republic TESOL was an event
absence of research to sustain the implemen- of great impact and inspiration for teachers
tation of learning programs have tradition- of English in the country. Over a thousand
ally been the main causes of stagnation in English as a Foreign Language teachers from
monolingualism, which Dominican pub- all over the country attended the convention.
lic-school students have suffered for the last In the opening plenary, Dr. Socorro Herrera,
six decades. professor and director of the Center for In-
tercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA)
Laws and Policies of Kansas State University, discussed the
Concerning Bilingual theme of the development of bilingualism
Education as an asset important for Dominican public
For the last two years, education.
Dominican Republic She addressed the tensions and bound-
TESOL has demand- aries that limit us, colleagues, and students in
ed that Congress ap-
prove the proposed
seeing bilingualism as an asset.
The DR-TESOL conference engaged the
Law of English as a teachers in attendance with an abundance of
Second Language topics:
which was submitted 1. Playing with language: Bilingualism and
to the Congressio- social life;
nal Commission of 2. The qualities of an exceptional language
Education in 2020. teacher;
The Law of English as 3. Translanguaging: Tips to leverage stu-
a Second Language is dents’ linguistic resources; (d) Teaching
an effort to guarantee English as a foreign language using
Contact us at the implementation universal design for learning principles;
VESIP -Spanish@rush. edu and continuity of a 4. Critical thinking for bilingual classrooms;
or call/text 773-234-5776. comprehensive and 5. Language teacher supervision;
well-developed En- 6. Activating conversational competence;
glish Language Learn- 7. Engaging reluctant learners;
ing policy framework. 8. The bilingual advantage;
DR-TESOL main- 9. Academic success of English learners;
tains that a strong 10. The secret to encouraging beginning
Scan the code or visit legal foundation to English learners; and
r nbc. or g/ r e s ea r ch/ v e s ip guarantee the right 11. You have more influence than you think.
to learn more!
to learning English
is essential in order Dr. Ayanna Cooper, consultant and advo-
to overcome the cate for culturally and linguistically diverse
languagemagazine.com July 2022

learners, provided the closing plenary. Dr.
Cooper focused on the need to know for
making informed decisions within your own
educational settings.
Conclusion
Education is presented as a multifaceted
phenomenon of global scope, which follows
very different trajectories in each nation-
al context. In this sense, The Dominican
Republic represents a case that distinguishes
a movement of a very different nature, the
proponent of a new law to guarantee the
learning of English as the second language
in all public schools.
This work is a reflection upon a shared
humanity, focusing on the role of critical
innovation, which calls for stepping outside
our habits of seeing and doing and moving
toward transformation of perspectives and
systems for all learners. We propose that the
Dominican Republic Ministry of Education
continue to support the implementation
of the national Situated English Teacher
Training Strategy in schools all around the
country, which focuses on the development
of educational programs to raise the level of
July 2022
language proficiency and pedagogical skills
for all teachers; review the national English
curriculum through a process of national
consensus and consultation, maintain a
system of support and follow-up to the de-
velopment and performance of this English
program, at a regional and district level; and
establish new policies to language learning
and teaching in the Dominican Republic. We
offer those proposals because, as a nation,
we cannot afford any more inconsistency and
discontinuity.
Teaching English as a Foreign Language
in the Dominican Republic is poised to con-
tribute knowledge to cross-cultural dynamics
of classroom settings in K-12 public schools;
development and implementation of appro-
priate curricula; and provision of effective
teaching strategies for fostering literacy
development and the acquisition of compe-
tence in two languages.
The proposed initiative offers new
perspectives on challenges, strengths,
and growth to educating and graduating
bilingual public-school students, providing
insights into the theme, United for Bilingual
Education.
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References
Cummins, J. (2021). Rethinking the Educa-
tion of Multilingual Learners. Multilingual
Matters.
Rodríguez, D., Carrasquillo, A., & Lee, S.
(2014). The bilingual advantage: Promoting
academic development and biliteracy
through native language in the classroom.
New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Valdez, J. (2013). Why English is not learned
in Dominican Public Schools, Professional
Training Systems.
Wernicke, H. S., Hansen, A., & Schroedler,
T. (Eds.). (2021). Preparing Teachers to work
with Multilingual Learners. Multilingual
Matters.
Juan Valdez is director of Professional
Development Systems, executive director of
The Education Observatory, and president of
Dominican Republic TESOL.
Diane Rodríguez is professor and associate
dean, Graduate School of Education, Ford-
ham University.
Elisa Alvarez is New York State associate
commissioner of the Office of Bilingual Edu-
cation and World Languages.
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