Developing literacy skills in L1 reduces the risk of reading failure. Biliteracy is a positive and beneficial outcome of dual language instruction . Content-area knowledge is enhanced and accelerated by the use of students' L1. The exclusive use of English is advantageous and does no harm to students. Parents should also be encouraged not to speak a language other than English to their children in the home.
All human beings are dependent upon language for communication.
Students who come to school with a fully developed language other than English benefit from the use of their language as a medium of instruction. Students can be profoundly harmed by negative messages about the value of their language and culture. Bilingualism and bilingual education builds connections between the home and school to enhance learning. Furthermore, it is a grave concern to parents of children who are in the process of becoming bilingual that they cannot express themselves fully during their first years of schooling in an English-only environment. Language minority children are therefore denied an equal opportunity to learn in school.