Language Barrier

Re “Look Beyond Learning English,” Voices, Feb. 24: I teach freshman composition at a local college, and I applaud the ability of my bilingual students to effectively process information that is given to them in English. My American students, many of whom have only a nodding acquaintance with a foreign language, are the ones who have difficulty with processing information, following instructions and writing essays that are appropriate to the topic.

Further, my American students often display an alarming attitude of entitlement--a trait that my bilingual students, for the most part, lack. I attribute these differences to bilingualism, and what Domenico Maceri states researchers call the “ ‘plasticity’ of the brain.” If American students are immersed in a foreign language at an early age, perhaps the work they do, as well as their attitude toward education, will improve.

FRANCIEN ROHRBACHER

Los Angeles