Pidgin and Creole Languages

My understanding of pidgin is different after reading the articles. If I am to understand correctly, pidgin is utterances or words made up in order to communicate with a person of a language different from the first speaker. This is used for a specific purpose, usually a work situation where no formal learning of a second language can take place in a short enough time to keep the project going. I picture pidgin occuring during the laying of the railroad in the west when the Chinese and other minoriites were used as laborers. In order to talk to other workers or the bosses, a way of communicating had to be invented quickly. Therefore, pidgin would satisfy the requirements. Since the words did not necessarily survive, and there was no need for the language after the job was completed, the pidgin did not develop into a creole, or combination of two languages.

Bilingual Education

As I was reading Porter's article on bilingual education, I kept saying "yes!". He has the statistics and studies to back up everything I've been thinking since I first got into ELL teaching and supervising. In my previous job, our ELL population was about 60% of the student body of 150 students. We were a small Catholic school so we received no federal funding. Therefore, our approach was not based on money but what worked for the student. Total immersion into the classroom where only English was spoken worked well. By year 3 almost all of the sutdents were approaching grade level. If there was a student who was not progressing at the expected rate, they were tested for learning disabilities and received the extra help that was needed.
At my current job, there is a center classroom that mimics the ones Porter wrote about. I have students who have been in the ELL classroom for 6 years. Something else is going on there! I had them tested and lo and behold, they have a learning disability. You can be ELL and have difficulty with learning. It's not just an Language thing!