Re: William Burke’s letter, “Capable immigrants,” published April 27 in The Star:

I am amazed that the “common sense” principle is still driving political arguments.  Common sense, Burke indicates, contradicts the evidence of research that anyone can learn English and get a good job. “Common sense” also tells us the earth is flat and the sun revolves around the Earth, despite the research to the contrary.

My own experience as a student being schooled in another country, in a language not my native language, taught me a different lesson: It was a long and difficult journey, occasionally made somewhat easier by an encounter with an adult who spoke my native language (English) and provided the support I needed. I had the advantage of being literate in my own language, which allowed me to transfer many skills and to map many concepts I had already learned onto the new language.

Several decades spent teaching English to immigrant children and adults in this country confirmed to me what the research says: those students who have had some grounding in literacy in their native language will be far more successful than the children who begin school in English and never receive literacy instruction in a language they know.

Students today must be educated for a technological world; it is no longer possible to get a good job in this society without that type of education. While “common sense” may tell us that our older immigrant relatives were successful without schooling in the language they knew best, the facts indicate otherwise. How much more honest an argument against a particular group of learners would this be, rather than this anti-education bias masquerading as “common sense.”

— Mary B. Riggs, Newbury Park