The competent bilingual in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, despite official educational policy mandating Englishas-a-second-language instruction in grades 1-12, many students enter the university lacking sufficient proficiency in English to carry out basic communicative functions. The Situation results from a generalized ambivalence among the Spanish-speaking populace, which simultaneously Supports English language acquisition and covertly resists it. Nevertheless, significant numbers of Puerto Ricans are adept in English and can be characterized as competent bilinguals. In order to determine the overall Parameters of this Situation, a qualitative investigation was carried out. Thirty bilingual individuals connected with the University of Puerto Rico were interviewed in-depth in an attempt to ascertain the social and educational factors involved in the development of competent bilinguals. The ultimate goal would be to utilize these findings to improve existing instruction so that more Puerto Rican students could become good learners and eventually competent bilinguals.