Language is Power, Power is White
October 21, 2008 by ehaveman05
Every time I see a fat ‘C’ on my Spanish test, I’m reminded how much easier it would have come to me if I was 5, and not 23. I joke to my classmates that my 2-year-old daughter has retained more Spanish by watching Dora, than I have in two years of Spanish classes. While Spanish is closing in on us and flipping flopping our language percentages in schools, I feel she needs to know the language and the culture that surrounds her, now! Intertwining Spanish in our school curriculum would give Spanish speaking students a time to teach, to share and to feel purpose in the classroom, while the English speakers benefit with Second Language Acquisition and a cultural understanding of their brown classmates. This would bridge the gap between the two groups of children, much like the Service Learning project I wrote about a few weeks ago. Which is exactly what’s going on in Canada–naturally, as they ARE the peacemakers. The Forest Grove School District is practicing a TWI (Two-Way Immersion) program to help cross cultural barriers.
Forest Grove has two classrooms for each grade 1st-4th of TWI classes. Their reasoning for starting so early:
”children are able to absorb and retain information–including learning a second language–best while they are very young.”
In one classroom, they practice learning centers, a typical method of learning for 3rd graders; however, these centers are “literacy centers” and students are paired with the opposite language speaker. (1 English, 1 Spanish). The centers each focused “on a different skill: comprehension, vocabulary, fluence or indendent reading”. At one center, the teacher witnesses specific evidence that her program is working. Two students were practicing vocab. with Spanish/English flashcards. The students responded to her,
“If I have trouble speaking in Spanish, she helps me to try the words out, ” said Breanna (English speaker).
“She helps me to learn more English so that in the future I can kow all my words. That way, I can get a better job, ” Erica, a Spanish speaking student reasoned.
These kids are 9-years-old and they already get the seriousness of English langauge lerning. If Erica doesn’t learn this universal language, she won’t go places after graduation. Jobs aren’t usually on the minds of 9-year-old. If I had to guess, Erica is reminded of the relevance each time she returns home to her Spanish speaking parents who are struggling without English.
On the flip side, parents of each langauge are also getting involved. English speaking mothers have enrolled in Spanish classes to keep up with their grade school children, while Spanish speaking parents are learning a little English from their kids, but more importantly they are seeing a future in their children;s eyes.
Children are becoming friends and “at recess, there are no cultural lines–that’s really great to see.” (Martinez, teacher). Unfortunately, this article, “Schools’ bilingual program a hit with students” was in the local Forest Grove paper because the program is on the ballot to be cut this fall.
So, why are we cutting this program? Voters argue that the cut is
“motivated by fear,”
much like the bill that pulled scholarships from minority college students in 2007, in the US. A club member also states she feels there is “national confusion over immigration rights, it could gain traction here. I hope it doesn’t happen.”
This program has shown amazing progress and potential for English and Spanish speaking students and their parents and community. However, langauge is power in this world. Apparently, that scares the hell out of some legislators; having an equally spoken melting pot might bring new inspiration and ideas to the table. Besides, if you don’t speak American you’re not worth listening to anyway, right?!
“Schools’ bilingual program a hit with students” by: Nancy Townsley
The Forest Grove News-Times, Oct 8, 2008
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments
Leave a Reply
First off, I definitely agree with you on how second languages should be intertwined with English in early education. I think being bilingual fosters learning on many different levels. However, I am not so sure if Spanish should be the assumed second language for English speakers. It seems that we are still going with a majority even if it is currently a minority. I would rather see a variety of languages offered and introduced at an early stage and leave it up to the students as to which language they want to learn. It seems that everyone is focused on Spanish so intently that we forget about the other languages and groups that make up America. For example, it could be argued that learning Chinese could be just as beneficial for a student later on in his or her career.
I never thought about teaching more than one language…that’s a great idea, ideally. I ‘m afraid that if more than one or two languages were proposed on a curiculum we would find ourselves proposing an alternative school or specialized charter school. I guess Spanish becomes the 2nd langauge taught because the majority of native speakers speak Spanish. The same way we chose to teach our mainstream classes in English becuase the majority of American students speak English, or at least they did until a few years ago. It goes to show that our school districts are based on the same democratic critiria that our country is founded on! So, although I think your idea is great, I’m really unsure how to get the funding and time to squeeze it into a public school setting. If you’ve thought this further, I’d be curious to hear your ideas! Thanks for posting!
From my child psychology class and my Teaching ESL class, I have come to the conclusion that two-way immersion is the best way to foster bilingual students. I think that these classes are the best possible way to teach students new information and a new language. Studies have shown that when students are in ESL classes their content is often “dumbed down” a little for fear that they cannot learn the English and the information at the same time. This is the reason that I feel two-way immersion is so effective. However, in assessment we still need to remember that it takes 7-10 years for an English Language Learner to develop academic language. I’m not sure how long it takes to go from knowing English to learning another language at an academic level, but it will not be until around the end of their high school careers that we will have students who are truly proficient in both languages. Thus, the immersion program must start in elementary school and go through high school.
[...] http://ehaveman05.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/language-is-power-power-is-white/#comment-16 [...]