Chipanglish » Language Education

Arizona Immigration and Education

Peter — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:46:55 +0000

A blogger for the Wall Street Journal has written a post commenting on the impact the immigration law may have on education.

The new law requires police to question anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. The educational implication for this may result in the arbitrary firing of teachers with heavy accents or have less than standard English syntax or morphology.

The reasoning given behind this is, “How can you expect a student learning English to learn it properly from someone who has trouble with the language himself or herself? Whether it be through clarity of pronunciation, mixing syntax and morphology, or otherwise ‘mangling’ the language?”

The question at the core is how to deem one person more “American” than the next, using linguistics as a tool. I know many children who are US born to immigrant parents who speak with accented English and have less than perfect syntax because they learned English simultaneously as their native tongue. Others have become naturalized citizens, are hard-working professionals, who just happen to have accents as English was not their first language. Though they are US Citizens, this new law could potentially threaten the employment of Arizona teachers in these situations.

First, nobody speaks “perfect” English. We all use slang, mix tenses, leave prepositions at the end of sentences, etc. If grammar and spelling were markers for teaching employment, a large majority of teachers would find themselves with pink slips. (I was in a classroom today where the teacher had written “grammer” on the board.) Or what about the many students (and teachers) who consistently mix up “there”, “their”, and “they’re”? Or those who write, “should of” instead of “should have”? Should those individuals be interrogated too?

Second, what about regional accents? There are many accents within our nation that people from outside that geographic region find difficult to understand. Fran Drescher’s New York accent? Or what about a heavy Southern drawl? Or the nasal accent associated with “Wes-caaaahn-sin”?

While I understand why this law was passed and the intention behind it, the whole thing just seems poorly thought out. I suspect it will affect many people in ways that its writers had not previously thought.

Bilingual School

Peter — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:36:46 +0000

I recently read a news article about a school in which I have been a substitute teacher. For reasons unknown to the general public, the principal and a teacher have been removed from their positions.

This is the only fully Spanish-bilingual school in a district with a high Latino population. Several other schools have bilingual classrooms, but at White Rock, every class is bilingual. In fact, all classroom teachers are required to speak, read, and write Spanish at the fluency of a native speaker.

What bothers me most are the comments from the public that accompany the article such as, (paraphrasing) “Learn to speak English, this is America… stop wasting my tax dollars.”

First, even at the kindergarten level, most students are fluent in spoken English. The students who come from Spanish speaking households are on par with their native English speaking peers in terms of literacy. As a non-Spanish speaking teacher, I have had no linguistic troubles at the school.

Second, though the school is bilingual, many non-Spanish speaking students attend because of diversity.

Third, it is a school. The point of a school is to have a safe place where students can learn. What better place for students new to the country to learn the primary language here?

Finally, studies have shown that many minority families, particularly non-English speaking families, are apprehensive to be involved in their children’s school due to a language barrier. At White Rock, because most staff members speak Spanish, that fear is gone. Parents at White Rock are not afraid to speak to their children’s teachers and become active in education. Isn’t that what all schools strive for? Additionally, it is a powerful for students to see many of their own heritage as positive role models, instead of relying on stereotypes of what societal roles a Mexican immigrant can and cannot do.

While I do not know what is going on with the school, including rumors it may close or be repurposed as an administration building, it is a special place. The staff and students have been nothing but friendly and welcoming to all who pass through their doors.

An Interesting Debate on English Education at NYTimes.com

Elenita — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:36:04 +0000

Just a quick heads up: it looks like the NY Times has begun hosting a debate on immigration, and is starting with how to teach young children English.

We’ve talked about English education a lot here, but mostly in the context of English as the lingua franca. Learning a country’s dominant language (and I certainly don’t just mean the US here) as an immigrant–or the child-citizen of immigrants–is very different with a very different set of issues, and I’m not sure where I stand on many of them.

Apparently, a feature article on “a Virginia school district that segregates students who are the children of immigrants, and who don’t speak English well, to make it easier to give them intensive support” will be published this weekend. Possibly, this will help clarify my own views; either way, I suspect I’ll post afterwards with my reactions. But, in the meantime, I found the related debate to be fascinating, and encourage people to check it out.

Update: Article now available. Started and restarted multiple drafts of my response–this may take awhile.

English: The Official Language… in school?

Peter — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:36:11 +0000

I came across an article while looking up states with English as an official language for my comment on a previous post.

This substitute teacher required students to sign a contract stating they would only use English in school, threatening to use the contract as a test grade, in order to get students to comply.

SERIOUSLY?

First off, as a fellow substitute teacher, what was this person thinking trying enact a school-wide policy change without consulting any of the administration?

For curiosity’s sake, I went to the school’s website. The school offers bilingual courses for many core subjects for students freshmen through seniors. Additionally, their World Languages department offers courses in American Sign Language, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish.

I wonder how that substitute planned to enforce her absurd policy. Unfortunately, some students agree with her; or worse, they see nothing wrong with such a policy.

Foreign Language in Kindergarten: Yay or Nay?

Yvonne — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:08:48 +0000

The Washington Post ran an article today on foreign language programs for young kids. It’s generally near the top of education reformers’ wish lists, but I tend to think it’s a misguided use of education dollars.

While it is true that young children pick up language almost effortlessly, it does not follow that introducing foreign language early into the curriculum gets you the most bang for your buck. For one, a sixteen-year-old learns much faster than a six-year-old. You’ll cover more ground in one semester of high school Spanish than several years of elementary school Spanish.

I also haven’t seen any data that demonstrates the efficacy of introducing foreign language into the curriculum at a young age. Both my parents and my husband grew up in non-English-speaking countries with many, many years of mandatory English instruction and the vast majority of people in those countries can only say a few isolated things.

Virtually all of the language research I’ve read converges on one thing: immersion is key. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to move to a different country, but you must speak, hear, read, and write a second language consistently to become fluent. Your average foreign language class is not going to suffice (though an immersion school would).

What if fluency isn’t the goal, as the above article says?

“The kids getting it for 30 minutes won’t become fluent, but that’s not the point of those programs,” said Julie Sugarman, research associate at the nonprofit Center for Applied Linguistics in the District. “It’s to give them exposure to the language. Just because kids aren’t able to do calculus in sixth grade doesn’t mean we shouldn’t teach math in elementary school.”

The math analogy fails on a number of levels and I personally find mere “exposure” to be a shoddy reason to spend taxpayer money. If the goal isn’t fluency, fine. But then educators should set some other learning goal for students to meet, otherwise there’s no point.

I’m aware that my opinion is basically heresy in many education and polyglot circles. Let the debate ensue.

Chipanglish » Language Education

Arizona Immigration and Education

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