When we began this program in Spring Quarter, I worked with
a group exploring the best ways to help English Language Learners. Based on what we learned, I felt very
strongly that it was much better to use a bi-lingual approach. I assumed that the earlier the student
started, the better. It would be so much
easier to learn English when they were still forming their language
skills. I did not realize the variety or
intensity of the impacts that learning English too soon would have on a young
student.
Near the beginning of the Fillmore article I wrote the following in
the margin “can’t we retain the funding and the early education programs but
make them bi-lingual?” I was referring
to the head start programs that had been made available to language-minority
children. My comment is now amended with
a highlighted arrow and a note that says “see p. 333.” That is the beginning of where I began to
read about the effects of learning English too soon. I had not considered that children would feel
that speaking English had so much social currency that they would simply give
up their home language. I did place a
tremendous amount of importance on maintaining the home language as a part of
their identity. I did not think about
how important it would be for maintaining relationships in their
family. I was heartbroken by the thought
of a 2nd grader coming home and no longer being able to have a
meaningful conversation with their parents.
I spend so much time trying to choose my words carefully when I speak to
my own children about social and personal issues. I cannot imagine how devastating it would be
to not have the language skills to discuss my own values, thoughts, and ideas
with them.
Often in this program, my eyes are opened to the unintentional
and damaging effects of a program developed to be helpful by a well-meaning,
but uninformed group. Are we simply too
ego-centric? How do we educate ourselves
to understand the far-reaching effects of the decisions that we make? How do we climb outside of our own “knapsack?”
Thank you for your post. I've been thinking of this too, especially with Fillmore's article and a recent experience at my main placement. On Thursday, I sat in on parent-teacher conferences all afternoon. This was enlightening, having never experienced one before, ever. I was able to see how my CT chose to organize the meetings, how she began, how she ended, the things she did say, and very clearly didn't. We met with a mother of one of 2nd graders. She speaks only Mandarin. We were aware of this and my CT worked to schedule an interpreter for the meeting. Her daughter was exited from ELL services at the end of 1st grade. She is doing so well academically in all areas, not to mention she is genuinely one of the happiest kids I've ever known! It was helpful to see how a meeting goes with an interpreter. The parent seemed very agreeable and excited about her child, but she asked if we'd work on her handwriting more because she feels it is messy. We don't necessarily feel like that so we talked it through and explained that her handwriting is quite good, but she insisted, so we agreed to pay attention to it. Anyway, what I thought during the meeting as I listened to this beautiful language and watched this wonderful parent in front of me, and knowing that the student's English is so good, I felt sad for the parent. Will our student speak more and more English at home to her mom? And only speak Mandarin when needed? What about her grandparents, and their traditions? All of your questions are great ones, and though I don't have answers, I just know we need to keep this other perspective in mind when thinking about ELLs. I'm sure our eyes will continue to be opened...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your ideas here about ELL education. I think we need to take a step back, which this program requires of us constantly, and really think about the unintentional consequences our teaching practices can have on the lives of children both in and outside of school. It is a tough balance of need for English in this society, and the importance of continuing to learn and maintain their home languages. I had not thoughtfully visited this idea before our readings this week. Great reflection, thanks for sharing!
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