Reflection:
As I read Phibben’s
article, “How One Law Banning Ethnic Studies Led to Its Rise,” I reflected on
the experiences of those Spanish-speaking students enrolled in my classes each
year. When a student’s first language is Spanish, he or she is often placed in upper
level Spanish courses. This seems logical and it happens for a couple of
reasons. First, the initial weeks of the entry-level sections are spent reviewing
concepts that native speakers have mastered before entering kindergarten. Consequently,
those students quickly become bored with the material. Secondly, often the
assumption is made that Spanish-speaking students read and write in their first
language with the same fluency as they speak. As much as our curriculum
promotes conversational fluency, the reality is our classes are also heavily
focused on literacy. This can be problematic for our heritage speakers and, in
some cases, works against their potential for success in Spanish class. As an
example, in our honors curriculum students are penalized one half point on tests
for each misspelled vocabulary word and, I should note, the misuse of accent
marks qualifies as a misspelling. One can imagine how a student who has only
ever spoken Spanish would struggle to succeed on this type of assessment.
A possible solution for this
issue is a Spanish course designed for heritage speakers. Perhaps this type of
course could address students’ gaps in literacy, and also spend more meaningful
time on the study of history and culture. Due to the range of skill levels
found amongst my heritage speakers, it might be difficult to determine which
class each should take. It may also be difficult to create a fluid curriculum
that can address both literacy skills and ethnic studies that touch on all
Spanish-speaking cultures. I envision a quality heritage program to offer
various levels, much like our regular Spanish courses. This way, students can
focus on multiple skills and various histories or pieces of literature as they
progress through the program. An important thing to consider, however, is how
heritage speakers themselves might feel about enrolling in this type of course.
More specifically, I wonder if Richard Rodriguez would have felt disdain toward
heritage speaker classes, as enrollment in such a class might be a direct
correlation to one’s race rather than one’s interests or cultural identity.
Related to this, I have
to mention that I was fascinated by Hunger
of Memory by Richard Rodriguez. His straddling of two languages, and by
extension two worlds, in and outside of school mirrors some situations I have
seen Spanish-speaking students face. Often, a student who carries a Latino last
name is looked to by other students as the resident expert in Spanish class.
However, this label has proven burdensome to those who have distanced
themselves from their home language on account of assimilation or social
mobility and perhaps have parents who do not speak Spanish at home. I was
feeling mixed emotions when I read that Rodriguez’s parents began to make a conscious
effort to speak English at home in place of their first language. One part of
me understood this decision, because as advocates of earning an education, they
wanted their children to have full access to the education provided in American
public schools. However, the other part of me felt sad when I considered what
this family may have lost in striving to assimilate.
Toward the end of the
autobiography, we learn about Rodriguez’s strife and loneliness while writing
this book. He felt the need to ignore his mother’s plea to not reveal his family’s
personal world to the gringos, and yet
her plea speaks to one of the important takeaways of this autobiography, which
is the fact that Rodriguez’s family in fact had two separate worlds: public and
private.
As passionate as Rodriguez
seemed about telling his story, I was very surprised to read that he has now
distanced himself from the man who wrote that book many years ago. As he
expressed to a student at the University of Houston, “a book finds an author at
a certain time” (Contreras, 2002). I would like to sit down with him today and
pick his brain about his current opinion regarding affirmative
action, bilingual education, the implementation of heritage speaker classes
and ethnics studies. Perhaps still he would prefer to distance himself from any
courses or reforms that identify or separate people by their backgrounds,
especially those that do not sufficiently serve those who are most in need.
Sharing:
This article makes an
argument against bilingual education and identifies some of its inherent flaws.
Because he had shown opposition to such programs, I think Rodriguez would relate
to this article at the time he wrote his autobiography.
This blog features a
Spanish teacher’s experience while instructing a heritage speaker’s class. She
acknowledges difficulty in placing students correctly due to their ranging
skill sets, something that I too anticipated to be a struggle. She also
highlights the heritage speaking students’ biggest challenge as reading. She
has identified this to be more of a literacy issue rather than a language-specific
issue. That is, those students who struggle in English reading also struggle
with Spanish reading.
https://senorab1972.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/my-experiences-teaching-spanish-as-a-heritage-language/
References:
Russell
Contreras. (2002, July 19). Brown Like Us? Texas Observer.
Hi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteIn my school district I do not think the students are placed in an academic Spanish class, but rather an ESOL class where the students are supported as they acquire English. As a college acceptance requirement in Florida, the students have to take two years of a foreign language and often times the Haitian students sign up for French and the Hispanic students sign up for Spanish thinking – much like in your school – that if they can speak the language they can formally read and write it successfully.
Often times I hear from my students that these foreign language classes are boring because it seems that the teacher focuses heavily on the language and not the culture of those foreign countries where French and Spanish are spoken. This I can understand! How boring is any subject when it is taught out of context?! I can understand the pros and cons to the situation Phibben wrote about regarding the teaching of ethnic history classes as part of the main curriculum. I would not support ethnic history courses if they were used to teach hatred for one country or another. But I highly doubt that this was ever the intention of any instructor or designer of these courses. These classes were so in demand and effective because they taught history and culture within a context that the students found engaging for personal or academic reasons. Imagine how much more successful acquiring a second language in school could be if it was taught in the context of the culture and history of another country – essentially the study of how that language has been used throughout history to connect people and ideas. Richard Rodriguez writes about this and how losing his native language was similar to losing the intimacy of his home culture.
I have seen in my school how students are pulled in two different directions when trying to assimilate into an American school. Frequently, friends of those ELL students who are working hard to be academically successful will ridicule their peers for doing so and are labeled as “not real black” or “not real Spanish.” Essentially ELL learners are mocked by their peers for not being true to the culture from which they came from because they are learning a new language and are slowly being pulled away from the environment that is typical of minority students. It’s unfortunate that those who want to stay true to their culture can view the social mobility that comes from successfully acquiring a second language so negatively.
In a class I took earlier this summer semester, I read an article that spoke out against the current labeling of ELL students as “lacking proficiency” in regards to language acquisition or academic progress when, in fact, ELL students are just the opposite. Knowing a second language and speaking one language at home and another at school is the furthest thing from a lack of proficiency. These students can do so much more than their unilingual peers and teachers can accomplish. Maybe part of the stigma where Rodriguez’s parents felt they needed to speak English at home to support their children, or the lack of academic success/motivation of ELL students is not initially because they do not want to assimilate but because they are given a negative label until they do.
DeleteI feel that Rodriguez would both support and not support heritage-speaking classes in the school system. Maybe he would be open to their implementation if these courses were not made mandatory but only taken by students – any kind of student – if it piques his or her interest. Until reading Hunger of Memory, I never really thought that ELL students could be so opposed and downtrodden about assimilating into an American school and acquiring English. It has given me a new perspective and sensitivity when working with ELL students. I would hate to think that any of the students in my school ever felt mocked or ashamed by their culture being represented in the school system while they were being forced to leave it behind. For example, every day the students say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag and have days off of school to observe American holidays. But, when Hispanic Heritage and Black History month roll around, students then see that it is okay for the school to discuss other cultures’ specific holidays and great leaders. Shouldn’t other cultures be represented all the time, and by those who know it best, rather than just at specifically sanctioned times of the year? We have created for ourselves a very tricky and complex system with the good intent of helping ELL students culturally assimilate while still respecting all of the nationalities that make up the student body. Like with everything, there is always room for improvement. Rodriguez’s book should become mandated reading for everyone in the education profession as a starting off point for reforming ELL education.
Great post!
Marissa Hoffman
Hi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post and the conversation it generated! Great stuff.
As a Spanish teacher, you raise a wealth of interesting points--both unique to your own post, but also in common with the other Spanish teachers in the class. There is definitely some thinking that our country needs to do when it comes to the support of bi-lingualism for all. Heritage speakers is a helpful concept but I'm almost starting to feel like it covers up as much as it hides. Because what seems to really matter is the attitude toward the home language and culture and the assumptions that educational institutions make as they interact with their clients.
This is tricky, because we want to honor the gifts and talents that students and families bring to school. On the other hand, what we see as a gift or talent may be something that the student or family doesn't even want acknowledged! Obviously, the family desire should win out, but how do we get to those beliefs, aspirations and attitudes without deep relationships? And should schools ever take a stance these days? Should we be encouraging parents to continue to speak their native languages in the home rather--I have read research from Canada that does just that!
It makes me think how much of our system is built on a factory model. It is increasingly hard to fit the diverse and complicated backgrounds of children in the square holes of curriculum! In theory, it should be so easy for us to take children who grew up with lots of exposure to Spanish and some passive fluency and lead them to greater literacy and fluency. But when we are required to do this through courses, textbooks, tests, and the like, the task becomes so much harder! As you and others have noted, you are probably dealing with at least five regional Spanishes in any heritage class and a wealth of family histories.
Richard's book is moving and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think you are right--it was not so much that he was against Affirmative Action and Bilingual Education, but against the boxes that people had to fit into to take advantage of those opportunities. I think, ultimately, what he is a defender of is the right of each person to create their own sense of self!
Great post!
Kyle