The Bilingual Classroom

 

"Because I wrongly imagined that English was intrinsically a public language

and Spanish an intrinsically private one, I easily noted the difference between

classroom language and the language of home."

I never thought about a private and public language.  As a person who grew up with only one language, I never thought about the idea of a public and private language.  The school in which I work has a large Spanish speaking population.  When one of my bilingual students needs to be picked up for health reasons, or just to relay a message, many times the students need to speak with their families.  The student and their family member speak to each other in Spanish.  This is their home language and incorporating not only Spanish, but other languages found in school into the curriculum would enhance the students' developing self-awareness.  Providing access to other languages at a young age allows students to acknowledge, become versed in, and create a respect for languages other than English. 

"Laughing, we would try to define words

we could not pronounce. We played with strange English sounds, often over-

anglicizing our pronunciations. And we filled the smiling gaps ofour sentences

with familiar Spanish sounds."

When my son was in high school, he took Spanish.  He was very good at this language and picked it up quickly.  I remember him saying it was too bad the entire family wasn't taking Spanish so that we could all practice at home.  Watching the videos, it is evident that learning other languages takes time.  Being able to practice at home helps students learn the social language.  This quote personifies the closeness of a family learning through practice.  They laughed together as them embarked on this journey of the English language.  It is simultaneously sad as you see that they are moving away from their "home" language as the learn the "public" language.  While it was nice that they were learning together, one gets a sense from the author that they were losing what kept them unique in his mind. 

"Today I hear bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of tindividual-

ity' by becoming assimilated into public society."

This quote made me feel sad.  I respect all peoples individuality.  I feel individuals bring a part of themselves to the group that only makes the group better.  Do bilingual students recognize this loss of identity as they assimilate into the public language?  I don't know if their work learning the public language makes them more excited to be able to participate in classroom work and activities shadows this loss.  The teachers in the videos chose to incorporate different languages into the classroom.  Rather than complete assimilation, the teachers chose to encourage difference and create an environment that is more of a melting pot.  The classroom becomes one of respect for different languages and cultures.

Growing up I went to school at Woodlawn Catholic Regional in Pawtucket.  I quickly became friends with a girl who spoke English and Portuguese.  When I would visit her home, her family all spoke Portuguese.  I felt out of place and nervous.  I imagine this to be similar to those students who do not speak English entering an English speaking classroom for the first time.  Providing a space that include different languages and cultures empowers the entire classroom.  It encourages the students to feel included, no matter what the language or culture, and enhances learning.  The teachers in the video provide great insight and techniques on how to incorporate bilingualism into the classroom, even if you only speak one language.