In other countries it seems the norm to introduce more than one language to children before the age of formal education in a traditional school setting; hence the increased numbers of bilingual citizens coming from other countries. Here in the United States it has typically been middle school where a student is finally given the opportunity to choose an academic course of another world language.
I know! I know! Some of you private schools offer early second language instruction, and even some of the public schools have ventured into a weekly visit from a world language instructor or maybe even started a dual language program. Today I want to discuss the masses, those who are touched by mainstream America which represents the majority of the
…show more content…
I felt this would give our child exposure to Spanish for a few hours at a time since our home was mainly English with a new Anglo husband and two bilingual sons from my former Latino husband.
What I did not realize was that such exposure to Spanish in an immersion format caused our daughter to become selectively mute only months later. To this day I still do not know for certain why she would shut down verbally for hours on end when in the presence of Spanish. It could be as simple as a server in a restaurant, a neighbor, or a child care provider in her new preschool. If any of them were Latino, she would not verbalize, she would not utter one word while in their presence.
It took us months and months of observation, research, investigating and pure agony as parents until we finally had the casual diagnosis made. And sure enough, once we removed our daughter from an environment that presented Spanish in an immersion setting, she would verbalize fine for a two year old. I continued to give her the gift of Spanish as her second language; I just never presented Spanish without English alongside it. This presentation of two languages is known as a true bilingual
…show more content…
What would you have done? I had known for a long time that the ideal situation to help my child become fluent and biliterate in Spanish and English would be to have me speak Spanish in our home while my husband spoke English. It is truly the best of both worlds experts agree, but I had agonized for months over what I felt I had done to our daughter. I had exposed her to Spanish using an immersion format which seemed to have resulted in her becoming selectively mute.
I could not feel good any longer about my belief in immersion for my daughter. Then I went on to teach at local preschools as a music resource teacher, and these children helped me to realize that immersion was not a successful format for the majority of young children who were hoping to get a fun jump start on learning a second language. Here is what happened in a nutshell: I went into the preschool and was ready to sing a new bilingual song about the days of the week I had written to the tune of a classic children melody called The Ten Little
Growing up Mexican-American in the United States can be a challenge itself. Throw in the task, of learning two languages, it made for a very confused little girl. There was often times growing up when I wondered why no one, but my family spoke Spanish. Why everyone at school and all my friends spoke this different language. Sometimes it even seemed like I was two different people.
That may be rough because they have to be bilingual for their parents. Adults and parents should take the Initiative to practice their English, to take a stand and maybe take online classes, go to school or even tell their children to teach them. They should take that stand because no child should ever have the responsibility to have matured situations for their
He came home from school one day, his parents were talking. It wasn’t until after they had switched to English that he realized they had been speaking Spanish. Now you would think having been born to English speaking parents, here in the United States, that I wouldn’t understand a language barrier. Growing up I watched my cousin struggle to communicate with others. He lost his hearing when he was 5 years old.
In the essay, "Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood", Richard Rodriguez explains his opinion on bilingual education based on his own childhood experience. He provides reasons why it would be retrogressive to permit the non-English speaking children use their family language as the language in school. In defending his positions, he provides three ideas to support his position: • The use of family language impedes child’s social growth. Insistence on using Spanish language at home made Rodriguez and his older sister and brother to be socially disadvantaged at school.
(Garcia, 2013). So I agree with this, children in order to be accepted in the culture of the country they are living they choose to speak only English, to feel part of the
In her article, “Teach Them Spanish Early, Too,” Carlene Carmichael questions why young Californians are not being taught a basic understanding of both the English and the Spanish language. Carmichael contends that more job opportunities are available to bilingual applicants. She suggest that children could be taught both languages together from a young age. Carmichael pities the many Americans who are barred from employment at bilingual businesses because of this disadvantage and she wonders if anyone else feels the same. Carmichael’s suggestion to offer Spanish curriculum to young children and teach both English and Spanish at the same time makes a lot of sense; After all, California does recognize both English and Spanish as official
There are two type of families. There is one family that speak only English and the other one that speak their home language and English in their household. Those type of families that speak two or more languages in their household are mostly immigrants that move to the United States. Their child or children will grow up speaking perfect English while their parents will speak poor English. In Amy Tan “Mother Tongue”, she talks about how without proper English it is sometimes difficult to get through daily life.
The parent’s perspective towards bilingual education was like the student’s opinions because both individuals felt immersion classrooms benefit the students and the parents. The father of Jason was proud his son was the first in his family to read, write, and speak in English. Jason’s father knew his son would have many career opportunities by learning English at school. Learning the English academic language was not the only proud language Jason’s father encouraged for Jason to learn but also the Spanish language as well. Jason’s father only speaks Spanish so if his son was to lose his home language, a language barrier would form between father and son.
Rodriguez’s English was not the best, and because of that he would either be silent or quietly mumble when asked to participate by one of the nuns (73). Since his lack of participation was noticeable and showed little progress, some of his teachers visited Rodriguez’s home to ask his parents to “encourage your children to practice their English when they are home?” (73). Rodriguez one day walks in on his parents speaking Spanish, but when they see him they switch to English, which offends and over the days that follows angers him enough to decide to seriously learn English. Rodriguez even willingly decides to participate in class (74).
Identity Crisis In “Se Habla Espanol” by Tanya Maria Barrientos, speaking multiple languages at the time of Barrientos being a child, was not perceived as a bonus on your job application. When she was just three years old she was moved to the states and her parents completely stopped using Spanish and taught their children English. They did this in order to provide a better education for their children in America. They knew that if they spoke Spanish, they would be perceived as poor individuals.
According to Jarmel and Schneider (2010), by the year 2025, one-third of students attending public schools will not know English when they start Kindergarten. How will schools adapt to this? Will teachers and/or students be limited on what they can teach/learn throughout the school year because of time restraints? In a documentary Speaking in Tongues, directed by Jarmel & Schneider (2010), four students who range from Kindergarten to eighth grade, showcase their experiences about attending public school around the San Francisco area to become bilingual. The four students Durrell, Jason, Julian, and Kelly are taught in English and also in a second language such as Mandarin, Spanish, Chinese, and Cantonese.
Some of the kids I observed only understood or spoke Spanish and some others only knew sign language. Since I only speak English I found it challenging but so rewarding
If students begin their bilingual education as early as kindergarten, they are more likely to successfully acquire a second language. Children are like sponges and soak up information easily. Research conducted by Dr. Patricia Kuhl at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington shows that by 8-12 months, if babies are exposed to a second language, they retain the ability to distinguish those foreign sounds. Moreover, through the age of 7 or 8, children are able to learn to speak a second language with fluent grammar and without an accent.
I just want to mention four most benefits your kid would have growing as a bilingual. First, little Laura will benefit emotionally by communicating her extended families. It is important for all of you to stay connected to your extended family and your heritage. In fact, children who can communicate fluently across their family languages tend to stay closer to the family and rely on them more for support. There are also practical benefits.
Learning a second language at a younger age is beneficial Most little kids first day of school is when they are approximately five years old, and about to enter kindergarten. Kids go to school from about age five till graduation from high school at about age eighteen. Most schools focus on the basic core subjects, such as math, reading, science and history. Until junior high or high school, foreign language is not even offered.