Week 5: Assignment B- Rodriguez, Collier and Teaching Bilinguals Even If You aren't One

 

Wow, wow, wow....this piece by Rodriguez caused me to experience several emotions.  The opening paragraphs were insightful and profound as Rodriguez recalls his experiences as a first grader learning English. I was angry how he described the teachers who searched him out and addressed him directly, frowning at him until he offered a quiet, mumbled answer...I could picture the scenario as I read along.  As a youngster was being forced to assume a public identity as an English speaker.  It soothed me as Rodriguez went on to discuss that during his early years of learning he began to note the differences between classroom and home language. He recognized how classroom language lacked self-expression.  At this point my mood was lifting, and I assumed the piece was taking a turn and would become up-lifting. I was wrong.........Again I experienced feelings of anger, the teachers visited his home to basically scold his parents for speaking Spanish at home and requested that the parents encourage all three of their children to speak English at home, I was outraged!! Because the Rodriguez' wanted their children to be successful in school thy complied and the household over time, became English speaking. Rodriguez goes on to explain changes in family dynamics, individual personality changes of his family members and the lack of intimacy between them as a family....I was heartbroken for this family.  

After reading Aria I looked around on-line. I was intrigued to find so much literature and research on language and identity. I have included a link to an interesting read. Language and Identity: the construct of the self  https://www.byarcadia.org/post/interaction-between-language-and-society-101-language-and-identity Important points in this reading made me think about Richard Rodriguez. 

• Family plays the most important role in the development of a child’s linguistic skills. These skills are          influenced by the positive verbal input children receive from their parents in their home environment 

• According to psychologist Catherine Snow (1972), the speech children hear spoken around them is            their sole source of information about that language (p. 549). 

• As children grow, they learn their mother tongue – their first language – which gives them the ability          to communicate with their parents

• By transmitting speech skills targeted to develop their own form of communication, parents play a              critical role in their children's language development

• Children are largely exposed to various kinds of speech in a home environment. This process makes          them perceptive to everything and, by nature, children are encouraged to imitate their parents’                    behavior, particularly in speech

• Home language has a significant impact on the personality and psychological development of an                individual: it shapes their distinct identity through childhood, when young speakers are most closely          connected with their parents

I am encouraged to know that currently the above points are recognized and encouraged in some schools that create a culture of translanguage and are supporting emergent bilinguals. 

Teaching Bilinguals Even If You Are Not One- Episodes 1-5

The 5 short videos were great! After I watched all 5, I immediately thought about Delpit’s work Other Peoples Children. Delpit talks about power in the classroom and power of the teacher. A quote from Delpit, “some have added that the liberal educators believe themselves to be operating with good intentions, but that these good intentions are only conscious delusions about their unconscious true motives.” (pg. 29) The context of the quote is that educators are operating in a position of power over disadvantaged students. Teaching Bilinguals Even If You Are Not One depicts just the opposite. The educators showcased in each episode have evolved their classroom culture to incorporate emerging bilinguals home language into the learning model. As these educators are teaching English, they themselves are learning. They have dismissed a culture of power that is possessed only by the educator and have disbursed the power to everyone equally which creates a neutral teaching and learning environment/culture.  I especially liked how in episode 2 the teacher views each students’ culture of language background as an asset to learning and celebrates language as a tool, not as an impediment. 

Empathy was a common theme in episode 4. The teacher employs the tactic of observation to learn about each student. Both verbal and non-verbal cues allows her the opportunity to check-in with individual students and to construct scaffolding lessons while teaching English based on needs and attention of the students. I found a good article that addresses embedding a culture of empathy in the classroom. https://theschoolfortraining.com/embedding-a-culture-of-empathy-in-language-teaching/