Identity Crisis...

The articles, "Aria" and "Teaching Multilingual Children" both deal with teaching bilingual students. Richard Rodriguez passionatly writes about his struggles growing up as a bilingual student in the United States and his feeling of the loss of identity with his family. Rodriguez speaks about his wish that teachers would have addressed him in Spanish when he entered the classroom, and how it would have helped to make him feel less afraid. This was an eye opener for me because I have never felt fear walking into a classroom. I can only imagine what it feels like to walk into a place where you know very little of what is being said and what is being expected of you. I can only imagine that my anxiety level would cause me to act much like Rodriguez and not speak much at all. The feeling that the home life and the school life were two seperate things is one that I had not thought of much before. So much of my school life carried over into my family life that it was as if the two were connected. That home was a continuation of school. My parents were constantly doing math flashcards with us and reading books with us after dinner. I can relate to that special feeling that Rodriguez remembers about his early family life. What I struggle with and cannot relate to is the feeling of the loss of their identity as a family. Language being the thing that tied them so closely together, and ultimately pushed them so far apart. Some of my students are bilingual students, and only speak their first language at home with their parents. A few of them have told me that they think in Spanish and dream in Spanish. They translate everything from the English that is being said to them to Spanish, and back to English to give the correct response. This must be exhausting. Collier writes about the code-switching that takes place with students, and I wish that I was better equipped to understand what students would be saying when they switch back and forth between languages. I think it's beautiful when students speak their first language, but many of them are embarrassed. Rodriguez writes "Today I hear bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of 'individuality' by becoming assimilated into public society." I agree with him, and I wish there was more that could be done to change it. The reality is that the culture of power speaks English, and therefore in order to be "successful" you need to also speak English. How awesome would it be if we could truly "teach in two languages, affirm the cultural values of both home and school, teach standardized forms of the two languages but respect and affirm the multiple varieties and dialects represented among students in class, be a creative and flexible teacher, serve as a catalyst for discovery as students learn to operate effectively in their multiple worlds, be able to mediate and resolve intercultural conflicts, keep students on task and on and on." How could we truly teach in all of the many languages of our students? The reality is that we can't, but we can have a "true appreciation of the different linguistic and cultural values that students bring into the classroom." An example of this was brought to the attention of our faculty recently regarding our Asian international students. They live together in a dorm, and have an advisor that serves as a liason between the students and the faculty. The advisor was speaking about the Chinese culture and how when the students are not looking in our eyes when they are talking it is not a sign of disrepect, but in their culture it is seen as a sign of disrespect to make eye contact with people in authority. An example also came from a friend of mine who teaches in Jamaica. He has found that the students are typically disrespectful to adults and this seems to be a part of their culture. Learning the culture of each of the students that are in front of us is very difficult. How can we foster the individuality and uniqueness of our students and still "prime" them to be successful within the power of culture? Collier writes "academic language does not come to kids automatically, just because they are in a dominant English-speaking locale. Academic language is context-reduced and intelectually much more demanding." Giving our students the tools to have a great academic language is the definition of success in many classrooms. The "caregiver speech" features I think are good ways to bring out the culture of our students while fostering their academic language at the same time.