Valuing Bilingualism Transcripts - Sanford Inspire · restrictive English-only language policy to...

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For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module Valuing Bilingualism

Valuing Bilingualism

Transcripts

Chapter 1: Introduction

Video

Transcript:

Vic Diaz, Ph.D. Student Achievement Strategist Isaac School District – Phoenix, AZ

Too often, if you bring a language other than English into school the idea is: leave that language at the door,

you’re not allowed to use it here, and I’m gonna replace it now with this other language. Not only is that an

ineffective way of teaching somebody language, right? It also challenges a person’s identity in very very

unhealthy ways. Because what they start to see is if I have to leave my Spanish, or Hmong, or my Swahili, or

whatever language…If I have to leave it at the door, what does that say about what this building thinks about

my language? How much do I feel like I belong in this building? And if I don’t belong here, where else should I

be going to spend my time?

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Statistics

Transcript:

In the United States, 4.5 million students speak a language other than English in the home (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016).

Despite the high number of emerging bilingual students and the benefits of bilingual education, many federal, state, and district policies fail to recognize and utilize the native language skills that students bring to the classroom.

For example, at the federal level, when the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001, it “overtly and deliberately removed all traces of bilingual education from federal policy” (Hernandez, 2015, p. 14). The language in these laws trickled down to the states, who also changed their own policies.

In the early 2000’s Arizona, California, Kansas, and Massachusetts all passed restrictive English-only education laws (New America, n.d.; Wright, 2005). These laws and policies discourage or even prohibit the use of languages other than English in school.

One problem with English-only education is that it operates with a deficit-based conception of students. It sends the message that languages other than English are not correct, and not valued.

English-only education overlooks research that supports students using their home language in the classroom (Valdés, Bunch, Snow, Lee, & Matos, 2005; Villegas & Lucas, 2007; Wright, 2010).

Chapter 2: Benefits

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Academic Achievement

Reciprocal Support

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Reading Comprehension

Positive Identity

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Long-Term Benefits

Experience

Transcript:

Deficit-based language policies have a direct and negative impact on students. Take a moment to watch

bilingual educator Dr. Margarita Jimenez-Silva explain, from a personal perspective, what this feels like.

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Video

Transcript:

It was, the message was very clear that we were somehow less-than. So, you know, it does something to your

identity, it does something to your readiness to learn when you’re walking into the classroom already being

seen as someone who has a problem, or a deficit, or a challenge to overcome. And, it was – interestingly - also

very much translated, in terms of the academic expectations that teachers had of us. So, instead of saying

that’s great you can speak in two languages and you can use your first language to help you with this project,

or help you write this, it was seen as well they are probably not as bright or as capable of doing the work as

students who are monolingual English.

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Asset-Based Thinking

[LC1]

Transcript:

The opposite of a deficit orientation to language development is one that values bilingualism. When we value bilingualism, we work to preserve a child’s native language skills and treat them as an asset for acquiring a new one.

For example, when students read a text in English but are able to process what they have just read in their native language, their comprehension increases (August et al, 2010; J. Hernandez, personal communication, November 4, 2016; Valdés et al., 2005).

Watch as Dr. Jimenez-Silva speaks to the power of valuing bilingualism.

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Video

Transcript:

The best student teacher I’ve ever observed was a monolingual. And he would go in the classroom and he

would greet every student in his bilingual classroom, he would say, you know what, you are twice as smart as I

am because you can speak two languages. And he did not instruct in Spanish, he did not know Spanish, but

just by saying that to the students they came in with a very positive attitude about being bilingual and it

increased the sense of self about knowing two languages.

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Chapter 3: Actions that Value Bilingualism

Language Brokers

Transcript:

Part of valuing bilingualism is creating a safe and welcoming classroom environment where students can use language resourcefully with one another.

This can be accomplished by developing collaborative learning activities where students use the language with which they are most comfortable.

As a teacher you can also highlight the benefits of being bilingual, such as access to different cultures and experiences (Kennedy & Romo, 2013).

Teachers should never make it a student’s responsibility to translate or assume that students want to be translators. However, you should develop a classroom environment where all students feel comfortable and encouraged to support each other as they learn a new language (Kennedy & Romo, 2013).

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Strategies

Transcript:

We will now explore concrete strategies for valuing bilingualism.

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Compare and Contrast

Transcript:

You can find whole class opportunities to look at the moves that your students are doing and maybe teach in a

more efficient way, modeling the type of language use you would prefer to see. So if your kids are monolingual

you need to talk about language. If your kids are bilingual you need to talk across languages and say that I

know that when you’re at home all of the newspaper articles that you’re reading are…only the first word is

capitalized in the title. And that’s great, that’s absolutely fine, but when we’re writing these editorials or these

sample news articles in our English writing class today, you’re going to be capitalizing every word in the title.

And just telling them that it’s perfectly normal and okay to be writing a different way when you’re writing in

Spanish. That tells them that they’re not wrong, and they’re not dumb, and they’re not inferior, but that one

language looks and sounds different from another, and is used differently.

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Incorporate Student Culture

Transcript:

Understanding, especially if they’re older students, what kind of background experiences they are bringing with

them. Having taught, again, in a newcomer program, a lot of my kids had a lot of background of world events.

Their education, especially in Social Studies, was not so Eurocentric as what we have often in our schools.

And so drawing on that strength that they brought. And so in our classroom, we had a timeline of world events

and then we would map on U.S. events because they didn’t know the U.S. history in as much detail as we

needed them to know. But they had a much better grasp of world history. So acknowledging that that’s a

strength that they came in with that many of my other students who were not schooled in other parts of the

world came in with. And that’s background knowledge that I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t have had…taken

the time to have conversations with my students about what they brought in academically.

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Collaborate

Transcript:

When we approach a student’s parents from a deficit mindset of how can we involve parents so we can

improve their literacy gains, or these are the problems that we’re seeing in schools and how can the parents

help us resolve some of these problems? Versus, did anybody step out and ask the parents what is of interest

to them? What are the concerns that they have? What are the things they want to achieve in schools with their

kids? What would be programs that they want to see put in? What would they want to see happen to their kids’

school day? Or events, or activities. I think moving from that position of problem solving to empowering parents

to be involved.

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Student Experience

Transcript:

Before closing, let’s hear from someone who had a teacher that valued her bilingualism. Watch as Grace explains how this teacher’s actions made her feel.

Grace Ayon:

He would make me feel that I was important and it wasn’t just like a…thing just to speak two languages. But he made me practice it even more. He made me practice it with him when he had trouble. He would invite me over to events with parents so that I can communicate with them. And whenever they had questions, they can reach out to me. And that way I can keep practicing. It made me feel confident, and it made me feel smart, and important.

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Conclusion

Transcript:

In November of 2016, Proposition 58 passed in California. This measure will repeal the state’s current restrictive English-only language policy to allow schools to develop multilingual programs (Ulloa, 2016). Whether or not your state or district is adopting less restrictive English-only policies, individual teachers can make an impact on their own classrooms for their students. Valuing bilingualism comes down to how you view language, and the culture that you create in your classroom (C. D. Moreno Sandoval, personal communication, October 21, 2016). Remember, when you view language as a resource for learning, you are valuing bilingualism (J. Hernandez, personal communication, November 4, 2016).

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Valuing Bilingualism Transcripts - Sanford Inspire · restrictive English-only language policy to...

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