Translating into Success
More Spanish-speaking pockets have created a challenge for teachers to instill lessons and values integral to learning. NIE can help.
S o, we asked the question, "How many of you are experiencing a growing number of languages other than English spoken in your schools?" All hands went up in the air. "And how many of you speak a language other than English?" No hands were raised. The topic of the workshop was "multicultural education and the newspaper," and this was a discussion on bilingual education. The teachers’ responses in this session were no different than the other 10 prior workshops. In fact, only one teacher out of 150 during the whole series of workshops confidently spoke a language other than English.
Just like schools, Newspaper In Education programs all over the country are wondering how to engage the reality that the communities they serve simply do not speak "English only." Despite the fact that the United States has had a longstanding history with bi- and multi-lingualism, some communities today feel they are facing the issue for the first time.
Some perceive the rise in ethnic and cultural groups retaining their primary-language abilities as a threat. Some clearly see a marketable opportunity, while others view these language issues as a passing trend. And the teachers we met in the workshop? Most were willing to take on the challenge of bilingual education but needed more resources, strategies and activities that support, as one teacher said, "an inclusive classroom community." We were there to try and help address that very need.
The need for resources and materials focused on diversity by all definitions and in all sectors (schools, workplace, neighborhood) is a very real indicator of the ever-shifting demographics within the U.S. The success of resource guides on Spanish heritage, the inclusion of Spanish-language components, and other bilingual and multicultural forms of outreach, tell us plenty about the potential opportunities for NIE programs.
Increasing the literacy of English and non-English speaking populations, attracting readership, and enhancing the learning success and lives of students are just some of the implications of bi- and multicultural education and the role of NIE. Whether your motives are holistic and/or whole dollar, there is a place for programs to tap into the demand.
However, before deciding if and how to address these challenges from a bilingual/multicultural perspective, we need to understand what bilingual education is, how are newspapers already addressing these concerns, and what lessons can we learn from each other about building a base in communities where English is not the primary language spoken?
Bilingual Education
In its broadest definition, bilingual education is an educational program that involves the use of two languages of instruction. The ultimate goal is students who are literate and proficient in English. What that means in services and instruction varies depending on the person and the political climate of a particular state. In brief, here are five basic and legislated definitions of bilingual education:
English Immersion - Teaching completely in English
English as a Second Language (ESL)/English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) - Teaching is in English but students are pulled out for separate primary-language instruction.
Transitional - Teaching happens in students’ primary language (usually in class with others who speak the same language) and some portion of the school day is spent on English skills. Eventually students are "exited" or "mainstreamed," usually after a maximum of three years, into the English language curriculum.
Maintenance - Similar to transitional in that there is a combination of ESL with primary-language instruction except there is no set time limit for how long a student may participate in the program.
Two-way Bilingual, Dual Language - As this forum suggests, there is mutual adaptation between students whose primary language is English and ESL speakers. Curriculum focuses on language and cross-cultural study. Teachers share the responsibility for instruction in the two languages. Ultimately, students achieve proficiency in both languages, have a higher degree of academic success and experience more positive cross-cultural interactions.
Successes and failures of the above programs often stem from a dissonance between the goal of each program and the developmental process of learning a new language. For example, President Bush has outlined a plan that requires that non-English speakers attain fluency in a maximum of three years. This is contrary to substantial and ongoing research that shows a minimum of five years is needed to acquire second-language skills for academic learning. In addition, programs which do include the cultural backgrounds of individuals in meaningful ways further inhibit the learning process. When there is no learning, there’s no literacy and no achievement, and no achievement may result in failure to stay in school.
North America has experienced language and communication issues before and since the arrival of immigrants. Some of the first responses to various American Indian languages by English-speaking colonists was indoctrinating "English only" attitudes through newly established schools. Implementing such English-only educational practices led to the disruption of the political, social and cultural infrastructure of many indigenous nations.
The present situation for indigenous or immigrant populations speaking additional languages is not so different, as they too learn how to lose their language and cultural connections.
The historical irony is that shared communication between colonists and tribes could not have been successful in many cases without bilingual abilities being present. For example, Squanto (Tisquantum), whom most people know from the Thanksgiving event, was bilingual and had a high degree of influence on the interactions between the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims.
The nationwide debates surrounding bilingual education at their core emerge from biased attitudes regarding people who don’t speak English and a cursory understanding of what the issues are. This has resulted in a variety of misconceptions regarding the role of the English language in the U.S. and those trying to learn English. The following are a few misconceptions that you may encounter in implementing bilingual components in your newspaper.
Misconceptions
"They" don’t want to learn English. Surveys and research have shown that when given the opportunity to learn English and feel a part of the classroom community, children respond with great willingness and enthusiasm. Since we have two bilingual people who work for the News for Kids program here in Atlanta, we have also been able to have informal conversations with children who speak Spanish. They make it clear that they want to learn English - information sometimes contrary to what their teachers keep reporting. Because teachers cannot ask these students what their interest is and do not feel capable of providing instruction, they assume a lack of interest on the part of the student. We have seen this false impression imposed on parents/caregivers as well. At times this inability to communicate can lead to frustration and an unwillingness to find and utilize resources to help bridge the language and cultural divide in meaningful ways. Speakers of other languages besides English should not be seen as "limited," "handicapped," having "barriers," or somehow otherwise "deficient." These labels only encourage an "us/them" mentality and inhibit opportunities to build community. This also unfairly puts the burden of learning and achieving solely on the student. It is no secret that the designated language of power in the world is English. Individuals do understand the importance of learning English, however, it should not and does not have to come at the expense of the person’s native language or primary culture, as it often has.
This is America. We speak English here. Why can’t they just learn English? In hearing the statement, "This is America," one has to first ask North or South America? (In South America, most people speak Spanish.) "We speak English here" presupposes that English has always been spoken here. Consider that indigenous languages have been spoken here for thousands of years long before English speakers came to shore. With respect to the U.S. specifically, history tells us that aside from indigenous languages, Spanish has been spoken in the U.S. longer than any other language. The idea that everyone must speak English at all costs because not doing so poses a threat to the unity and citizenship of this country needs rethinking. It is a social, cultural, economic and political asset not just to learn English but for an English speaker to learn another language. (Did anyone catch President Bush’s nephew addressing the Republican National Convention in Spanish?)
If they don’t learn English, they won’t be able to master the "basics" of education. The opposite is true. Research has shown that increased primary-language skills enhance literacy and mastery in a second language. In addition, students who are exposed to the curriculum in their primary language respond better academically.
Sonia Nieto, in her book Affirming Diversity, stresses that "Bilingual programs of all kinds are effective not only in teaching students content area knowledge in their native language but also in teaching them English." Consequently, academic proficiency in English leads to better success in school. Additional benefits include students who are interested and invested in their learning and are more committed to school.
Bilingual education is a synonym for multicultural education. Just having ESL, ESOL or LEP students does not mean that multicultural education is present. Bilingual education is a component of multicultural education. An ESL program is just one component of bilingual education; however, it is one definition short of a holistic program. In its best implementation, bilingual education is also bicultural education. This means that students’ culture, language abilities and experiences are viewed as assets and used to develop new learning. A strong multicultural content provides a base for the most effective learning possible because language and culture are as closely tied together as a heart is to a heartbeat. Consequently, resources and activities that reflect this understanding are the most worthwhile. Students have to feel it is okay to be who they are. Feeling included, being valued, being able to communicate and be understood are fundamental needs that students have whether they speak English or not.
Los Periodicos en Educacion (NIE)
It has been our experience that regardless of where the school system or politician may be on the subject of bilingual education, administrators and teachers are craving ways to engage linguistic diversity and build classroom community. This is where newspapers can and have helped.
In April, at NIE2001 in Denver, we facilitated a breakout session regarding the influence of languages on NIE programs. In preparation, we asked members of the NIE e-forum to share what bilingual components they had or were going to add to their newspapers. We also asked who had developed resource guides and used them to supplement their program’s offerings.
NIE programs expressed that they are dealing with communities and schools that do not have any particular established bilingual program and are doing whatever they can to ease it in through their newspaper. Other programs have simply been responding, with features and resource guides, to the increasing numbers of ESOL populations. The nature of bilingual components within a newspaper vary and include a section with words, a weekly feature and serialized stories. While various communities are experiencing Hmong, Vietnamese, Somali, Thai and as much as 35 or more languages and dialects in a given setting, Spanish has been the most prevalent. It is also obvious by the increasing requests for Spanish-language material on the e-forum that the interest is growing, not diminishing. This is great news for schools and circulation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s News for Kids program has had success with three main components:
1. A bilingual feature on our weekly News for Kids page
2. Sponsorship of an Hispanic Heritage Guide
3. The creation of bilingual activities to feature during workshops.
Last summer News for Kids introduced a Spanish-language component comprised of a mystery place (el lugar misterioso) or person (la persona misteriosa) which includes cultural history and clues to solve the mystery. The answer and the translation are located on another page of the section. It is a great tie-in to cultural exploration, language arts, social studies and math. We have since extended the column to include basic vocabulary offered in themes: colors (colores), shapes (figuras), members of the family (miembros de la familia), items around the house (en la casa), the supermarket (al supermercado"), simple school related conversational Spanish, etc. Those students who can read Spanish are given a voice in the classroom community. Since we offer lesson plans online that are tied to the NFK page, we include a phonetic pronunciation for anyone who needs help pronouncing the words. (Perhaps we will get to the point when we have a video clip.)
One of our major successes this year was the distribution of our Hispanic Heritage Guide. For a six-week program we signed up 275 teachers to receive the guide. With an average of 30 students per class, that equated to 8,250 students and 49,500 papers per week. This was certainly a win-win situation.
Thirdly, as we are invited out to schools with multiple-language needs, we encourage teachers with different activities that may help them engage the class in learning the languages in their classroom. Having a pronounced influx of Spanish speakers has prompted us to translate some of the basic handout activities in Spanish and English. The idea is that a Spanish speaker can learn the English and the English speaker, Spanish. In addition, in the same day’s paper that features News for Kids we also have Global Atlanta, a feature highlighting stories and issues of the cultural/ethnic groups that are influencing the local community. Consequently, we encourage teachers to have students investigate that section to further their appreciation of the diversity experienced in their community.
Lessons Learned
As this resource opportunity continues to grow, it will be important for us to learn from each other and our experiences in meeting this need. Even though different communities have different issues, there are probably some universal learnings that we can share with each other. The following list is a start, and we welcome additional comments:
• Engage the community by showing a respectful interest in their issues. Know if your newspaper reports on various aspects of the community? If so when and how?
• Survey the ESL/ESOL teachers. Survey the teachers when you do workshops.
• It is important to know that you don’t always have to speak the language to make connections. Once you make the connections, you can recruit help from the community.
• Recognize terminology uses. Don’t assume. For example, the term "Hispanic" is more of a political term than a cultural one. (Although it is used both ways.) It is usually stronger to connect people to their country of origin so that people won’t generalize inappropriately. (Spanish heritage, Mexican American, Latino/a, etc.)
• The Spanish language has different dialects and subtlety of meaning between cultures. It is probably a good idea to indicate the nature of the Spanish being used.
• Not all speakers of languages other than English are literate in their primary language so you may not reach them by words/vocabulary alone.
• Family and parents can be a key connection to new readership (especially if their children are bringing home material they can understand).
• Acknowledge where your resources need growth and ask lots of questions. Investigate the resources already available and see if and how they relate to the needs of your community.
• Is your resource for an English speaker learning a new language, an English speaker whose native language is not English, or both?
• Don’t be in too much of a hurry to generate resource material just to fill a need. Be as thoughtful as possible about its content, uses and how it presents the culture (past and present).
One last thing: If you have not already, get started. Es muy importante!
Vera Stenhouse is educational services consultant for News for Kids at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.