The field of second language acquisition has developed immensely in the most recent decades. In 2011, Valdès, Capitelli and Alvarez concluded SLA was first established during and after World War II, “at the time when there was an increased interest for the defense community in the use of foreign languages in counterintelligence” (p. 18). The interest in using foreign languages in counterintelligence still occurs today, if not with more of an interest. When I was in the military I worked with many Naval and Marine Corps personnel that were linguists. They were valuable assets to our team and they were tasked with encoding and decoding material and oral communications. I will never forget when I was in our office in Iraq, an Iraqi man was talking to us on the phone but we could not understand him. A few minutes later a Marine with blond hair and blue eyes walked into my office and started speaking on the phone in Arabic! Afterwards, he said the military paid for him to go to school to learn Arabic and Farsi, the downfall of his skill was the high demand for him to constantly be deployed in dangerous areas.
In early 2002, the United States Federal Government has passed the No Child Left Behind Act, making schools and teachers accountable for their student’s English and math proficiency, as reflected on annual state tests. Valdès et al. (2011) argues the tests “unnecessary complexity leads ELL students to misinterpret and misunderstand test questions and is an additional source of measurement error” (p. 38). Not only does NCLB put English Language Learners at a disadvantage, but also students with disabilities are at a disadvantage. Both ELLs and student with Disabilities are required to meet unrealistic benchmarks, putting unnecessary pressure on the students.
According to Valdès et al. (2011) “linguistic hypersegregation is yet another challenge currently facing children of immigrants in American schools”. The authors go on to argue that in these settings students go to schools in underresourced schools (p.6). Growing up I lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly of Russian origin. The school I went to was one of the poorest schools in the district. We received very little money from school taxes compared to more affluent neighborhoods, and it was very evident, our supplies were outdated or did not work at all.
I find your personal connection of military service to be so insightful! We as Americans rely to frequently on the basis that other will know and speak out language. You ideas of NCLB putting students at a disadvantage is spot on in my beliefs—I would feel cheated or treated unjustly if I had to complete a test in Arabic! I believe our society has an unrealistic picture of how many citizens in our country actually come from a multi-linguistic family or background. We as educators need to do our best to immerse students in our language and vocabulary but also we need to make connections back to their own native language. We need to reflect on teachers who have a mono-linguistic background. What recourses should or can be found, in order to develop a repertoire of languages spoken by students in our classrooms?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely appreciate your connections especially the setting that you lived in when you were younger and also for further detailing the history of ESL!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of NCLB, I think the best way to measure students with disabilities and English Language Learners is by something like progress reports. I simply can't comprehend how anyone could believe that a student who is lacking Comprehensive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) can have a clear measurable reading on these state exams. All it does is set these students up for failure and strongly interferes with the student's intrinsic motivation.
It is not only unnecessary pressure on students, but on the ESL and teachers who work with students that have disabilities as well. How can teachers teach well without feeling a tremendous amount of anxiety especially with the push to tie teacher evaluation with test scores?
Bilingual textbooks and trade books are available, but seldom used. Most of what I have observed in schools is that teachers do not want to revert back to their L1 (First Language). Translators are also used, but not so much after they have gained a basic comprehension of English. Also, I have built my classroom library with books that are not only in English but also in Spanish and French. There are many trade books available that are in English and also have a translation. I would think that using these books would not help them with their English but would help them gain the "big idea".
ReplyDeleteI agrre, the use of bilingual textbooks, or simply books that are in the learners native language would be a huge asset to the student while trying to grasp the "big idea". If they are available, why are they not used. We are supposed to be helping all of our students learn. If they have an understanding of a concept in their L1 it will be easier for them to understand the concept in their L2. In my Literacy class we are discussing how you must start with that which is know to develop that which is unknown. Bilingual textbooks seem like they would bridge this gap well.
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