The article by Rodriguez discusses the struggles one young man had being a bilingual student. He was shamed by his social class and his primary language of Spanish. Unforunatly, he did not have a strong advocate at the time, to fight for him and his family's rights to speak Spanish in school. He considered his language, "private" How sad that this young boy lost his "youthful spark" due to an educational system that did not provide him with adequate bilingual services. He was humiliated in front of his class and soon became silent in school. His family was also robbed of their native language due to a teacher saying, "Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice their English when they are home!" (Rodriguez) This family was forever changed. The insecurities of learning a new language quickly spread through the family-they were ashamed of their native language! Shame on that school and the teachers! The first language should be valued just as much as the second language. This young boy had an opportunity to learn and use two different languages but was shamed.
There are three links that I attached the first one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juz3bQyMqBw discusses the benefits of putting your child in a bilingual school at a young age (3-11 optimal age for learning another language)
This link discusses the history of bilingual education and the gentleman who fought for bilingual education in the 70's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzEk6MHqDeY
The final link has families that support the schools that provide efficient and effective bilingual programs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCJm1NFu_tE
Great job with your links Talia!
ReplyDeleteI agree that even Rodriguez if he were to be truly honest felt a little robbed. I felt your comment about being humiliated in front of classmates and I thought about my own experience with nuns. The nuns that I encountered humiliated each and ever student at one point or another in front of the entire class. It is not only language that presents this opportunity in some private schools but even trivial issues can be turned into a teachable moment of embarassment.
I love the links that you found and the points that you have made in your blog. I used your blog for an extended comment this week. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteInteresting links! I also used your blog and links for an extended comment this week. Thanks for the helpful resources. I love the picture you added!
ReplyDeleteGreat links. Good points in your blog too. One "helpful" comment changed the course of a family. It's scary to think we as teachers could have that much power. We have to be very careful what we say.
ReplyDelete