[EDLING:529] U.S. students may neglect native language

[Francis M Hult]

http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20050104-8116.shtml

Elpaso Times
Tuesday, January 4, 2005

U.S. students may neglect native language

by Gustavo Reveles Acosta


Nelly Dominguez is proud of how much English her two sons have learned in
the year and a half since the family moved from Juárez into a South Side
home.

But as time passes and she notices the two boys talking to each other in
English more, she wonders what will happen to their Spanish.

"I wanted them to learn English because I know it would be hard for them
if they didn't know that language," Dominguez said in Spanish. "I didn't
think that eventually I wouldn't be able to understand them."

As school districts in El Paso struggle to educate about 50,000 students
who are limited in their English skills -- more than 30 percent of the
student population -- bilingual education advocates say there isn't enough
being done to help children retain and expand their Spanish skills.

An overwhelming majority of the bilingual education classrooms in El Paso
are considered transitional, meaning that the goal of the instruction is
to move the student from learning in Spanish to learning in English.

Elena Izquierdo, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso and
board member of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education, said more
school districts in the city should foster an environment in which
children can learn in both English and their native language.

She said programs such as the two-way dual-language system -- which takes
monolingual English and Spanish children and teaches them most subjects in
both languages -- is the best way to do that.

"In dual-language classes, if students start early in kinder, by the time
they are third-graders they are speaking in both languages," Izquierdo
said. "This program is bilingual, biliterate and teaches academic Spanish,
which is not normally taught at home."

There are fewer than 1,000 students -- both Hispanic and non-Hispanic --
in El Paso enrolled in dual-language programs. Some have been learning in
English and Spanish from kindergarten and are now in high school.

The goal of those programs is to produce high-school graduates who can
read, speak and write high-level English and Spanish.

"There aren't enough of these programs, and that's a shame, because they
really are a win-win scenario for everyone," Izquierdo said. Dual-language
classrooms "produce kids who are not only bilingual, but are respectful of
their own culture and that of others."

Advocates point to the results of studies on dual-language programs such
as the one conducted in 2002 by researchers at San Jose State University,
in California.

The study found that Hispanic children learning in both languages
outscored Hispanic students in traditional bilingual education classrooms.

Researchers also found that dual-language students tend to take tougher
classes and are more likely to attend college.

Valeria Alvarez, 9, is a fourth-grader at Desert Hills Elementary School
and is in her first year of learning English in a traditional bilingual
education classroom.

Her teachers and parents believe she is college-bound, but although
Valeria is proud of her English acquisition so far, she is already worried
about losing the language her parents speak.

"My mom and dad tell me that it's important to speak both English and
Spanish, but I don't know if I'm going to speak Spanish very well when I'm
older," she said.

Desert Hills and several other Clint Independent School District schools
had dual-language classrooms until about three years ago, when budget cuts
forced administrators to resort to the traditional, transitional method of
bilingual education.

Dual-language programs can be more costly to school districts because they
may require the hiring of two teachers for the class -- one who can teach
in English and one in Spanish. Most of the programs with two teachers,
though, had twice the number of students the state allows.

UTEP's Izquierdo down-played cost as a reason not to have more
dual-language classes.

"There are many schools throughout the country who are doing this with
limited resources," she said.

"When you want to do it, you can do it," Izquierdo said. "Bring in the
teachers, the parents, the administrators and the community, and let's get
this started."

Schools in the El Paso, Ysleta, Socorro and Canutillo school districts
have dual-language programs.

Although bilingual educators -- especially those just leaving graduate
school -- advocate more dual-language programs, they are also aware that
districts may not be inclined to create them anytime soon.

But they encourage parents to help their children learn well in both
English and Spanish, even if they are in a transitional program and not a
dual-language one.

"There isn't an appreciation for bilingualism in this country, and the
lack of dual-language programs is proof of that," said Emilie Miller, who
earlier this month received a master's degree in bilingual education from
UTEP. "And although there is a resistance to assimilate, there are many
parents who push for their children's right to retain their language."

Miller, who in January will open a dual-language program in her native
Kentucky, said she encourages parents to nourish their children's Spanish
skills at home, even when students are in the early stages of learning
English.

"They will learn English at school no matter what," Miller said. "The
Spanish they have and hopefully develop will have to come from home."