Native Language Classes Aim to Ease Transition to English

Thu Oct 28 16:00:26 UTC 2004

Hi Stan,
it's totally impossible to say, since there's no good
data from further back than about 30 years ago, but my
sense would be that the % is definitely increasing,
largely as a result of the rapidly growing access of
"the masses" to formal education (which is often
conducted in a language other than the L1 of the
students).
Aurolyn

--- Stan-Sandy Anonby <stan-sandy_anonby at sil.org>
wrote:

> Might be non sequeteur again, but the article made
> me think of a question. Do you think the percentage
> of monolinguals is increasing or decreasing in the
> world?
>
> Stan Anonby
>
> On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 14:28:01 -0400 (EDT)
>  "Harold F. Schiffman" <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > Native language classes aim to ease transition to
> English
> > Studies differ on whether schoolchildren who are
> learning English should be
> > taught in English
> >
> > Thursday, October 21, 2004
> >
> >
>
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/metro_southwest_news/109818
> > 7043136340.xml
> >
> > LUCIANA LOPEZ
> >
> > TUALATIN -- The background noise in the Bridgeport
> Elementary School classroom
> > rumbles continuously, with students in each of the
> room's four quarters asking
> > and answering questions and teachers calling for
> attention and quizzing them.
> >
> > But this classroom noise is different from the
> chatter elsewhere in the
> > school. In this room, the lessons are in Spanish,
> taught to students who speak
> > Spanish at home.
> >
> > The Tigard-Tualatin School District has had such
> native language classes for
> > kindergarten through third-graders for about four
> years. Spanish-speaking
> > children with limited or no English are taught the
> basics of literacy in their
> > first language before the transition to English.
> >
> > The hope is that focusing on reading in a native
> language will give them a
> > stronger base from which to make that transition.
> The district is pushing to
> > hire more bilingual teachers and is considering
> expanding such native language
> > classes to higher grades and classes, such as
> middle school or high school
> > math or science.
> >
> > Critics say the lessons are largely a way for
> school districts to avoid their
> > responsibility to teach children English.
> >
> > The district's English-language learner population
> has risen about tenfold
> > since 1992. From the 170 students in the 1992-93
> school year, an Oct. 6 tally
> > shows 1,702 English-language-learner students
> districtwide this year,
> > concentrated in the elementary schools.
> >
> > Stepping up the district's efforts to recruit
> bilingual teachers,
> > administrators will travel to Southern California
> this spring searching for
> > candidates at job fairs, said Randy Harvey,
> director of operations and human
> > resources. "We have students who come to us who
> speak little or no English at
> > all, so to help them get a start at all in
> education we have to be able to
> > communicate with them."
> >
> > Teaching those students in their native language
> at least some of the time
> > helps them learn content they otherwise would miss
> until they have a command
> > of English, he said. For these students, "If you
> just throw them into a class,
> > you penalize all of their subjects."
> >
> > Teaching the students native language literacy
> first more effectively eases
> > them into reading in English, said Carol Kinch,
> the Tigard-Tualatin program
> > coordinator for English-language learners. "If
> kids learn to read in their
> > native language, they learn English faster," she
> said, likening the native
> > language classes to "accelerated English class."
> >
> > Some research seems to back up that conclusion. A
> 2001 study of elementary
> > school Spanish- and English-speaking children by
> researchers from the Center
> > for Applied Linguistics, Johns Hopkins and Harvard
> universities, found that
> > teaching students how to read in Spanish helped
> them make the transition
> > faster to reading in English.
> >
> > "In a nutshell, I know that we need to improve
> achievement of our ELL kids at
> > the middle and high schools," Kinch said. "The
> more native language
> > instruction kids get, the more they achieve."
> >
> > For example, she said, a student trying to learn
> physics who also must
> > struggle with the language could wind up pushing
> aside the subject matter.
> > Native language instruction "enables kids to still
> do the content."
> >
> > The Spanish-language classes at Bridgeport are
> only part of the students' day;
> > the rest of the time, they return to their regular
> classes taught in English.
> >
> > But opponents say the language of instruction
> ought to be English, and they
> > point to other research.
> >
> > A 1986 study in The Journal of Law and Education,
> for instance, found that
> > most "transitional bilingual education" programs
> were no different from or
> > worse than techniques such as submersion, in which
> the learner is exposed
> > mostly or entirely to the new language.
> >
> > And many native language programs fail to take
> advantage of the best time for
> > someone to learn a new language: when they're
> young, said Douglas Besharov, a
> > scholar with the American Enterprise Institute and
> a professor at the
> > University of Maryland, College Park. "It is tons
> easier to learn a language
> > if you're learning it when you're young."
> >
> > Once a school has a bilingual class, however, "The
> institutional forces are to
> > keep these classes full," he said, adding that
> many children have trouble
> > getting out of the classes even when they don't
> need the help. That leads to a
> > perpetuation of the classes even when it's not in
> the students' best
> > interests -- for which Besharov faults many of the
> people who run the
> > programs.
> >
> > "I think the bilingual teachers have a vested
> interest in kids staying in
> > bilingual programs for the longest time possible,"
> Besharov said. "I think it
> > is such a conflict of interest for them."
> >
> > The underprivileged, who are among those who most
> rely on public schools, also
> > are among those who most need English-language
> education, said Jim Boulet Jr.,
> > executive director of the nonprofit group English
> First. "They're counting on
> > instruction on the basics; they're counting on
> their children learning
> > English."
> >
> > He scoffs at the idea that students whose classes
> are in Spanish will still be
> > immersed in English outside of school. "I never
> thought the day would come
> > that educators would argue that students would be
> better off picking up
> > English on the street corner, which is what that
> argument says," Boulet said.
> >
> > But for Flor Vidal, a former teacher in Peru who
> volunteers at Bridgeport
> > Elementary, the benefits of the Spanish-language
> classes are easy to see. When
> > the children learn how to read in Spanish, they
> get a better grounding in
> > literacy and language, she said, and they
> understand the basics before they
> > transfer those skills to a new language. It's also
> easier for them to
> > translate into English when they know their first
> language better, she said.
> >
> > Elsa Palza-Rink, a Bridgeport teacher, said the
> classes also give students a
> > chance to learn with others who face some of the
> same
=== message truncated ===

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