Bilingual Foundations

This was a truly powerful poem about oppression. Ruffo describes it as a slow and illusive process. The silencing of voices goes undetected. He says it’s like losing your tongue because you lose your ability to speak or communicate. You don't notice it because you still have other uses for the tongue, like eating or rinsing. However, words no longer have meaning when you’re not being heard. In time, you give up and stop speaking all together. You lose yourself, your voice, your identity. Things are happening all around you that may require your attention but there’s no point in trying anymore. There’s a feeling of disconnect and disrespect that keep you silent. In the end even your silence goes unquestioned because no one really cares.

Gillan portrays a gloomy picture of her childhood experiences at PS 18. As a first grade student all she remembers is being afraid all the time, so afraid it literally sickens her. She’s afraid of many things but mostly of her teacher, whom she believes dislikes her for not being white. I like that Gillan was able to escape her reality through the books she read but at the same time it seems as though she associated that world, “free and perfect,” to only be available to children with “blonde curls” and cute faces. She goes on to say if only by some magic she could transform herself to look like the children in those stories just so her teacher would like her. This is extremely sad because no child should grow up feeling this way. We are taught to celebrate differences and teach acceptance. How can we teach others acceptance if we don’t model it? This is why the first step to a multicultural classroom begins with the educator’s cultural competence.

Twenty years from now language will be top priority in all K-12 schools. Bilingually integrated classes will be the norm. Students will be fitted with a device (sort of like a hearing aid) that translates every spoken word into the language chosen. It will have brain sensors that have the ability to pick up signals that indicate understanding or confusion. For those that need further explanations, a virtual image projection will appear with a more in depth description of concepts. Majority and minority languages will be equally valued as important. Students will be driven by their personal interests. Language will be tied to future careers or hobbies, with an emphasis on all the benefits that will be gained. Assessments will consist of small projects in their specific language. For example, walking group trips can be taken to a neighborhood supermarket where students are given a list (in the language they’re studying) of items they will need to shop for. All foods purchased can be tak...

I found it very interesting that this article would start off describing monolingualism as the illiteracy of the 21st century. This definitely caught my attention. Certainly, no one wants to be viewed as an illiterate especially when bilingualism has become easier to achieve. Jaumont discussed the positive changes in our education system in the last twenty years. These changes have given much attention to bilingualism, language advancement and the safeguarding of cultures and traditions. This emphasis has appealed to many families. Among the benefits of bilingual education are the trusting relationships built between schools and parents, acceptance and respect for different cultures and beliefs and creating a sense of unity and belonging in the school community. I think this is also very important due to an increase of reported bullying incidents in our schools. It’s an effective way of promoting a safe and respectable learning environment for all. Jaumont also stressed the ben...

Chapter 2: English Literacy Development and English Language Learners: A Theoretical Overview This chapter discussed the difference between conversational and academic aspects of language proficiency, emphasizing the importance of instructional planning for English Language Learners. For the past forty years three constructivists views have affected our understanding of literacy and how children learn to read and write. These views are psycholinguistic, cognitive-interactive, and the sociocultural perspectives. In the psycholinguistic view readers and writers use a cueing method to derive meaning of texts. Such cues are syntactic, semantic and graphophonemic. Through this view, we can see how a reader processes and constructs meaning by relating new information to what is already known. The cognitive-interactive view is the mental process that readers and writers use to construct meaning through written language such as the use of schema or prior knowledge. Finally in the sociocultur...

Chapter 5 Summary: The Early Development of Bilingualism chapter focuses on the different ways young children become bilingual. Baker (2011) refers to the social and political way children learn their languages and states that acquiring a new language in the home doesn’t just happen in the home. Learning happens within the community, country and culture. Each home has its unique demands which in turn affects process and end results. The chapter also discussed the types of bilingualism; simultaneous and sequential childhood bilingualism. Simultaneous means a child learns two languages concurrently from infancy. This may occur when one parent speaks to the child in one language and the other parent speaks to child in another language. However, single parent homes can also raise bilingual children. Sequential refers to the acquisition of a second language later than the first. Studies have shown that language memory begins in the fetal stage (Baker, 2011). It’s also evident that very yo...