Week 7 Chapter 6- Early/Late Development of Bilingualism

It is important in today’s society to bring a second language into a child’s life early.  May students are not given the opportunity to learn a language until later in their education.  U.S students are not proficient due to lack of motivation and opportunity to practice the language with communication.  Second languages are taught for the individual and for societal purposes. Being able to communicate with one another is a reason to learn a second language which also reduces conflict.  Bilingualism is encouraged also for economic reasons, which allows for trading with other countries.

    The United States has fallen behind by not being proficient in foreign languages.  There is a need for languages other than English, to be used in social, economic,, diplomatic and geopolitical areas.  There are many reasons students should be taught another language, such as cultural awareness. With the world as a global village, having the knowledge of a second language allows us to share more information.  Language learning promotes intercultural understanding as well as peace amongst nations.

      Former President Barack Obama, spoke about Bilingualism, and how the educational system needs to get better at teaching other languages.  As he stated, Immigrants should learn English, but we as Americans need to learn other languages as well. It is an embarrassment when individuals come from other countries and are able to speak English, and when we go to their country we are not able to communicate in that particular language.  As America becomes a melting pot, it's important economically for businesses, their employees, and employers to speak a second language. When children learn a second language at an early age they are successful more than those that learn at an older age. Language learning opens up so many doors and opportunities, it gives you power in your identity and status as an individual.

Baker, Colin: Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilinguals (5th edition). Multilingual Matters. Tonawanda, N.Y. 2011. (ISBN: 9781847693556)

week 6 Reflection- Early Development of Bilingualism

Children today are being raised in bilingual or multilingual homes rather than monolingual.  Children from birth are using two languages simultaneously. Some feel that children who learn two languages simultaneously is detrimental, but this has been disapproved.  Children who have learned two languages are able to differentiate between the two languages, understand and speak it. By the time a child has reached age 2 they are able to know what language is spoken to whom and in what situation.  Being exposed to two languages in different social contexts, and the attitudes of the parents about two languages will affect the child’s language choice.

    There are different types of Early Childhood Bilingualism.  The one parent one language approach can be difficult on families because, the child may not spend equal time with both parents.  Another approach is the home language is different from the language outside of the home. The child speaks one language at home and another outside of home, such as school.  Another approach is mixed language, where the parents speak both languages to the child. The last approach is, delayed introduction of the second language, this is when parent’s may delay teaching and exposing the child to the dominant language.  

    In today’s society many people are multilingual and not just bilingual.  A trilingual education is common in South Asia and China, where they receive instruction in a regional and national language and then English.  There are cultural and cognitive advantages to being multilinguals. Multilinguals are very effective and can lead to learning other languages and cultures.  An issue that is raised in schools concerning bilingualism is code switching and code mixing. Both of these terms are used interchangeably at times. These terms are used when individuals switch back and forth between languages.  Bilinguals have a difficult time keeping the languages separate regardless if they are speaking to another bilingual or a monolingual. When a child goes back and forth between languages it is usually to get their point across or their ideas understood.

    When speaking to students, many times they code switch without even realizing it when speaking to an English speaker.  When they are speaking with me if they are unable to remember the word in English, they will say it in spanish and someone close by may give the translation of the word.

Baker, Colin: Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilinguals (5th edition). Multilingual Matters. Tonawanda, N.Y. 2011. (ISBN: 9781847693556)

Week 5: Academic Ignorance and Black Intelligence

The article, “Academic Ignorance and Black Intelligence, is an eye opener to a language that I have heard, but never related to.  As an African American women, I didn’t realize the language that is spoken at times by myself and others in my community is called Black English vernacular (BEV).

    Research has shown that verbal deprivation does play an important part in how students perform on test and their verbal expression.  Educational psychologists back in the 60’s felt that black children had little verbal stimulation. They stated that children from the ghetto area were not exposed to well formed language, and could not speak in complete sentences.  As time went on others realized that verbal deprivation had no basis in real society. It showed the students from the ghetto received verbal stimulation and was surrounded with individuals who used complete sentences.

    The verbal deprivation theory was developed to show why black children did not do well in math and reading in school.  Many black students lag about two years behind the national norm, where they do worst in the fifth grade than in the first grade.  One area that has a significant effect on the student performance is their socioeconomic status. Segregated groups such as Indian, Mexican-Americans, and African American children do poorly in school.

    Some educational psychologists such as Basil Bernstein, feel that middle class language is superior and the black children need a language they can learn and understand.   Bernstein felt that the language the used was of culturally deprived children and was an underdeveloped version of the English language. Although many dismissed Bernstein’s views, many teachers have this same underlying view of black students which impacts the way they teach and their expectations of these students.

    This article, points out the views of Deutsch, Engelman. And Bereiter, who feel the black students has no verbal stimulation, but means the black student has a wealth of verbal stimulation.  The verbal deprivation

Week 3 Assignment 2 Court Decisions, and Legislation Affecting Language Minority Children in American Public Education

Many minority groups have been negatively affected by U.S. policy that have affected them being educated.  Minority groups that have been affected are Puerto Ricans, American Indians, Mexican-Americans and African Americans.  Since the 1800’s- until about the 1930’s, the laws negatively affected them by not considering them citizens of the United States, which prevented them from obtaining an education.

    Many of the policies denied them learning in their native language which would have helped them learn and comprehend the English language. In the 1930’s even though the case could not be used as a precedent, the Independent School District v. Salvatierra ruled that Mexican- American students were not Indians.  It was a partial victory, because the Judge still ruled that it was okay to desegregate Mexican-Americans based on language. In the 1940’s there was a migration of Puerto Ricans to NYC. Although some Puerto Ricans were qualified to teach, they were only given aside jobs because of their accents. In the early 1960’s policies began to shift, as one group would fight to be educated equally, the other groups would benefit as well. When Brown v. Bd of Education, stated that it was unconstitutional to segregate and it was a violation of the 14th amendment, this helped the other minority groups use the case as a precedent for other cases.

    As policies changed states continued to contest and push for more time before desegregating and educating everyone equally.  In 1969, the case Alexander v. Bd of Education, overturned the state of Mississippi request for more time and was ordered to desegregate at once.  In 1970, Mexican-Americans were finally identified as a minority group and was afforded the same rights as African Americans. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s and presently, states continue to battle courts on the rights of minority groups, especially undocumented individuals. Until everyone realizes that it doesn’t matter where you come from, we are all humans and deserve to have the opportunity for the same education.

Week 3 Assignment #1 Bilingual and Cognition

An IQ test measures the mental ability of an individual.  Everyone has different mental abilities, some can be measured others not.  Many minority groups when given IQ test, do not understand some of the scenerios or language because they may not comprehend the English language.  With that many bilingual individuals score lower than monolinguals, which shows they are less intelligent, which may not necessarily be accurate. When defining intelligence there is more than just one concept, it includes multiple intelligences, emotional intelligence and mindsets. Individuals that have proficiency in both languages appear to do better due to understanding both languages. Here are some examples of an IQ test:

Here are a few test questions that could be encountered on an IQ test:

Find the answer that best completes the analogy:

Book is to Reading as Fork is to:

a. drawing

b. writing

c. stirring

d. eating

Answer: d.

• Find two words, one from each group, that are the closest in meaning:

Group A

talkative, job, ecstatic

Group B

angry, wind, loquacious

a. talkative and wind

b. job and angry

c. talkative and loquacious

d. ecstatic and angry

Answer: c. Talkative and Loquacious

• Which of the following can be arranged into a 5-letter English word?

a. H R G S T

b. R I L S A 

c. T O O M T

d. W Q R G S

Answer: b. rails and c. motto

These IQ questions, maybe difficult for individual that has limited English.  Knowing the meaning of words and how they relate to each other can prove to be difficult for individuals whose culture is different also.  IQ test do not take in consideration of culture, where different words may mean different things. This would affect the score of the IQ test which measures the intelligence of the individual based on the test not the knowledge the individual possess.

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