Talking Point #2

Teaching Multilingual Children

Context/Premise:

• ESL
• multilingual classes
• care given speech
• appreciation
• 7 guide lines
• difficulties teaching bilingual students
• challenges bilingual students face
• code-switching patterns
• developing literacy
• eradication
• unfairness
• "bi-dialectism
• language
• bilingual methods

Argument:

Virginia Collier argues that teachers, especially ESL teachers, should find ways in which they teach both languages, the language they speak at home and the language that is spoken at school. This way both languages are valued and respected. Teachers should also serve as a guide or a support base for the students so that they can stay in task, so the students can ask any question about the two worlds in which they are going to be part of, and they should also be able to teach every subject in English. However, teachers should also keep in mind that they shouldn't try to make the students forget their primary language, their job is to help them become part of the American society. With these guidelines, Corrier wants the experience to be positive for both, teachers and students.

Evidence/Experiences:

Collier shows many evidences that what he wants the reader to learn is that this whole learning process should be a positive experience for teachers and children. One of the example he gave was by stating the seven guidelines that explains how teaching English to ESL students can be a rewarding when accepting, appreciating, and respecting the students' different backgrounds. All seven guidelines are important when understanding the teachings of ESL students. However, the guidelines that I felt more connected to was 3, 5 & 6.

3rd: I found this guideline to be very important for teachers to understand and use when they are teaching a bilingual class. This guideline specifically states that teachers shouldn't teach the second language in a way that forces the students to stop using his or her first language. Teachers shouldn't tell a students that they are wrong or being vulgar when they are speaking their native language because that will make them feel inferior. I found this very important a student's first language is something precious to them. Is a way in which many can communicate with their parents and family member in this English speaking dominate society. Fortunately, when I was in ESL classes all of my teachers let me and my classmates speak Spanish in class when we had social time. However, when it was phonics, or reading time, they would encourage us to speak English so that way we can learn the language better. By my teachers letting me speak Spanish in class and encouraging me to speak English it made me feel comfortable because I was never forced to let go of my roots in order to learn English. It wasn't like in Richard Rodriguez's story, Aria, where the nuns forced him and his family speak English in order for Richard to learn the language. It did helped them more with the language, however what the nuns didn't realized was that the family fell apart because they didn't have that same connections. That's is why Collier is trying to enforced this guideline so that teachers don't commit the same mistakes as what the nuns did in Rodriguez's story.

5rd: This guideline I found it to be interesting because I found so many ways in which I can relate to it. This guideline talks mainly about how teachers shouldn't exclude the use of "code-switch" in the classroom and the importance of "code-switch". "Code-switch" occurs when two bilingual people are talking and they use both languages (ex: Spanish & English) in their conversation. Corrier believes that students should be able to "code-switch" because it is a unique thing and it shows that they understand both languages as well. This section I can relate to because I constantly do it in my house or when I'm talking to someone that speaks Spanish. I'm so use to it that sometimes I don't even recognize that I'm code-switching. There is times I do use it if I can't come up with the right word and I feel comfortable using it. However, I don't call it "code-switch" I refer to it as "Spanglish" since I am mixing the Spanish and English languages together.

6Th: This guideline states that teacher should design some sort of literacy curriculum that is design for ESL students. The curriculum should include both the students native language and the second language so that the students understand better. If a teacher decides that to teach completely in English and doesn't attempt to try to use their native language most likely the student will end up failing because he/she doesn't have any sort of understanding of what's the teacher teaching. Collier also demonstrates that if a child is literate in his/her native language then the same skills that child has in their first language will easily be passed on when they are learning it in English. Some of the skills Virginia is referring to are literacy strategies attitudes and habits children have toward the text they are reading, "reading-ready skills" and much more which can be found on page 233. In some states Collier also stated that ESL classes are not offered and that makes it harder on students because they are not getting the appropriate schooling that they need. They are instead stuck in a room with other students who are way ahead of them in English. This also makes it hard on the teacher because she doesn't have the right tools to teach these bilingual students. Luckily the state in which I'm still in offered these classes to me when I came from Puerto Rico. To be honest, I don't think I was slower then those kids who were in mainstream, I had a disadvantage which was not being able to speak English fluently. The classes I will admit were different then the mainstream classes when it came down to the way the class was taught, however, we were all required to learn the same thing. The only difference was that our teacher taught us in a way we could easily understand. For instance, when we were doing our readings, we also had to some phonic so that we could understand a little better. She would go over some phonics first and then hand out readings that related to the phonic lesson.

Overall, Collier just wants what is best for both teachers and students. She wants teachers to be successful in teaching and the students to be successful in learning about the dominate society. She finds that teachers should take both languages into their advantage when teaching bilingual classes because they are like tools in which they can use to help other children. It can also help the teacher and students learn other cultures and make the class more interesting. In elementary school when my teacher was absent, they would of split us up into mainstream rooms and we had to spend the whole day in that classroom. I use to observe how the classroom were and I found them so boring because I felt that they were missing something. It didn't have that cultural difference as what we had in our ESL classroom. The lessons were also boring, they weren't like our ESL lessons where we sang songs and talk about our different backgrounds. That is why I never wanted to get transfer into a mainstream classroom because I didn't feel comfortable in a classroom where I couldn't relate to my background. When I went to middle school and I got transfer into mainstream, I felt different because I wasn't surrounded by many Spanish people. That is why I never felt bad saying that I was in a ESL classroom in the past.