3/14 Reading

Reference: Olsen, Made in America Chapter 4

Following my trend for my blogs, I will select some quotes from the chapter and elaborate why I chose that particular quote. This chapter of "Made in America" focused on how the acquisition of English changed the lives of the ESL students at Madison High.

1) "According to formal school policy, court law, and program design, the educational task of becoming American is viewed as a matter of becoming English speaking" (pg. 91) - This is a bit confusing to me, considering my educational background. It calls attention to the issue that 'being American' means that you have to speak English, and it is kind of funny because the USA does not even have an official language; it just happens that the majority of people here speak English and that is why it became the most common language. We have always had people here that do not speak English, but unfortunately our ancestors tried to get them to stop speaking it. I know my mom and dad tell stories of their own grandparents who had to deal with immigrating here and learning English. Luckily my grandparents and great-grandparents maintained their language for a couple generations but they never taught it to my parents' generation of speakers. They remember certain words and phrases but they are by no means fluent. Both of my parents have lamented about never learning their relatives' languages, but that just was not the case back when my parents were growing up. The belief was that there was no need for them to speak another language but times have changed. It makes me think sometimes, if people still had the same policies and had not been as lenient or understanding about second language acquisition, would the United States be in the same position as it was when my parents were growing up?

2) "Language shock" and "being laughed at for incorrect English...heavy accents, and having difficulty finding their way when they do not understand and do not feel free to ask for clarifications of English" (pg. 93) - This saddens me. I have to admit that when I was younger when people spoke other languages around me, I was very confused. I do not think I was angry about it and I do not think I was ever the angry type about it, but I remember being in junior high and there were some Arabic-speaking students I made friends with because we were on the same bus going to school. They used to speak to each other in Arabic sometimes and laugh and joke around, but in a way I felt a little jealous or annoyed because I wanted to be included in what they were saying. Sometimes if people speak in another language we have this knee-jerk reaction that they are making fun of us or saying something mean, but I am sure that that is barely ever the case. I think that it is just a human reaction and as I got older and had more self-confidence, I just pass by people who speak other languages and say to myself, 'I'm so glad that they are able to maintain their language and not lose it'. I guess I am the exception to the rule though. Another issue this quote brings up is the fact that the students are terrified to ask their teachers questions and for clarifications because they do not want to appear 'stupid'. This can be the fault of the teacher by not being welcoming or the student could be going through their Silent Period of language acquisition and it can be a combination of both. I know it is difficult for teachers to focus on every single student, but if a student has been talkative before and has suddenly stopped talking, that is a sign that something is wrong and they should pay attention to that change.

3) "It is weird and cute, but I have to study it hard. No one teaches it and it is not in the dictionary." (pg. 97) [Note: referring to American slang] - Oh, the good old American slang. In this case, I truly feel bad for non-native speakers of English. Our slang is constantly changing and varies even by individual. We are constantly changing words to suit our groups of friends and we also have to understand what group of friends we are talking to. I know that even I get confused sometimes with who knows what and who is more aware of certain musical artists and movies that we mutually like, and I know that I have gone up to certain people and made a joke thinking it was between me and that person and they stared at me, very confused. For most people, we just laugh and say 'oh I'm sorry, that was someone else' but for NNS's of English, there are so many dynamics to language that they probably will never grasp entirely unless they are only around native speakers for extended periods of time and observe the slang in use.

4) "Teaching a minority mother tongue for a few hours a week in a school where the majority language is the medium of education maybe psychologically beneficial" (pg. 103) - This is the first mention of the fact that they have heritage language classes for these students; it did not surprise me that the language would be Spanish because it is popular and they are in California. Unfortunately, most schools do not have the budget or the resources to enroll students in primary language classes and the fact is that some areas do not have people who are certified to teach that speak the other languages like Farsi or Arabic, but there are definitely things we can do to promote them using their primary language. The schools could set aside an hour of the school day during school or after school even for the students to be able to use their native language; they can write letters to relatives, read books in their native language, research the internet for famous authors or music from their native country, and that way they could at least try to connect with their primary language. I felt so sad to read that Nadira's family was upset with her for losing her Farsi connections and that she felt like she could not communicate anymore and that she did not expect for that to happen. I really hope that does not happen to every student because it is very depressing. Students should feel very proud that they have a different culture and should be in a safe environment that supports the use of that language.