Interpretations of a Bilingual Life

Noticias/News

To learn more about bilingualism & trilingualism follow me on twitter (trilingualbaby). You can also read a monthly post (first one today: 3/5/10) about my attempts to create a trilingual home at www.spanglishbaby.com This website has a plethora of information about raising bilingual and trilingual children. I think many readers will enjoy it as much as I have.

Language Varieties in the American School System.

I recently submitted a final paper to my Literacy & Culture class @ UT. The topic was: The Use of Language During a Read Aloud. For those of you who aren’t familiar with “read alouds” they basically consist of the teacher reading a book to the class. They serve several purposes from reading for pleasure to teaching social activism.

In previous posts I have mentioned my reservations with the use of language varieties by the teacher in the classroom. In a more recent post I mentioned that my views about the use of language varieties in the classroom was changing. I think I may have made a major shift. After the pilot project I implemented in a 3rd grade bilingual class room I do believe that the use of code-switching and Spanglish in the classroom is ok. Really, it is. Let me further explain.

I decided to read four books to a class of bilingual children. There was obviously a spectrum of language proficiencies in the classroom. Not all children were “fully” bilingual. Some were Spanish dominant and others relied on code-switching more. As I was saying I read four books. One was a monolingual English book, one was a monolingual Spanish book, and the other two were code-switching books. When I read each book I, as the teacher, stuck with the language the book was written in. So, for example if there was code-switching in the book I code-switched whenever I spoke to the students. It was quite liberating!

Here were some of the things I noticed. The majority of the children chose to use the language I was using, which was also the language the book was written in. Here’s the interesting point. During the monolingual read alouds the conversations about the books related strictly to the content in the book. During the read aloud of the code-switching books, or what I was calling the culturally and linguistically relevant books, the conversations were not only about the content in the books, but about the children’s home lives! In fact, when I asked them to respond to a dilemma one of the characters was experiencing, which was one they could relate to; I found that the use of language for the written responses was irrelevant to the language I was using or the one the book was written in!!!

After I was done writing my 20 page paper I learned that if we use the language varieties the children bring into the classroom as a learning tool rather than focusing on getting them to constantly produce Standard  English or Standard Spanish, then maybe we will also develop critical thinkers! And by nurturing critical thinkers the language development will follow. That being said, if I were still a classroom teacher I would still make sure my lessons included the use of all language varieties including my pursuit of developing Standard Spanish or Standard English.

Speakin’ like a Texan/Tejana!

When I first moved to Texas 14 years ago I swore that I would never, absolutely never, speak like a Texan. Guess what? I kinda, sorta am! In fact, I swore that I would never speak like a “Texan” or a “Tejana.” I didn’t for many, many years up until I moved back  for the second time about 2 years ago. I guess it took TWO moves to Texas to get me to assimilate just a little bit.

What’s even more interesting or obnoxious depending on who is reading this posting is that it took pursuing a doctoral degree in bilingual & bicultural education to convince me that it was okay to speak like a Texan or Tejana! Lately, I find myself saying y’all and code-switching left and right and I feel more comfortable with my use of all the language varieties I speak.

In an earlier posting I mentioned that I was tired of speaking Spanish. After taking a deep breathe and reflecting more on my readings about the use of language varieties I am more and more comfortable with code-switching when I don’t know the word in Spanish. Or if I can’t remember the word in English I’ll just reference the Spanish one. It’s great!

All of this has led me to research what most of Texas uses to teach English: The Transitional Bilingual Education Model. I’m curious as to how teachers balance the use of language varieties in the classroom. More specifically, I’m curious to see how students fair in terms of standadrdized test scores after being exposed to multiple language varieties (e.g. Standard English, Standard Spanish, constant code-switching, borrowing (a.k.a Spanglish)

Bueno…haber lo que resulta….we’ll see what comes of this!

Saludos!

Bilingual Dilemmas Comment Response

Yes, I am being too hard on myself, but I cant help it Im a little obsessed with language. I don’t have a distaste for Spanish. I think it’s normal to have these sentiments. Ill eventually grow out of this phase and move right back in…it’s the way I get by. As I mentioned in the section “About my blog” I write these thoughts and experiences about my bilingual life in order to better understand language, culture and identity. I try to compare and relate them to the experiences my students may be going through in order to inform my research interests. Thanks for your advice….it helps mujer!

Bilingual Dilemmas: Negotiating my use of Spanish.

Lately, I have been utterly sick of speaking Spanish. I’m tired of not knowing all the words I need to communicate with. I’m sick of trying to decide whether or not the Spanish phrase I’m using actually exists in Spanish or if I’m borrowing it from English. I find myself having to compromise my identity as a Spanish-speaking Latina living in the U.S.! I find myself meeting Spanish half way, per se. For instance, I’ve decided to speak Spanish with the custodians at work, but I’m not going to with teachers who I know are proficient and comfortable enough to speak English.

I have stated before that I came to the realization that I will never be nearly as fluent as a native speaker of Spanish until I live in a Spanish-speaking country. So, until I do, I refuse to speak Spanish unless absolutely necessary. I’m tired of negotiating conversations, thinking over and over how to say certain things, and pulling out a Spanish dictionary. I’m also tired of trying to figure out why people use Spanish and English the way they do. They “code-switch,” “borrow,” and all sorts of other creative twists.

I can only imagine what goes on the heads of my little students!

If you have ever heard me speak Spanish you would probably think I speak it well. Depending on your experiences with Spanish you may even notice my errors. I consider myself very proficient, but my mind is actively thinking about what I’m saying as I’m saying it and it drives me insane. In other words, I want my use of Spanish to be as automatic as my use of English.

What does this mean in terms of my research interests?

Good question. I recently learned that sometimes the actually “study” may come after  exploring a pseudo-study. For example, when I began my case study this past fall I had a very specific skill in mind that I wanted to work on with my student. I wanted to analyze how her proficiency in Spanish may or may not be detrimental to her writing experiences in junior high. Yes, I know it seems broad. After two months of meeting with my case study I came to the realization about what I actually would have liked to focus on. Unfortunately, I realized this two days before our second to last meeting. So, by writing about my frustations in regard to Spanish I may not know exactly where I’m going with this sentiment or thought, but through various explorations I may or may not be on to something. For instance, during the last two sessions with my student we decided that she would watch her favorite novelas, like she always does, and write about what happened in each novela in order to edit and revise it. She was writing about two novelas. One she summarized in English and the other in Spanish. In other words, we were using her writing about the novelas to help her learn revising and editing skills. By default, she was also learning about the English language. She also drew her own conclusion. She noticed that one thing she did in her writing in Spanish was the same thing she did when she wrote in English. The writing skills transferred!

One of the struggles I had with my case study was that we didn’t really communicate. She wouldn’t speak! I was speaking to her in English because she is scheduled to write in English on her high stakes standardized test in the Spring. As we progressed through each session we spoke less and less English and more Spanish. Spanish eased it’s way into our sessions. If my student feels as if she has to negotiate her use of English then it’s no wonder she would hardly speak to me in English!!!

Code-Switching in the classroom…

A review of Iliana Reyes’ article, “Functions of Code Switching in Schoolchildren’s Conversations.”

My curiosity in reviewing this specific article started with an observation. There are two recent observations actually. The first has been an on-going one, and always in the bilingual classroom. Student’s code-switching (CS), which is normal. The distinct feature in the bilingual classroom is that the teacher is also fervently switching languages! The second was here, in my graduate course titled, “Critical Issues in Bilingual/Bicultural Education,” throughout our discourse people CS, though less frequently than in the bilingual classroom and with the exclusion of Spanglish terms. I was challenged by the notion that fervently CS in the classroom was okay, and in fact a good strategy to utilize in order to, for example, communicate with children who use it as a means to bridge misunderstandings. I decided to read the article, Functions of Code Switching in Schoolchildren’s Conversations by Iliana Reyes because I thought it would be a good place to start to better understand why individuals, specifically children, CS in the first place. The article touched on the most popularly known reasons among bilingual teachers. For instance, students draw from words in either the L1 or L2 if they don’t know the word(s) in one of the languages, to express an emotion, or because it is common practice in their community. I did not expect the article to answer the questions I have about teachers CS in the classroom, but I did expect it to shed some light on how it develops among school aged children. For instance, though the community students live in CS, does the teachers’ use of CS discourage a students’ knowledge of proper use of Spanish or English, or more specifically, does it discourage a student from increasing their academic vocabulary in English or Spanish? Reyes observed 20 pairs of 7 and 10 year olds and concluded that children CS for different reasons. She had these 20 pairs, each child was allowed to choose a grade-level counterpart, work on a science activity. The observers left the room, while the children worked on the activity. Each child had a microphone attached to their waist. Overall the context in which children CS was not one of the determining factors as far as frequency is concerned. In other words, the amount of CS displayed on the playground was about as frequent as the CS they displayed during the assigned science activity.Reyes included a sociolinguist analysis in her study which stated that, “…only code switches that constitute more than one lexical item were included in the analysis.” (pg.83) she went on to explain how, “Many investigators in the field of language CS do not consider single switches, ‘true switches,’ therefore, only those longer switches that clearly indicated a syntactic switch into the other language have been included in the present analysis.” (pgs.83-83) I was enlightened because it clarified that the “CS” done in my graduate class is not actual CS, but I am still concerned about the classroom teachers’ use of CS. They do actually fit into the definition of CS. For instance, Reyes describes CS as two categories: the metaphorical and the situational. She says, “Under the metaphorical category, CS varies according to discourse function (e.g, to include or exclude someone from a conversation, to convey intimacy, or to emphasize a message).” (p.78) The observations I have made seem to indicate that the reasons why children CS are the same reasons why teachers seem to be CS, according to Reyes study there are six reasons why, all of which are evident in the classrooms I have observed throughout the years. The six reasons, which fall under either metaphorical or situational include clarification about the meaning of a words or concept, in order to put emphasis on what they were trying to say, when the topic of conversation shifts, to accommodate the listener, when they were shifting questions, or when the situation (context) shifted. Which begs the question, are teachers who fervently CS actually fully bilingual in English and Spanish? As I took notes about the article and paused to think about what the writer was saying; the whole time I kept remembering what the proponents and opponents for African-American Vernacular English in the classroom would argue. The proponents would state that students need to be taught in the language they know in order for literacy skills to transfer, in addition to feeling comfortable with the way they speak. The opponent’s arguments ranged from the need to acquire Standard English in order to be successful in school, let alone life to realizing that Blacks speak improper English and it should be corrected. So, do CS and Spanglish in the classroom fit into the same category as the teacher’s use of Ebonics in the classroom?The struggle I have with CS sways between adults’ use of it and children’s use of it and what that means in the classroom. Both Genesse and Reyes research interests include, “The nature of language development in…developing bilinguals…,” which, “…must be understood in relation to their development of bilingual communicative competence (Genesse, 2002; Reyes, 2001). Towards the end of Reyes article she states that children develop their ability to CS as they acquire “language.” In other words, as the child gets older they learn to manipulate the six different facets within CS, although in the transcripts, which she included in the article I still wonder how well these children know the proper way to speak English or Spanish. In addition, if teachers refrained from fervently CS, and instead taught one content area in one language and the next in another depending on how they have designed their class to function within the transitional bilingual education model, then maybe students would know to say words, in both English and Spanish with proper use of grammar and articulation. For instance, throughout the transcript students mispronounced the following words or phrases or did not use the appropriate word in Spanish: “…she don’t need to go to summer school”, “…mira mira los magnets”, “..we do not need this no more”, “..asi ira”, and “compass?” Reyes article did enlighten me in terms of how well children learn to CS as they acquire language. The seven year olds used three types of CS more frequently, while the ten year olds used the five different types of CS during their conversations. In other words, the older children CS more than the younger children because they have a firmer grasp of both the L1 and the L2 (see figure 1 on p.88.) Although, I do believe there is value in CS and it certainly is a skill, I am still not convinced that teachers constant CS in the classroom is a good strategy, especially when the way they CS reflects the way children use it. Hmm….do the words Oakland and Ebonics ring bell? Read Iliana Reyes entire article: (copy & paste the following link) brj.asu.edu/content/vol28_no1/art5.pdf

Las Niñas by Sarah Rafael Garcia

I am proud to say my sister’s book, “Las Ninas” has been published. As much as I love writing about my bilingual experiences on this site I am by no means a literary writer like my sister. Her stories paint a beautiful picture and offer a different perspective about what it meant for Sarita, Chuchen (that’s me) and Nini to grow up in a bilingual home. She goes on to describe about what it looked like to grow up biculturally. I guess you can say our upbringing impacted us in different ways, but the differences are still tied to language and culture.

If you are interested in reading her book, you can purchase it on Amazon. I hope you enjoy her stories as much as I did.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Las+Ninas+Sarah+Rafael+Garcia

Please feel free to forward this link to friends and/or family that you think might be interested in her book. To learn more about Sarah’s “writing” and upcoming book events both in Texas and California please visit her website listed below. Las Niñas will also be available for purchase at the book events in Texas and California.

www.sarahrafaelgarcia.com

Stream of thoughts about Spanglish…..

I am so intrigued as to how my students use “Spanglish” terms. Earlier this week I heard “cheatiando” and the ever-so popular “lockiado.” Another word commonly used it “so.” Kids throw the word in Spanish and English all the time. For example, “Maestra ibamos ir al parque para jugar pero hacia mucho frio so no fuimos.”

I’m starting to notice that the Spanglish terms students use are words that may not have a literal one word counterpart in English. Another word that comes to mind is “eskipea.” For instance, “Tenemos que eskipiar lineas cuando escribimos un ensayo.”

Though I am intrigued by Spanglish I also struggle with the way I identify with it. I grew up in Southern California and my parents speak Spanish beautifully. My extended family has always lived in Texas and use “Spanglish” terms. I remember as I child hearing Spanish in my house all the time, though my parents never asked us to speak in Spanish. I remeber seeing my abuelita smoke for the first time. I was so shocked, I said, “Abuelita tu smokas.” A toda la familia se les saileron las carcajadas! I was so embarressed. This experience was certainly not very encouraging to speak Spanish. At any rate, language and identity are two areas I plan to explore…….Feel free to share your experience with language and identity with me. I would love to hear them.

Spanglish

Spanglish is exactly what the word implies; the blending of an English word with a Spanish word (e.g. lockiar, crackio, lonche, magazines, washeteria.) This “pidgen” language is not unique to Mexicans (Mexican-Americans) in Texas. It’s a “dialect”, if you will, that evolves in many countries (e.g Spain & U.S.A)

Often times people confuse Spanglish to what linguist call “code-switching”. Code-switching es cuando alguien uses English y Spanish in una oracion. Many of my students have done this as they try to express a thought. I encourage them to start and finish a sentence in one language. I provide them with strategies such as asking, “How do you say ______ in English?, in the middle of a sentence in order to get used to speaking in one language, along with developing their vocabulary.

Another one of my research interests revolves around individual’s identity with the language(s) that they speak. As educators we must be sensitive to how students identify with the language they are learning/acquiring and the language that they speak.
For instance, my experiences as a bilingual educator in schools where there are a majority of minority students have exposed me to various dialects and accents. I have observed that many times children are unaware that they are in fact speaking a dialect, like African-American Vernacular English or with an accent whether they are Anglo, Latino, or African-American. I have had to phrase questions in the classroom in order to help all children realize that they are all learning Standard American English.