Interpretations of a Bilingual Life

How Washington,D.C. re-shaped my identity as a Mexican-American.

I never really felt proud to be an American. In addition, I never really could relate to history courses in high school and college, but I couldn’t exactly figure out why. All of that changed when I visited Washington, D.C. for the very first time a few years ago. I was going there to take a course at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Dual Language Teaching Methods.

I was there with three other fellow teachers. We were all part of pilot dual language (two-way immersion) program in Kansas City, MO. As soon as we landed and took a taxi to our hotel (which was near Dupont Circle where all the embassies are located…very cool) I caught a glimpse of the city and many of the monuments.  I was reminded of Rome, Italy and the long walks my sister and I took to see all of their monuments and museums. I was looking forward to venturing out into the city to do just the same. I had heard about Arlington Cemetary, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonians of course and was looking forward to simply enjoying another large city in the U.S.

After our classes ended we ventured out into the city. I, of course, had to go see the Celia Cruz (a.k.a The Queen of Salsa) exhibit at one of the Smithsonians.  The ladies I was with wanted to go to the National Archives, the Vietnam Memorial, and Arlington Cemetary. Quite honestly, all I wanted to do was check out the Smithsonians and the Holocaust museum. I wasn’t really interested in seeing all the “original” documents in the National Archives. I went nonetheless.

If you have ever been to Washington, D.C. you probably have experienced something similar. Once you “get over” the excitment about seeing these amazing monuments at our nations capital, you will probably start to reflect on ALL the names on the Vietnam wall, the statues of “real people” near the Lincoln Memorial, the pictures of actual soldiers at the Arlington Cemetary. And you will start to reflect and think about what their lives must of been like. What their families must have gone through. I usually don’t say or feel this way about veterans, but I felt a sense of gratefulness for having people willing to go fight for our freedom, but also a sense of guilt for not feeling this way before….I can’t explain it. If you ever have a chance to go you may also realize that D.C. can be a little depressing…especially after visiting the Holocaust museum.

One of the last places we visited was the National Archives and it was there that I finally realized why I never felt a sense of pride for being American, nor did I feel like I fit in….as I am writing this, I still lack the words to describe exactly how I feel. There’s a sense of disconnect. At any rate, in the National Archives there is this wall and on the wall there are a series of questions. If you can answer “yes” to one of the questions then there is a possibility that you  or your family has some sort of record in the archives. After answering “no” to several questions in a row I had to pause. Thats when it hit me! My family has NO history recorded in the National Archives. Many of the records are from before the time my parents immigrated to the U.S. I know this may sound irrelavent to many people, but if you could only have lived in my skin, only then could you understand.

So, how did my visit to D.C. re-shape my identity has a Mexaican-American? Well, it took me a while shortly after my trip to D.C. to feel a sense of American pride. I’m proud that my generation, the first-born and raised in the USA, is recording history as Mexican-Americans. There are still times when I feel a sense of disconnect, but for the most part I can pinpoint where I stand today as a Latina in the US and how my generation will and has shaped US history. As I type the final words to this posting I’m still a little unsure if I realize how my identity was re-shaped by this extraordinary visit. Maybe it’s because my identity is constantly evolving….

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Language within your domain…

Since I have ventured in my doctoral studies and since I’ve started this blog I have had several individuals ask me about how they can teach other people, like their children, Spanish. I have my own ideals of what the process of language acquisition should be like, but the more I research it, think about it, and experience it, I am more and more convinced that if you want to pass the interest of learning a new language to someone else you should do it in a way that is most natural to you. In other words, sure there are methodologies or best practices, but ultimately you do what is most natural to you. Even when I research how I “should” teach a second language, the times my lessons have been the most engaging are when I am being myself. Sure the methodologies I am familiar with make my lessons more effective, but I am thinking about a few of my friends who have shared an interest in passing Spanish on to their kids. Recently, I shared with a friend, after she was expressing her dilemmas with teaching Spanish to her kids, the fact that her kids were being exposed to Spanish can make difference. The exposure may strike an interest as they get older. The sad truth is that language is the first thing families lose the longer they are in their new country. This is one reason why I am firm believer that everyone in the US should learn a second language, and I say this with great conviction. I believe it should be a requirement from the time a child enters school! Playing an instrument would also be nice. I know I may be reaching for the stars with that one. Either way as I delve into my Phd studies and try to narrow my research interests these are the issues I contemplate. 

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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

Bilingual Education, Bilingual Writers, Language:Culture Expression & Identity, Spanglish vs. Code-Switching, Why a doctoral degree?, second language acquisition | Comments (2)

The PhD adventure officially begins!

I paid my tuition bill this past week and was trying not to sweat, cry, or let any of my insecurities about this pursuit over take me because damn the tuition bill was expensive!!! Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it, but then I remember that the one thing not a single soul can take away from you is an education. Knowledge is power, it’s true. I observe this everyday.

So, the extensive post below is one of my first assignements due this coming Monday. Class hasn’t even begun and the professor sent a friendly e-mail attaching some readings and an essay that is due Monday.

I don’t know if anyone reads my blog, but to those of you who do I hope you enjoy my mini biography. I haven’t stated this publicly, but I will now. I hope to one day publish a book not just about my research, but about my “interpretations of a bilingual life.”

Enjoy the read and if you so dare, leave me a comment.

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Admission to UT at Austin

Congratulations! You’ve been accepted for Graduate Study at the
University of Texas at Austin, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction.
You will soon receive formal notification by mail.

When you receive your welcome packet, you will find an acceptance
form by which you may accept, decline or defer our offer of
admission. I can also take your decision via reply to this email.
Thank you in advance for informing us of your intentions so we can
adequately plan for the coming year.

Again, congratulations, and we look forward to hearing from you very soon.

It’s official!! I have been accpeted. I look forward to making my research interests public in order to further develop the conversation about bilingual and bicultural education. I encourage you to share your ideas and thought with me.

Saludos!

~Suzanne G. Mateus

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My disclaimer…..

Though my explorations of bicultural/bilingual education may allude or state quite blatantly general perceptions about Latinos I by no means intend to offend anyone reading my blog. In addition, I consider my comments as mere attempts to better understand why we communicate or hold certain ideals about one another. My main objective is to gain a better understanding both personally and professionally about my bilingual and bicultural experiences as I mentioned in the category titlted “About my blog…”

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Why a doctoral degree?

I believe the language(s) an individual speaks is strongly related to the identity the individual holds about him or her self. This I have come to realize as I have developed, and continue to do so, my own identity as an ethnic minority in the U.S. Though I did not receive formal “bilingual” education, I have learned to value my knowledge of two languages. The further I delve into the field of bilingual education, as an educator, the more I learn about my identity as a bilingual Mexican-American. For instance, according to, Stephen Krashen (expert in the field of linguistics), people come to know a second language through 2 different methods, one may dominate the other, acquisition and learning. I acquired Spanish through my experiences growing up with Mexican parents, in addition to the adventures I have had in Spanish-speaking countries as a traveler, a teacher, and as a volunteer. The culmination of my work & experiences as a bilingual educator will serve as a form of reference/reflection for the research in bilingual/bicultural education during my doctoral studies.

What do I want to contribute to the current conversation about bilingual/bicultural education?

My experiences in public schools have led me to question whether bilingual education in lower class neighborhoods can be implemented well when there are other existing programs that are intended to raise standardized test scores, which begs the question, in these types of scenarios, can bilingual services be detrimental to students? Is bilingual education feasible for lower-class students in public schools that have various programs? Who actually gets to decide this?

Below are a few thoughts/observations I have made…..

1) Bilingual education programs are NOT implemented well because of the politics in public schools. For instance, due to the low standardized test scores, many times there are other programs trying to be implemented, which can conflict with the objectives/intentions of a bilingual program.

2) Teachers knowledge of Spanish is not as proficient like a native speaker from a Spanish-speaking country. Most of the bilingual teachers I have observed, including myself, grew up speaking Spanish in the US or they haven’t spent nearly enough time in a Spanish-speaking country.

Why I am in favor of bilingual education.

1) When programs are implemented well, they are successful no matter what the children’s home-life or socio-economic background.

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