Language has always been magical to me, enchanting, beautiful. I have always been mesmerized by the way people can take language and manipulate it, carve it, sort it, arrange it, and change it - especially when they have complete understanding and control over the words being used. I suppose that's why I like reading and writing, listening to fairy tales, and I'm pretty sure that's why I have chosen to teach English. It's why I like reading to the boys I babysit, and why I fell in love with Dr. Seuss' magical word play in all of his stories.
I don't really know for certain which language was my first, whether I said "mama" or "mom" (because now I use them interchangeably), or how I learned to determine which language I could use when. What I do know is that I am incredibly lucky that my parents chose to teach me their native language even though they were (and, to some extent, still are) learning the English language. Because I learned Croatian at the same time I learned English as a child, I am completely fluent in both. I am able to talk to my family, visit and stay with them for entire summers, and navigate a country more beautiful than any other I have ever seen. I was able to consider a completely different life if I wanted to, and right now I could be teaching the English language to little Croatian schoolchildren.
Although I have always understood the power language has to connect people, I have also understood the tall, unbreakable barriers and confusing miscommunications it can create among people. My Croatian grandfather and my Portuguese godfather would carry on entire conversations at our summer cookouts, without speaking a word of the same language. I like to think that they understood one another completely, although I never thought to ask them then. Time after time, my parents used to make me translate school notes that came home, and I still have to type up my father's estimates when he evaluates a potential new job. My mother hated going to birthday parties where parents had to stay, because she was embarrassed at the thought of trying to talk to them in a language that wasn't her own.
Although both my parents now have grown comfortable with and are fluent in English (minor grammar mistakes don't count, I tell them), I still identify with Rodriguez whenever I see them talking with friends and family members in Croatian: "Using Spanish, he was quickly effusive. Especially talking with other men, his voice would spark, flicker, flare alive with sounds. In Spanish, he expressed ideas and feelings he rarely revealed in English. With firm Spanish sounds, he conveyed confidence and authority English would never allow him" (37-38). When speaking in their native languages, English language learners are able to manipulate words to create magic, to tell stories, to connect and communicate with others. As teachers, we should be aware of and responsive to this need, this flare that can be lit simply through the ability to communicate. Maybe our quietest students aren't quiet because they have nothing to say; maybe our quietest students are quiet because they don't have the knowledge and control of the language we are making them participate in.
I found Collier's seven "guidelines" interesting, and agreed with most of them, but not all. The one that most intrigued me, however, was the fifth one, regarding code-switching. I think this is perhaps one of the most important pieces of multilingual education. Reading this, I thought about my family, and how often we code-switch (which happens to be pretty often). I also thought about Richard Rodriguez's family, and how their transitions from Spanish to English might have been different had they not been discouraged from ever using their primary language. Collier quotes Guadalupe Valdes: "Bilingual speakers are aware that each of their languages has certain strengths and that two languages can be used simultaneously to convey the most precise meaning" (230). This article states that bilingual students actually have an advantage, if they are encouraged to utilize both languages throughout their lives.
Our job as educators shouldn't be to extinguish a non-English speaker's primary language; instead, it should be to help multilingual students create melodies by intertwining both of their languages, in order to help them communicate and understand the beauty and magic of each of them, separate and together. Let's help our students understand that "language is enchanting, powerful, magical, useful, personal, natural, all-important" (Collier 235). Although they might not all fall in love with stories and words, they deserve to be able to use them however they please, in any of the languages they learn. They deserve the right to speak up for the things they believe in and want to change. They deserve the right to use their languages to create an aria, a melody, as beautiful and unique as they each are, and they deserve teachers who will listen.
"Bilingual speakers are aware that each of their languages has certain strengths and that two languages can be used simultaneously to convey the most precise meaning" (230). I think it is really interesting that you say that students have the advantage to see the most meaning. By meaning, I am confused with how that is being used, is it the meaning of the translation? I know that some words or phrases are not always translated in the same context. I am wondering how the level of meaning impacts any conversation. I find that fascinating. I know that when I speak English at a conference and a translator interprets what I say, sometimes the words are used differently and feel that the level of importance gets compromised. So if any time I say a word in English, I now wonder if the translator uses words that do not have that strong emphasis. I think that it would be interesting to see which language would translate better under different circumstance.
ReplyDeleteI think Valdes is referring to the meaning of whatever it is that they (the multilingual speakers) are trying to communicate. It's true...through translations, nothing is ever able to convey the exact same meaning. Sometimes words just don't translate right, so in that sense, when communicating with others who have the same multilingual backgrounds, it is often most beneficial to utilize both languages.
DeleteTIna, it would interest me to know which of the 7 guidelines do you disagree with and why. I appreciate your perspective of a multilingual background. I also wonder do you read and write in Croatian? Did your parents read to you in Croatian?
ReplyDeleteI am truly envious of people like who (like you) have had the experience of being completely immersed in two languages from birth. I only learned English growing up and I honestly think knowing two or more languages increases intelligence, perception, and understanding. So I definitely agree that bi or multi lingual students are at an advantage if they are able to develop and communicate in both languages throughout their lives. But I also think we as educators need to help them be able to do so.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is interesting that you speak about your two family members who are able to communicate without language. They are able to communicate through oral tradition which is understanding on an almost subconscious level. Your blog made me think about language and non-language differently and how essential each one is for communication.
Tina, I too feel very strongly about the magic of language. There is nothing quite like a phrase uttered or written perfectly that conveys its meaning with style, function, and grace. The written word, has been one of the strongest influences in my life, and I have often found myself completely lost in the images, experiences, and joy found in well-crafted writing. The same is true of the spoken word, music, and other forms of art, but for me it always comes back to the words. I am comforted to read your words here, because of the positive light you have brought to Rodriguez, I was so saddened by that article, because it seems like the family had something beautiful, that was lost to a different ideal, and more should have been done to respect it. I wonder how many of my students have found themselves in the same situation, not just with language, but with the culture of the American lifestyle, which does not blend with the traditions they bring from their own families, and often leaves them wanting in both areas.
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