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Terrence G. Wiley and Guadalupe Valdés
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Why Bilingual Education Policy Is Needed: A Philosophical Response to the Critics Michele S. Moses Abstract What role does bilingual education policy have in the educational opportunity structure for heritage language (HL) students? In what ways might bilingual education enhance students’ self-determination? In this article, I shall argue that the various criticisms against bilingual education policy are myopic and focused on nostalgic notions of Americanization and assimilation, which often cost heritage language students a secure sense of cultural identity, an expansive social context of choice, and consequently, their self-determination. When students have a secure sense of authenticity in their cultural identity, and a favorable social context within which to make important life choices, they then have the best chance of become self-determining. Thus, I examine how bilingual education policy should be justified based on the principle of self-determination.
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Aquí No Se Habla Español: Stories of Linguistic Repression in Southwest Schools Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza Abstract For some Americans, the growing number of heritage language speakers in the United States signals a threat to the cultural fabric of U.S. society. For these individuals, English is the only language that is appropriate for the indoctrination of youth into our nation’s social order. Recent events in the United States’ political landscape, such as the passage of California’s Proposition 227 and Arizona’s Proposition 203, attest to the notion that schools remain one of the most ardent battlegrounds for the English language policy debate. Nonetheless, school-based language policy decisions have been made too hastily, often relying on rash assessments of public opinion or personal biases. What school language policymakers have failed to consider are the potential long-term consequences to the social, academic, or linguistic development of heritage language speakers these policies affect. In the present paper, several accounts of Spanish speakers whose heritage language clashed on school grounds are provided. The stark memories from their youth reveal that the establishment of formal or informal English-only policies at school, and the manner in which those policies were enforced, often did shape their personal, scholastic, and language development over time.
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The Role of Heritage Language in Social Interactions and Relationships: Reflections from a Language Minority Group Grace Cho Abstract This article examines the experiences of one language minority group in regard to the effects of their home or “heritage” language (HL) competence. The results indicated that competence with one’s HL has an effect on social interactions, relationships with HL speakers of their ethnic minority group, and the individuals themselves. Having developed one’s HL, in addition to English, has a number of sociocultural advantages, as well as personal and societal benefits. Those who have developed their HL have a strong ethnic identity, are strongly connected to their ethnic group, and have greater understanding and knowledge of cultural values, ethics, and manners; this further enhances their interactions with HL speakers. Moreover, HL development is shown to provide a personal gain, eventually contributing positively to the betterment of the society. The results are discussed here, and implications are presented for heritage language education.
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Teaching in a Hawaiian Context: Educator Perspectives on the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program Lois A. Yamauchi, Andrea K. Ceppi, and Jo-Anne Lau-Smith Abstract Papahana Kaiapuni is the nation’s only K-12 program taught entirely in the Hawaiian language. This indigenous language immersion program was established as an attempt to revive Hawaiian after a century-long ban on the language was lifted. The current study examines the perceptions of Kaiapuni educators regarding the ways in which participation in the program transforms teachers’ identities as educators and as Hawaiians. Thirty seven Kaiapuni teachers and four principals participated in individual interviews and focus group discussions about their roles and experiences in the program. Many teachers regard Kaiapuni as more than a “Hawaiian” version of the English program. Teachers strive to integrate the Hawaiian culture into the curriculum and view the program as a model of school reform for Native Hawaiians. For many teachers, participation in the program has also influenced the way they think of themselves as members of the Hawaiian community.
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Mexico Host Family Reactions to a Bilingual Chicana Teacher in Mexico: A Case Study of Language and Culture Clash Florencia Riegelhaupt and Roberto Luis Carrasco Abstract This study describes the attitudes of a middle-class
Mexican family toward the Spanish of a Chicano bilingual teacher
from Yuma, Arizona. She was among 10 U.S. first- and second-generation
Chicano native Spanish-speaking bilingual teachers from Arizona
who had participated in a five-week Mexico immersion program and
who lived with Mexican families. During the first-week interviews
with the investigators, she complained about “harsh reactions” toward
her and her Spanish. This study demonstrates how the use of just
a few stigmatized characteristics of Spanish are generalized by
standard Spanish speakers to judge the speaker as uneducated and
of low social status.
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Validating and Promoting Spanish in the United States: Lessons from Linguistic Science María Carreira Abstract With U.S. Hispanics constituting a culturally, racially, and economically diverse group, the Spanish language represents a key identity factor for this community. Regrettably, the derisive attitudes about Spanish in the United States, as well as abroad, present a serious obstacle to the preservation of Spanish in this country. This paper argues that the Spanish for native speakers (SNS) curriculum represents the single most important forum where such attitudes can be exposed as groundless, and where the dual task of validating the regional variants represented in the classroom while teaching the standard language can be accomplished. Well-chosen linguistic examples hold the key to demonstrating four issues that are vital to the education of bilingual Hispanics and the preservation of Spanish in the United States. These are: (a) the arbitrary nature of linguistic prejudice, (b) the linguistic validity of all dialects of a language including nonstandard variants, (c) the overwhelming linguistic overlap between nonstandard and standard dialects of Spanish, and (d) the instrumental value of learning the standard language.
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In a Different Voice: Sign Language Preservation and America’s Deaf Community Susan Burch Abstract Current studies in heritage language learning have explored the linguistic and social-cultural issues of identity. Most scholars, however, overlook an important heritage language group in America: the Deaf community. This work seeks to redress this oversight by examining the ways Deaf people protected their heritage language—American Sign Language—and their cultural identity during the early twentieth century. This period was especially hostile to the Deaf community, exemplified by increasing application of oralism in schools for the Deaf. Oralism, which teaches lip reading and speech instead of Sign Language, promised to integrate Deaf people into mainstream society. Deaf resistance to oralism took on many forms, including the support of Deaf teachers in schools, as well as Deaf churches, clubs, and Deaf newspapers. Individuals and organizations also exploited new technology in an effort to codify and legitimate their language, producing numerous Sign Language films and dictionaries. While solidifying the broad Deaf community, efforts to appear “normal” to mainstream society ultimately marginalized sub-groups within the community, including women and racial minorities.
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Opening a Japanese Saturday School in a Small Town in the United States: Community Collaboration to Teach Japanese as a Heritage Language Setsue Shibata Abstract This article addresses the problem of how immigrant parents from Japan can pass on their native language, Japanese, to their children in a location where ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) is low. The case study is an overview of an opening of a Saturday school to teach Japanese as a heritage language. The school is located in a small town in the northeastern region of the United States. Its background, curriculum, and community support, as well as parents’ efforts, are described. It is obvious that Saturday schools are one of the most effective ways to teach children a heritage language, since parents’ efforts, patience, and resources are limited. Cooperation among parents and community support are essential. The school became not only a place to teach the language, but also a center for the ethnic group to share their values and identity, which were passed on to the next generation in the small community. Factors that contributed to the success of the Saturday school are also discussed.
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Heritage Language Research Priorities Conference Report, University of California, Los Angeles September 21-23, 2000 The UCLA Steering Committee
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The American Bilingual Tradition
(2nd ed.) Reviewed by Ivonne Heinze Balcazar
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