In response to my colleague, I have been looking into research as to why some students have the advantage of being exposed to both English and Spanish through their parents and teachers, yet are refusing to practice their native language at home. Additive bilingualism refers to creating “an environment in which the addition of a second language and culture does not replace the first language and culture; rather, the first language/culture are promoted and developed” (Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network). This idea really stuck out for me and I think it is exactly the kind of mindset that we need to better adopt in the American classroom, especially in diverse settings.
The reason I became interested in bilingualism in education was due to an experience I had at my internship in which a student was scolded for speaking in his native tongue. The more I read about bilingualism in the American school system, the more adamant I become about this notion of additive bilingualism and the fact that there is no need to outwardly and offensively dismiss a non-English language in the classroom. Actively depriving a student of his or her native language in the classroom is detrimental to academic development as well an entire way of life. Thinking back to my Linguistics class, Whorf, a linguist, suggested that a person’s language determines their worldview (Whorf, 1940). By undermining and blatantly prohibiting the use of a minority language in the classroom, this would mean schools are encouraging the loss of a language and therefore, according to Whorf, the loss of an entire worldview.
If schools begin to better encourage diversity in the classroom, whether linguistically, culturally, or both, I believe that there will be a huge shift in mindset among both parents and students. Students will no longer feel the need to choose one language or another and will begin to understand the importance and huge advantage they have being bilingual. Parents who resent the English-only school systems (this insight is based on past interviews) will begin to feel more comfortable getting involved in their child’s education and will feel less threatened and offended. While CABE’s Inspire Campaign offers a preliminary approach to encouraging evolvement, there needs to be more initiatives following these same steps.
Sources:
“Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network.” Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. <http://www.biculturalfamily.org/ofthedaysItem.php?type=word>.
Whorf, B. L. (1940): ‘Science and Linguistics’, Technology Review 42(6): 229-31, 247-8. Also in B. L. Whorf (1956): Language, Thought and Reality (ed. J. B. Carroll). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
wew235 