"...As much as this program has taught me about speaking in two language, I also became bicultural and biliterate. This program has not just given me the opportunity to be a successful student, it has helped me to communicate and keep a strong bond with my family in Mexico..."
I sat in awe, as a young 12 year old girl, read her National Essay Contest Winning Essay in flawless English to a crowd of about 200 bilingual educators. Moments after finishing her essay she smiled at the audience and began again at the begining, but this time, reading her essay in beautiful flawless spanish.
Tears came not only to my eyes, but of my co-workers sitting with me at my table, and I'm sure much of the audience.
This young student has had the extreme good fortune of attending an elementary school in South Texas in a district that values bilingualism and has implemented a Dual Language Program.
Dual Language programs, as I learned back in Ed Policy at UW, are the ideal bilingual programs, that when implemented faithfully, teach students to be bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural...I hope that one day Dual Language Programs will fill the halls of every school in the US.
To give some background. There are different bilingual programs (transitional, or dual). Each program has different goals. Transitional Bilingual Programs have the goal of successfully transitioning a student from their native language to English. Students are supported in their native language while they learn English and ultimately exit the program and are in 'mainstream' monolingual english classes. Transitional programs very and can be early exit where students are encouraged and pushed into full english classes very quickly (3 yearsish) or late exit lasting 4-6 yearsish. The ultimate goal is one language: English.
Dual language programs on the other hand, have in my opinion, a much more valuable goal: a bilingual and bi-literate student. The goal is to maintain literacy and the language of the native language, while becoming fully proficient and literate in English. The goal is two languages.
Back to the young essayist...
She attends a dual language program school that not only lasts through elementary, but extends into middle school- and will soon be extended into the high school.
I shed tears of joy not only for the success of this young child, and all of her schoolmates- but tears of frustration and anger for the countless students accross not only my classroom, school, the valley, the us, and the world - who are not given this beautiful opportunity of bilingualism. They are forced to give up a language instead of capitalizing on it. It is such a shame.
* * *
At the conference, I had the opportunity to speak with Rosalva Silva, the coordinator of the Dual Language Program at the district the essayists attends. I was given the nuts and bolts of the program, and was encouraged to come visit- and urged to stay in the valley for an extended period of time in education.
Mrs. Salva was quoted in our conferene program, and her quote resonates with me deeply.
"Education is in my heart, it always will be. I love what I am doing. Children are being educated in their native language. I get to tell them that because they know two languages, they are twice as smart. It gives them confidence and It shows. What more could I ask for?"
If only every bilingual educator felt this way.
* * *
I left the conference with rejuvenation for returning to my bilingual classroom and feeling proud- instead of ashamed that I'm attempting to stay true to the weak attempt of a dual language program happening around me.
So many changes need to occur in Education- and bilingual education is just one of many large cans of worms.
But if this can is left unopened- year after year students with a bilingual advantage will lose. They will lose not only their native language- but the opportunity o become fluent and literate in Spanish
and English.
