Mandarin on the Rise in Vancouver

Mandarin is the growing trend in Vancouver as more and more citizens sign themselves and their children up for Mandarin classes.

On February 16, the Vancouver school board voted unanimously, in principle, to start Mandarin learning in at least one elementary school by September 2010, B.C. Parents for Mandarin spokesperson Lara Honrado told the Straight. This follows similar steps taken by North Vancouver and Burnaby, which will both start Mandarin in some kindergartens over the next two years, she said.

So why Mandarin and why now? According to the article

Vancouver sits across the water from economic tigers China and India; the city was built on Coast Salish land; and in several Vancouver neighbourhoods, Chinese is the mother tongue of more residents than English or French.

And aside from demographics and proximity to China there are many other factors that are encouraging parents to push for more Mandarin bilingual programs.

Suzanne Nelson [is] a member of the newly created Burnaby branch of B.C. Parents for Mandarin. Nelson describes herself as Caucasian and speaks English and high-school French. Her three-year-old son, Josiah, is half Chinese and speaks, so far, English. She would like him to grow up speaking Mandarin. First, she said, so he can communicate with his peers. Second, because it’s his heritage language. Third, to open a world of career opportunities to him when he grows up.

As more cities begin to embrace bilingualism and education in more than one language they will need to look at other models. So what cities out there have already figured it all out? Is there such a place? The search begins for the city with the best bilingual school system.

View full article here.

Language learning on the rise!

Here is an uplifting article from the Miami Herald titled, "A bilingual future: More parents are sending their kids to language classes". Could it be that attitudes are changing right before our eyes?

''When I started in 1973, teaching language was a home thing. You did it to maintain culture,'' says Lourdes Rovira, former director of bilingual programs of Miami-Dade Public Schools. "Now parents are looking at it as an essential skill in a global economy. It's been taken out of the family tradition and become an economic decision.''

View the full article here.

Website of the week

Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition

Check out CARLA. A great resource for teachers, administrators, parents and anyone with an interest in language acquisition. They have endless resources including teaching aids, assessment tools as well as conferences and seminars for teachers of ESL and foreign languages.

Language Resource Centers

CARLA is one of 15 Title VI Language Resource Centers funded through the U.S. Department of Education. The purpose of the Language Resource Centers is to:

•establish, strengthen and operate national language resource and training centers
•improve the nation's capacity to teach and learn foreign languages effectively
•disseminate information about foreign language teaching and learning

Other Language Resource Centers

Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER)
- The Pennsylvania State University

The Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS)
- University of Oregon

Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language & Literacy (CERCLL)
- University of Arizona

Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR)
- Michigan State University

Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR)
- Indiana University

Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC)
- San Diego State University

National African Language Resource Center (NALRC)
- University of Wisconsin at Madison

National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC)
- Georgetown University
- Center for Applied Linguistics
- George Washington University

National East Asian Languages Resource Center (NEALRC)
- The Ohio State University

National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)
- University of Hawai'i at Manoa

National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC)
- University of California, Los Angeles

National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NK-12FLRC)
- Iowa State University

National Middle East Language Resource Center NMELRC)
- Brigham Young University

South Asia Language Resource Center (SALRC)
- University of Chicago

Bilingual Work Force in Demand

Yet another article about the growing demand for a bilingual workforce. For many of us this doesn't come as a surprise. We have long known the advantage bilingual people have in the workforce. It appears that even small town America is now feeling the pinch. In The Mount Airy News article from Surry County, North Carolina, Morgan Wall writes,

In Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, there are more than 700 international business firms. In the Triad, there are more than 200. These companies represent more than 40 countries and employ more than 60,000 people.

Almost every other country in the world has its students begin a second or even third language in grade school, the equivalent of elementary school. U.S. students are being forced to compete against these students from other countries who can offer more to companies.

Back in December 2006, in the Time magazine article, "How to Bring our Schools out of the 20th Century", Claudia Wallis wrote about our outdated educational system that fails to produce workers who can handle the new demands of a global marketplace. Most important to the article were the interviews with CEO's about the types of skills they look for in workers. Among the required skills is knowledge of foreign languages.

Mike Eskew, CEO of UPS, talks about needing workers who are "global trade literate, sensitive to foreign cultures, conversant in different languages"--not exactly strong points in the U.S., where fewer than half of high school students are enrolled in a foreign-language class and where the social-studies curriculum tends to fixate on U.S. history.

It is clear that we need to provide foreign language instruction to our children at a much younger age. The only question is how are we going to make that happen?

Mount Airy News article

Times Article

Rise of bilingual schools in Wales

It appears that all around the globe parents are realizing the endless benefits of bilingual education and schools are stepping up to the task of providing more language options.

Around 80% of parents who send their children to Welsh-medium schools don't speak the language themselves.

In Northern Ireland the figure is even higher - 90%.

So why the rise?

For many parents, sending their children to a Welsh-medium school is viewed as a way of reclaiming part of their culture which wasn't available when they were young and the sector was much smaller.
Others are acutely aware of the impressive exam results delivered by many Welsh-medium schools, while for some, the changing face of Wales and the post devolution world could explain their choice..

Of course, it shouldn't come as a surprise that progress doesn't come without a struggle.

In Cardiff, Welsh-medium schools are all heavily oversubscribed and the local authority is currently attempting to institute an ambitious city-wise reorganisation plan which takes into account this swing towards education in Welsh.
But it has been highly controversial - initial attempts to close some English-medium schools with falling rolls has met with huge opposition.

View the full article here.

Good news for bilingual education in California

While it is sad that $8 billion will be cut from the state's education programs, current bilingual programs will not be touched. The San Jose Mercury News reported that

Under the proposal, about $6 billion worth of programs — including school lunches, class-size reduction and bilingual education — cannot be cut or have their funding shifted.

This is quite surprising given the attitude towards bilingual education in California that resulted in the passage of prop 227 and the dismantling of the majority state's bilingual programs in 1998. I am curious as to how bilingual education was spared the axe on the chopping block of Calfornia's budget. I would like to know who to thank.
View full article here.

Tamaulipas Becomes First Mexican Bilingual State

Without fanfare but with great hopes, the Texas border state of Tamaulipas has declared itself the first bilingual state in Mexico, deciding that its 320,000 public school students, from elementary to high school, will learn conversational English.

I just have to ask, if Mexico can do this, why can't we?

View article here.

Children forced to sign English-only contract

A substitute teacher in a special ed math class decided to have her students sign a contract stating they would not be able to speak any language besides English.

“This is an English speaking school and classroom -- any other [sic] language other than English will not be tolerated,” the document states. It also informs students that they had to sign the paper -- that their signatures would count as a test grade.

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to Vineland Superintendent, Charles Ottinger, to remind him that English-only policies are illegal. However, Ottinger stated that they were not aware this had happened and don't condone such a policy.

You can view the full article here.

Texas court delays overhaul of ESL and bilingual programs

From a Houston Chronicle article:

McALLEN, Texas — A federal appeals court has delayed an overhaul of bilingual and English-as-a-second-language programs in Texas schools. Last year, U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice had ruled that Texas schools had failed middle and high school students with limited English.

So here's the problem:

Texas students receive bilingual education through sixth grade then switch to ESL classes, but the state lacks clear standards to evaluating the ESL programs.

What's wrong with this picture? Why are students from bilingual education classes switching to ESL classes? Assuming that these students have been in the school system since kindergarten, this is completely unacceptable. There has to be a severe problem with their bilingual education model if students are not actually becoming bilingual. The goal of bilingual programs is to create bilingual and biliterate students who can perform at grade level in both languages. There is no excuse for the failure to teach English at grade level to bilingual students. It is a sorry disgrace when students who have been raised in the United States are placed in ESL classes after six years of schooling.

David Hinojosa, who filed a lawsuit against the state was disappointed by the delay, saying,

"Texas has a monitoring issue that allows thousands and thousands of failing students to fall through the cracks. Unless things change, they'll continue to be lost in a system that fails them."

So why the delay? Texas Education Agency Spokeswoman, Suzanne Marchman stated

This gives the Legislature a chance to take a look at any laws they might want to pass to address the issue before we're forced to make decisions.

With this dire situation in front of them, they better work fast.

US English Misguided Point #2

According to US English:

Official English is pro-immigrant

A Department of Education study showed that those who do not know English earn only half as much as those who do. Moreover, knowledge of English is essential to the assimilation process.

Well, yes, I have to agree that it is helpful to learn English in order to get a good job and good jobs often pay a bit more than lousy jobs. In fact, no one understands just how important learning English is than the immigrants themselves. But I am a bit confused by how making English the official language of the United States is actually going to help anyone learn English. It will still take years for immigrants to learn English, probably about the same amount of time it took immigrants to learn English over 100 years ago. Not much has changed in our brain's capacity to learn language since then.

The reason this second point is misguided is because it assumes immigrants don't want to learn English and that by only providing government and social services in English, immigrants will be forced to learn English faster. It doesn't exactly work that way. Although most immigrants have a strong desire to learn English, it isn't always easy to find the time to do so. It also requires money for books and classes or finding a free class that isn't already full or compatible with your work schedule. Learning English also requires lots of practice. Sometimes this is the hardest because what English speaker will be kind enough to sit down with you and allow you to try out your new vocabulary. And maybe you don't even know an English speaker well enough to ask them. And lastly, some people simply might not have a talent for languages and find it extremely difficult to learn a new one. I know plenty of English speakers who fall into this category.

So instead of worrying about passing legislation that takes away important services for immigrants in languages they can understand, perhaps they should focus their energy on increasing the numbers of free classes available to English language learners and creating programs that provide language tutoring. Most immigrants want to learn English. It's time to be constructive not destructive.

US English Scare Tactic #1

In its mission to make English the official language of the US, US English has set out to clarify why we should all be so concerned about not making it the official language.

US English Scare Tactic #1 (I mean- talking point #1)

Official English promotes unity

There are 322 languages spoken in the United States. How are immigrants going to communicate with each other and with native born Americans if we all speak a different language?

Sometimes it surprises me how seemingly intelligent people recall so little about their own nation's history. English promotes unity? How quickly they forgot all about the civil war. Interestingly, the bloodiest war in our nation's history actually was between people who spoke the same language. Are we somehow all supposed to magically get along just by speaking English? An interesting notion but one that has never proven to be true.

Africans brought to this country learned English. Did that bring them unity with whites. Well, not exactly. There was something called "slavery" that kept them separated and unequal. The ability to speak English didn't do them a whole lot of good back then. In fact, I seam to recall that the Irish also faced harsh treatment by other "native" English speakers. But if they spoke English, why didn't they all treat each other respectfully and feel united in the English language. Could it be that unity doesn't have anything to do with language?

In fact, some of the most peaceful countries are actually multilingual. Switzerland comes to mind. Don't they have four official languages? And there are plenty of other multilingual countries that don't seam to be roiled in strife.I guess they manage to get along somehow. Oh, now I remember, they teach their children more than one language in school. That's right, becoming multilingual can actually make you more tolerant and respectful of others. And isn't that what leads to peace on earth?

I guess this whole "unity" thing might not be the best argument for the U.S. English cause. Maybe tomorrow we'll see what else they have up their sleeve.

Worried about speech delay in your bilingual child?

Well, don't worry! Bilingual children all over the world are growing and developing just fine. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has some great advice for worried parents.

Will learning two languages cause speech or language problems?

No. Children all over the world learn more than one language without developing speech or language problems. Bilingual children develop language skills just as other children do.

What should I expect when my child learns more than one language?

Every bilingual child is unique. Developing skills in two languages depends on the quality and amount of experience the child has using both languages. The following are some basic guidelines:

•Like other children, most bilingual children speak their first words by the time they are 1 year old (e.g., "mama" or "dada"). By age 2, most bilingual children can use two-word phrases (e.g., "my ball" or "no juice"). These are the same language developmental milestones seen in children who learn only one language.
•From time to time, children may mix grammar rules, or they might use words from both languages in the same sentence. This is a normal part of bilingual language development.
•When a second language is introduced, some children may not talk much for a while. This "silent period" can sometimes last several months. Again, this is normal and will go away.

If my child is having trouble communicating, should we use only one language?

In this case, it's best to talk to your child in the language you're most comfortable with. This is true even if he or she uses a different language at school. But try not to make a sudden change in your child's routine. This can be stressful.

Children who are having problems in both languages may need professional help.

Obama's Agenda for Bilingual Education

From the new Education Agenda of the Obama administration:

Support English Language Learners: Obama and Biden support transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.

Now I am not a big fan of transitional bilingual education programs. My concern is that they are not optimum for producing bilingual and biliterate citizens. If these programs are designed to simply teach children English then there are probably better, more effective ways of doing that. After all, in order to teach a target language, shouldn't instruction be mostly in that language? Children also don't attain the advantages of full biliteracy because, in transitional programs, instruction in their native language is cut short, not usually continuing past the third grade.

Transitional Bilingual Education seems to be the program of choice for politicians as it is the least threatening form of bilingual education. We can safely say to our more conservative counterparts that we support transitional bilingual education because it helps transition immigrants into mainstream English classes. I wish, for once, that we could say that we support bilingual education because we want all of our citizens to be bilingual. If that were actually the case then Transitional Programs would probably not be our priority. We would focus our energy on expanding dual-immersion programs, in which English-speakers and speakers of another language would be mixed together in order for both groups to become bilingual.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy that bilingual education is even on the agenda. But I would be even happier if we could take that next step and ensure that all children in the US had the opportunity to learn another language. Of course, with Obama in the White House, I still have HOPE!

The Center for Applied Linguisitcs

The center for applied linguistics is a great resource for teachers, parents and researchers interested in learning more about language learning and other related issues. They have a variety of articles and guides that are quite useful. Check them out at www.cal.org

NABE's beautiful slogan!

The National Association for Bilingual Education has this slogan on their website:

BILINGUAL EDUCATION:

STRENGTHENING AMERICA THROUGH A MULTILINGUAL SOCIETY!

I think it's beautiful!

Nashville voters reject English-only measure

Nashville voters rejected a measure that would have made English the official language of the city. The measure would have mandated that all government services be provided only in English. The measure stated,

"No person shall have a right to government services in any other language,"

Approximately 73,000 of the city's 613,632 residents speak another language besides English at home. The defeat of Nashville's English-Only measure was yet another blow to xenophobia and discrimination. Thank you Nashville residents!
See the full article here.

Arne Duncan for Secretary of Education?

Maybe there is something I'm missing, but I'm not exactly sure why Obama chose Arne Duncan as the new Secretary of Education. Now I don't know a whole lot about him but of what I know:

-He has never taught children, or teens, or anyone.
-He has a BA in Sociology.
-He has no teacher or administrative credentials.
-He started a program that paid students to get A's.
-He bribed students to show up on the first day of school with tickets to sports games? For real?!!!

Of course he did get test scores up and increased the graduation rate but I'm pretty sure I could do the same if I paid people to study and gave prizes just for coming to school. But is that really what we want? I know I can get my kids to do a whole lot more chores when enticed by a candy or a sticker. But I'm not sure that's what I want to teach my children.

Now, I usually think Obama a pretty smart guy, but I just have to ask, wasn't there anyone more qualified for the job? Someone who has some understanding of teaching and learning, child development, the history of educational practice and policy and a solid understanding of why bribery cannot be our long term educational goal. I realize there need to be some serious changes to our educational practices. Our system needs an overhaul to get us into the 21st century. For now I'll be putting my trust in President Obama's decision, and if that $4,000 for all A's goes national, I'll be hoping my kids get straight A's for the next 8 years.

Obama on Bilingual Education

We are just hours away from Obama's inauguration. There is much to look forward to in this momentous moment for our country. Among other things is Obama's belief in bilingualism and the impact bilingual citizens have on our country's future success. This quote was from a meeting with a group of high school students,

Obama was asked about bilingual education, especially given current climate of immigration. Obama believes that everyone should be bilingual or even “trilingual.” “When we as a society do a really bad job teaching foreign languages – it is costing us when it comes to being competitive in a global marketplace,” he said.

View the full article here.

Multilingual Day is May 20th

My Multilingual Child proclaims May 20th Multilingual Day!

We have proclaimed May 20th as the MULTILINGUAL
DAY! 2008 will be the first year and then we will con-
tinue the celebration every year on May 20th.
For more info visit www.mymultilingualchild.com
If you or your organization are interested in joining us
in the celebration, this could be at your local school,
your home town or in some other way) send us an
email to info@globemoms.com

Alternative Language Programs

It seams that more and more parents are realizing the importance of foreign language education at an early age. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to quality bilingual programs in their area. So what other alternatives are their for parents seeking out foreign language education for their children? Some parents hire aupairs or nannys that speak the language they would like their children to learn. Others look for classes that may meet once or twice a week.

One woman took the bull by the horns and started a morning program in her local public schools that would allow students to arrive half an hour earlier for instruction in a foreign language. Students were able to choose between two different languages. Not all students were required to attend the special program but any child, whose parents consented for them to attend, was welcome. It takes a lot of work to get something like that going but the reality is that there really isn't enough out there for parents who want their children to learn a second language.

Escuela Bilingüe Internacional, a PK-8 grade school started in 2006 and opened with 80 students. This was far more than expected since the first year only included the pre-primary grades and kindergarten. It just goes to show you there is an incredible demand for language instruction and there is a void of opportunities.