I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to use as a topic for my blog. I knew, however, that I wanted something to do with language. So I narrowed it down to two: ESL and bilingual education. I’ve had experience with both…well, sort of.
Although I’ve lived in the US my entire life, before I started school, I didn’t know how to speak very much English. My family spoke all Arabic all the time. I only understood the few words I learned watching shows like Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. My parents’ theory was that I would go to school eventually, and learn English, so they should speak only Arabic to me so that I don’t lose my first language. That wasn’t a bad idea. I actually read an article in a class last year about a Hispanic family that did the same thing. They only spoke Spanish to their children at home and they learned English at school. It worked; both for that Hispanic family and for my own, although it was a little difficult at first.
When I first started school, I had a hard time. I did have to take some ESL classes for the first few years of elementary school. They helped me a lot and now I am fluent in both English and Arabic. Bilingual education is something I am intrigued by as well. Once my parents saw that I had some trouble my first few years of school, they decided to do something different with my sisters. They spoke to them in both English and Arabic at home, so they learned them both. When they started school, they also had to take a few ESL classes, but they caught on quicker than I did. Although this is not bilingual education in the traditional way, it is some form of it. Teaching the child two languages at once. I think that bilingual education schools are a great thing. These days, and probably even more in the future, I don’t think that speaking one language will be good enough.
So, my focus for my blog this semester will be language. ESL and bilingual education. And because I am a French major, I may throw in some stuff about education in France as well. I know this is a broad topic, but hopefully as the semester continues, I will narrow it down some.
Here are the RSS feeds that I’ve subscribed to:
The eductaion section of the BBC and the NY Times
A google search query for ESL and one for Bilingual Education
A French newspaper–France24
An Ebesco feed for Language Learning
I am still looking for a good blog.
I look forward to reading your blogs and comments and learning more everyday!
~Lamia
This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, both as someone who will be certified to teach English and Spanish, and as someone who has spent over hald her life working toward fluency in a second language. I too believe wholeheartedly in the importance of raising bilingual children. I’ve read on several occasions that there are two optimal ways of doing so, both of which you explain in your post. The parents can allow the child to learn the community’s dominant language at school, and use only the non-dominant language at home, ot both languages can be used in the home. Of course, there are many families in which none of the parents or caregivers speak a language other than the one that is dominant in their community. For children from such families, bilingual education is probably the best solution, although not a simple one. There are so many different kinds of programs out there claiming to be bilingual education. I’m interested to see what benefits and drawbacks you discover of each of the different methodologies. I’m also interested to see if you run across any information about how different schools determine what languages they will use in their bilingual education programs. This topic has not only educational, but also political and social implications. I can’t wait to read what you dig up!
By: Sierra Holmes on September 19, 2008
at 11:28 pm
Lamia,
I am really excited to follow your blog throughout the semester. I am very compelled by your topic and hope to learn from your research and posts. Your topic has a lot of potential and is something that I too feel is an important part of education. I am impressed by your personal story and commend you for the hard work that you and your family put into learning the English language.
When I was in high school I did a lot of work at a school where the primary language of the school was Spanish. I watched the students struggle through the material that was is English as well as the lectures that were also presented in English. The students in the classroom were highly intelligent kids whose main difficulty was the language barrier. As I watched the students struggle through class work I began wondering how I could structure my classroom to benefit students who had language barriers.
With that in mind, I am very excited to read your posts that examine language in the classroom. I hope to gain rich information from your future blogs and learn ways in which to enhance learning experiences for all children. I want to thank you for choosing this topic and again express my excitement for your future postings.
By: thebore4 on September 20, 2008
at 6:53 pm