Mainstream Ideology And Literacy Analysis

Mainstream Ideology and Literacy Instruction for Spanish-Speaking Children
Ideology in the United States is that if a person comes to America to live and work, this person should also change their culture and language to be a “real” American. (Halcon, 2001, p.66) Now the irony is that when this country was founded, colonizers came, invaded, and tried to civilize the Native Americans instead of adapting their culture and language to those who were here first. We were foreigners to them and we didn’t adapt, we eliminated them, their culture and their language. Now this gives me a glimpse of what to expect and where the anti-bilingual policies started. At first, labor and craftsmanship were needed in the newly formed country. Therefore, cultures, …show more content…
Classical conditioning is used here, and this practice ensures that these actions will definitely eradicate the use of the primary language in a child. Since there is pain related to the use of the language the child will avoid using the language to avoid pain. If a child is sent to the corner of the classroom, or to another school where he/she is not comfortable this child will feel segregated and pushed away. Now, when the segregation is due to the use of his/her primary language for sure this child will avoid this behavior. This means that he or she will avoid speaking their primary language, and the same will happen with showing cultural traits at school. When a child’s culture is criticized there is a good possibility that this student will try to avoid to be connected to his culture, and in consequence the cultural traits that make him/her different will be erased and forgotten. All these scenarios explain how and why so many parents decide for monolingual classes; they have been conditioned to accept monolingual education as the only option for their …show more content…
Therefore, the first thing we should do is to educate parents to promote the benefits of bilingualism. Change the ideology of parents, educators and administrators and demand the support of policy makers to make this country even greater. If we promote respect and positive ideology on regards to bilingual education, I am sure many parents will be willing to give their children a better chance. I have seen parents that regret having lost their primary language to English, and want to give their children the opportunity to be bilingual and bi-literate. Halcon (2001) mentions that “those who control the schools still treat Spanish as a deficit to be eliminated if Latinos are to succeed in schools” (p. 75) By changing the negative perception of bilingualism and by showing the benefits of bilingual education, we can support our own schools in an effort to promote the dual language