Alma Flor Ada and Francisco X. Alarcon are two Latin bilingual children's author that share many similarities. Even though Ada is a Cuban immigrant and Alarcon is a Mexican-American citizen both are multinational and multicultural. Both were fortunate to be able to have wonderful experiences that helped them become the writer that they became. The inspiration for both authors came from their upbringing. Ada’s states that growing up at her grandmother's house in Cuba and her being the person who taught her to read in a way, that it made reading so organic and so related to nature, to the outdoors, to the world it was amazing and she has written about it.…
Se Habla Espan᷉ol and Mother Tongue Tanya Maria Barrientos and Amy Tan are similar but also contain some key differences. Barrientos and Tan are children of immigrants that are ashamed of their families heritage. Although Barrientos and Tan were raised within different cultures, they are both ashamed of where they came from. As Barrientos says, “I wanted to call myself Latino, to finally take pride, but it felt like a lie” (631).…
Sal Castro is a nice man who does not go without a fight as we heard by this video while he was explaining abou the different negative outputs he recieved in the cource of his attendance as a teacher and a supporter of the movements that were occuring during the late 60's. I however found out about Castros achievments and goals for his students while taking a Chicano Studies class during the Spring. The quote that you used does express what many would have felt if they gave up the cause of keeping their culture alive since if they did not then who knows if Spanish would have spoken currently or if any other cultural language would be for the matter. In the end I found you response pleasant and informative, and in my opinon schools should teach…
In the interview with Hector A. Torres, Richard Rodriguez builds an interesting personality that is similar to his essays in Hunger of Memory. In the interview, it became clear that Rodriguez wanted to be known for his cultural politics. The conflicting views on bilingualism seems, in the interview, to be something that Rodriguez openly oppose as he identified Bilingual education as “ ended” and “gone” (Torres 16). Similar implications occurs in the first chapter Arya when Rodriguez shares his childhood assimilation from a primary Spanish speaking child to an English speaking social citizen (Rodriguez). Language, Rodriguez reveals, is something that has had a fundamental structure in his life, hence his opposition to bilingualism.…
Past and Present Racial Issues Whether it is a drama, poem, or short story, all literature that is written has a main idea, or theme. Sometimes, literature will have a common theme. Two poems with a similar theme about race are “La Migra” by Pat Mora and “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall. A short story that focuses on the same theme is the short story “Big Black Good Man” by Richard Wright. These different poems and short stories share a similar theme of race which is a current theme that is happening in our society today.…
In Julia Alvarez’s “Bilingual Sestina” demonstrates the difficulty in being bilingual and having to adapt to a whole new language or culture. To get this point across Julia Alvarez structures her poem in a sestina pattern, however giving her own spin off to it by incorporating Spanish words. In order for the message to be understood, Julia Alvarez places the audience in her shoes in order to recognize the difficulty of having English as a second language. Although most of the poem is English, there are a couple of Spanish words.…
Rodriguez grew up in a Spanish speaking family thriving and eager to expand his education and vocabulary in the “loud, booming with confidence” English language. According to Rodriguez, bilingual educationists have strong disbelief in the idea that schools should be assimilated with bilingual education because the students lack “a degree of ‘individuality’” This sense of individuality is absent in public society because often your heritage sets you apart from most others around you.…
Richard Rodriguez in his is personal narrative “Aria” gives the reader his perspective of learning English while being a native Spanish speaker. As a child he attended a monolingual school. He was told that by not speaking Spanish at home he would be able to quickly develop his English. Rodriguez attributes much of his success in life to this event of learning English, which is why he is against bilingual education. “The Pros of Bilingual Education” by Stephen Krashen challenges Rodriguez’s stance by stating the positive impact that bilingual education has on students, and how bilingual education gives students an educational advantage compared to those without it.…
The primary argument that Richard Rodriguez addresses in Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood is the issue of bilingual education in America. He claims that he can’t be fully merged in American Society due to his “private” life, in other words his second language. Rodriguez also claims that because his original language is not the same as the “public” language, he is unable to create intimacy with someone who speaks a different language other than the public one. Lastly, he claims the use of a native language is impossible to have coexist with the “public” language. “It is not possible for a child, any child, ever to use his family’s language in school” (Rodriguez 448).…
There are a few places in my school where resource teachers provide language and reading support, as well as where they store instructional supports. As a bilingual teacher, I was especially interested in finding material supporting Polish instruction, and unfortunately my school/district does not have any Polish instructional supports, except for a few books in the library. Therefore, I have ordered high quality fiction and non-fiction books and also some, material supporting learning Polish alphabet, sounds, and basic vocabulary words which I will be able to use with my kindergarten group. As far as English and Spanish instructional supports are concerned, the list is very long. There is an abundance of leveled books, e.g. Fountas & Pinnell…
While Espada speaks English as his first language and Spanish as his second, Rodriguez spoke Spanish first, and later learned English. Rodriguez’s take on bilingualism in our society is closely related to how he grew up. Learning English was something he did out of necessity, in order to more easily adapt to American culture. Rodriguez argues that people shouldn’t be coddled when it comes to language: if they need to learn a language, do it. He provides an example of this in his essay, when he reminisces about his elementary school days.…
As a kid I grew up around Spanish and English, being bilingual has helped a lot I life in communicating with family, friends and even strangers because being Hispanic most don’t know English or don’t like to speak English. English had become my first language then Spanish because of school. I grew up speaking Spanish at home but it was not fluent at first it was more English with a few Spanish words here and there, today that would be considered Spanglish but it wasn’t even that.…
Richard Rodriguez believes that the Americanization of a bilingual child will result in their public gain. “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez is a heart-wrenching piece of writing about the full Americanization of Rodriguez resulting in his native language of Spanish being forgotten and the full submersion into the English language. Many of the events Rodriguez faced in his life are present to many other bilingual students’ today. These events that bilingual students’ are facing will strongly influence their decision on struggling to learn two languages at a young age, stalling the development of one of their languages, or being forced to choose one language or the other in a full assimilation. Rodriguez’s viewpoint is that if you want to make a full…
Lera Boroditsky’s article “Lost in Translation” explains why and how different languages heavily influence the way people think. Thought processes change from language to language, creating the basis of culture from those languages. Due to the large variety of languages throughout the world, it is important to understand the effects of language on behavior and thoughts. Through this knowledge, people worldwide could begin to appreciate and respect why others think the way they do. Because her article was published in the Wall Street Journal, it appeals to businessmen.…
In chapter 8 it discussed a reason why we have to teach a balanced bilingual curriculum in the classroom. The textbook “Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism” by Colin Baker expressed the cognitive theories of bilingualism and the curriculum. There are three theories that make up the cognitive theories for bilingualism; The Balance Theory, The Iceberg Analogy, and The Thresholds Theory. Within the Iceberg Analogy it broke town the 6 parts of the Common Underlying Proficiency. Also within the chapter the book did a great job of discussing the distinctions between basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive/academic language proficiency (CALP).…