Mi Amigo Luis: Learning English in America Luis Camacho majoring in civil engineering at Saint Martin’s University. He was selected as one of ten for the Benedictine Scholarship program at this University. It is not uncommon to spot Luis roaming down the halls of any dorm on campus singing and strumming his guitar. Welcoming to anyone, Luis’ spirit boomerangs off the walls.…
Hunger of Memory is an autobiographical piece of literature that highlights a bilingual’s inner struggle to find his place in society. In the book, author Richard Rodriguez has an open discussion, debating and evaluating different perspectives while also sharing his opinions on individuality and separateness. Torn between two cultures, bilingual speakers struggle to find their place within the education system and the local American english-speaking community. In Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez expresses the difficulty of being educated in his second language and the how it caused him to be an outlier amongst a white, english-speaking community.…
In looking at the data by grade and race it was pointed out that while we show 18 Hispanic students, only three of those are considered ESL. Graduation rates were up and down across the demographic spectrum; however, the discrepancy was marginal in most areas. One area we saw great improvement was the graduation rate for our exceptional children. There have been vast improvements in this sub group, from 37% to 82.6%. The group identified the extra support that has been put in place for these students as a possible reason, also the possibility that teachers better understand how to differentiate more…
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.…
Even though one common language is important in the connection of this country, the other languages must not go without value. Even though there seems to be a popular “American” culture, the other cultures and values must not go without consideration. All deserve fair representation and opportunities within the public schools as well as in everyday life. As Herschel T. Manual states, “We must courageously attack the difficult problems of building a united community and adjusting education to the needs of children who come to us with differences which challenge our best efforts” (Manuel 639). Through bilingual education, students can feel value in their native language and culture while simultaneously learning English.…
This failure occurs because some programs in the U.S. aim to provide ELLs sufficient English language skills that allows them to communicate with classmates and teachers and to work with the curriculum (Baker, 2011). However, the ELLs’ cognitive academic language proficiency has not been developed adequately to manage the demands of the curriculum (Baker, 2011). Baker (2011) writes that what Cummins considers essential in the bilingual education of ELLs is that the ‘Common Underlying Proficiency’ be well developed either in the first or second language, or in both languages…
The second largest influx of immigrants has happened in past two decades. More immigrants are coming to America, in search of a better life for their children (Stepanek, 2010). With this influx of immigrants, comes an influx in the amount of students who are English Language Learners (ELL). According to Stepanek, between the years 2002-2003 and 2007-2008, the Northwest’s yearly growth in English Language Learners was five times faster than the national average (2010). This influx of ELL students is a call for more drastic measures to be taken to make sure that these students are getting the education they need and deserve, yet nothing seems to be getting done.…
Texas Education Agency. “Texas Academic Performance Report.” Division of Performance Reporting. Aug. 2013. Web.…
is so far behind in advancements academically and socially. Every other country encourages and supports bilingual education. In each claim and argument Rodriguez presents there are harmful consequences that the reader takes away from them. He believes that one’s native language and the public language are unable to coincide, not based on research or statistics, merely based on his own personal experience with not being able to handle the two. The takeaway from this belief is that there should only be one language in America, the public language.…
The article "How School and District Leaders Support Classroom Teachers’ Work With English Language Learners as first published on June 24, 2013, and written by Ana M. Elfers a Research Assistant Professor at UW College of Education and is known for her Qualitative Research Methods. Tom Stritikus is a Deputy Director of K-12 Education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the study is to examine the various ways schools and district leaders create systems of support for classroom teachers who work with linguistically diverse students. Many schools and districts adhere to the instructional strategies necessary to provide English Language Learners (ELLs) with resources to become fluent within the classroom.…
Hispanic Stereotyping Many Hispanics come to America seeking a good life, amazing education, and the “American dream”. Many of these Hispanics are discriminated or assumed they are illegal immigrants that need to be deported. Many Latinos are seen as gang bangers, lazy, criminals, and Drug addicts. But they are so much more than that, and without them the U.S wouldn’t be as successful as it is today. Many people today discriminate Hispanics because of a lot of efforts to remove illegal immigrants.…
In the study from York University, refugee youth identified linguistic barriers as a key challenge in pursuing their educational goals. Participants in the study emphasized that low fluency in English made it difficult to understand what is being taught in class, and limited their ability to ask questions or seek clarification from teachers and to communicate with others. This in turn resulted in youth falling behind in classes and limiting their overall interactions in school. A separate research study has shown that linguistic minority immigrants generally perform worse on literacy tests than those who are proficient in English or French.…
Key Issues in Literacy: English Language Learners’ Deficits in Literacy The literacy instruction of English Language Learners (ELLs) has become an increasingly become a debated item in educational practice and policy, in state and local school districts across the country. According to the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Educational Sciences National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2012-2013 school year, there were 4.5 million ELLs in the nation's' public schools, making up for 9.2% of the total student enrollment. In states, the greatest concentrations of ELLs, this population of students can make up between 22% to 10% of the total student enrollment.…
Confronted with explosive will increase in esl enrollment and decreasing state budgets, the funding of esl education at the state level presents a heavy education policy challenge that needs immediate action, given its implications for instructional equity and chance. Research has shown that esl programs remain sadly underfunded, its still remains unclear where the money should be spent. Every esl student averages to $180 from federal funding. Not every state funds esl programs at all. To determine how to help fund school, schools should get the opinion of esl experts and schools with great high performing esl programs.…
Basically, There four three main problem with Maria summarized by Mr. Bennett. Did not be school on time, might cause by flexible school time before; not able to complete reading assignment (poor reading skills), might cause by different language use; trouble with all subject (poor academic skills), might cause by different course schedule; and unable to contact with parents (never responds), might cause by language or not familiar with different types of electrical products. How does linguistic diversity influence classroom performance? Linguistic might cause unskilled language in different ways like reading writing and speaking.…