When I was at Pleasant Valley, teaching English Tens, when many immigrant students would transfer in, especially from Asia, they were placed in my class, rather than the ESL classes. One reason was that for the non-Spanish speaking students, there were few resources. Secondly, the counselors knew that I could get them writing (and sometimes) speaking English more quickly. And one of the contributing factors for the second reason was that I really didn’t allow non-English use in the classroom (except for the occasional transitional Spanish-speaking student who would confer on a vocabulary word definition in Spanish).
Nobody complained with the success.
Here at C.H.S., it is different, very different. Even in my CP English One class, I’ve heard complete conversations between students in Spanish. I could understand actor/director discussions in Spanish for Drama, ones where the discourse on objective and action can become very complex in emotional terms. These ENGLISH class dialogues, however, I was having more difficulties accepting. The Nines have these discourses between students, as well, done almost exclusively in Spanish. And many of the student speakers are not transitional ESL students, but second-generation speakers.
What language am I teaching? English. But when I ask my students to speak in only English, I am met with blank stares... that is, when I am not meant with contempt and an ignoring of my request. It’s as if they are saying how dare I intrude on their culture, on their language, on their identity.
I used to dare in the naive belief that I was teaching English.
But here, now, in fear of a racist outcry, I have stopped making my requests. It burns in my gut. And the students end up losing in the long run, since--like it or not--English is the language of economic success in the United States.
C’est la vie.
whoops, sorry.
That’s Life.
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