2008 Woodie Awards
ESOL education important for English language learners
Guest commentary
Marta D. Collier
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 3 next >
I read the recent Traveler editorial titled "No ESOL Child Left Behind" with great interest and understand the concerns of the editorial board. However, I wish to add a few thoughts for consideration.
The students who are the focus of Project Teach Them All are negotiating two languages at the same time. They are being taught subjects in a foreign tongue by teachers who often have no mastery of the native language of many of their students. These students are expected to learn English while simultaneously learning the content of other subject areas.
I became more understanding of this situation after a conversation with Ramon Garcia-Barrios, a former colleague of Hispanic descent at the UA. I admired his ability to converse in both Spanish and English in a manner that appeared effortless.
I was stunned at his admission of the constant challenge he faced in each conversation to hear the spoken English, convert it into Spanish while processing the meaning in order to create and deliver a logical and comprehensible response. My eyes were opened in ways that have impacted my professional beliefs and practices to this day. If this Ph.D. professor had to work at his conversation to understand and be understood, I can only imagine the struggle of students in our area who are placed in classrooms where the language of choice is not their own.
We are only as good as our citizenry. We have stood the test of time as a nation, largely because of access to free education in order to prepare our young to become successful and contributing members of society. We have had to make changes and additions to our curriculum over time for other valid purposes such as inclusion policies for those who were either physically or mentally challenged to a degree requiring special assistance. We would no more require a student diagnosed with dyslexia to just get with the program, as we would a student suffering from Down syndrome or some other condition beyond their control.
The students who are the focus of Project Teach Them All are negotiating two languages at the same time. They are being taught subjects in a foreign tongue by teachers who often have no mastery of the native language of many of their students. These students are expected to learn English while simultaneously learning the content of other subject areas.
I became more understanding of this situation after a conversation with Ramon Garcia-Barrios, a former colleague of Hispanic descent at the UA. I admired his ability to converse in both Spanish and English in a manner that appeared effortless.
I was stunned at his admission of the constant challenge he faced in each conversation to hear the spoken English, convert it into Spanish while processing the meaning in order to create and deliver a logical and comprehensible response. My eyes were opened in ways that have impacted my professional beliefs and practices to this day. If this Ph.D. professor had to work at his conversation to understand and be understood, I can only imagine the struggle of students in our area who are placed in classrooms where the language of choice is not their own.
We are only as good as our citizenry. We have stood the test of time as a nation, largely because of access to free education in order to prepare our young to become successful and contributing members of society. We have had to make changes and additions to our curriculum over time for other valid purposes such as inclusion policies for those who were either physically or mentally challenged to a degree requiring special assistance. We would no more require a student diagnosed with dyslexia to just get with the program, as we would a student suffering from Down syndrome or some other condition beyond their control.
Be the first to comment on this story