The individual I interviewed was a close friend of mine and someone I have actively observed speaking in multiple languages. Ramsy is fluent in both English and Arabic and uses both quite often in his daily life. I have witnessed him use both English and Arabic in person and I selected him for my interview because of not only easy access due to previously knowing him but honest curiosity because I do not know very many people who speak Arabic, especially fluently. Ramsy was born here, grew up in Jordan with his family, and then came back here during high school. I also was a bit interested in his acquisition of English because we had had previous conversations about him learning it through American sitcoms, like Fraiser and Seinfeld, as opposed …show more content…
I want to research not only a real life example of someone who was bilingual but also try to see it through their eyes or perhaps more accurately their mouth. In the interview itself I explored a few key points that I used to form my questions. Code-switching, the art of switching languages during an interaction, was something I asked about. The importance of this was, even though we had discussed such ideas in class, to hear first-hand why someone who was bilingual reasoned why they switched and if they were even aware. Diglossia was also a subject my questions sought an answer to, the reason and purpose for using different languages. The assumed benefits and drawbacks of bilingualism was also examined through this interview, while I may understand these from the material in class and my own life to hear it from someone has experience being bilingual might shed a different light. I also, since I knew Ramsy has multiple generations of family, wished to see why was it that different people in his family had different language experiences. Lastly, I asked about examples of ideas that do not translate well from Arabic to English and what he might do in a situation where he would have to explain
I feel that although it was a difficult move, I am happy that my parents decided to move me to a Bilingual Program. Now, I could ask my teachers questions in Spanish about the words or things I didn’t understand. This helped me get more knowledge in English and to have a better vocabulary. I am proud to be bilingual for many reasons. However, in this paper, I will only explain three of the reasons.
The variety of language is something many cultures have, some say, having a second language opens up doors, but the hardship you go through makes you think otherwise. As a person who is bilingual like myself there could be a lot of pros and cons, but in this story by Gloria Anzaldua that’s what helped her shape her personal identity. It not only does that amount your power, but brings shame through your journey into fitting into society.
The subject of this paper is Liz, a 52-year old, 1.5 generation female immigrant from Hong Kong. What this means is that she immigrated to the United States when she was a child, around 7-years old (Feliciano Lec. 1/4/2016). As a child of a family that consists of five siblings and two parents that did not speak any English prior to immigrating, the focus of this paper will be on the legal processes that the family went through to become legal immigrants and the various factors that aided in her path towards assimilation.
The interviewee identified as a Salvadorian-American heterosexual woman. She is bilingual and speaks English and Spanish. However, she explained that she is not fluent in Spanish because of the environments she was exposed to as a child growing up in America. She does not receive pressure to speak Spanish from her mother but rather from her church. Thus, church leads her family to practice the language more in the home. On the contrary, I identify as an Armenian-American heterosexual woman. Similar to my interviewee, I am also bilingual. However, I speak English and Armenian, but unlike my interviewee, I am fluent in both languages. Here I
Briefly describe your previous experiences/interactions in multicultural environments, both in schools (as a K-12 student or as a visitor) and personally (other experiences). How have your previous experiences helped to prepare you for working with students from multicultural backgrounds?
To be honest, I didn't know very much about the legal status and specific methods involved in bilingual education. Researching bilingual education helped me develop a broad understanding of the controversy and sufficient knowledge to be able to defend which method I think is the most effective. The biggest challenge in presenting my argument was focusing on a topic, because bilingual education is a broad topic with many ramifications. After considering many possible angles, I finally chose to write about two-way bilingual education because it is an effective method that has not been implemented very frequently in the educational system.
A team of AAVE and AE experts collaborated in an effort to identify and evaluate how the use of phonological processing occurs in both African American and Caucasian children and determine the implications for phonological reading instructions in classrooms. The study used varying phonological constants and variables and ultimately concluded that AE students performed better than AAVE students as the instructions for the study were written in AE-related language. Educators and scholars believed that the results of this study necessitated further discussion as the impact and implications for phonological reading instruction is expected to be fair to all children (Sligh, Frances, and Connors, 2003).
The linguistic and cultural clashes that children encounter, and how they negotiate between their ethnic and American “mainstream” cultures, and how these clashes and problems influence their relationship with their parents and their ethnic identities as a whole and how they were dealt with differently as we look at two stories dealing with two girls who are both coming of age in different society from where they originally came from. Jairy’s Jargon a story written by Carmen-Gloria Ballista, is a story that encounters the life of a young girl coming of age in Puerto Rico, except she’s originally from New York. Milly Cepeda’s story, Mari y Lissy, is a story about twin sisters who differ in personality and are often at odds with each other, but are both learning to live in a city that is very different from where they came from.
We discussed the results of the interview, any information we had known about the two languages before the interview, and any information that we learned because of the interview. I had previous knowledge of the linguistic aspects of English (and some Spanish) because I am in multiple linguistics classes. My friend had previous knowledge of Spanish because she has taken five or more years of Spanish in school.
Being bilingual always made my life differ as if I lived two lives, speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere outside of home. On the daily basis at my house, my family speaks Spanish. When we communicate we speak very fast, at times we can not even understand one another. After this occurs we all burst out in laughter super loud, no boundaries are enforced in our lexicon. The enforcement changes when entering a different discourse community.
Out of all the American institutions that exist today, the educational system has one of the greatest impacts on the lives of people, especially for immigrants and their children who do not know how to speak English. The English language is a whole new, different perspective for people who come to America for the first time; their whole environment changes as well. The majority of the people who come to the United States are Hispanics, who are usually at the poverty level. Like everyone who come to America, they want to pursue a better quality of life, and in order to do that, you have to know how to speak the universal language, the English language. The myth of education here is that everyone can learn the same way through the English language—but that is not the case.
Hypothesis: Bilingual brains are better at temporarily storing and manipulating information in working memory in their first language, but varying in the second.
“Bilingual Education looks pretty on the surface but it’s cracking up underneath,” Jill smirked as she took a spoonful of the salmon brioche. Seated at the corner of a quaint café, Jill was dressed formally as she was from her workplace. Being one of the few Eurasians who interns at an international law firm, she has definitely proven herself to be an outstanding candidate for the firm due to her impeccable command of English. However, on that day, Jill reverted to speaking conversational English as she recollected her thoughts and unveiled her experiences during her ten years of Bilingual Education.
Being bilingual implies a process in which everything looks so difficult at the beginning, but at the same time it is easier than what it looks like.
America, a country built on immigration dating back to the early 1600s Mayflower voyage, continues to thrive as a melting pot full of various cultures and ethnics. In the past, many immigrants came to America due to the offered freedoms and equality, yet today, many naturalized citizens suffer with injustices, including with educational practices. The use of bilingual education, which is teaching students in both English and their native language, has become a controversial topic. In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act, which recognized and offered education to students who were lacking English, was passed, yet the topic still seems questionable to some. Bilingual education provides a variety of beneficial attributes to equally help foreigners