Speaking foreign languages not only broadens our mind...

Educating speakers of other languages in English, and encouraging mastery of multiple languages, has long been important to America’s competitiveness — and will be increasingly vital in the years to come. We challenge our schools and communities to invest in our future leaders with biliteracy and multiliteracy skills. (link to the article) Arne Duncan is U.S. secretary of Education. Libia S. Gil is assistant deputy secretary of the Office of English Language Acquisition in the Department of Education. 

"Being a native English speaker is not the main requirement for jobs requiring proficiency in English" ...I know this last sentence might sound weird, illogical or even fallacious. Let me share my opinion with you patient reader. Every year the number of English learners achieving a C1 or C2 English  level diploma increases, and every year the age of the students acquiring such a high level of English is younger. Not only that, they speak at least another language: Spanish, French, German... So, language wise they are more employable, specially in today´s globalised economy. Think about it...

I know this might sound harsh, but think twice when you travel abroad, to a country whose language you speak (let´s say, to Mexico and you speak Spanish) and people (staff, people you meet there, couchsurfing members etc.) want to "help" you by speaking English, although you might be trying to practise your Spanish: they are not helping you, they are unconciously showing that they are fluent in English, practising it and, most importantly, are also keeping you from improving your Spanish. So, in the long term what is likely to happen is: you forget most of your Spanish (French, Japanese...you name it) missing the chance to be fluent in a foreign language whereas "we" get to be "proficient" in English. Is it fair? Comment on this post!
Next time someone answers back to you in English when you are practising your favorite foreign language... do not let them get away with it! 

Hugo Díaz

• Exact excerpt from the article by Lauren Razavi in The Guardian digital edition. 

<< Both Danijela Trenkic and John Schumann believe that native English speakers are at a unique disadvantage in trying to learn other languages. The key issue in motivating English-speaking language learners is the prevalence of English as the world's lingua franca, an issue that has been explored and debated by experts for more than a decade. "We speak natively the language that the world is trying to learn. For us, it's never clear that we need to learn a second language, and if we decide to, it's hard for us to pick which one," Schumann asserts. "It's also very difficult to maintain a conversation with a German if your German isn't good, because they'll quickly switch to English, and they're often more comfortable doing so." 

"One of the main reasons there are more successful learners of English than of other languages is that there's more 'material' out there, and it's more socially relevant in the sense that people you know are likely to share your enthusiasm for the material – films and music, for example," Trenkic adds. >> 

Bibliografía
. “Language learning: what motivates us?” Artículo de Lauren Razavi en el periódico The Guardian, versión digital (26/04/2014). Disponible en: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/19/language-learning-motivation-brain-teaching

• Melanie Balakit

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland could become the fourth state in the nation to establish a Seal of Biliteracy Program, which would recognize public high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English.

Students would have to demonstrate proficiency in not only speaking, but also reading and writing in one or more languages other than English, including American Sign Language, according to a measure pending in the State House.

“In the 21st century, we want a school system that recognizes the importance of languages and cultures as globalization increases,” said Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, who sponsors the bill. If passed, the measure would add a special recognition of biliteracy to the diplomas or transcripts high school graduates receive beginning in 2015. 

Article by Melanie Balakit Capital News Service

UK Workplace Bans All Languages But English (link to INTERSECT NEWSLETTER): Promoting multilinguism, GOOD WORKING ENVIRONMENT?

Teacher evaluations are key driver in Metro Schools pay proposal (THe Tennessean newspaper)

Teachers pay raise will be based on students´ test outcomes and learning gains: capitalism applied to education? A way to avoid some "teacher´s indolence, or an unfair way of measuring teacher´s work? Click on the provided link to read the whole story (from Accomplished Teacher by SmartBrief).

Dual Language programs results in CALIFORNIA.

Despite the attempt to eliminate Dual Language Programs from American educational system (by banning Dual Language Programs from receiving public funds: proposition 227, promoted by English Only groups) and the mixure of biased studies and prejudices about them, Two-Way Immersion programs are succeeding California district. This success probes (if further evidence was needed) that the idea of kids being confused by learning 2 languages, and that these students won´t  be fluent neither in English nor in Spanish in completely infunded, utterly...

What are Dual Language or Two-Way Immersion programs? In these programs, English Language Learners learn English and also preserve their mother tongue.  In some programs English is gradually introduced first as a second language and then as a language of instruction but without abandoning the other language (for example Spanish).

The other option for English language Learners (usually inmigrants) is the Immersion programs (or Transitional bilingual program), in which students with limited English proficiency (Limited English proficient students) enter a program where classes are taught in their first language so as not to be left behind (Let´s remember the “No Children left behind”) but just during the strictly necessary amount of time for them to master English and then they are transferred to the classrooms with their English speaking peers. From that moment, their mother tongue is not used to deliver content and is only taught (if so) as a foreign language. So, from being Spanish native speakers with limited English skills, these learners acquire English proficiency but end up being taught completely in English, whereby their Spanish is going to be limited to passive skills (listening mostly, with some speaking, reading and writing) and is going to lack the academic register needed for professional and university purposes.

Breve explicación EN ESPAÑOL de los programas bilingües

El “Transitional bilingual program”  no es el único programa educativo considerado bilingüe, pero sí el más extendido y el que cuenta con mayor apoyo en los EE.UU. El bilingüismo dual -“Dual language education programs” o “Two-ways immersion programs”- defiende una enseñanza bilingüe donde los estudiantes de origen hispano (heritage speakers), o de otra de las lenguas minoritarias, y los de la lengua mayoritaria aprenden las dos lenguas. Las asignaturas se imparten tanto en inglés como en español, por lo que los dos grupos se benefician de este programa. Los estudiantes de origen hispano preservan y mejoran -en los registros académicos- su lengua materna y estudian inglés, mientras que los estudiantes de L1 inglesa mejoran su inglés y aprenden español.

Esta modalidad de programa bilingüe -que es una alternativa a los “Transitional bilingual programs” y a los programas de inmersión basados en la asimilación y aculturación- cuenta con la ventaja de que tanto los estudiantes hispanos como los de la lengua mayoritaria consiguen dominar otra lengua y desarrollar una competencia multicultural. Se ha podido apreciar, además,  cómo en las clases impartidas en español los estudiantes hispanos ayudan a los de la lengua nativa inglesa y, al revés, en las asignaturas en que la lengua utilizada es el inglés, un buen ejemplo de trabajo cooperativo espontáneo.

[...] En este clima desfavorable, los “Dual language programs”, donde los estudiantes de la lengua mayoritaria y los de la minoritaria aprenden otra lengua, fueron progresivamente sustituidos por los “Inmersion programs” o “Transitional programs”.[1] El resultado es el abandono del español en la enseñanza de los hispanoamericanos y de los hablantes nativos de inglés, con lo que se pierde la oportunidad de convertir a estas dos comunidades en bilingües. En palabras de Lindholm-Leary (2001):

The appeal of dual language education programs is that they combine several educational goals simultaneously – language majority and language minority students are integrated into a single classroom, with both groups achieving academic excellence, full bilingualism and biliteracy, as well as multicultural competence.

Un aspecto en el que coinciden críticos y partidarios, es que la educación bilingüe promueve la interculturalidad y valores como el respeto a la diversidad étnica de los EE.UU. En una sociedad tan competitiva como la americana, resulta paradójico que no se mencione el componente práctico: el dominio de dos idiomas -el español en nuestro caso- es una ventaja en el mundo profesional.

LINDHOLM-LEARY, K. J. (2001). Dual language Education. Clevedon, Reino Unido. Multilingual Matters.

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[1] Enseñanza en español hasta que los estudiantes alcanzasen un nivel de inglés suficiente para abandonar estos programas.

Language barrier, lack of multilingual competence? or just common sense?

So, what happens when you find yourself in a conversation with native speakers of a language it is not your mother tongue? Do they normally adapt their tone, vocabulary and, last but not least, their pace?

Some do, or at least for the first minutes of the conversation before completely forgetting about it and gradually speeding up making it almost impossible for the non-native speaker to follow the conversation. And then, after you have been silent for a while desperately trying to make sense of that endless flow of words, one of the speakers will say: "Eey, why don´t you say anything?"

It is rarely a matter of rudeness, and it is usually a matter of not speaking a foreign language which makes some people unaware of how difficult is for a English language learner to participate in a conversation with English speakers who are using slang / jokes and/or speaking at their normal pace.

Have you found yourself in that situation? What did you do? Let´s see how Pedro Almodóvar deals with it.

Pedro Almodóvar (in English)

Language barrier (USA examples) in different contexts...

Visit http://www.unco.edu/ to learn about language barrier, minority language families, ESL and LEP students: " Never underestimate a family just because a language barrier exists."

Comment on this piece of news please!

Principal of Texas Bans Spanish in classroom. (click) Otro video sobre la misma noticia