enrique g. murillo, jr., ph.d california state university, san bernardino

6TH Annual Let’s Talk R.A.C.E. Conference: Language, Culture and Education

February 26, 2005

Carolina Center for Educational Excellence at

Smith Middle School, Chapel Hill, NC

Enrique G. Murillo, Jr., Ph.D California State University, San Bernardino

6TH Annual Let’s Talk R.A.C.E. Conference: Language, Culture and Education

February 26, 2005

Carolina Center for Educational Excellence at

Smith Middle School, Chapel Hill, NC

Enrique G. Murillo, Jr., Ph.D California State University, San Bernardino

WHO AM I?

Chicano/Indigena Bilingual/BiCultural/Biliterate Parent Former School Teacher (LAUSD)Community Organizer Researcher/EthnographerConsultant (LACOE Professional Expert)Teacher-Educator (CSUSB)Editor (Journal of Latinos and Education)

"Invest in Pesos now, to be "Invest in Pesos now, to be cashed in Dollars later": cashed in Dollars later":

pedagogical foundations for pedagogical foundations for English Language LearnersEnglish Language Learners

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SOME KEY STARTING POINTS OF GENERAL AWARENESS: 1. In January 2003, Latinos were

recognized, numerically, as the largest minority group in the U.S.

2. As of 1998, Latino children, numerically, have already become the largest minority student demographic in U.S. public schools

SOME KEY STARTING POINTS OF GENERAL AWARENESS:

3. Latino students, in general are the most under-educated major segment of the U.S. population, and are more than twice as likely to be undereducated than all groups combined


4. Latino students in particular, have the highest dropout (“pushout”) rate, score among the lowest on achievement tests, and have low college enrollment rates


5. NC. has the fastest growing Mexican population in the nation, and is the third-fastest growing state in terms of its Latino population

(a 394 percent increase

during the past ten years)


6. N.C. has the highest percentage of teen Latinos who have quit school or bypassed it altogether – more than any other state in the nation


7. Nearly 47 percent of N.C. Latinos between ages 16 and 19 are not enrolled in school and lack a high school diploma

What is the “real problem?”

Language ???Cultural ???Social ???Motivational ???Parents ???The students ???The Schools ???The Teachers ???

What “problem(s)" are we REALLY talking about ???

We can’t say with absolute certainty what are the causes of the Latino Achievement Gap!

But we know some likely contributors, from the research literature

Note: NOT everything is a

function of the “Language Gap”

LATINO STUDENTS ATTEND SCHOOLS:

with fewer resources, staffing and programs with a high mobility rate of both students and

teachers that are located in communities with high poverty

rates that are racially segregated (with academically

segregated tracks) with less-qualified teachers with more and harsher discipline with lowered expectations for student

achievement, and with mismatches between school and home culture

What areas of children’s lives do we have any direct influence over? :

Home Societal Economic Moral/Ethical Motivational

Curricular / Instructional Cognitive Affective Mind/Heart

HOW CAN WE TACKLE THE MISMATCHES BETWEEN SCHOOL AND HOME???

AMONG THE TASKS TO HELP US TACKLE THE MISMATCHES BETWEEN SCHOOL AND HOME IN THE NC CONTEXT, WE NEED TO:

Learn about the cultural histories, traits, backgrounds and diversity of and among Latinos


Build teacher training programs that include a strong student-home culture component so teachers are not only sympathetic and sensitive to a different culture but also appreciative of students' backgrounds and willing to structure the school experience to be compatible with students


Create qualified teachers that have specialized knowledge and skills in language acquisition, biliteracy, and cross-cultural learning


Research the local community and its “social reception,” and the impact of this on the effectiveness of schools and the learning of children in classrooms


Combat the deficit views of Latino students and parents; and understand that the incorporation of students' language, culture, and experiential knowledge should not conflict with teachers' responsibility for providing students with particular academic content knowledge and learning skills; and


Create meaningful and trusting relationships with Latino parents and extended family

2 groups of students

\Spanish-dominant English-dominant

* special linguistic circumstances of relevance to CLD students

– issues of

dialect

bilingualism,

and second-language acquisition

CLD = Culturally and Linguistically Diverse


\Spanish-dominant


– issues of

dialect

bilingualism,



Spanish-Spanish-DominantDominant

Range ofCURRICULAR AND

INSTRUCTIONAL Programs (used with ELLs)

Bilingual Education(Use of L1 & L2 for Instruction)

English as a Second Language (ESL) (Formal Instruction in the English Language)

Compensatory/Remedial Education, Title I (To Remediate “Deficiencies”)

Sheltered English Immersion (SEI)

(e.g. CA’s Proposition 227, English-Only)

SUBTRACTIVE• Leaves local knowledge and language at the schoolhouse door• Causes accelerated language erosion and loss• Replaces primary language and culture with the English language

and culture• CLD students fail to attain academic competence in English while at

the same time losing knowledge of their primary languages and cultures

• Primary culture carries low social status and can negatively influence the overall development and personality of the student

ADDITIVE • Creates the conditions for students to succeed in their schoolwork• Teaches English language and culture in addition to the native language

and culture • CLD students acquire their second language without any loss of their

primary language• Maintains the first language and adds the second, but also values and

enhances both cultures• Students who continue to develop cognitively in their primary language

and develop age-appropriate proficiency in both first and second language can outscore monolinguals on school tests

• Bilingualism and Biculturalism carry high social status and positively affect the child's total development

SUBTRACTIVE VS.

ADDITIVE Theoretical Framework

* Implementation and Assessment of Programs

Spanish-Spanish-DominantDominant

What is the relationship of

L1 to L2

in the education of

CLD students?

L1 = first language

L2 = second language

SUP

False 2-Balloon Theory (Separate Underlying Proficiency)

L1L2

CUP

Spanish English

The "Dual Iceberg" Representation of Bilingual Proficiency (one bank of knowledge)

By Dr. Jim Cummins

BICS (2 years)

CALP (5 to 7 years)

BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills: Skills necessary for functioning in every day life, face toface interactions. These skills usually take about two years to develop in most second language learners. PLAYGROUND ENGLISH

CALP: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency: The aspects of language linked to literacy and academicachievement. These skills usually take five to seven years to fully develop in second language learners. ACADEMIC ENGLISH

BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills: Skills necessary for functioning in every day life, face to

CUP

Spanish English

Academic Spanish = Academic English

Conversational English ≠ Academic English


\ English-dominant


– issues of

dialect

bilingualism,



English-English-DominantDominant

What is Chicano English?

A dynamic variety of English

spoken on a scale/continuum of English/Spanish, ranging from bilingual/biliterate to monolingual English



A form of spoken English that

is considered out of the mainstream (“non-standard”); yet the Chicano speakers themselves are often considered of even “classified” as native-English speakers



Scholarship and discussion

are extremely limited! Most of what has been theorized and researched has been about the social, cultural and linguistic factors in second language acquisition (Fought, 1999 and Santa Ana, 1996)



While ebonics is often

described as a “separate” language with rules that govern its use, the same argument has not been made about this language form



Initial analysis (by Castañeda

and Ulanoff, 2004) suggests that English is spoken in ways that mirror the language structure of Spanish. The suggestion being that English is learned from native-Spanish speakers (the language structure is what’s transferred)

CUP

In the absence of Spanish CALP and most often English CALP, the speaker of Chicano English borrows BICS, into their limited repertoire of English

Spanish English

CONCLUSIONSWe bother to teach children to read in Spanish, though the obvious need may be to learn English, because learning theories demonstrate that it isn't conversational English(BICS) that leads to Academic English(CALP) but rather Academic Spanish(CALP) that leads to Academic English(CALP).

The best means to an academic road for an English Language Learner (ELL) is the students' native language.

CONCLUSIONS Contrary to the false 2 balloon theory, a student learning his or her native language isn't just learning that language but all the literacy and academic skills that go with it.

These skills can transfer over to English, where studies prove that students achieve higher test scores and parents can continue later to reinforce the primary language.

CONCLUSIONS Students hold only one book of knowledge or common underlying proficiency(CUP), to where if we combine comprehensible input(CI) in English with academic Spanish(CALP), the Spanish literacy merges with English literacy.

In end, Comprehensible English Input + Native Language Academic Instruction- Best Suits the English Language Learner

CONCLUSIONS

Symbolically, if we invest money in pesos now,

they can be cashed in dollars later.

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El Fin - Gracias

enrique g. murillo, jr., ph.d california state university, san bernardino

Documents

smith middle school

high school diplomawhat

latino population

language gaplatino students

growing state

latino achievement gap

latino children

d california state university