the mexican approach to developing bilingual materials and teaching literacy to bilingual students
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The Mexican Approach to Developing Bilingual Materials and Teaching Literacy to BilingualStudentsAuthor(s): Robert MillerSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 35, No. 7 (Apr., 1982), pp. 800-804Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20198102 .
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The Mexican approach to
developing bilingual materials and
teaching literacy to
bilingual students
Describes the rationale and methods
for developing and using bilingual material for both primary literacy learning and literacy learning in a
second language.
Robert Miller Mexico's approach to the develop ment of bilingual literacy methods and materials can be used effectively in countries with linguistically diverse
populations. The Mexican govern ment is creating materials in the native languages of their linguistic
minorities. Through the Mexican
Ministry of Education and the Insti tuto Nacional Indigenista (INI), work books and teaching techniques based on the works of Paulo Freir? have been developed (Miller, 1980). These
methods and materials have a direct
application for the teaching of literacy in phonetic languages such as Spanish,
Portuguese, and Italian.
Following is a rationale for the
teaching of literacy in the native
language as well as a description of the method of developing and using literacy materials for adults and
primary school-aged children. Final
ly, a modification of this system
designed to improve native language skills while teaching English as a
second language is presented.
Literacy in the native language An increasing amount of evidence
indicates that literacy should be
taught first in the primary language of the speaker. Lambert and Tucker
(1972) in Canada, Modiano (1966) in Mexico, and Zappert and Cruz's
(1977) analysis of studies in the United States have all shown the
importance of teaching in the primary language and then transferring these
early reading skills into second lan
guage learning. After controlling for
socioeconomic status, Lambert and
800 The Reading Teacher April 1982
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his colleagues have reported greater
gains in second language learning when the students' primary language was the vehicle of instruction.
Gaarder (1972), discussing bilin
gualism in the U.S., cites three reasons why teaching in the primary language of the student is effective:
1. Children who enter school with less competence than English-speak ing children may become retarded in their schoolwork to the extent of their deficiency in English if English is the sole medium of instruction. On the other hand, the bilingual child's
conceptual development and acquisi tion of other experience and informa tion could proceed at a normal rate if the native tongue were used as an
alternative medium of instruction. 2. Non-English-speaking children
come from non-English-speaking homes. The use of the child's native
tongue by some of the teachers and as a school language is necessary if there is to be a strong mutually reinforcing relationship between the home and the school.
3. Language is the most important manifestation of the self, of the
personality. If the school rejects the native tongue of an entire group of
children, this will affect seriously and
adversely those children's concept of their parents, their homes, and them selves.
Learning to read in the native
language is beneficial because the learner brings many reading behav iors to the learning of the second
language: vowels, consonants, blends, diphthongs, and the concepts of
words, phrases, sentences, and punc
tuation. As the student masters the
primary language, more and more skills can be transferred to the second
language.
William Gray (1956) stated that the greater the phoneme-grapheme correspondence, the easier it is to learn to read. For example, in
Spanish there are 29 letters and 24
sounds, whereas in English there are
only 24 letters but 43 sounds. Imagine the frustration felt by the illiterate
Spanish speaker who was taught to
read and write in English. This
phoneme-grapheme mismatch may
present problems for native speakers of English and, in fact, many reading authorities have tried to simplify this
relationship with such programs as
the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) and Words in Color (Dechant, 1968).
Developing literacy materials The U.S. Department of Education
recognizes 72 languages under Title VII. Since there are not enough materials available in each of these
languages, materials must be created.
Nancy Modiano, who is employed by the Instituto Nacional Indigenista,
wrote a manual (Modiano, 1976) on how to create this type of material for the Indians of Mexico. This system is
being used to create beginning reading materials in all of the native languages, and is based on the techniques of Paulo Freir? (1973).
The first step is to identify genera tive words. In Freire's system these
words are meaningful to adults and tend to be political in nature. For
younger children, Modiano believes the words should be more basic, that
is, concrete, and include such things as food, holidays, the work of adults, and animals. For adults, the practical aspects of life are recommended. The words must always reflect the real world of the students, and the
practice of using pictures of just lawyers, doctors, and other profes sional people to motivate all types of students should be avoided.
The words are carefully arranged from basic phonetic sounds to more
complicated sounds. If done correctly, 17 words can express all of the sounds of Spanish. Slides and pictures are prepared to illustrate the meaning of the words; this material must
always be within the learner's context.
The Mexican approach to developing bilingual materials 801
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The class begins when the teacher
introduces a word, such as pelota 'ball' and discusses its meaning.
Next, the word is divided into
syllables. In addition, the phonemic
family of the first syllable of the word
is presented. (For example, pe-lo-ta: pa, pe, pi, po, pu.) This is done next
with the other two syllables so that a
discovery card can be made,
pa pe pi po pu la le li lo lu ta te ti to tu
Students then create new words which are discussed at the next
session. In remaining sessions the
group works through the rest of the
words.
After six weeks of this method, a
group can develop enough skill to
read newspapers, read and write
simple letters, and discuss problems of local and national importance (Maring, 1978).
The Mexicans use Freire's system in a formalized manner. Teachers from the Indian group for whom a
primer is being created identify the
generative words. Next, a beginning reading book is created with each lesson containing a picture, the word in syllable, and a short story under the word. Modiano (1976) uses the
following example to illustrate the first three lessons of a beginnng reading book in Spanish.
I MI COMIDA
II COMO CAMOTE
COMO CAMOTE CON SAL COMO CAMOTE CON SALSA
III ME GUSTA EL CAMOTE
ME GUSTA LA SAL ME GUSTA MI COMIDA
In the first three lessons, only three consonants and three vowels are
presented. After discussing the words, the students recombine the syllables
into a possible 40 new words. Each of these words is discussed, and the next lesson is presented.
From a technical standpoint, Mo diano states that there should be three pages for each symbol of the
language; therefore, if there are 20
sounds, there should be 60 pages of text. The format is extremely impor tant. Only capital letters and pictures that are easily identifiable are used at
first.
A system for teaching English and
Spanish Freire's system works best with
teenagers and adult illiterates. Modi ano's system is excellent for elemen
tary school children. Immigrant stu dents who have completed one or two years of education in their native
country and a year of second language training are still deficient in basic
skills, but are too advanced for either Freire's or Modiano's system.
For these students, it becomes
important to improve native language skills while teaching the second
language. The methodology for this is suggested in Freire's Pedagogy in
Process (1978). Freir? discusses a notebook of popular education which has been used in Guinea-Bissau, Africa. The notebook, in the second
stage, provides places in which to write about the "generative theme" or topic to which the reading vocabu
lary pertains. Through discussion and writing, meaning is intensified.
Based on this concept, a system is
presented here for teaching English as a second language while reinforcing the primary language, Spanish. The
system is based upon the following premises: (1) Discussion must pre cede written assignments. (2) The lessons must be designed to motivate the students. (3) The program must be supplemented with basic English vocabulary, oral reading in both
English and Spanish, language drills, dictation, and oral questioning?the
802 The Reading Teacher April 1982
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materials and techniques found in
any good language arts program. To use the system, first identify
problem areas. This is done by asking the students to write a paragraph in
the primary language. The paragraph
topic should be of interest to the students and might include such
things as the customs of the home
land, food, or comments on various
holidays. The papers are corrected and a master list of errors is compiled.
In the early stages of the program, the list contains only substitutions or
omission errors, such as // and y, or
omission of the initial h. Errors of
gender and accent should be handled later and the list should be revised
periodically. From the list, generative themes
are developed. The word or group of
words must focus on the error and be of interest to the students. Some
examples of generative themes fol low:
Error Themes s and c justicia Il and y Yo llamaba
cuando z and c zodiaco h (omission) heroes b and v Mi barrio es mi
vida The students then discuss the
generative theme in the native lan
guage. It is important that each student comment on his/her view of the theme. In a discussion about
justicia, students might include such ideas as inflation and how it affects the poor, problems with officials,
problems with fighting on campus, or migrants from Mexico.
Second, the students help to con struct a list of common words that reflect the concept being taught. Twenty words are sufficient. For the b and v problem, where two letters
represent the same sound, the phrase Mi barrio es mi vida can be used and
the following spelling words can be
taught.
b v cabeza velocidad
bienvenida verano
botica vocabulario
barrio vacaci?n
basura vacuna
ballena veterinario bandolero voy bandera verdad borracho verg?enza cobija ventana
The word list should be supplemented with a word list in English such as the Dolch list. Weekly tests are given with words in both English and
Spanish. Third, each student is expected to
write a paragraph in Spanish based on the discussion. Short papers are
encouraged in the beginning, and
longer papers are accepted as students increase their skills in writing Span ish.
Fourth, the students discuss the
topic in English. Since the students understand the topic in Spanish, full attention can be focused on creating English sentences. All students must comment on the topic in English. The
papers written in Spanish are avail able in case the students have forgot ten details about the topic.
Lastly, the students write a para graph in English on the topic. A translation of the Spanish paper is
acceptable or the paper may include other thoughts. Both papers are corrected and the students rewrite them. If pressures become too great, teachers can alternate the rewriting assignments, one week Spanish and one week English.
The process should take a total of three days. These three days need not be sequential because the students are always working from prepared notes. As a variation, the students can exchange papers and read them to each other. It is essential that
groups be formed to discuss the
concepts.
The Mexican approach to developing bilingual materials 803
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Summary The Mexican approach to literacy for bilinguals and the modified ap proach to teaching English as a second language while reinforcing primary language skills are both based on the premise that thinking and discussions should precede the
processes of reading and writing. Both techniques demand the creation of generative words, themes, and
materials that are interesting and an
integral part of the lives of students.
Using these two approaches, the teacher becomes a facilitator, helping students with the complicated tasks of primary literacy learning and liter
acy learning in a second language. c
Miller is a reading teacher at Yerba Buena High School in San Jose,
California.
References Dechant, Emerald. Diagnosis and Remediation of Read
ing Disability. West Nyack, N.Y.: Parker Publishing Co., 1968.
Freir?, Paulo. Education for Critical Consciousness. New York, N.Y.: The Seabury Press, 1973.
Freir?, Paulo. Pedagogy in Process. New York, N.Y.: The Seabury Press, 1978.
Gaarder, Bruce. "Bilingualism in Education." In The Language Education of Minority Children, edited by Bernard Spolsky. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1972.
Gray, William. The Teaching of Reading and Writing. Paris, France: Unesco, 1956.
Lambert, Wallace, and Richard Tucker. Bilingual Educa tion of Children. The St. Lambert Experiment. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1972.
Maring, Gerald. "Freir?, Gray and Robinson on Read ing." Journal of Reading, vol. 21 (February 1978), pp.
421-25. Miller. Robert. "Public Primary School Education in
Mexico: A Focus on Reading Instruction in Mexico City." Doctoral dissertation, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.: 1980.
Modiano, Nancy. Como Hacer una Cartilla. Mexico: In stituto Nacional Indigenista, 1976.
Modiano, Nancy. "Reading Comprehension in National Language: A Comparative Study of Bilingual and All Spanish Approaches to Reading Instruction in Selected Indian Schools in the Highlands of Chia pas, Mexico." Doctoral dissertation, New York University, New York, N.Y., 1966.
Zappert, Loraine, and Roberto Cruz. Bilingual Educa tion?An Appraisal of Empirical Research. Berkeley,
Calif.: Bay Area Bilingual Education League, 1977.
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804 The Reading Teacher April 1982
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