ERIC EJ1091069: Beyond Linguistic Proficiency: Early Language Learning as a Lever for Building Students' Global Competence, Self-Esteem, and Academic Success

2013·0.09 MB·English

by  ERIC

Beyond Linguistic Proficiency
Early Language Learning
as a Lever
for Building Students’
Global Competence,
Self-Esteem,
and Academic Success
By Chris Livaccari tional Studies, where I took Simon as part nese language learning as a core component
On a recent visit to Yinghua Academy, of the research for his 2010 book Asia Alone of a much larger mission to build students’
a pioneering Chinese language elemen- (Wiley & Sons). In the book, Simon goes global competence. Learning a new lan-
tary immersion program in Minneapolis, I on to say that some students he met at the guage, particularly one as challenging and
was thrilled to see young learners discussing school on Staten Island had (unbelievably) as different from English as Chinese, can
early American history in Chinese. While never even visited Manhattan. Working in also play a major role in building students’
I did wonder if these children would ever such an insular community showed me the self-esteem and self-confidence. It is im-
learn how to say “Betsy Ross” or “George power of language and culture to expand portant to recognize this social-emotional
Washington” in English, I was amazed by students’ visions of the world. As I sat in dimension to language learning, and to un-
their use of Chinese terms like “colony” that classroom in Minneapolis, I thought derstand it together with the more usual
and “revolution.” I began to ponder how how much more transformative the ex- attention given to language proficiency,
powerful the impact for these students was periences of those young learners would cognitive, and academic development.
to look at the history of their own coun- be than for the high school students with The benefits of a rigorous multilingual
try through a completely different linguistic whom I had worked. education are perhaps most apparent in
and cultural lens. I also began to think back It is no exaggeration to say that language communities that are traditionally classi-
to my own experiences as a Chinese and learning is the very foundation of global fied as underserved. At the 2013 National
Japanese language educator at a school in competence and the most deeply effective Chinese Language Conference, an an-
Staten Island, New York. way for students to be able to “investigate nual event co-organized by Asia Society
The Singapore lawyer and parliamen- the world, recognize perspectives, commu- and The College Board that took place in
tarian Simon Tay has described Staten Is- nicate ideas, and take action,” which is the Boston(April 7-9, 2013), a panel of lead-
land as “a suburban borough in New York, definition of global competence developed ers in the field spoke about the critical issue
just a 30-minute ferry trip from Manhat- by Asia Society Vice President for Educa- of “Equity and Access in Chinese Language
tan but a world away from its frenetic pace tion Tony Jackson. Using the twin lenses Education” and the ways in which Chinese
and international connections.” I moved of “linguist” and “diplomat,” Asia Society language learning specifically – but also
to Staten Island in 2005 to teach the Chi- is working with a national network of 100 world languages education more generally –
nese and Japanese languages at the College K-12 schools that teach Chinese in almost has served as a lever for giving students, es-
of Staten Island High School for Interna- 30 states, with the goal of including Chi- pecially those in the early grades, both the
14 ~ spring/summer 2013
competence and confidence to succeed. hood are not learning…right now it’s fun, ited. By learning about another culture,
The panel featured four speakers from it’s exciting, they feel special, but I don’t through another language, I can encour-
different regions of the United States, rep- think they understand the long-term impli- age them to see their world expanding and
resenting each of the four time zones from cations.” He described his hope of “seeding encourage them to explore other cultures,
Eastern to Pacific. Gregg Roberts, the world the city of Boston” with the climate of mul- other places, and other people.”
language and dual language immersion spe- tilingualism and multiculturalism that exists Ms. Li later described one of her elemen-
cialist for the Utah State Department of Ed- in his school. tary school students, a girl whose parents
ucation spoke about the ways in which his Marcos Aguilar, who directs Semillas So- said that even as late as four years old, she
state, although dead last in per-pupil spend- ciedad Civil, an innovative charter school didn’t speak at all. This surprised Ms. Li, be-
ing on education (literally 51 out of 51, if in East Los Angeles, talked about the multi- cause she was one of her most articulate and
you include the District of Columbia), has lingual, multicultural focus of his school. He accomplished students. She later learned
committed to developing 100 dual language introduced the Mandarin language, along that the girl had been teaching her parents
immersion programs in French, Manda- with English, Spanish, and Nahuatl (an in- Chinese and that she pretended that she
rin, Portuguese, and Spanish. He declared digenous language of Mexico spoken by the was Ms. Li each night she came home from
monolingualism “the illiteracy of the twen- Aztecs), at a time when there were very few school, and taught her parents in the same
tieth century,” and stressed the core idea Mandarin Chinese programs of any type in way that Ms. Li had taught the class that
that students are “never going to have a the Los Angeles Unified School District. day. After several months, the parents con-
high level of intercultural competence with- “When we started, we were teaching more cluded that they needed to take a Chinese
out high proficiency in the language.” students Mandarin than the entire district.” language class themselves, because she was
Nicole Boudreaux, World Language Spe- Marcos described the student population of learning so quickly now that they “couldn’t
cialist for Lafayette Parish School System in LA Unified as primarily students who are keep up.”
Louisiana, talked about the development of “underserved, undereducated, [with] higher While it is likely too late for this young
the district’s French, Mandarin and Span- levels of poverty, [and] higher levels of dis- learner’s parent to “keep up” with her, it is
ish elementary school immersion programs. connection and disaffection with the po- important that other young students have
They had developed “schools of choice” in- litical system…” “We have kids that have access to the same kinds of multilingual and
cluding French, Mandarin and Spanish im- never seen the beach in Los Angeles. Not multicultural experiences. And while those
mersion. While their expectation was that only do we want them to see the beach, but students in Minnesota may never know that
many middle and upper class parents would we want them to see the other side of the “Bei-qi-luo-si” is pronounced “Betsy Ross”
choose these options, it turned out that al- world…we want them to be able to imag- in English, they will very surely be able to
most none of them did, and these programs ine a world that’s so much larger than them- “keep up” with Ms. Li’s student, and engage
wound up being subscribed by the “most un- selves.” As Marcos talked about his students the globally connected world of the twenty-
derserved” students in the district, almost who had never seen the beach in LA, I first century with the competence and confi-
99% free and reduced lunch, almost all Af- was reminded of my own students who had dence to succeed.
rican-American students living below the never taken the 25-minute ferry ride from
poverty line. Nicole described a presenta- Staten Island to Manhattan. In a district
tion given by these students at an event or- with a sixty percent drop-out rate, Marcos christopher m.
ganized by the local telecommunications was proud to report that “ninety percent of livaccari is Director
company. As the students walked past a lot the students from our first graduating class of Education and
of “men in suits and ties [who were] mostly went on to college, and it had everything to Chinese Language
white,” she described them as looking “terri- do with this experience in Chinese.” Initiatives at Asia
Society. As of August
fied.” The students interacted with a teacher At another session of the conference, a
2013, he will begin
in China via digital video, and once they guest teacher from China, Ms. Li Xin, de-
a new role as upper
got going, they became the highlight of the scribed her experiences arriving at a school
elementary principal
event. In Nicole’s words, “these people came in Michigan to teach elementary school
and director of the
for technology, and instead got a lesson Chinese. She discussed the bewilderment of
K-8 Chinese language
in global competency from the kids in the most people in the community about hav- immersion program
poorest school in their district.” ing a Chinese program at all. She joked at International School of the Peninsula in Palo
Roger Harris, President, CEO and Su- that some people said, “We don’t have any Alto, CA. He is a teacher of the Chinese and
perintendent of the Boston Renaissance Chinese people here, so we’re not sure why Japanese languages and a former US Foreign
Charter Public School, runs the largest el- you’re here. We know we owe the Chi- Service officer who served at the US Embassy
ementary school in the city of Boston, with nese money, but…” While initially baf- in Tokyo, Japan and as Deputy Director of the
Tokyo American Center, as well as at the US
a student population that is 98% African- fled by such statements, Ms. Li eventually
Consulate General in Shanghai, China. He is the
American and Hispanic and students who learned to say, “Well, that might have some-
co-author of Structures of Mandarin Chinese
overwhelmingly qualify for free or reduced thing to do with why I’m here!” But while
for Speakers of English (3 volumes, Peking
lunch. Dr. Harris introduced Chinese as a the economic arguments for multilingual-
University Press) and the Chinese for Tomorrow
means for helping these students become, in ism undoubtedly proved most persuasive for
series (3 volumes, Cheng & Tsui). A graduate of
his words, “twenty-first century global citi- members of her community, she also refer- Columbia University, the University of Chicago,
zens.” He remarked that his students “feel enced the power of language to transform and New York University, he speaks Mandarin
special because they know that they are students’ lives and vision of the world. “For Chinese and Japanese, reads Classical Chinese,
learning something kids in their neighbor- a young child, I think the world is unlim- and is proficient in Korean.
Learning Languages ~ 15