Summary:
Hispanics in the United States are challenged in different ways. Many people are trying to do away with the Spanish language in the United States, but it is not easy to get Hispanics the help that they need in learning English and adapting to American culture. In addition, Hispanics constantly have to leave their own culture behind in some way or another.
How are Hispanics getting help with English and what obstacles or barriers are they facing? That is an extremely good question. Everyday, more and more Hispanics are making a move to the United States in hopes of a better life. The only problem is that many of them can not speak any English at all. Since the United States is basically an English speaking nation, it is important that Hispanics learn English to be able to adjust to life within the United States. But, that is easier said than done because it is not easy to get Hispanics the help that they need in learning English. There have to be people who are willing to tutor and funding for programs. Of course, there are always obstacles or barriers that stands in the way of progress.
A large number of people in the Hispanic community whether Hispanics are not able to get the English literacy skills that they need not because they want to keep born in Latin America or the United States, speak Spanish primarily. This is basically because in present day time, Hispanics are more likely to pass Spanish to their kids now than they have done in the past. (Ortiz, P.149) This is seen as a social problem, especially because of the fact that there is an increasing demand that English should only be taught in public school and it should also be spoken within the Spanish community. Even though Hispanics do speak a lot of Spanish most of the time, they still do learn English also, especially the young. But, because of the large flow of immigrants, the use of Spanish is used more often because they are constantly encountering immigrants who speak no English. (Ortiz, P. 150) Before hand there has been said to have been lower achievements when Hispanics make frequent use of the Spanish language. Proficiency is a key factor. Academic proficiencies in Spanish can also be generalized in English. That is a positive effect really, despite what others may think. (Ortiz,P. 151)
When it comes to literacy, you have to first keep in mind where the Hispanic person is born. Birthplace is a major factor. When a student is born outside of the U.S., they have more Spanish skills than English unlike someone who was born in the U.S. They speak Spanish in their homes, but they also learn a lot of English everyday also while living in the United States. Of course someone who was born in the U.S. will have higher English literacy as opposed to someone who wasn't. The Hispanics who are immigrants are at a disadvantage, especially when it comes to socio-economics and education. Together, socio-economics background and education are closely related to literacy just as much as it is to bilingual. Hispanics have to coordinate work with learning English, while also being able to be there for their children.(Ortiz, 150)
A questionnaire was given to a group of Hispanics born outside of the United States that contained four sections: background, simple skills like signing your name, literacy stimulation skills like reading, and finally oral. (Ortiz,P.152) When it came to the results, Hispanics born in the United States had a little higher level of literacy of 284.0 as compared to foreign-born Hispanics who had a 240.4. But when it came to English proficiency, native-born Hispanics and Foreign-born Hispanics were neck and neck at 3.6 on a scale from 1 to 5.(Ortiz, P.157) Spanish up by putting English to the side, but they do not have the means to learn English. (Ortiz, P.158) To be more clear, Hispanics in the U.S. are often refer to Spanish when watching T.V., reading books and magazines, listening to the radio and tapes, and also even when writing. Hispanics in the U.S. have these materials in Spanish because they are cheaper and easier to get among themselves. Also, by referring to all of the above stated in Spanish, they are not letting go of their culture.(Ortiz, 159)Hispanics in the United States are tied to immigrants because when they come to the United States, most of them are looking for people with their common background who can speak Spanish. It is not easy to for immigrants to communicate with non-Spanish speaking immigrants therefore, it makes it harder for them to be able to get what they need efficiently. They are immigrants, most illegal, so it is better to talk to other Hispanics already a little more adjusted. That really keeps them tied to each other.(Ortiz, P.160)
English is promoted as the coommon language basically because everyone who is born in the United States are educated in English. There is a non-profit organization called U.S. English who strongly support the use of English only in the United States. Some say that this group is racist and in a want anti-minority. Raul Yzaguirre, who is President of the National Council of La Raza has said " U.S. English is to Hispanics as the Ku Klux Klan is to blacks." (Imhoff, P. 48) It is really unfair that U.S. English is basically saying that if you want to live here then you have to speak English fluently and forget about everything else. It is not that simple. The Spanish language is apart of the Hispanics culture.
Bilingual Education can be used as an education technique by slowly incorporating English into the Hispanics' vocabulary and having programs that help to maintain culture and language. (Imhoff, P. 50) As an educational theory, a second language is better to have only after you can speak you primary language fluently. Most people feel that people who do not speak English will learn it better if they spent less time getting taught and drilled in learning English fluently. Bilingual Education becomes a social theory because being able to speak Spanish is a distinguishing factor of the Hispanic culture. (Imhoff, P. 55) American schools are believed to instill racism.(Imhoff, P.51) Some teachers don't even allow for Spanish to be spoken in their classrooms. This is denying Hispanics their cultural freedom. Organizations like the U.S. English are promoting English, but is denying Hispanics their culture which is a big obstacle that they must face.
Through programs,Hispanic students were able to learn English. A good example of a program that eventually worked through trial and error is a long term project at Benson Elementary School in California, which is a large Hispanic district. This project studied children who were at risk of failing reading in the first grade. (Goldenburg, P.3) The area that these Hispanic kids stayed in was filled with crime. The local school district used a transitional bilingual education model at first which failed tremendously. When this method failed they begin using letters and sounds to combine a use of larger units of education in English (skills). (Goldenburg, P. 6) Two teachers partnered and developed booklets for the children that they took home and shared with their parents; this was implemented in local understandings that the national literature did not take into account.(Goldenburg, P. 8) In other words, local people in their society where able to learn understand that it wasn't hopeless for the Hispanics to learn English. The two teachers had succeeded in opening barriers in society. Parents wanted to read the booklets and the kids really enjoyed reading the books. This proves that progress can be made.( Goldenburg, P. 8-9)
Conclusion
The U.S. has to realize that Hispanics have issues that they are facing. The biggest problem that the U.S. sees is that the education problems start with language problems. (Orfield,p.6) There a little kids sitting in a corner all by themselves listening to a teacher talk but he has no idea what is coming out of her mouth. This is a serious challenge that must be faced. Exactly 23 of big Hispanic Organization wrote a letter to President Bush expressing their opposition to the fact that he was dismantling programs set aside for minorities and the poor.(Orfield, P. 10) They felt that the president should have a portion set aside in his budget for Hispanics. Those organizations felt that Hispanics were being overlooked in that there is no representation in the Administration and the Federal System.( Orfield,P.13) By 1984, the United States government funded bilingual programs based on English. Through such programs, Hispanics are learning English and learning to adjust to American culture.
Hispanics have had to face many challenges including racism. English is basically the language of the United States, but this is a free country. There should be no one telling you to completely change your culture which is the case sometimes for Hispanics. There is always rooms to learn and expand your knowledge but not at the expense of your culture. It is good to know other languages and get in touch with other cultures and ethnicity other than your own.
Personal Reflection
I choose to tutor two kids who did not speak English fluently or at all. I was excited about it when I was about to start. But when it came down to my first day, that is when the fear took in. I was thinking what can I do or what can I say and will they like me. The first time that I went to tutor it was a little 5-year old boy name Axcel. He was so cute but he would not say anything. He had his own little desk that he would sit in away from everyone else and he would just sit over there and color. The first day, he just ignored me every time that I would say something to him and before you knew it the time was up. I knew he liked me when he left the room and turned around and waved. The next day, I got through to him a little bit and I got him to say the alphabet with me even though he did not want to. There was a lot of progress in just that one day and unfortunately it was my last day with him because my job interfered with the time he could be helped. I was very disappointed because I really thought that I could help him. Well I contacted Mr. Fred Goins again and he got me to tutor this 16-year old high school girl named Jesica at her home. She is very sweet and very interested in learning. When I come she already has her books ready for me to go over them with her. Everyday we do some reading first because she has trouble pronouncing the words because she gets them confused with the Spanish alphabet. Then we would go around the apartment getting familiar with everything and its' name. At first I was just tutoring Jesica, but then slowly members of her family where adding to the study group and soon everybody was trying to learn English. I didn't care because it was fun and I like the feeling of helping all of them learn something. Not only was I helping them, they begin to start helping me learn Spanish as well. It was sort of like I tell you and you tell me. They were always laughing at me because I spoke Spanish horribly and they thought that my accent was funny. It was funny to me that I know basically no Spanish and they knew no English but we were still able to communicate. That is an experience that I will never forget and I plan on tutoring them and they tutor me until I graduate college in May 2006.
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