Question:
Could you please elaborate on the types of pressures that immigrant girls
face on assimilating vs pressure against selling out, old home culture vs.
new home culture and its impact on educational achievement.
Answer:
Olsen (1997) in her ethnography "Made in America: Immigrant children in the
USA" illustrates well the struggle over the idea of selling out. Many girls
(especially Latinas) have wanted to stay focused on their studies but
because of tracking in schools which also tend to be along race/ethnicity
lines have found themselves isolated in college-bound tracks. Those in the
upper level classes have viewed the sole Latina's presence in the class
with surprise. She is socially isolated from her friends and co-ethnics who
are in lower tracks. Many of her co-ethnics deride her for "still
believing" that education will get her somewhere,
because they have all given up on their hopes. Such students are caught
between the comfort of being within their social group vs. going to the
classes that they need to succeed. Students in lower achievement groups
have
also developed deep rooted resistance towards the education system in
general because they see themselves on dead-end tracks with no hope for
success. This is especially true for schools in economically impoverished
communities for whom it seems impossible to compete with students of more
affluent areas for college placement.
I have also witnessed how recent immigrant students want to be identified
as
"American" rather than "Guatemalan" or Haitian. Although I haven't been
able
ascertain all of nuances of this preference, it is clear that they perceive
the "American" identity as having more "cultural capital" than the family
cultural identity. Many students therefore resist efforts to discuss their
home cultures, or to 'expose' their parents (who might dress or speak
differently) to their school friends. This is especially interesting to
those of us in multicultural education who talk about the need to
incorporate the students' home culture in our classes. Nevertheless, I have
also found that if the home culture is integrated into the curriculum such
that it is a legitimate, rather than a tokenistic inclusion, students tend
to be more willing to open up.
I am particularly distressed about the trend I observe here in South
Florida
(even among children as young as 2nd grade) that the term "Haitian" has
turned into a derogatory word. Many Haitian students have tried to hide
their cultural identity. Yet, they don't necessarily want to be thought of
as African Americans either. Many students are caught in an "identity
limbo"
so to speak. More needs to be done to educate all students about the
importance of acceptance; especially helping them towards self acceptance.
Question:
Could you provide some examples of the pro's and con's on being trilingual,
bilingual and monolingual and how language impacts the family structure,
school learning and the benefit's to American society.
Answer:
Others on the panel may be able to provide richer insights into this.
However, a bilingual child in a monolingual household can create all sorts
of power struggles within the home. Many immigrant children function as
English interpreters for their family, and serve as the family's link to US
society. This shift in the traditional power dynamic has caused some
student
to rebel against their parents (because they have the linguistic power).
Research in the area of bilingual education has provided several examples
of
the positive impact of bilingualism on educational achievement.
Dr. Dilys Schoorman
Dept. of Teacher Education
College of Education, Room 485 Phone: 561 297 3003
Florida Atlantic University Fax: 561 297 3335
777 Glades Road e-mail:
dschoorm@fau.edu
Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
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