Reading, Reflection, and Connection

Reading, Reflection, and Connection

Haley Gibbons

Dr. Meesuk Ahn

EDBL 603

Key Concepts About Each Story

The important concept about each story in the book is that even though the authors faced numerous language, communication, and cultural barriers while settling in the United States, they did not abandon their identities. They also faced difficulties trying to learn and express themselves in English. In “Prospectus,” Nieto writes that he slept on the floor, walked barefoot, and went for sleepless nights, and only hoped that one day he will learn to speak in English (Ana, 2004). In the poem the “Learning Silence” Gillan narrates how she learned to be quiet because she could not speak in English while in class. In “The Girl Who Wouldn’t Sing,” Quan says she soon realized she could combine her Hong Kong and American cultures and identities without having to abandon the other. Nana Veary narrates how she has been proud all her life while identifying herself with her Hawaiian culture in “My Hawaii.” In “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan writes that her mother thought it was natural for a Chinese immigrant to speak “broken” or “fractured” English in the United States. Even though she thought she was fluent in English, only 50 percent of the people she conversed with could understand her while the rest did not at all.

Critical Reflection on the Stories

The stories I have read from the book reflect the challenges English as a second language (ESL) speakers go through when they migrate to the United States. ESL speakers often face difficulties learning and speaking English in their early years of migration. Multilingual speakers enrolled in both private and public schools face numerous problems as they try to make friends or fit in the classrooms. As Gillan narrates in “Learning Silence,” many second-language speakers remain silent in class because they fear they will be embarrassed by their peers or teachers because they cannot communicate in English (Ana, 2004). This trend negatively affects their psychosocial development as it lowers their self-esteem.

The stories also highlight the cultural difficulties immigrants face. As evidenced in the book, some of the writers struggled while growing up in the United States because society felt they were not “Americanized.” In the poem “Immigrants,” Pat Mora states that even though many immigrant parents have given their children American names, such as “Bill and Daisy,” bought them blonde dolls, and trained them by speaking in English, they are never sure if mainstream society will accept them as American boys and girls. Immigrant parents also fear that their children may adopt cultural values that go against theirs.

Connections in the Stories

The stories can be connected to the theories we have learned in class. For instance, we were taught the importance of enrolling immigrants’ children in ESL classes to teach them English. However, this practice has its challenges as their parents struggle to balance time between jobs and assessing their children’s progress in school. Most second-language children are not able to cope with the rest of the class for such reasons as discrimination and bullying, which arise from being different culturally. Besides, since public education policies recommend these children to be placed in grades by their age instead of learning abilities, most of them are likely to be left behind if they do not keep up. Education policymakers should increase programs for student learning English as a second language to protect them from troubles that arise from fitting in society, excelling in school, looking for jobs, obtaining citizenship, and raising families in the United States.

References

Ana, O. S. (Ed.). (2004). Tongue tied: The lives of multilingual children in public education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.