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Case: English Only! We recently finished reading and discussing The House on Mango Street in my 7th grade English class. Students had mixed reactions to the book, but they were really into discussing the issues in the book. Last Tuesday, I assigned my students to small groups to discuss Esperanza's (the main character in the book) experiences in her new school. Two of my Hispanic students in one of the groups started speaking Spanish to each other, but it was obvious that they were talking about Esperanza's experiences. So, I did not mind this. However, some of my other students started staring at these students and two of them said "English, please! You are in America." I told my students that it was okay for them to speak Spanish because they were on task. Then, some of my other students protested my position and said "if all international students speak their native languages, then how are we English-only speaking students going to understand anything?" How should I respond to this situation because it seems like I will have this issue again? Should I not allow any other language in the classroom? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) As long as they are on task it is perfectly fine for them to be speaking their own language. As for the students who didn't think it was fair, tell them to try and learn and new language or learn Spanish so they can speak with them. I always think it is funny when I give directions in Spanish and the kids look at me like huh and the kids that know Spanish follow the directions.(We all laugh at that because I speak terrible Spanish! I never have the words in the right order.) But, you are exposing the other students to another language which now a days you almost need to be able to speak two languages to get a great job only because we are becoming mobile society. |
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