Let them Speak

I vividly remember living in Africa and the multitude of times I felt stupid not because I was, but because I couldn't communicate. I worked hard to learn French and local languages, and this helped immensely as I eventually was able to communicate just about anything I wanted, but even then, I was only able to communicate at the level of a young child. I remember leaving meetings with government officials and feeling that I had successfully translated for our non-profit's team only to have my German best friend giggling about how well I had been able to have a discussion while sounding like a four-year-old. I felt accomplished: I came across as barely competent. Which was fine. But I wanted more for my communicative capabilities and was struggling to get out of my limited language bubble.

While this bubble was frustrating, it was also humorous. I'll never forget that I told two bus fare collectors who were fighting for who's bus my friend and I would get on "softly" instead of "knock it off." I was working on it, but I still giggle thinking about a 19 year old, 5'3" white girl going up to two 6' men pushing each other and sternly telling them to do it "softly." The same best friend won't let me live that one down.

While my best friend was "tough" on me and my language development, she was also supportive as I grew. My local friends were guides who helped me learn what to say and what to avoid saying (the French word for "butt" sounds pretty close to the English word for "face," a difference my friend Hawa preventatively pantomimed for me multiple times to make sure I would never make this mistake). And in the middle of it all, even when I felt incompetent, I was surrounded by cheerleaders who would tell me how clever I was for combining English and French to be understood, even if it wasn't "correct" by my standards. 

This experience gives me additional empathy for multilingual students in American schools who are facing the ups and downs of language learning. It is difficult to learn a language to begin with, never mind trying to keep up in school, navigate a new environment, and form new relationships. These students need additional supports as they find their way, encouragement as they make progress, and challenges that keep them invested in learning not just language, but academic content.

In Aria, an essay by Richard Rodriguez, he describes his experience as a multilingual learner in the United States. While he was born in the States, his family's home language was Spanish. He struggled to learn English and felt that this cost him accessibility to a public identity, yet when his family switched to speaking English at the request of his teachers, he felt the loss of his home identity as Spanish left. He was caught in a false dichotomy: English or Spanish. And English won. The nuns who taught him had good intentions, but lacked knowledge that a home language is a powerful, beautiful cornerstone of identity.

Research shows that this dichotomy is harmful. His teachers did not know better, but we do. Multilingual learners do not need to, and should not be forced to, lose their home language to thrive while learning a dominant language. They are best served when both languages, and the cultures associated, are present in the classroom. This is clearly demonstrated in Collier's essay Teaching Multilingual Children. Collier outlines clear approaches and strategies to support multilingual learners by encouraging them to leverage their home language as they learn additional languages. By using their home language, they are able to continue in content, expression, and cognition, maintaining the skills they need to be successful in all areas of life. As they are exposed to more English and gain proficiency, these skills transfer to their academic learning in English. They do not need to face the "either/or" Rodriguez faced - they can truly have the best of both worlds, and teachers and students can mutually benefit from the presence of multiple languages in the classroom.

Making space for students to use their home language and a hybrid of English is a process termed Translanguaging. This approach is powerful. It maintains student voices, that they have value in all languages, and makes room for students to expand their voices into English without shutting down their original languages. It allows students to keep up with grade level expectations while adjusting to a new language, new norms, and new relationships and environments. Students who are free to utilize translanguaging learn more and develop greater freedom in education and society. Everyone benefits.

What is interesting to see is that this is the norm in so many other areas of the world, but so slow to gain traction in America. Where I lived in Djibouti, there was a melting pot of languages. French was the dominant language due to colonization, Arabic was present due to proximity to Arab nations as well as the prevalence of Islam, Somali was spoken by the dominant people group in their homes and on the streets, Afar was spoken in Afar neighborhoods, Amharic was the language of the lower class guards and day laborers from Ethiopia, and so many other languages seemed to just find their way in. You could blend five languages into one sentence and no one would bat an eye. You could pantomime an entire conversation and be termed clever, rather than ridiculous. (If you want a fun experiment, find a way to pantomime "yeast" for bread - that took us a few rounds to figure out at our local corner store.)

There definitely were cases where I still felt stupid for not being able to communicate eloquently, but overall, translanguaging was a norm, and multilingualism was celebrated as the mark of the clever.  Communication mattered more than perfection, and this provided so many safe spaces for me to give speaking in French a chance. We need to learn from this. We need to make space for our students to learn and struggle and say things that sound funny, and we need to make that space sacred and celebrated. We need to value communication, not English. We need to give English as a key to empower better public communication while celebrating home languages and the cleverness it takes to learn in a language that is not from the heart. Instead of being forced between two identities like Rodriguez, lets give our students the gift of wholeness, of knowing who they are and how to authentically connect across languages and cultures. Let's let them speak: they know which language will work best for what they want to say.

My best friend Hemeda, who taught me so much about language and culture!

 

We focused on sharing a love of reading as a foundation for literacy - the smiles show we made an impact.

Looking Further:

For stories of multilingual learners in America, the following two books can't be beat. Funny in Farsi by Faroozah Dumas and Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeria are powerful memoirs that give incredible insight. Both will have you laughing at crying at the wonderful, beautiful, messy process that is making a life and learning a language while you are still young.

Here's a link to a video my friend made about the work my team did in Africa. Not every day was going out to villages like this one, but it definitely was part of what we did! Click Here