Language Learning: What It Means for Students and our Society

By Cheng Imm Tan, edited by Laurie

For 25 years I have worked with immigrants and refugees from all over the world. My professional and personal experience leads me to think deeply about language learning and what it can mean for all of us.

Growing up in Malaysia, I learned to read and write English and Bahasa Malaysia in school, spoke Hokkien at home and learned Cantonese and Mandarin through watching movies and listening to stories on the radio. I’ve continued to learn additional languages. Understanding several languages has helped me to see things others might miss, and to hear, understand – and work with – people very different from me.

I so want this experience of language exposure and acquisition for my 10-year-old son who attends the Boston Public Schools (BPS), and my 4-year-old daughter who will enter BPS soon. I want it for ALL children.

Why?

Let me step back for a minute and note that when people in the U.S. hear “language learning” or “bilingual education,” they often think of kids who don’t know English, and how we have to make sure those students learn English. It’s a one-way street. I want to talk about language learning as much more.

Becoming bilingual – speaking more than one language – offers many advantages:

• Bilingualism boosts students’ academic performance and is an important tool in closing the achievement gap.

• Language mastery positions our students to be competitive in the marketplace upon graduation, wherever they will live.

• Bilingualism is an essential part of becoming a truly integrated city, a city that goes far beyond simply tolerating differences.

People who are bilingual switch constantly between languages, keeping the brain active and strong. Studies have found that bilingual kids top monolinguals on several cognitive measures. They show greater mental flexibility and creativity, a superior grasp of abstract concepts, early development of conflict management skills, and a better memory associated with reading and math skills.

Right here at home, a recent study by the Gaston Institute at UMass Boston found some interesting results. Students at the Hernandez K-8 School in Roxbury and the Hurley K-5 school in the South End learn in a two-way Spanish/English model, where they study their subjects in both languages (alternating days or weeks). These students are experiencing a reduction in the achievement gap, outperforming their monolingual peers in MCAS in grades 3-5 for both ELA and Math.

So, early and consistent exposure to languages reaps academic benefits that should encourage us to look at practices within our public schools, within our early education/childcare system, and throughout out-of-school-time programming. Language is a prized skill in the marketplace, as we see even right here in town. Pharmacies and banks in Chinatown and Mattapan seek bilingual employees, hospitals require interpreters, government agencies recruit bilingual staff. Businesses complain they have to look outside our city for a bilingual workforce.

To position our students for post-high-school and post-college success, it’s important to note some incredible assets upon which we can build. Boston residents speak a total of more than 140 languages, and our public school students represent 100 countries and speak over 80 first languages. If kids who are emerging English Language Learners (called ELL students) were seen as possessing a highly sought-after skill, instead of having a problem to overcome, they would understand their contribution to our city, and we could begin to catch up to the rest of the world. In the U.S., only 9% of adults are fluent in a language beyond English,whereas in Europe, 50% of adults are fluent in more than language, and the percentage is even higher in Asia.

Language is a bridge to other cultures in a way that could knit together a diverse city. Language does not just express what we want to say; it reflects how we construct and understand our world. For example, in Hokkien, showing the prominence of food (possibly harking back to a time when food was not plentiful), we greet each other by saying, “Have you eaten yet?”. When we want to curse someone out, we don’t call them a body part (which shows the Western separation between body and spirit), we call them a ghost.

In addition to providing all children with a powerful tool to traverse other cultures, improve academically, and be competitive in the marketplace, there is also a social justice component of language learning. For students of color whose first language is not English, having the opportunity to be bilingual and biliterate (speaking, reading and writing in their native tongue as well as English) anchors the child. It is shown to improve social skills and reduce risk of depression, especially since many of those young people face overt or subtle discrimination.

The challenge is how we can make this major shift to integrate language learning in public school systems already facing financial constraints, and understanding that a rich language curriculum is not simple to implement. And let’s be frank: many of our students are not proficient even in their native language of English (reading and writing), so we have our work cut out for us.

There are many models to consider. Let’s look at how other school systems have made the change from introducing kids to languages in middle or high school, to beginning language exposure in the early elementary years, or even in pre-school.

Fortunately, we’re not starting from square one. Boston Public Schools recognizes cultural relevance as a cornerstone of equity in the BPS Comprehensive Achievement Gap Plan. BPS currently offers four two-way immersion schools (all Spanish-English), a sprinkling of world language programs, and is inviting additional schools to consider dual language programs.

Challenges remain, such as choosing the partner language in a diverse school; parent and teacher buy-in; hiring and training (or re-training) for qualified, biliterate staff; and much more. I encourage us all to think about how we can support this work in Boston, statewide, and beyond.