WHEN BILINGUAL IS SILVER, TRILINGUAL IS GOLD
By Domenico Maceri
The Seoul Times, South Korea
Oct 18 2005
Special Contribution
Asian students in the US “English gets boring sometimes” stated
Donna Nguyen, a senior at James Lick High School in San Jose,
California. Donna does not get bored very often. She can speak
English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. She can also read and write these
languages. So when she graduated from high school, she received
a recognition for her fluency in the form of a newly-instituted
bilingual certificate.
Her accomplishments are marked on her diploma as well as her
transcripts. The bilingual certificate is a new program available
only in a small number of American schools. It should be expanded to
recognize and encourage multilingualism, which is essential to make
it in today’s world.
To qualify for the bilingual certificate, students need to demonstrate
linguistic fluency and literacy in at least two languages. Students
need to show their language skills by passing an Advanced
Placement test in a foreign language if their native language is
English. Students whose home language is not English must pass an
Advanced Placement test in their home language and also pass the
state’s English standardized test.
Although the most likely combination is English-Spanish, the 82
students who met the criteria at Eastside Union School District in
San Jose also included French and German.
Glendale Unified School District, northwest of Los Angeles, also
recognizes bilingualism. On graduation day, students who can speak
two languages wear a silver medallion and trilingual students wear
a gold one. In 2004, one student qualified in Armenian, Russian,
German, and English.
Montreal in Canada Although the U.S. is a country of immigrants,
the native languages brought in tended to disappear quickly. Indeed,
being an American often meant speaking English and only English. Those
sentiments are still alive and well but more and more people are
beginning to see the value of bilingualism. It’s not just the marketing
value of two or more languages. International relations pretty much
dictate that monolingualism is not just a disadvantage but a danger
as well.
Serious shortages of bilingual personnel, for example, have been
reported in many areas of government. Soon after 9/11, it was revealed
that a vast amount of data had not been analyzed because of limited
linguistic resources.
In both Afghanistan and Iraq, US government officials have had to rely
a lot on local interpreters and translators and the results have been
far from positive.
The situation is so bad that the American government is considering
a targeted military draft for people with special skills such as
computer knowledge or foreign languages.
Unfortunately, bilingualism still conjures negative images in the
minds of some Americans. Some fear a Balkanization of the country
upon hearing the word bilingual. Images of Canada come to mind right
away. Also, fear that bilingualism may not lead to integration of
new arrivals pushes people to lobby for English-only laws.
Twenty-seven states have passed laws declaring English the official
language, but nothing has changed with regards to reducing immigration
nor the number of languages people speak.
Quebec City in Canada Fear that immigrant kids were not learning
English fast enough pushed California, Arizona, and Massachusetts
voters to virtually do away with bilingual education. The laws
eliminating bilingual education have been passed through the referendum
process in which voters were asked to choose along simplistic lines
of English-yes and Spanish-no.
Yet, most states are continuing bilingual education programs, which
in spite of their name, are not designed to develop skills in two
languages. Bilingual education programs in the U.S. aim to use the
students’ native languages as a springboard to eventual English-only
instruction by ensuring that immigrant students don’t fall behind
academically those born in the U.S.
Developing bilingual skills is really the focus of dual-language
schools which teach subjects in two languages. The numbers of these
type of schools in the U.S. are very small but they are expanding
rapidly as parents increasingly realize the value of bilingualism
for their kids.
Unfortunately, dual-language schools do not go beyond junior high
school. In the vast majority of American highs schools the focus is
on English. So when some high schools begin to recognize and foster
bilingualism, it’s an event worth celebrating.
As English increases its dominance in the world as the language to
know, it’s too easy to rest on our laurels and let the others learn our
language. It’s also dangerous. The smart thing is to go for the gold.
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