Aria

Premise:

-children
-parents
-teachers
-school systems
-language
-private/ home life
-public life
-struggles
-learning barriers
-trust
-communication
-sacrifice

Argument:

The author, Rodrigues, argues that children should not be forced to learn english because thats what "america speaks". He belives that the language is more than just a way of communication but a way to identify oneself.

Evidence:

-Rodrigues states that language is what holds a family together and if that is taken away then the family is torn apart
-People start to become ashamed of themselves for not knowing english so change who they really are
-children learn to "silence" themselves, "unsmiling, ever watchful, my teachers noted my silence"
-Children where no only silenced in public but also at home. "The families quiet was particular due to the fact that, as we children learned more and more english we shared fewer and fewerwith their own parents.
-today children lose a sense of individuality when bilingual because they want you to conform to what society wants
-hard to exspess oneself in a foreign language

Comments:

This article really made me focus on how much of an impact language has on children. Although I understand that a child may have a dominant language, I also feel there needs to be a common language between teacher and student, not always englsh but a language both parties can understand. This will give children better and more opportunities to do well in both their public and private lives. Its sad for a child to have to lose a language, especially at home, but i think parents could take some more responsibility in making sure the child does not lose their first language and communication with their family.

For my service learning i help out in a ESL class. It is very sad for me to think that some of the children i teach can be going through this same situation at home. Also this does bring a hhuge learning barrier into the classroom because even the children in the class do not all speak one language, there is a variety of languages so it is very difficult to communicate in many situations. I just hope that their parent are reinforcing their language at home.