Racial/Ethnic Enrollment in Public Schools. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary and Secondary Education,” 2009–10 and 2020–21.
Public schools in the United States are experiencing a significant demographic change. According to National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of white students in public school enrollment has decreased from 54% to 46% between fall 2009 and fall 2020, suggesting a trend of majority non-white in U.S. public schools. Meanwhile, among those public school students, the percentage of English learners was 10% or higher in 12 states. The question then arises: are English learners in the U.S. getting equitable access to education, as their home languages might not be English?
My classmate Armine is an Armenian American, who was stressed about learning English as a second language in her childhood. She was rarely provided with opportunities to speak and write in Armenian at school. Still, she had to quickly keep up with her peers who were native English speakers, which has reminded me of the controversy over bilingual students’ better academic performance compared to monolingual English-speaking students. According to EdSource, around 58.8% of English learners were reclassified fluent English proficient on the Smarter Balanced assessment in 2022, exceeding the performance of students who only spoke English at home. This impressive achievement might not necessarily be related to improved educational systems in the U.S., but to bilingual students’ continuous practice and hard work, as pushed by new language learning stress, suggested by Psychology Today. The second question then becomes: how can we better support English learners’ transition to public schools?
Translanguaging is a helpful strategy to support students’ learning of two or more languages. According to Heinemann, translanguaging means honoring and making use of multilingual students’ full linguistic repertoire, contrary to traditional bilingual education where English is used under formal circumstances like published writing or official documents, and the other language is used for daily conversations. By encouraging English learners to not only speak but also write in their native languages, we are really deconstructing monolingualism and embracing diversity in school. Moreover, translanguaging is not bounded by the problem that we have a limited number of qualified bilingual teachers, as indicated by ASCD. For instance, translanguaging in Spanish can be integrated into the curriculum, even if the teacher or the student does not understand Spanish. Here are some tips to facilitate translanguaging in school:
Attach bilingual and multilingual glossaries on the walls. Use GoogleTranslate for uncertain glossaries brought by English learners.
English Language Arts Glossaries and Cognates in Chinese. Source: NYS Statewide Language Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network.
For English learners, finding equivalents in their native languages sometimes helps them understand difficult terms in English. Native English speakers can also learn from their bilingual peers based on the bilingual glossaries, and increase their understanding of another language and culture.
Design bilingual texts for class activities and encourage drafts in students’ first language
Some English learners feel pressured when asked to read out long English sentences or to write long reflections. Including some bilingual texts in class can motivate English learners to be more confident in participating and reading texts aloud. Also, allowing English learners to write a reflection draft in their native language decreases their burden to think and express their ideas in English, and better conveys what they intend to mean.
Organize language workshops for both students and families to participate in
English learners sometimes feel disconnected when outside the classroom. Their parents might not speak English at home and the parents of their peers might not understand their native language. Organizing monthly language workshops for all families to come together and share their cultural experiences, enhancing the belongingness English learners feel at school.
As the number of English learners in public schools continues to increase, I hope that language is no longer a barrier for English learners to study and communicate at school. Moreover, they should be proud of their abilities to speak multiple languages, not just speak English well.
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