The below passages extracted from Tongue Tied, documented the experiences of individuals who underwent challenges related to their first language. It was quite an interesting read and an eye opener to say the least.
“Wascicula ya he?” (pp. 56-63)
In “Wascicula ya he?” the narrator compared her attendance at a public school with that of a Catholic school. She excelled in the Catholic school not because the school had a lot of resources but due to the instructional strategies used and the caring and sincere actions of the teachers. According to her the Government school did not educate the way the Catholic school did, “with heart and feeling for the children in it”. According to the text she was given autonomy- “the chance to learn without someone looking over me”. She received frequent practices in comprehension in a quiet atmosphere (56). She described the teachers at the school as being “real” (60) and another who she encountered as someone who “tended me like a careful gardener”. “The most important thing he gave me was his time” (60). She further verbalized her admiration for a teacher who accepted people who are different (61).
Clearly, the above teacher behaviors contributed to her success in mastering the second language and in becoming successful in school. One of the most heart wrenching part of her account was her indication that she was prevented from speaking her thoughts and feelings due to her inability or lack of confidence to speak the second language (62). This made me think of students who might have undergone similar predicament. They might have been tongue tied as this narrator was. The onus is on us as teachers to help move them through their language barrier as smoothly as possible by tending them like a careful gardener.
From the Woman Warrior (pp. 78-81)
In the second passage the narrator reminisced on her battle with fear, timidity and lack of confidence whenever she was called on to speak. This was largely due to her inability to speak the second language, English, the language of instruction. Due to this, she enjoyed being silent. She remained silent most times or she simply whispered. Her recital in front of her class was met with croaking in her voice. She described how badly she thought her voice sounded. For her, reading out loud was better than speaking because the words were not her own and she did not have to make up what to say (80). When she realized she had to talk, school became a misery for her.
This passage is also very moving for me. It made me realize the agony that English Language Learners go through. I have had past English Language Learners in my class who exemplified the same pattern of behavior in class. Sadly, they are many times overlooked, especially in a large class. A recent example relates to having George in my class. He is from Lagos, Nigeria. He would quietly sit in class while the other students were actively speaking and rambling. When called to speak he could not be heard. Just to get a response from him would take minutes of waiting and probing and listening and his mouth just moved. There were no audible words. Most times I relied on the students sitting near him to echo his responses. It was clear that he lacked the confidence to speak even when his responses were accurate. It wasn’t after I started reaching out to him on a one-on-one basis and showed a lot of interest in him that he began speaking up more in class.
Mother Tongue (pp.169-173)
In this passage the narrator documented her experience with language. She progressed from being a struggling English Language Learner to a fluent English speaker. What stood out to me in this passage is the significant role her home language played in shaping her second language and in becoming a fluent English speaker. It even helped her to perform well on achievement tests. I can identify with her, having been raised in a family where the first language is Belizean Kriol.
In the text she accredited her success to her home language, her mother’s tongue, the broken or fractured English. Her mother’s language helped her to shape the way she see things, express things, and make sense of the world (170). At first her mother’s language limited her. It was the reason people treated her unkindly, and prevented her from getting some things accomplished. It was limiting. The teachers had their assumptions about Asians and attempted to steer her away from being an English major into math and engineering (173). However she was resolute and did not conform to the norm and Asian stereotypes. What a very positive outcome!
My Hawaii (pp.179-183)
In this passage, the narrator provided insights on the richness of the Hawaiian language. According to the text, Hawaiian conversations are saturated with figurative language. They used a lot of metaphor and poetry in their everyday conversations (182). The narrator provided an example of this on (183) when she stated that her grandfather once described a group of females walking by his home as a “garden of flowers passing by”. Sadly this has changed in Hawaii as the language vanished over the years and was subsequently substituted for the missionary language, a literal type of Hawaiian. The narrator further expressed that, “when you lose language you lose your identity” (183). Hawaii, according to her is “the only place where native language is no longer spoken. And it is sad that what can be lost can never be replaced”.
The narrator’s statements resonated with me deeply. I agree that in losing a language, identity is lost. Language is what makes uniqueness in an individual or country. It must be preserved. In Belize, Garifuna is a language spoken by one of the many ethnic minority groups. A lot of effort has gone into preserving this language as many have noticed that the younger generations of Garifuna are not using the language. Preservation efforts by the community include opening a school where children are taught in Garifuna Language, development of Garifuna dictionaries, opening museums and various other cultural awareness activities. Currently, this ethnic group is one of the strongest cultural representations in Belize.
Credit
Santa Ana, Otto (2004) Tongue Tied: The lives of multilingual children in public education.
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