A Second Language By Richard Rodriguez And Ana Celia Zentella Essay

Rodriguez’s main point is to strongly encourage children of immigrant parents to adopt English, the “public language” as their main language in order to become assimilated in the

Although bilingual education has some merit, avoiding the implementation of the more popular language of a community is detrimental to the incorporation of mostly you people in society and hinders their ability to develop a keen sense of identity. For example, "language gets learned as it gets used (7).” In other words, one masters the language as he speaks it. Speaking and language skills tend to sharpen if they are used regularly. Rodriguez argues that learning both languages and using them rather than leaving one begins to lead to a better sense of identity and freedom. But according to Rodriguez it makes one become insecure, growing up

Growing up from a different culture, Richard Rodriguez looks back on his experience on how he faced the situation as the child of Mexican immigrants. According to his 1982 memoir, “Hunger of Memory”, Rodriguez uses his own observation “to argue that if the children of immigrants are to succeed in the United States, they must separate themselves from their home culture and immerse themselves in the English oriented atmosphere of the American school” (980). In “Aria”, Rodriguez has created an autobiographic essay of his childhood. In his essay, the author is against bilingual educators, who believe that children in their first years of school should be educated in their native language. According to Rodriguez this education method is wrong, it won’t be helpful, therefore children should be knowledgeable in the same language as the public one. The author’s main point is to strongly motivate children of immigrant parents to adopt English as their primary language in order to comprehend public society and have a better future.

Rodriguez builds a formidable case against bilingual education with his bilingual childhood experiences. Rodriguez grew up speaking Spanish, but then learned how to speak English later in life so he knows what effects bilingual education has on bilingual kids who grew up speaking a private language at homes. When Rodriguez first came to the United States in Sacramento, California he understood “about fifty stray English words” (Richard Rodriguez “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”). He was a Mexican immigrant whose family only knew how to speak Spanish. The neighbors of Rodriguez’s family didn’t like them, so when they were out walking they would tell Rodriguez’s parents “Keep your brats away from my sidewalk!” (Rodriguez 571). Rodriguez loses the “special feeling of closeness at home” when he learned English (Rodriguez 577). Personal experiences are what makes him a credible author. Rodriguez used strong ethos and pathos appeals, but he didn’t use strong logos appeals. He didn’t use facts or reasoning in his memoir to prove his points against bilingual education.

The study found that bilingual students (in the bilingual school) spent 47% of class time speaking Spanish, the traditional schooling group only spent 25% of class time speaking Spanish, always to other Mexican American students. When looking at the students outside of the classroom bilingual schooled students 63% of their time speaking Spanish to their Mexican American peers. Traditionally schooled children spent 64% of their time speaking English to their Mexican American peers. Prior to the beginning of the study both groups of children reported themselves as speaking Spanish more than English, however according to parental reports Traditional schooled students were reported to use more English than Spanish at the end of the first grade while the Bilingual students were reported to be using more Spanish than English by the end of the first grade. The results of the study found that the language spoken by the parents does not have considerable statistical influence on which language the child uses more, or even whether or the child is in a bilingual or is traditionally schooled. Perhaps most surprising is the finding that traditionally schooled children still result in speaking more English than Spanish with their Mexican-American peers when compared to their counterparts in the bilingual programs. Perhaps because

who speak English less than very well” increased by 3.9 million.” Time taking an important role contribute to study language. Immigrants take ESL classes but finding the time between jobs and caring for their kids gonna be difficult. Especially difficult because you already common with native tongue and now had to speak with different tongue. The immigrant children and children of immigrant contribute to one of the fastest growing America’s child population.With children perspective, according to Global Citizen: “ With regards to school, parents often feel disappointed to see their children struggling to keep up in class, and many parents report bullying and discrimination as a result of cultural differences. Kids are often placed by their age rather than by their ability, and for those who are unable to speak English, it’s virtually impossible to keep up.” Not just adult, children have to deal many struggle while they at school. Not being able to mix with other American native speaker, hard to keep up with other make them felt behind and stressful or even

In recent studies, the United States has seen an increase in numbers in immigration and has affected both adolescent education and the work environment. These families are forced to learn a new language and blend into a new society. In the article Obstacles to Getting Ahead by Martica L. Bacallao and Paul R. Smokowski “Monolingualism and discrimination in interpersonal interactions and social policies directed Mexican adolescents and their parents to learn English and to conform to host culture norms, appearance, and behaviors to advance in school and in their work.” (1). Lately, education has been a struggle for immigrants due to the language barrier and the effects that it has on them such as depression, anxiety, and even feel abandonment.

Growing up I never had a second language that I could feel secure and connect with my family. The only language I speak fluently is the primary language of America. Since I am adopted and not bloodrealted to my family, the opportunity to get a sense of my family’s history has always been a challenge. My family’s ancestry tree is completely different from one another. I also don’t have another language I can connect with my friends in the halls at school. With two different parents, authors Martin Espada and Ricardo Rodriguez have contrasting views on the subject of bilingualism. Across America, the arising multicultural complication of native people speaking another language than the “considered” language in the country has created a

In the essay “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan, the author, gives a different, a more upbeat outlook on the various forms of English that immigrants speak as they adapt to the American culture. Using simple language to develop her argument, she casually communicates to the audience rather than informing which helps the audience understand what is being presented at ease. Her mother plays an important role in her outlook of language, because she helps her realize that language not only allows one to be a part of a culture but create one’s identity in society. Amy Tan shares her real life stories about cultural racism and the struggle to survive in America as an immigrant without showing any emotions, which is a wonderful epiphany for the audience in realizing how a non-native English speaker handles everyday situations.

That said, research has shown that many monolingual immigrants learn English best through “structured English immersion” (United States Department of Education 4). While immigrant children benefit from the English-saturated environment of public schools, there is apt to be less uniformity in English exposure for adult immigrants. This paper will look at English exposure for adult Mexican immigrants through a sociological lens and make a proposition as to how one might conduct research to investigate the issue at hand. The hypothesis is that a Mexican immigrant in an area with a high immigrant density whose social network is characterized by high transitivity will tend to form connections with other monolingual people due to

In the United States there are fifty one million people that can speak and understand another language.

Migration can bring difficulties to parenting; language barriers may occur in the process (Bornstein and Bohr, 2011, p. 3). Children become more and more disconnected to their parents while they become attached to modern America as a result of peer pressure or solely because of the portrayal set out by the media (i.e. television shows, movies, music and magazines). It’s understandable that children want to fit in and that is something that parents should be more open-minded to. Dissonant acculturation, as explained by Bernstein et al (2011), “leads to increasing parent-child conflicts in immigrant families and adaptation challenges for children” (p. 3); children learning English and the ways of their new country can cause them to lose sight of their native culture and language (p. 3). I have often heard parents express their desire to ensure Spanish is learned and used so that it is not lost as well as how much more it is important for them to learn Spanish than English. Migration, overall, “affects intergenerational relations in the family” (Foner, n.d., p.

The level of the English language by Latinos descendants is growing, they usually prefer to speak Spanish only at home, to be exact, are 3.4 million children (Hakimzadeh & Cohn, 2007), but nevertheless, Most latinos belive that if they do not have a good English, things would difficult to them, principally at work and it could be a reason why the new generation prefer English outside and Spanish in their house; even so, in a study of 2013 was found that only 2% of the latinos community speak a decent English (Gonzalez Barrera & Hugo Lopez, 2013)

For many Americans, it goes without saying that for immigrants to this country, there is no higher virtue than complete assimilation. This silent bias is the cause of much of the conflict in the U.S. throughout history and today. One of these troubles is shown in Richard Rodriguez’s autobiography Hunger of Memory, where he describes his experiences at age six, when he first began to be diverted from his culture. He then explains the exact moment when there was a damaging change in his life, when the nuns from his school paid his parents a visit at home. They insisted that English be the only language practiced in his home. He describes the clear ethical dilemma of being involved in a kind of English-Only Movement that affected him in his family’s day to day interaction. Compromise, and a cultural exchange is important, but it becomes a problem when there is a loss of identity that consumes a way of living and begins to change relationships within a culture or family. There are many models of assimilation, but the predominant model in America today is the one-way assimilation like Rodriguez experienced with his family. Unfortunately, since the start of the Twentieth Century, the United States immigration policies have used one-way assimilation to reinforce an ethnic hierarchy in American Culture. Of these policies, the naturalization process, educational structure, and the recent occurrence with child immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border, has highlighted one-way assimilation

This article speaks of different cultures and how different cultures have different languages. It talks about how many different languages affect the students. Students may speak Spanish at home and then once they are at school their teacher is speaking English. It takes time for these students to adapt to the change. It is harder for them because they have to learn both material and the language at the same time. “This language barrier has presented unique educational challenges to Hispanic students that African American students generally did not face” (Donnelly 2015). This article supports education for everyone and talks about how it is difficult of people of Spanish decent because they have to learn two languages. The article thinks