Personal Narrative: My Immigrant Perspective

There were three lessons that my immigrant parents ingrained in their first-generation children: Work hard, never give up, and most importantly, give back. Among other life lessons they taught us, these three were the basis for everything. It would be the basis that would and will define me as a person.

It is not uncommon to hear one recount their latest family reunion or trip with their cousins, but being a first generation immigrant, I sacrificed the luxury of taking my relatives for granted for the security of building a life in America. My parents, my brother, and I are the only ones in my family who live in the United States, thus a trip to India to visit my extended family after 4 years was an exciting yet overwhelming experience. Throughout the trip, I felt like a stranger in the country where I was born as so many things were unfamiliar, but there were a few places that reminded me of my childhood.

The first student that I conducted the lesson with was a girl I named Shiloh. Shiloh was an eight-year girl that was in the second grade, but would be entering in the third grade in the coming Fall. Her mother explained that she was an ESOL level two student. She was born in America, but both parents are Hispanic. The father is Cuban and the mother is from Venezuela. At home Shiloh’s family mainly communicates in Spanish. Shiloh’s mother explained that she wanted her daughter to speak Spanish at home because she does not want her to not learn Spanish or forget “where she comes from.” As I learned in TSOL I many parents do this this because they do not want their child

Rodriguez mentioned in this article that, “Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid. I would have trusted them and responded with ease.” ( pg. 3) He felt out of place due to that he felt forced to conform to what was abnormal to him. Once his parents started to add more english into the interactions with Richard, he began to do better in school. He made more friends and became more social due to the fact he became more comfortable with the fact he could now communicate the same language as the other kids around him. Rodrigues mentioned, “ That day I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had been only days earlier.” (paragraph 33)

With nearly 30 million immigrants crossing our borders in the last three decades, the United States education system has seen a dramatic increase in the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) entering the classroom (Migration Policy Institute website, n.d.). With this influx of non-native English speakers has come the need to find the best ways possible to meet them where they are academically and teach them accordingly. However, after years of research, education gurus are still divided on how to best meet the needs of ELLs. While there is no clear-cut approach, there are several strategies and programs that schools can implement in order to help immigrant learners and their families be successful in our school system.

The CEL experience at El Centro reflected quite a few topics that have been discussed throughout the semester in FSP 161-26. One huge topic that was mentioned throughout the semester was assimilation. The Latinos at El Centro were a great example of immigrants assimilating to a different culture due to its benefits. As mentioned in Wardhaugh (1987: p.9), people want to feel a sense of involvement in the community and that they belong in someway. The Latinos participating in these ESL classes are determined to make themselves a part of the American society and to do so they know the first step is to learn the English language. This topic also ties into the dominance of a language over another due to advantages and also language shift (Wardhaugh

The students that make up the school are mostly Latino, African American, West Indian and white. Language is the medium through which students gain access to the curriculum. (Tamara Lucas). For example, Maria was placed in a dual language classroom, since arriving from Mexico and when she entered middle school that was taken away. The teacher in her English class needs to realize it takes second language learners longer to develop fluency in academic English than in conversational English. (Tamara Lucas). Ms. O’reilly should take this inconsideration when it comes to the strategies used in the classroom. Social interaction will help Maria’s language development and a method that can be useful to promote social interaction is the use of group work. Using group work will allow Maria to not only expand her English skills but also learn from the other students. Tamara Lucas states; “Scaffolding learning for ELLs requires teachers to consider the relationship between students’ linguistic abilities and the tasks through which they are expected to learn”. Ms. O’reilly has set the goal of having all the students to be on the same level at the end of the school year, this might not be a realistic goal since each child comes from different backgrounds and learn at different speeds. Different scaffolding strategies should be use to accommodate the ELLs in her classroom. Group work, sharing about ones culture, knowing the child’s mother tongue and creating a comfortable environment where the students can raise their hand or ask questions without feeling dumb or like an

Just like other immigrant students, I came here to the United State with zero English at the age of eleven. I did not expect myself to be good in English, nor speaking English fluently. In spite of that, I started sixth grade at the U.S and learned English as my second language. I was repressed of the new environment, but after a few weeks of school, I started to receive many support from classmates and teachers. They are encouraged me to maintain the good works and always inspired me with a bright future.

My first observation took place in a third grade classroom of twenty-two students. All students were of Mexican descent and labeled as intermediate/advanced English language learners. The classroom environment itself was very warm and welcoming. There was a bulletin board that displayed pictures of students and their families along with autobiographies. There was another bulletin board dedicated to celebrating Mexican culture and people. The teacher was a Caucasian women in her mid twenties with three years of teaching experience.

The interview took place in the living room with no one else present in the home. The person I interviewed, is the parent of three males and a female who is the youngest. The age of her children ranges from 17 to 25 years old. My neighbor is Hispanic and speaks both English and Spanish. Although she speaks both languages, she felt comfortable doing the interview exclusively in Spanish. Furthermore, the person I interviewed had her first child when she was 25. She has been married with her spouse for 29 years, both are from the same town in North Central Mexico. Moreover, this interview was focused on her youngest child, who is an adolescent, who just turned 17 years old a few months

For the purpose of this assignment, I observed an ESOL teacher in a learning environment at Rising Star Learning Center’s summer program for 10 hours combined on July 21, 2015 and July 22, 2015. The kids in her class were all rising second graders between the ages of 6 and 7 years old, there were 20 kids total 9 were of Hispanic descent. The instructor was Mrs. Daniels, she also had an assistant a young adult the kids called Ashley. Mrs. Daniels is a Spanish Teacher at Lithonia High school, during the summer she works at Rising Star as a translator and instructor for the second grade class with English Learners. Mrs. Daniels is African American and received her Teaching certification at Albany State University, she developed a love for Spanish

While attending my spring semester at Loyola University, I had the opportunity to engage in a service-learning project. Improving the lives of local Marylanders in need allowed me to get in touch with the community that surrounded my university. The Esperanza Center allowed me to increase my intercultural experience through their adult English language tutoring that they have to offer. The center is an immigrant resource center that offers the hope and essential services to people who are new to the United States. Transnational migration has truly shaped the United States of America for what it is, and with the amount of culture that has been brought upon the country. Though, there are many issues throughout the country

A 12-year-old boy living in a small farming village outside of Matamoras, Mexico comes home one day from school and is informed by his parents that the family is moving to Texas to stay with his aunt and uncle. The entire family packed up their belongings and caught a bus from Matamoras bound for a small-town north of Houston, Texas. As he looks out the window, he wonders about this completely different world he has stepped into. At one gas-station stop on the way up, he hears people, predominately speaking in English, a language he had heard people speaking from time to time, but had no idea what they were saying. After arriving at his aunt and uncle’s house, his family is greeted in Spanish giving him the first degree of comfort he has had since he crossed the border into Texas. The following day his non-English speaking mother takes him to a local school where she is met by a counselor who has to send for a translator to properly register her son for his first day at school. As he attempts to interpret his printed schedule, the boy makes his way to his classroom. He is met by a paraprofessional who introduces herself in English and then in Spanish as his monitoring teacher. She promises to help him get used to his new school and to transition him into the English language. This is an example of the experience that over 20,000 new immigrant children face every year in Texas schools alone, and that number is doubling as

For my learner language analysis, I had the pleasure of interviewing my coworker Brenda. Brenda was born and raised in Cuba and came to America 34 years ago at the age of 22 with her husband. Together they left their family and friends behind with the hopes of starting a new life in America, one filled with many opportunities. Brenda is a well-educated woman who finished high school and some college in her country, making her the first to accomplish that in her family. Along with opportunities of coming to America came the struggles and fears. When Brenda and her husband came to America, friends and family guided them to settle into an area that was predominately Spanish speaking, making the

Today, the most urgent challenge facing the American educational system has a Latino appearance. Although Latinos are the most rapidly growing ethnic minority in our country, they lag far behind academically (Gandara & Contreras, 2009). These growing numbers of students of minority and mixed ethnicities need not only English language resources, but also cultural support and advocates from their public schools who understand their issues and are a voice for changes that are needed (Reyes, Scribner, & Scribner, 1999). In order for schools to educate all children, the relationship between the student, school, parent and community is of utmost importance. Schools can learn more about these students and their families by strengthening the relationships