Reflection About Bilingualism

“Our culture, our traditions, our languages are the foundations upon which we build our identity.” - Unknown. Bilingualism has many different interpretations and definitions and can cause problems in the community or unite it. The concept of bilingualism represents several different ideas, two writers, Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez share in their essays their personal stories about being immersed into the English culture and learning the language. They share their views of what bilingualism means to them personally and make arguments about the importance of the concept. The two essayists bring awareness to the major role bilingualism plays in the communities today and highlight the effects of disagreements between cultural groups.

In Richard Rodriguez's essay , “ Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood ” he writes about how he struggled as a child who only spoke Spanish but lives in a society where the “public” language is English . He believes that speaking proper English will somehow help him fit into society and find his identity. Throughout the essay he contrast the Spanish language identity and English language identity. As a young boy, Rodriguez finds consolation and safety in his home where they only speak Spanish. He feels that he only has a true identity when he is at home surrounded by those who speak the same language as him

Bilingual education offers a completely different world for students of different ethnic background and thus creates a comfort zone limiting the risk-taking factor necessary for the maturation of a child to an adult. Rodriguez argues supporters of bilingualism fail to realize "while one suffers a

For more than 300 years, immigrants from every corner of the globe have settled in America, creating the most diverse and heterogeneous nation on Earth. Though immigrants have given much to the country, their process of changing from their homeland to the new land has never been easy. To immigrate does not only mean to come and live in a country after leaving your own country, but it also means to deal with many new and unfamiliar situations, social backgrounds, cultures, and mainly with the acquisition and master of a new language. This often causes mixed emotions, frustration, awkward feelings, and other conflicts. In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, the author

Rodriguez offers a different standpoint on bilingualism, and an argument he presents is that one must be willing to give up part of their native ways when learning a language to fit into the public. Rodriguez considered Spanish a private language and English a public one. This perception made him reluctant to learn English, but at the same time, it motivated him to become a part of the public by learning its language. Rodriguez uses his family life as an example of his native identity. He was not an English speaker when he was young, but upon learning the language, he drifted away from his family, and describes it rather frankly: “I was an American citizen. But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then. . . . No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness . . . . When I arrived home there would often be

As a child, I was simultaneously immersed in three completely different cultures. My mother was Chinese, yet spoke Vietnamese, my father was white, and I lived in a predominantly Spanish community. These contrasting lifestyles and cultures truly showed me the difference between a public and a private identity, and the importance behind bilingualism in the world today. However, before I can recount what I’ve learned, we must first discuss two contrasting concepts about bilingualism from two very accomplished and controversial writers: Martín Espada and Richard Rodriguez.

Spanish speakers benefit learning English, universally used in the United States. I have always accepted other’s life decisions. Bilingualism to me relates to both Espada and Rodriguez’s opinions. Espada believes non-English speakers should fight for the right to preserve their language and identity. Rodriguez believes language and culture diminishes the less that language is spoken. I believe in United States English should be spoken in formal settings (schools, businesses, etc.), while other languages could be spoken in appropriate situations (non-business). Espada grew up with English as his first language and later learned Spanish. Rodriguez grew up with a choice to no longer resist English or to not fit in with American society. Their differences reflect on their opinions today.

In Richard Rodriguez's essay , “ Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood ” he writes about how he struggled as a child who only spoke Spanish language but lives in a society where the “public” language is English . He believes that speaking proper English will somehow help him fit into society and find his “true” identity. Throughout the essay he contrast the Spanish language identity and English language identity. As a young boy, Rodriguez finds consolation and safety in his home where they only speak Spanish. He feels that he only has a true identity when he is at home surrounded by those who speak the same language as him . On the contrary , he becomes trapped and disoriented when not being able to speak / understand the English language . He feels as if he is not part of “their world” and has no identity in society. By comparing and contrasting Spanish language identity and English language identity . Rodriguez's essay is an example that speaking different languages should not make anyone choose an identity . In fact being able to speak and understand multiple languages in his case Spanish and English makes the language a part of his identity, but with two different sides .

Rodriguez defines bilingualism as he elaborates on his story of learning English. Arriving to the US and only speaking Spanish challenged him and his family. Their home illuminated a safe place, a place where he could speak Spanish. At school, his teachers would call on him purposefully trying to make him speak/learn English. In despair he mumbled, until the day his safe place disappeared when his parents began to speak English at home. Now with no outlet, he attempts to raise his hand in class and communicate with others. This monumental shift of avoiding speech to trying to communicate helps Rodriguez explain “Sound and word were thus tightly wedded” (23). The liberating moment where he can comfortably communicate with others without such a big effort rewards Rodriguez, for he can fit in with society: “And the point was not self expression alone but to make oneself understood by many others” (21). To talk comfortably with others provides a source for community and self expression. Although Rodriguez had a difficult time learning another language, he views bilingualism as someone who can fit in with multiple communities and has a balance of public and private life.

In his essay "Bilingual education outdated and unrealistic" Richard Rodriguez, one uses many rhetorical strategies. Rodriguez uses ethos in order to make you decide if it is right or not. He uses appeals to the audience’s emotions and finally gives his personal testimony in the examples. Rodriguez does not use personal examples, but when he does he uses a lot of imagery and emotion to create an example that is perfected. His position is based on the two sides of his childhood: his public language and his private language. Overall, His public language of a very rough English was used in the classroom at school and when he was on the streets of town. One’s private language of Spanish was used at home and bringing him a sense of safety when using it.

Bilinguals in America experience unfair treatment and are looked at differently if English is not their native language. The subject of bilingualism is not a topic many are educated on. Uneducated English speakers use their dominance and popularity of their language to treat Spanish speakers like their language and culture does not belong in our country. Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez speak of bilingualism in their well published essays, and they write about the struggles that American citizens face when they are bilingual in Spanish and English. This essay will clearly show each writer’s definition and arguments on bilingualism and my argument on the topic.

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.

Bilingual Education where Supporters feel that students miss a great deal by not being taught in their family’s language. That children that retain their family’s language will retain a sense of individuality. Their ethnic heritage & cultural ties. Helping Students acquire the skills of a classroom crucial for public success. Rodriguez also discusses the use of teaching and using a single language.

Bilingualism is being able to speak two languages fluently, but to Espada and Rodriguez it’s something much more. When talking about bilingualism Espada believes bilingualism is part of the Latino culture, something that should be sacred and protected as part of their identity. “The defense of the right to a Latino identity and the Spanish language” (lines 256 - 258). When he says “a Latino identity and the Spanish language” it shows that he believes that just the language itself is as important as identifying as a Latino, this shows its importance to him and his

Bilingualism carries broad appeal as a potential reserve variable because it is primarily influenced by environmental factors such as country of birth, emigration, or attendance in a second language school (Gold et al., 2013). Individuals become bilingual through these life circumstances and the environmental factors eventually contribute to the development and organization of brain reserve (Schweizer et al., 2012). The development of this reserve is thought to be directly correlated to the continuous monitoring of context that is necessary for language inhibition and activation (Gold et al., 2013). Research is finding that there is a delay of onset for lifelong bilinguals by 4.7 years for people with mild cognitive impairment and 7.3 years for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Research points to a substantial impact of bilingualism that both increases the ability to perform an important set of cognitive tasks and reorganizes neural networks recruited for that performance (Bialystok et al., 2014). Both languages of a bilingual speaker are constantly active to some degree, even in strongly monolingual contexts where there is no reason to expect use of the other language. This joint activation has profound implications for both linguistic and nonlinguistic processing. If both languages are active, then a problem in attention is introduced for a bilingual that does not exist for a monolingual speaker (Bialystok, 2011).