Raising a Bilingual Child in the Philippines
A Philippine mother explains why her child’s first language is not Filipino.
I always knew my children would grow up bilingual. In the Philippines, bilingualism is not something you need to think about and choose for your children. It is a given. It is decided for you.
It’s been that way ever since the Americans came to the Philippines in the late 1800s. Since then, the educational system has been English centered. Until today, almost all our classes in school are taught in English.
So all children learn English. The only question, really, is not “whether,” but “when?” How early do you want your child to become bilingual?
For my child, I decided it would be as early as possible. I would not wait for him to start school before he learned a foreign language. His first language would be the foreign language.
The social advantage of learning English
There is a social motivation for wanting your child to speak a foreign language instead of his own native language here in the Philippines.
The country has a culture of reverse ethnocentricity: We love what is not our own.
This comes from the Philippine’s long history of being under foreign colonization — first under Spain, then under the United States. For centuries, the ruling class came from foreign lands, wore foreign clothes and spoke foreign languages. The native language was used only by the ruled, not the rulers.
So the inability to speak the native language became a status symbol. Even today, the child who speaks English better than he can speak Filipino is deemed to be more intelligent and coming from a higher social class.
But the advantage is not limited to people’s minds. It is also very practical. As was previously mentioned, most classes in Philippine schools are taught in English. This is true even in preschool.
So the child whose first language is English will have an easier time understanding the stories the teacher reads. He will be better able to answer the teacher’s questions. And when they are taught to read by themselves, he will be more at ease with the materials, because the words being used to teach reading are familiar to him: ant, bed, cat, dog, …
Raised on a foreign language
So I sang to my baby, told him stories, even scolded him, in English.
When he started to talk, he spoke in English. His first few words, other than mama, were “ta-ter” (water), book, and “kicky cola” (Coca Cola).
And for a time, he did not understand Filipino. When he was one year old, his grandmother said to him in Filipino, “Josh, pakisara yung pinto (please close the door).” He looked at her but did not move. So she repeated her question in English. Then he went to the door and closed it.
My parents and in-laws, of course, were very concerned about this. What would happen, they asked me, when he starts going to school? How will he make friends? He will be isolated!
I told them that when he starts going to school, he will start to speak Filipino. After all, he has not been completely unexposed to his own country’s native language. His father spoke to him in Filipino most of the time. He hears everyone in the house speaking it to each other.
But since it was seldom used in speaking to him directly, he did not learn it half as well as he learned English. So he did not speak it — but the foundation was there.
Sure enough, when he started school, he adapted almost instantly. By the end of the first week, I noticed he was speaking more and more in Filipino at home.
He has also begun classifying people into who-speaks-what-language groups. When he is speaking to me or his teacher, he speaks in English. When he speaks to everyone else, he speaks in Filipino. If I talk to him on the phone and give him a message in English to relay to his babysitter, he takes the message in English but translates it into Filipino when he tells it to her.
He still makes a few mistakes in Filipino pronunciation and translation. For instance, he would still say “na-u-u-nod” instead of “na-nu-no-od (watching)” when he wants to say that he is watching TV. He says “alangan (hesitant)” when what he means is “kailangan (need).” And he would say “kanina (earlier today)” when he means to say is “kahapon (yesterday).”
But that is not a disadvantage. As I’ve explained before, he is growing up in a country for whom the inability to speak the native language is considered an asset.
People find it cute that he speaks Filipino that way. We find it amusing and endearing when foreigners strive to speak Filipino. But generally we find little value in speaking it well ourselves.
About the author: Blessie Adlaon is an editor at the Philippine-based writing department of goFLUENT Inc., a European company that teaches English by phone worldwide. She is working towards a degree in MA English Studies at the University of the Philippines. She is also the mother of three kids.
You Might Also Like:
Raising Bilingual-Biliterate Children in Monolingual Cultures
Bilingual By Choice: The Family Guide for Raising Kids in Two (Or More!) Languages
The Bilingual Edge: How, When and Why to Teach Your Child a Second Language
You can find additional books about raising bilingual children in the Multilingual Mania store.
Knowledge is Power: Bilingual Education and Access to Accurate Information
Over the years I have met many bilingual teachers in California who do not have their bilingual teaching authorization (i.e., BCLAD credential). I’ve asked a number of bilingual teachers about why they don’t have a BCLAD credential or its equivalent, and I am often told many interesting reasons about why they don’t have the appropriate bilingual teaching authorization. Most notably, many teachers tell me that they were told to not get their BCLAD or bilingual credential because they were told not to get it by someone at their university.
At first I didn’t believe that professors, including bilingual and/or Latina/o professors, might have told a bilingual teacher not to get a BCLAD credential. I initially thought that many of the teachers might have misunderstood what they have been told. However, over the past ten years I have heard these types of comments repeated by far too many bilingual teachers that it leads me to believe that there are professors and other university personnel who are sending this message to new teachers.
In fact, I have heard the story told far too many times that I now have memorized a list of names of people at our local California State university who have been giving students this information. It appears that many bilingual teachers have been told over the years that they will be “doing away with the bilingual BCLAD teaching credential”. Other teachers have been told that school districts will not hire them if they have a BCLAD credential. Therefore, many bilingual teachers have opted out of obtaining a BCLAD credential, later finding out when they are hired as bilingual teachers that they in fact need to have a credential.
Why on Earth would anyone give a new teacher such inaccurate and misleading information? Well, I can definitely hypothesize as to why this might be happening, but I will leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions. However, my second question is: Why on Earth would a future bilingual teacher believe something like this? Why didn’t they dig a little further? Why didn’t they question as to why a university would have a BCLAD credential program if the BCLAD credential is obsolete? If they would have dug a little farther, they would have been able to question as to why the university has a masters program in bilingual education as well.
I see this happen over and over again with bilingual educators, where many of us believe everything that someone else tells us about bilingual education. They tell some of us that bilingual education is illegal in California, and many of us believe it. They tell us that our programs are failing, and we allow them to be dismantled without asking for proof.
We must admit as bilingual educators that we sometimes are complicit in the demise of bilingual education.
I have had similar experiences with listening to bilingual educators talk about the local bilingual education masters program. Someone else has told them that they won’t be marketable with a masters degree in bilingual education, and people believe it and get a masters in another topic. What sort of nonsense is this? How is it possible that someone would actually believe that having a masters degree in cross-cultural and bilingual education would not make you marketable?
It’s beyond my comprehension why bilingual educators would not enroll in the local bilingual education masters program, considering that there are very few bilingual masters programs in the state of California. One would think that as bilingual educators that we would appreciate the opportunity to be enrolled in a program that is unique to our needs as bilingual educators. But many of us don’t, mainly because people don’t know about the opportunity or believe what they are told about having a masters in bilingual education.
So I will go back to my original comment about complicity: As bilingual educators, we are often complicit in our own demise. We believe what we are told about bilingual education, or the BCLAD program, or the bilingual masters program. We don’t become educated enough to answer parent’s, administrator’s or the public’s questions about bilingual education. We don’t take the time to learn about building high levels of biliteracy. Some of us have never even read a book that gives us information about bilingual education. Many of us don’t even belong to our local or state association for bilingual education.
At this point in the digital age, there is no excuse that we don’t have access to essential information about bilingual education. There are now a variety of online communities where multilingual educators, parents and other interested parties can network, share information and ask one another questions about bilingual education. This is one of my goals with this blog-to debunk some of the myths that surround bilingual education and to support an online community of bilingual education advocates.
As the old adage goes, “Knowledge is power”. What you don’t know WILL hurt you, and ultimately hurt the struggle for quality bilingual education. Wake up, smell the coffee, and commit to mentoring another bilingual educator or parent who is interested in bilingual education, so that bilingual advocates have access to accurate information.
P.S. Thanks for sticking around to the end of the article. It’s people like you who remind me everyday why I put in so much energy fighting to maintain quality bilingual education programs.
You Might Also Like:
How Do You Get a BCLAD Credential?
Critical Components of Effective Bilingual Programs
A Parent’s Guide to the Critical Components of Effective Bilingual Programs
Must-read Book: Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
What’s Happening in Our Neck of the Woods….
If you noticed that I haven’t been writing much on Multilingual Mania, I would have to say that you are very observant! I have been very busy working on a few projects that I am very excited about and I would like to share with you!
First of all, I have been contracted to be a co-author for a Spanish as a second language textbook for the second grade. The book is being published by Santillana publishers. I am really excited about it! I am just starting out on the project, which will be a six month project and so I have been devoting extra time to that project.
I have also been working on another project on the internet that is related to bilingualism and bilingual education, but I am sworn to secrecy at the moment. I am so excited about it that I wish I could tell you, but I just can’t! I will let you know sooner or later!
I have been slowly working on my English language development website in the meantime, ELD Strategies. If you are a bilingual teacher and you teach English language development, head on over there and check it out. It will be uploaded slowly since I am working on these other projects.
In the meantime, you can still find me over on Spanglishbaby.com every month or so in the “Ask An Expert” series.
In the next couple of days, Multilingual Mania will also have a few guest posts written by mothers about issues of bilingualism. One perspective will be from a mother who would like to raise her children to learn French, and another post is from a mother in the Philippines whose child first learned a second language (i.e., English) due to encroachment of English in the Philippines.
Stay tuned! If you also have a story that you would love to tell, we would love to share your story! Please email us at multilingualmania@yahoo.com!
Honoring Martin Luther King
Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States, a day to honor the legacy of social justice and racial equality espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. MLK’s theories are some of the foundation behind my commitment to provide access to quality bilingual education programs to Spanish speakers as well as native English speakers.
One bilingual program designed to integrate students of varying language, ethnic and racial groups is the Dual Immersion program. Dual Immersion programs integrate students with the goal of creating bilingualism and biliteracy in both language groups, as well as fostering cross-cultural respect and appreciation. Maybe if we continue to provide high quality Dual Immersion programs Martin Luther King’s dream of a more integrated and equality-driven society will be fulfilled.
Today I found the Martin Luther King speech “I Have a Dream” in Spanish. If you are a bilingual teacher, I think that it would be wonderful to also read the speech in Spanish. You can find the speech by clicking here.
I also found some really inspiring MLK speeches that can be immediately downloaded from Amazon and will download into either your itunes or media player. You can find them by clicking here. I wish that when I was in school, that one of my teachers would have played actual speeches from Martin Luther King, because in my opinion he is one of the greatest and most inspirational speakers that I have ever seen.
Keep up the good fight for quality bilingual education programs as well as effective instruction for diverse students!
Spanglishbaby “Ask an Expert” Series
I’m excited to announce that I am one of the experts on Spanglishbaby.com! This week I wrote a response to a question that a parent had about which type of language immersion program that she should choose for her children. You can find the post by clicking here. There are a number of other experts on various issues who answer questions on a weekly basis.
Spanglishbaby.com is an online resource and community for parents who are raising bilingual and bi-cultural children. They have excellent resources for parents, and bilingual teachers might also find much of the information on the site to be very useful. When you have a chance, head on over there and check it out!
What’s Really Behind the Language Interference Myth?
I reject the entire concept of “language interference”. For those of you who might not have heard about “language interference”, it is a pervasive myth that continues to be perpetuated about how students’ primary language interferes with their acquisition of English. For example, if a Spanish speaker makes an error, pronouncing the “j” as an “h” sound in English, many people would say that this is “negative interference” or “negative transfer” caused by the student’s primary language as it is applied to English. [Note: the Spanish j makes the English h sound].
When native English speakers learn to read and write, they don’t automatically begin to spell, read and pronounce correctly. They don’t use spelling patterns correctly, they are unable to decode certain vowel patterns when they first start to read, and they begin to use invented spelling by spelling words out the way that they sound. Yet we never hear that their oral language development is negatively interfering with their written language or reading. The experts tell us that all of these supposed errors are developmentally appropriate for English speakers in the natural process of acquiring a first language.
On the other hand, the myth of language interference is constantly discussed as it applies to students who are learning English. When students make errors in pronunciation, reading, writing or spelling, many people automatically discuss the concept of language interference, stating that students make such errors in English as a result of the interference that is being caused by their primary language. Why is it that it is a natural and developmental process when native English speakers make errors as they are learning English, but it is “language interference” when second language learners make the very same mistakes as they are acquiring a second language??
I’ve heard so many of the following types of comments, “He can’t spell in English because he writes in English by using Spanish phonics. Spanish is causing interference”.
Or I’ve heard, “As a result of language interference, Spanish speaking children have difficulty with pronouncing and spelling the sh, th, and other sounds”.
Might I remind everyone that native English speakers don’t automatically start spelling accurately as soon as they come out of the womb? I’ve also encountered native English speakers who make many of the same errors in pronunciation when they are very young and are acquiring their first language.
I have yet to have heard someone attribute language interference to the errors a native English speaking child makes when acquiring Spanish as a second language. I sometimes hear, “Johnny makes errors in Spanish grammar because he is a beginning Spanish learner. When he says ‘yo no lo hiciste’ instead of the accurate ‘yo no lo hice’, it’s because he is at the beginning stage of learning Spanish and with time, exposure, and effective instruction he will begin to have more consistent use of grammar”. Why aren’t we blaming English for negatively interfering with Spanish?
Don’t you see a discrepancy and double standard here? It’s okay for native English speakers to make developmental mistakes, but not bilingual learners?
The entire concept of language interference is a pervasive myth that in my opinion is primarily directed towards Spanish speaking children who are learning English. Do we often hear that French is negatively interfering with students’ acquisition of English? Probably not. In fact, we are probably more likely to hear someone say, “Oh wow, he speaks with a beautiful french accent when he speaks English.” I’ve yet to have heard someone accuse the french language as negatively interfering with English acquisition. Perhaps this is because french often is perceived as a higher status by many people?
This myth continues to be perpetuated about students and you will find it everywhere, with some of the most prominent bilingual education advocates perpetuating the myth.
In my view, there is something much more behind this whole notion of language interference. In essence, it is a myth that was designed to put a negative spin on Spanish and other politically volatile minority languages, insinuating that Spanish is causing a deficit in the acquisition of English. This myth is a remnant of the days when people perceived bilingualism as a problem, causing mental retardation, confusion and difficulty. The language interference myth has been perpetuated for so many years and by so many people that many people believe it and have never examined the underlying assumptions behind it. The myth has seeped into college classes, as well as teacher training and testing for teaching authorizations as in the case of the California Teachers of English Learners (CTEL) test.
Please remember that most of the errors that second language learners make when they are learning a second language are similar to many of the same errors that native English speakers make when they are acquiring English. This is a developmental issue, not an interference issue. With effective instruction and practice of the language, many of the so-called errors that students make will begin to disappear. If students continue to make the same errors year after year, then it has nothing to do with their primary language and has more to do with the fact that they have had ineffective instruction.
The next time that you or someone else talks about language interference, think about what is covertly being insinuated: Spanish is a deficit and causes problems when learning English. I don’t know about you, but I refuse to perpetuate that message.
Top Ten Posts of Last Year
A couple of days ago I was surfing online and I came across a blog that had linked their top ten posts of 2009. I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things after the holidays, so I figured that I would do the same even though I am a week and a half late for the new year! My top ten posts in order of popularity were:
How Do You Get a BCLAD Credential?
A Parent’s Guide to the Critical Components of Effective Bilingual Programs
Critical Components of Effective Bilingual Programs
Materials in Spanish for Bilingual Programs
Access Denied: Lack of Spanish Materials in Bilingual Programs
Bilingual Ed Saboteurs Need Not Apply
Is Bilingual Education Against the Law in California?
Language Programs in California for English Learners
Must-read Book: Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
Online Math Support Resources
When I taught the fifth and the sixth grade, it was always hard for me to teach math because I hadn’t taken a math class since I was in high school. In high school I had taken a math advanced placement class that gave me college credit for math. It was always very difficult for me to teach many advanced math concepts because it had been a significant amount of time since I had taken math class.
I remember that many of my students’ parents would express similar frustrations with assisting their children with math. I tried my best to provide resources for the parents that might help them. These were the days before you could find anything and everything on the internet, and now parents have the luxury to turn to the internet for online math help in the event that they are unable to help their children.
Today I discovered Guaranteach, an online tutoring site that provides assistance and math help to students. They have a variety of videos for students or parents to use to clarify difficult mathematical concepts. The cost per month is $9.95 and they are also featuring a free trial option. Head on over there and check out the free fractions videos, as well as information about algebra help and algebra tutoring.
Secret Diary of a Bilingual Educator: Linguistic Discrimination in the Schoolhouse
I can still remember the days when I was a bilingual teacher and I would sit in the staff lounge during my breaks or lunch. There were times when one or two of us would occasionally speak in Spanish to one another when we were walking in and out of the room. It would be an understatement to say that many of the teachers did not approve of us using Spanish.
It’s not as if we lived in some podunk town where people were unaccustomed to diversity. In fact, worked in a large urban school district in Southern California where the majority of the student population was black and latino. Approximately ninety percent of our students were latino, with approximately forty percent being classified as English learners. One third of the students were in either a Dual Immersion program or a transitional bilingual education program and we were one of the largest bilingual schools in the district-probably even the whole county.
I can still remember one day vividly when I was chastised for speaking Spanish by another teacher in the staff lounge. It was recess and I walked into the staff lounge to buy a soda. There were about five teachers sitting on the opposite side of the room talking to one another. I walked into the room, but as soon as I put money into the machine I dropped a dime that quickly rolled underneath the machine.
Suddenly one of the bilingual kindergarten teachers walked into the room. -¿Tienes diez centavos?- I asked the teacher. He pulled out ten cents and gave it to me.
One of the teachers on the other side of the room suddenly shouted out, “Speak English! This is America”. I was in shock and was so insulted that I couldn’t even open my mouth. I just stood there in shock, not believing that someone had just yelled at me. Those were the days when I didn’t know how to stand up for myself and rarely said anything when other people made racist or inappropriate comments because I didn’t know what to say.
I’ve heard that worn out argument that some people think that it is “rude” when people speak another language in front of them, so I am hypothesizing that maybe the teacher who yelled at me felt a similar sentiment. What do I have to say about that? Here’s my thought: She should have just minded her own darn business. Maybe if she wasn’t so busy listening to my personal conversation on the other side of the room she wouldn’t have even noticed that I was speaking another language.
Now it’s over ten years later and if I could do it all again I would have given her a big piece of my mind. I would have said, “I have the right to engage in personal conversations during my break time in whichever language I choose. If you are uncomfortable with it, then I suggest you don’t listen to my conversation, or you can study Spanish”. And then I would have walked out the door with a grand exit.
I’m just waiting for that day when someone at work tells me something like that again because I would really love to give them a piece of my mind. I suspect that since I grew into a more opinionated woman that many people might not even have the nerve to tell me something like that again because they know that they won’t get away with it. (Plus, it helps being a manager).
In the meantime, if any of this happens to those of you who are bilingual teachers, maybe you can steal my lines and get in a few jabs for me. And make sure you pat yourself on the back when you are finished.
Has this ever happened to you? What did you do?
New Year Updates
I haven’t blogged much over the holiday season and am just getting back into the swing of things. In my last post I mentioned that I have been spending time working on my English language development (ELD) site because many bilingual teachers have been asking for assistance with English language development. Hopefully the site will also help Mainstream teachers with providing effective English language development.
ELD is an important component to all bilingual programs, because bilingual programs are BILINGUAL! I’ve seen all varieties of bilingual programs-some have high levels of Spanish and low levels of English, some have high levels of English and low levels of Spanish, and many other variations. So, I’ve decided that at least once a week I am going to have a post on English language development, or at least point you over to some of the posts that I have been working for on the other website.
I also wanted to keep you updated on a few things that I am really excited about! First off, I am going to be an “Ask an Expert” on Spanglishbaby and I am really excited about it! This week I am working on my very first post for them, and I will keep you updated. You have no idea how excited I am about this because I really look up to Ana and Roxana, the founders of the site. I am so honored that they are putting me on their list of experts. Stay tuned!
One more thing that I am really excited about is that I am going to be a contributing author on a Spanish as a foreign language program for elementary students through Santillana. Well, I am “almost” going to be a contributing author and I am not going to believe it until that contract is signed. So keep your fingers crossed for me! I should know more by the end of the week.
For the next week or so, I will only be posting about twice a week because I really want to sit down for the new year and brainstorm the topics that I would like to blog about on Multilingual Mania. It’s my new year goal to have a little consistency to what I will be doing each week. So stay tuned for that as well! Please stay patient as I am working my heart out on my huge project that I am doing over at ELDStrategies.com, and I eventually have plans to create a similar website about building biliteracy. It’s been taking so much work to write each page and format everything.
See you soon and thank you for stopping by!
