Another major language
countries, regions, and cities where Spanish is spoken. If so, why do we still have all of the academic research in education, and its literature, referring Spanish to us as a “minority language”?
As many agree, education research findings, and the American population at large, should begin
interacting more to further necessary critical awareness if we are to make it out of
the dualistic grip of “reformers” versus “those-who-oppose-this-reform” talking heads (cf. Dana
Bennis' “The Education Policy Debate”), who add more confusion instead of resolution to our dire public schools, and overall education problems.
Having recently completed a Masters in Childhood Education with a bilingual extension, I still
hear in my mind the “minority language” label (status) that was attached to Spanish by all of the
research and texts that were to help me comprehend the complexities of bilingual education.
Spanish is not a minority language. It is not a minority language in New York City, Arkansas,
England, or South Africa. To stay in the American (Usonian, was Frank Lloyd Wright's term)
context, in order for us to be honest in our globalization talks and ideas about a multilingual,
multicultural planet, we must begin accepting the multilingual realities enriching our
country. The U.S. shares the Americas with two other giant languages: Spanish and Portuguese.
The more we come to know them, the further and better relationships we can muster.
The coming 2010 U.S. Census results will add yet another mass of Hispanics in the millions to
this our new American cultural reality. The U.S. Hispanic population is larger than many other
countries in the Americas, or Spain itself. I call this a new reality because in this globalized
culture that we live in, Hispanics are not giving up their Spanish for English, as it happened to the
other immigrant groups who came to America. Full-English NBC has no qualms about owning
Full-Spanish Telemundo, and that is not a minor move.
So, again, why does the whole world of education research, in all of its political manifestations,
label Spanish a “minority language”?
These research and policy folks who do work hard to better our public and private education
understandings must get rid of this false label. At a progressive and independent school in Lower
Manhattan, Spanish is still labeled as a “Foreign Language” in their website. When these
erroneous labels are done with, and all resentments cashed in for more affirmative ventures into
more plural American linguistic realities, we will begin the arduous and stimulating process of
beginning to see this crazy quilt Spanish with fresh senses anew.
Now, wanting to call Spanish a major language and come to know it will lead to a proper
discussion about its multiple minorizations and hybrid features that feed on its rich passage through time and place. I look forward to that opening that discussion in a future post.
Posted in Global EducationSocial JusticeTeaching on Jun 16, 2010 - 05:53 PM
Spanish, like every other major language, is indeed a crazy quilt of various dialects as there arecountries, regions, and cities where Spanish is spoken. If so, why do we still have all of the academic research in education, and its literature, referring Spanish to us as a “minority language”?
As many agree, education research findings, and the American population at large, should begin
interacting more to further necessary critical awareness if we are to make it out of
the dualistic grip of “reformers” versus “those-who-oppose-this-reform” talking heads (cf. Dana
Bennis' “The Education Policy Debate”), who add more confusion instead of resolution to our dire public schools, and overall education problems.
Having recently completed a Masters in Childhood Education with a bilingual extension, I still
hear in my mind the “minority language” label (status) that was attached to Spanish by all of the
research and texts that were to help me comprehend the complexities of bilingual education.
Spanish is not a minority language. It is not a minority language in New York City, Arkansas,
England, or South Africa. To stay in the American (Usonian, was Frank Lloyd Wright's term)
context, in order for us to be honest in our globalization talks and ideas about a multilingual,
multicultural planet, we must begin accepting the multilingual realities enriching our
country. The U.S. shares the Americas with two other giant languages: Spanish and Portuguese.
The more we come to know them, the further and better relationships we can muster.
The coming 2010 U.S. Census results will add yet another mass of Hispanics in the millions to
this our new American cultural reality. The U.S. Hispanic population is larger than many other
countries in the Americas, or Spain itself. I call this a new reality because in this globalized
culture that we live in, Hispanics are not giving up their Spanish for English, as it happened to the
other immigrant groups who came to America. Full-English NBC has no qualms about owning
Full-Spanish Telemundo, and that is not a minor move.
So, again, why does the whole world of education research, in all of its political manifestations,
label Spanish a “minority language”?
These research and policy folks who do work hard to better our public and private education
understandings must get rid of this false label. At a progressive and independent school in Lower
Manhattan, Spanish is still labeled as a “Foreign Language” in their website. When these
erroneous labels are done with, and all resentments cashed in for more affirmative ventures into
more plural American linguistic realities, we will begin the arduous and stimulating process of
beginning to see this crazy quilt Spanish with fresh senses anew.
Now, wanting to call Spanish a major language and come to know it will lead to a proper
discussion about its multiple minorizations and hybrid features that feed on its rich passage through time and place. I look forward to that opening that discussion in a future post.
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