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Using the Native
Language in the ESL Classroom
by Ginger
Phillips Mole
Introduction:
In the field of foreign language education, it is commonly accepted
that the best learning environment is an immersion-style classroom.
If one wishes to learn French, then one must listen, speak, read and write
in French. For foreign language educators, this goes without saying.
Advocates of the natural approach to language acquisition believe that
we all learn our native language in an immersed environment from the time
that we are born. The immersion method has proven to be extremely
effective for children who are learning a second language. This method
is also widely accepted in the teaching of English as a Second Language
or ESL. It has long been expected that English, and English only,
will be the instructional language of an ESL classroom. But is this
really the best teaching practice? What if your students are adults
wishing to acquire another language, not children?
Across the United States, there is heated debate on this issue. Some
educators are asking questions about the exclusive use of English in the
ESL classroom, especially in those classrooms where the students are adults.
These educators point to research evidence supporting native language maintenance
for adult English language learners, particularly those with limited native
language literacy skills. On the other side, there is considerable
support for English-only mandates and ordinances spanning all levels of
education. This paper looks specifically at the argument for and
against the development of native language maintenance programs that provide
bilingual instruction (in the native language and English) for adult community
college students in North Carolina.
For:
The case for the use of native language instruction for adults in ESL
classrooms is primarily a pedagogical argument. Gail August (2006,
pp. 245-248) shows in her research the vast differences between the learning
processes of children and adults. Research abounds on the process
by which children acquire language and learn to read and write in that
language. The acquisition process for them is crucial. Yet,
for adults, August questions the use of similar acquisition strategies
and notes the lack of significant field research regarding adults.
For adults, learning to read in a new language is a very different process,
one more comprised of the transfer of knowledge from the first language
to the second language than a true acquisition of skills. Students
who are offered courses that strengthen the native language as a foundation
for the emerging second language can build stronger literacy skills in
the second language.
In the last two decades, educational research has focused on the cultural
implications of language instruction (Schalge & Soga, 2008, p. 152).
The predominant practice is one of cultural pluralism. Educators
make great efforts to include elements of cultural importance in the language
classrooms, especially for adults, with the goal of reinforcing the native
culture. This practice helps the learner to maintain pride in his/her
home language and home culture while adopting the language of a new culture:
the process of acculturation. One example of a culturally sensitive
program in Australia asked adult ELLs to write traditional stories in both
Somali and English. This bilingual approach was successful on both
fronts. The students were writing in both the native language and
English and they were able to share these meaningful stories with their
children and within their community.
Research evidence points to the time investment on the part of both students
and teachers. Weschler (1997) cites significant amounts of time spent circumnavigating
meaning. The student expends mental energy trying to connect what
is being said to something comprehensible in the native language and continually
asks, “What does this mean?” All the while, the teacher believes
in upholding an educational ideal by insisting on monolingual instruction.
Perspectives differ and meaning is lost. The student feels
like a failure. Repetition of this futile exercise may lead to attrition
in the adult education classroom. In studies from the University
of Massachusetts (Auerbach, 1993), students with minimal native language
literacy skills reported that they had “no idea what was going on in class”
by saying “I am always lost. I waste my time.” Adult English
language students often cite frustration and lack of understanding as reasons
for poor attendance and failure to complete courses (Schalge & Soga,
2008, p.155).
Against:
The use of any language other than English for instructional purposes
is highly controversial across the United States. It is no surprise
that the debate exists in North Carolina’s community college system.
The case against the use of the native language in the ESL classroom is
primarily a legal argument. The North Carolina Community College
System lies outside the realm of K-12 public education, so federal laws
governing comprehensible ESL instruction supporting bilingual education
programs, like Lau v. Nichols, are not applicable. The state of North
Carolina has two important guidelines to note regarding their position
on English language instruction. First, the North Carolina General
Assembly general statute 145-12 states that “English is the official language
of North Carolina”. Second, under the Basic Education Plan of the
State of North Carolina (N.C.G.S. 115C-81) the government calls for “all
teachers and principals to conduct classes except foreign language classes
in English. Any teacher or principal who refuses to do so may be dismissed”
(North Carolina General Assembly).
Another component of the argument against native language / bilingual education
at the community college level is financial. ESL classes for adults
are offered through the North Carolina Community Colleges system’s Basic
Skills program. These courses are offered free of charge to students.
According to Karen Brown, the ESL Director for Academic and Student Services
with the North Carolina Community College System, these schools receive
funding from two sources: approximately $60 million from the state
government and $15 million from the federal government. Therefore,
the North Carolina Community College System adopts the position of its
primary benefactor by stating in the general guidelines of the Basic Skills
Policies and Procedures Manual that “a major purpose of the Basic Skills
program is to help students learn the English language; therefore, a class
that helps Hispanics who are illiterate in their own language learn Spanish
first is not allowable through Basic Skills. (2008, p.35)
Finally, the argument against native language instruction in the adult
ESL classroom is a practical one. Although North Carolina boasts
the fastest growing Hispanic population in the United States (Ovando, Collier,
& Combs, 2006, p. 7), many other language minority groups are represented
in our community college classes. In order to offer quality
instructional programs using both the native language and English, community
college administrators would need to divide students into native language
groups and to hire qualified bilingual instructors to teach each language.
This scenario sounds easy enough when considering the Spanish-speaking
population. There are certainly enough students and there are qualified
bilingual instructors. What about students representing other language
minority groups like Swahili, Chinese, or Vietnamese? To be fair,
the college would need to provide native language instruction for all language
minority groups represented. Administrators may find it challenging
to advocate for native language classes for fewer students and to hire
bilingual instructors in these minority languages.
My view:
The issue of native language maintenance programs and English-only
instruction is complex, involving educational, cultural, political, social,
and financial elements. It is truly beyond the scope of this paper
to address all the facets of this issue. Yet, the basic question
asked here is one of educational benefit. It is clear that native
language / English bilingual programs offer students more success in reading,
especially for those students who have limited literacy skills in the first
language. These programs are more culturally sensitive in striving
to acculturate students without diminishing the native language or culture.
Bilingual programs produce more successful learners and fewer dropouts.
It is important to note that the exclusive use of English in the ESL classroom
does work. Students listen, speak, read, and write in English and
eventually develop fluency in all areas. The immersion process is
an effective one, even for adults. Yet, the process is slow and frustrating.
For many adult ESL students, it proves to be too difficult. Community
colleges that offer English-only instruction produce successful students
but those students who graduate with certificates of completion are only
a fraction of the total program enrollment. Community colleges continue
to grapple with the issues of attrition and retention. Native language
maintenance programs could be an alternative that is more efficient and
more successful in the long term.
While it is clear that North Carolina holds a conservative viewpoint opposing
many services for immigrants, particularly those who reside in North Carolina
without legal documentation, it is short sighted to cling to this opinion
without taking the facts of the matter into consideration. Immigrants
live here. Many of those immigrants are Spanish-speaking and many
of them are in North Carolina without proper legal documentation.
Wake Technical Community College alone enrolls thousands of students in
its ESL program each year. This is only one of 58 community colleges
in NC with such numbers. These immigrants are seeking the opportunity
for advancement through education. The educational research cited
here and in many other studies shows that native language maintenance programs
are a best practice for adult learners, especially at the lower levels
and for those students with limited literacy skills in the first language.
These native language / English bilingual programs produce more successful
students and encourage enrollment and completion of ESL programs.
North Carolina has the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of research
in the field of second language instruction for adults. The increasing
numbers of Spanish-speaking adults in our community offers the perfect
focus group for implementation of a pilot program for native language instruction
for ESL students at the community college level. Our state should accept
this challenging opportunity to be a forerunner in adult education in the
United States.
References:
Auerbach, Elsa R. (1993). Reexamining English Only in the ESL Classroom.
TESOL Quarterly 27 (1) 1-19.
August, Gail. (2006). So, what’s behind adult English second language
reading? Bilingual Research Journal 30 (2) 245-264. Retrieved April
3, 2009 from http://brj.asu.edu/content/vol30_no2/art1.pdf
North Carolina General Assembly. (2009). General statutes, retrieved April
13, 2009 from http://ncga.state.nc.us
North Carolina Community Colleges. (2008). Basic skills policy
and procedures manual for community colleges. Retrieved April 18,
2009 from http://www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/Numbered_Memos/docs/MemosFor2008/cc08-043.pdf
Ovando, C.J., Collier, V.P., & Combs, M.C. (2006). Bilingual
and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts. Boston:
McGraw-Hill.
Schalge, Susan L. & Soga, Kay. (2008). Then I stop coming to
school: Understanding absenteeism in an adult English as a second language
program. Adult Basic Education and Literacy Journal 2 (3) 151 -161.
Weschler, Robert. Uses of Japanese (L1) in the English classroom:
Introducing the functional - translation method. The Internet TESL Journal
3 (11). Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Weschler-using
L1.html
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