Foreign tongues

Like much of the southeast, my city is experiencing a explosion in the immigrant population - primarily of Hispanic (especially Mexican) background. As such, I have an influx of students of varying English competency. Last semester these students were all on very high levels, nearly fluent, and required little modification. This semester is a different story. In my second period class there are two boys who speak extremely limited English, to be generous. Their English is worse than my Spanish, which despite my 6 years of study is limited to Mexican restaurant menus, bathroom requests and a Sesame Street guy-in-the-desert vocabulary.

These kids are typically among my hardest working students, not only because they want to learn the material and fulfil their academic responsibility (the strongest work ethics in the building, if I may generalize), but they are also struggling to overcome a tough language barrier. It is not classified as such, but it is nothing other than a disability - an impediment to learning more dramatic than dyslexia. Fortunately, my job is easier than other teachers because mine is essentially a visual discipline, and I routinely model techniques and processes before students ever begin. An ELL (English language learner) student can follow along with my demonstrations to understand concepts. I couldn't imagine being a chemistry teacher and putting volatile chemicals into the hands of a student who can't understand a verbal warning (I picture chemistry teachers miming explosions with big hand gestures, saying "Boom!").

In second period, I am explaining my techniques to the whole class - in English, of course - with clear demonstrations, then I will take the ELL students aside and ask, "Do you understand?... um, Comprenedes?". They will nod politely, but it is clear they haven't the foggiest notion what to do. I've started bringing a Spanish/English dictionary to school, and I will slog through a clumsy translation of the assignment, flipping pages as I go: "Um, Dibujar... la (objects, what's the word for...) que es la palabra para "objects"... objetas, objetos con su lapiz, y... dibujar... la... (shadows, shadows... here it is) sombra. Dibujar la sombra. Si?" They nod, correct my pronunciation a bit, and continue to draw according to my visual demonstration.

I need to develop a basic Spanish proficiency if I am to properly serve this growing population, but I also need to discern when it is helpful to speak their native tongue, and when it is necessary to help them speak English. My projects, though visual art projects, often have written responses that ask students to reflect on their challenges and successes. Is it good to encourage these students to write a more sophisticated response in their native tongue (which I can have another student or teacher translate for me), or is it better to make them struggle with the foreign tongue? Does it promote or enforce some sort of assimilation for a student who may only be in the United States temporarily? When does adaptation end and assimilation begin? Is it my responsibility to know the difference? Is this overthinking for a high-school art teacher? Are there ways for us to incorporate their culture into our artwork so that we may learn from them without exploiting/exoticizing their experience? We are told to do so in our teacher education programs, but rarely shown how.

One of my most talented students - the one and only student in the school's new IB Visual Art program (a point of pride for a later post) - is also in this classroom at the same time. She is quite proficient in high school Spanish, has noticed these students struggling and has begun translating for me during instruction. I have been impressed with her ability to identify the need and attempt to help without being asked or made to oblige. She has done so because she can, and I know that she respects the ELL students and especially admires their culture, because I can see its influence in her artwork.

Not surprisingly, they have taken notice of her, too. I happened to notice that she wrote them a note explaining the assignment in Spanish, which she passed to them so they could understand what they were asked to do. The note came back with the following response:

"Tienes boyfrent?"