Creating Space to Be Bilingual
Why Separate Language Environments May Not be the Answer
Bilingual children live in a world of compartmentalization. They speak one language at home, another at school, etc. How can teachers help them feel truly bilingual?
Being Bilingual
To be bilingual is to not only speak and understand two languages, but it is the ability to live and breathe those same two languages. It is an experience through which one morphs two parts of being into one and learns to negotiate different worlds. It is almost as if the bilingual being is the liaison between the written and spoken word, between beliefs and fears, between cultural understandings and notions.
To become someone like this takes not only the linguistic skills, but also the social and emotional savvy to know how to use them. When then, do bilingual children get this kind of practice? When are they truly being bilingual?
Separation of Language for “Confusion” Sake
In so many of the most prestigious bilingual programs, the commonly accepted knowledge is that language is separate but equal. That is to say that there are strict language environments where one language or the other is used. Classroom environments are set up with books in one language, word walls, posters; one language is spoken, encouraged and practiced. The partner classroom is also set up with the other language. Children move from one to the other, receiving instruction in the target language. So where is the place to be bilingual? Which is the space to practice this?
Code Merging
Consider the benefits of allowing bilingual children to be just that in all parts of their lives. Instead of forcing them to use “English Only” throughout their academic experience, why not let them tap both of their worlds. This idea of using native languages to access English is not a new. For years, children all over the world have used one language to learn a second, third, or fourth language.
With thoughtful and strategic planning teachers of bilingual children can create environments where children are allowed to use both of their codes in the academic environment. This kind of code merging is not the same as translating every word in the room, but rather, setting up a space where both languages are used, for different purposes, at specific times and the children are aware of the use of language.
Language is practiced explicitly when need and both languages are valued equally. For instance, class libraries are available in the same classroom in both languages; word walls with high frequency words are created in the room, in different areas, but with equal visibility, language structures targeting specific areas of study are posted and available for children to use as a reference when speaking or writing. With the right resources, children’s work can be developed in more than one language and even with both codes on the same page.
These kinds of practices give the children a place where they know their bilingualism is valued, respected, and a place where they can practice both languages, instead of only being able to practice how to switch from one to the other.
