Blog 8: Quotes on Richard Rodriguez's "Aria" and "Teaching Bilinguals"

Some valuable quotes from the reading and video:

1). “At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American citizen.” (pg 36)- Rodriquez states this after he had finally learned how to speak/understand the English language from the school attempts of a bilinguals education. Rodriguez's saying helps highlight the irony in his statement, that despite being born in the country it was only by getting rid of his native tongue and another piece of culture that he was able to adapt to that new culture. It was ironic that the only way for him to finally feel a part of being an American was to get rid of the close personal connection that he had with his culture and have to abandon those ties that he had which he later explained felt like a loss of closeness of family.

2). "And their lives are enriched when they are able to use all their languages critically, intentionally, flexibly, and creatively...that use of language is called translanguaging." - The Bilingual education video segments continuously refer to the term translanguaging creating methods within a classroom to help prioritize that concept. By encouraging students to use their bilingualism within a classroom and providing them spaces where they're able to embrace learning that new language without having to abandon their culture in the way Rodriguez described in "Aria". The "Teaching Bilinguals" used translanguaging as a way to learn the new language and create new connections without having to abandon all other connections as well.

3). “..suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality.”- This quote helps convey the message that Rodriguez attempts to convey throughout the reading about the conflict of the intimacy vs. public when it comes to his transition to bilingualism and American culture. While Rodriguez's transition to learn the language allowed him to blend better and create this "new" American identity he had to abandon the individuality that his culture provided by neglecting his first language. The quote illustrates the negative effects that assimilation for bilingual education can have on students when the students are made to feel like their first language is an inconvenience to overcome and has to be changed to feel that sense of belonging within an American classroom.

After this reading and videos, I leave with the question of how to correct our bilingual education system within America. How can we try to implement practices within classrooms that, unlike the Bedford Hills classroom, are more like Rodriguez's class? Where do we start to begin to restructure that? Additionally, it makes me wonder how bilingual education was considered a process to convert people into English speakers rather than a tool that can allow others to appreciate their and others' cultures and be able to relate to a wider variety of people. What Is Translanguaging and How Is It Used in the Classroom? takes a closer look to what translanguaging really is and breaks it down into an easy to understand style.