The Word Wall

Within the last 10 years, the number of limited-English-proficiency students in San Diego County has increased 120 percent, to 105,000. “As a rule of thumb,” says UCSD professor Bud Mehan, “if you look at the last political hot spot in the world, within six months, members of that population will find their way to San Diego.”

Mehan, director of the Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence, says Somalia is the source of the latest surge of immigrant refugees. “They concentrate in neighborhoods,” he says. “Marshall Elementary [in the Chollas Creek area] has a 10 to 20 percent student body of Somalians.”

In the San Diego City School District, 52 languages are spoken by students—many from Mexico and South America. When you consider there are 50 to 55 indigenous languages spoken within Mexico alone, and 200 to 250 pockets of relocated people across the United States, you see the immensity of the problem.

In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227, which effectively banned bilingual teaching in the state’s classrooms. San Diego voters also handily approved the measure. And yet, 62 percent of respondents in a survey conducted by San Diego Magazine believe bilingual education programs improve non-English-speaking students’ school performance.

Most youngsters pick up English informally. But since teaching in a child’s native language has been discouraged by Proposition 227, teaching techniques for second-language learners needed to be specially designed. “San Diego is on the cutting edge of this movement,” says Mehan. “As a port of entry, we pride ourselves on handling diversity. And it’s everywhere in the schools.”

Almost any classroom in San Diego is made up of two groups of children: those who understand English, and those who can barely decode the words the teacher is using. Perhaps the child has learned a modicum of English: “That’s my ball.” “My mom wants bread.” “That’s not fair.” This is what, in teacher-speak, is called BIC: basic interpersonal communication. To gain this level of language proficiency takes about two years, experts say.

But what happens when you get to cognitive concepts? Take a simple concept: There are 50 states in the Union, and they all entered the Union at different times. Or a class in physics: Here is how electricity is made. Or history: Cotton production increased the use of slavery in the Old South. Those same education experts tell us that to rise to the second level—what they call CALP, cognitive academic language proficiency—takes five to seven years. And that’s where many students get left behind.

“Just try to take a test in a high-concept field in somebody else’s language,” says a fifth-grade teacher. “Yet these kids are graded on results of those tests.”

Enter yet another acronym, CLAD: cross-cultural language and academic development. This is the credential, offered by UCSD, that will soon be required in all San Diego schools. CLAD methods begin with TPR—total physical response. Put simply, it means being a good actor, says one teacher in the program: “Don’t stand there like a stick. Look straight at the child; say words clearly; show an object that illustrates the meaning. If the word is ‘tree,’ make everyone in the class stand like a tree, with branches, leaning this way or that. It’s all about muscle memory.”

Second maxim: Make use of all prior knowledge the child might have. If the students are Vietnamese and the subject for the day is Cinderella, go find “The Brocade Slipper,” the Vietnamese Cinderella. Or look for any rags-to-riches story in the child’s native culture. Bring in movies, puppets, food. Use “environmental print,” another teacher-phrase, “like the M in McDonald’s,” says a teacher. “There are words all around us, on signs, on television. Use them.”

“We’re getting some interesting rural populations,” says Mehan. “Unlike the Vietnamese or the Cambodians, who’ve been to school and know the decorum of the classroom, the Hmong children might not even know to raise their hands or ask to go to the bathroom, or when it’s time for lunch. The newcomer classes give them this information. But unfortunately, we don’t always get them as kindergartners. That would be easier.”

Proposition 227 uses an interesting word in addressing bilingual education. It says students need an “overwhelming” amount of English in their educations. Different San Diego districts have interpreted “overwhelming” to mean different things. Some feel “overwhelming” means 90 percent. But since 60 percent of voters passed Proposition 227, some argue “overwhelming” can mean 60 percent. Also, parents are allowed to request special instruction. Non-English-speaking children whose parents waive them out of an English-immersion program may be placed in an ESL (English as a second language) classroom, also known as a “sheltered” English program.

Irene Villanueva, an education lecturer in UCSD’s training program, cites two districts that have done well in this respect, and one that has not. “One of the districts with an excellent dual-language program is Valley Center School District in North County, just east of Escondido. This program has been going for 13 years. Children have graduated from high school and are at university level now. I took a group of teacher-trainees there, and they all remarked on a different atmosphere —one of communication and confidence.

“Another is the South Bay District, which has predominantly Mexican-American families. They applied as a charter district in order to continue their bilingual status. Also, parents there ask for waivers—they are abiding by the law.

“Oceanside School District, on the other hand, has granted zero waivers, though waivers have been requested,” says Villanueva. “Last October, Oceanside School District was held in violation of 12 statutes by the Office of Civil Rights and the state Department of Education. They had 60 days to comply but have appealed. Parents have brought a lawsuit against the district.”

—Virginia Butterfield & Margie Craig Farnsworth

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