Parent/Teacher Communication

Many families from Guatemala in the United States do not speak Spanish

Dear Ellie,
I am so confused!
I have a little girl named Naya in my kindergarten class who is an English learner.  She moved here from Guatemala.  Her English is coming along nicely, but I need to communicate with her parents about an upcoming field trip.  She is the only one who has not turned in her permission slip.  
I took Spanish throughout high school and for two years in college, so I planned out what I wanted to say and called the number we have on file.
Much to my surprise, I didn't get very far.
I repeated myself slowly and clearly in Spanish several times, to which the person on the other end of the phone simply repeated, "no."
Is my pronunciation that bad?  Does the family speak another dialect of Spanish or something like that?  Or did I just have the wrong number?  
Thanks for your help,

Crossed Signals,
Kennedy Elementary
Lantana, Florida

Grice's Maxims of Conversation.  You can't live without them!

Dear CS,
I commend you on your efforts to use your second language skills to communicate with your student's family.  
I feel fairly confident that I have your answer!
I see that you live in Florida, in Palm Beach County.  There is a large population of Guatemalans that come to the area to work the crops.  It is very possible that Naya is from one of these families.  They often live in small homes set up on the outskirts of the farmland. 
I'm sure your Spanish is ship-shape.  The problem is, they probably do not speak Spanish.  
You see, there are twenty one Mayan languages and two non-Mayan languages (Xinca and Garifuna) spoken in Guatemala.  While Spanish is considered the national language, approximately 40% speak their native Indian tongue.
If you have already spoken to your administration about this (they may have a designated translator) and that didn't get you very far, I have a good resource for you.  It is even in your area! 
The Guatemala Maya Center is in Lake Worth Florida, your neighbor, and they are a charitable organization whose purpose is to help families just like Naya's!
Here is a link to their website:  http://www.guatemalanmaya.org/

References

Dog cartoon.  Retrieved from
http://www.esljokes.net/images11-20/dogjoke440.gif

Finegan, E. (2011). Language: Its Structure and Use (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth

Cengage

Guatemalan Girl photo. Retrieved from

https://carolyntravels.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/dsc_0399.jpg

Guatemala Maya Center Website. Retrieved from
http://www.guatemalanmaya.org/

Nations Encyclopedia, Guatemala.  Retrieved from
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Guatemala.html

Phonetic Topic

Dear Ellie,
I recently got married and my new surname is London.  My question is, why does the  EL student from China keep calling me Mrs. Longda? My maiden name was Mana and she had no problem whatsoever pronouncing that.   I think Longda sounds awful, so I keep correcting her,... reminding her there is no letter "g" in my name, and that it ends with an "n". And I'm talking about a smart girl.  This is an is an AP Calculus class!  What's the deal?

No G for Me,
Hawthorne High
Springfield, Kentucky

NoG,
I'm so glad you asked!  

First of all, congratulations, Newlywed!  It can take time to get used to a new last name, so it is understandable that an unexpected variation can be hard on the ear.
To understand why this student is mispronouncing you name, you may benefit from a brief phonetics lesson:

• Different languages have many different phonemes and structural rules.  As a young child learns his native tongue, he perfects only those sounds that he will need to employ; those that don't exist  in the heritage language (such as the Spanish rolled "r" sound) become difficult to mimic.

• The phonetics of Chinese languages and English are very different.  One such difference is that Chinese does not commonly have two consonant sounds in a row without a vowel in between.This explains her difficulty pronouncing the letters "n" and "d" right after one another.  

• Additionally, most Chinese languages do not have words that end in consonants.  It is quite typical for Chinese speakers to either omit the final consonant or add a vowel sound to English words that end this way.

You are going through some big life changes, but keep in mind that learning a new language and culture while leaving behind life as you know it may be even more difficult.  If you want to help her learn to pronounce your name more accurately, be extra careful not to embarrass her in front of her peers, and perhaps start out with a compliment before launching into corrections. Better yet, contact the EL teacher in your school.  He or she should be able to help her by explaining precisely how to make these sounds and where they should come from relating to the tongue, teeth, throat and nasal passages.  Then it will just be a matter of practice!

Linguistically Yours,  Ellie

References:

Sometimes, pronunciation matters!

Chinese Student Photo.  Retrieved from
https://www.1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-main-image-  overlay/public/201604_FE_CHI_001-header.jpg

ESLAN: English Speak Like a Native. Retrieved from
http://englishspeaklikenative.com/resources/common-pronunciation-problems/chinese-pronunciation-problems/

Finegan, E. (2011). Language: Its Structure and Use (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth

Cengage

Phonetics Drawing.  Retrieved from
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f8/f1/e9/f8f1e95c3d2bf49d1037b6a4ee58de8b.jpg

Plato Joke.  Retrieved from
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/2d/03/b7/2d03b73679ffffef0542710441e6eb5c.jpg

Pronunciation for Chinese Speakers.  Retrieved from
http://www.doctorsspeakup.com/content/speakers-chinese-languages

English Learners from Different Countries

Dear Ellie,
My school has a very large population of English Learners.  I teach Biology, and I have students from India, Mexico, Russia, China and the Philippines this year, with seven languages.represented.  

Two of my student are twins girls  from Jalisco, Mexico. They re having the hardest time with English, despite the fact that they have been in the country longer than most of the other ELs in my class.

Twin ELs may need to be encouraged to open up to new friendships.

A colleague of mine, a Spanish teacher, told me that she believed that the Mexican girls would be able to learn more quickly that ELs from other nations, because Spanish is more similar to English in its structure, pronunciation and symbols.  Why is this not proving to be true and how do I help them?





Stumped about Spanish,
New Rochelle High School
New Rochell, NY

Dear Stumped,

Your colleague was correct, to a point.  Spanish and English do have a lot of similar phonemes and do use the same letters.  They are both predominately S-V-O languages, meaning common sentences start with the subject, are followed with a verb and then ultimately the object.  In theory, this similarities would make it easier for speakers of one of these two languages to learn the other.

Obviously, individuals and their circumstances will vary.

I'm afraid I don't have enough information to give you a definitive answer, but I can pose some questions that may help you get there.

1. Do any of their family members speak English?
2. Are the girls in a lot of the same classes?  Do they socialize with others or mostly each other?
3. Do they life in a predominately Spanish-speaking neighborhood?
4. What is their education background?
5. Have the girls been diagnosed with any learning differences?

One of the best ways to learn a new language is to immerse yourself in the language and actively attempt to communicate.  If the twins are shy to reach out to others, are relying on each other for conversation, and their family and community allows them to speak their heritage language whenever they are not in school, this can have a profound affect on their English progress.

Also, some of your EL students may have had the opportunity to begin learning English in their home countries.  They may have been fortunate to attend schools that gave them the best background possible to help prepare them for any situation.  Perhaps the twins were not fortunate to have such great resources.  There could possibly be a gap in their education.

And finally, while there are many perfectly healthy multiples with no learning differences, research has shown that multiples tend to have more disabilities than singletons. If you notice anything that may raise a red flag in this arena, you should speak with their counselors.  If other teachers see the same thing and the parents agree to it, academic and psychological testing may be considered.  (Be careful, though. Unfortunately, ELs are more likely to be incorrectly diagnosed with learning disabilities due to language barriers.) 

No matter which, if any, of the ideas above apply to the twins in your Biology class, something you can do to help is to separate them when forming partners or groups, and think of create ways to get them interacting with other students.  Does your school have a club they may be interested in joining?  Maybe they are interested in the Recycling Club, or Environmental Club?

As always, I recommend you speak to the English language specialists in your district. They are your best allies for anything related to your ELs.  

Linguistically yours,

Ellie

References

Finegan, E. (2011). Language: Its Structure and Use (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage

Higher Incidence of disability in mulitiples.  Curtain University.  Retrieved from

http://tandm.curtin.edu.au/sn/sn1.cfm

Mexican twins photo. Retrieved from
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2013/11/29/us/29ttOrphans/29ttOrphans-master1050.jpg

Language Differences Topic

Dear Ellie,
I teach fourth grade, and the new boy, Alad, has just recently moved here from the Philippines.  He is trying really hard to learn English and make friends.  Some of his classmates laugh at him or get angry, however, when he refers to the boys as "she" or the girls as "he."  Why does he do this and what can I do about it?

Pronoun Perplexed
Hunter Elementary
Grand Rapids, MI


Dear Pro-Per,
As you pointed out, you need help in two areas: helping your heritage English speakers learn to be more understanding, and getting your EL student to use gender-appropriate pronouns.  I'm glad you want to help your students overcome this hurdle, because the sooner Alad makes friends, the easier his transition will be.

First of all, help your students understand why he is occasionally slipping up.  I recommend you set aside at least twenty minutes to do a brief lesson on linguistics:

• The theme of your lesson will be how languages differ.  The primary and most important example will be about how in Tagalog, gender pronouns do not exist.  Like other Austronesian   languages, it is gender-neutral.  Give some examples so your students are clear about what this  means.  Be prepared to answer questions such as, "Then how do they know who is being talked about?"  See if they can connect the dots to understand why Fillip mixes them up occasionally.
• Don't end the lesson there!  It is important to also teach about an aspect of Tagalog that does not  exist in English, otherwise they may see their language as superior. You can read up on something called the trigger system which encodes the thematic role of the noun within the verbs.  Of course, for a fourth grade class, keep it simple!
• Finally, if Fillip is game, have him teach the class a short, fun lesson, such as colors or how to count to ten in Tagalog.  If he is apprehensive about helping, you can find a cute video online that ill do the job. This will  help students understand it is not easy to learn another language, but more importantly, it will cast Fillip in a new role: the classmate who knows something cool that they don't!

Here is a video you can show to teach your students some Tagalog.

As for helping Alad with his pronouns in English, first find out what kind of services your school is providing him.  Speak with whoever is in charge of EL,  If he works with a teacher in a pull-out group, you can find out if this is something that can be practiced in those sessions.  If not, you can work with him for a few minutes before or after school to make sure he understands this discrepancy and you can let him know you are always available to answer any questions he might have.  Most importantly, patience on everyone's part is crucial.  In no time he will be a pronoun pro!

Linguistically Yours,
Ellie

All languages are not alike!

References

Alien Joke.  Retrieved from

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/e5/10/18/e51018ea6734e9e261280dc98553d44c.jpg

Basic Philippine Language Tutorial. (2011, November 17). Asia Society Phillipines. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbBquYVFb0o

Behind the name.  Retrieved from
http://www.behindthename.com/submit/names/usage/filipino

Finegan, E. (2011). Language: Its Structure and Use (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage

Fourth grade class photo.  Retrieved from
http://www.fmschools.org/webpages/tchaddock/imageGallery/2010%20Mr.%20Chaddock's%20class%20picture%20001.jpg



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