Blog 7: Language

Language structures thought and is perhaps the single most identifying factor in a culture. While it is necessary to learn the appropriate language in a community in order to function, holding on to one's native language is an essential way to hold on to one's heritage. Structure and diction in a language largely explain the values and thought processes of its native speakers. In a linguistical study, researchers found that the role of gender in language is not merely a grammatical signifier, but represented the notions associated with different words. German and Spanish were the two languages represented in the study with respect to the words "key" and "bridge". In Spanish, "key" is masculine while it is feminine in German. When speakers of each language were asked to describe a key, the Spanish speakers answered with words like "sharp" and "harsh" while German speakers used words like "shiny" and "smooth". For the word "bridge", the genders were reversed for each language. This time, Spanish speakers described a bridge as "elegant" and similar words while German speakers said "scary", "dangerous", etc. The mindset of people from different cultures varies and thus language structures vary as well. This is largely an argument in opposition of the argument for the installation of a global language. Additionally, it would be impossible to take the 16 different Eskimo words for snow and the 9 different Farsi words for camel (not just different types like male and female, but the word for a pregnant camel is not the same as a baby camel and a snowflake in a blizzard is not the same as a snowflake on the ground) and put them in the opposite culture AND expect the natives to maintain those words. They would simply be lost and cultures would continue to have language evolve in accordance with their needs and values. Though linguists have drawn the conclusion of a common ancestor to all languages, Proto-IndoEuropean, the actual workings of this language remain a mystery.

Ghandi once said that to give people a knowledge of English would be to enslave them. This was in reference to the occupation of the people, not simply to allowing them to learn an additional language, but the sentiment can be applied elsewhere. In classrooms today, teachers must deal with students who may speak Spanish or Ebonics as well as plenty of other languages. While it is necessary that we educate our students in proper English in order to open the doors to their futures in the educational and the professional worlds, it is vital that this is not done at the cost of the native language. Ebonics, while simply a variance of English by appearance, largely has the grammatical structure of native languages from Africa. Ebonics, thus, is the maintaining of the native heritage of African Americans while adapting to the English of their developing culture. Even though many Black students in our classrooms may not be aware of the linguistical roots at hand, they are aware of the fact that this is how they speak with their families and friends. It is not the role of the teacher to eliminate the family and cultural values of students, especially in language, despite the role to educate them in proper English.

One of my roommates from college is bilingual in Spanish and English. She is half Nicaraguan, but her family fled from political persecution and moved to Honduras before she was born. They later moved to Houston, TX where she was raised with Spanish only at home and left to learn English at school in order to avoid learning English improperly or with an accent. While Victoria went to her first day of kindergarten with the words "bathroom", "please", and "thank you" in her vocabulary, she went to college with fluent English to the point that people would ask if she knew Spanish because they didn't know. She has in no way lost any of her hispanic heritage, but because of her professional, competitive English skills, she was able to be the first person in her family to graduate college, as well as go on to graduate school. Her teachers never lowered standards or allowed her to function in Spanish and it is because of those limits that she learned to be a student as competitive as anyone else. As teachers, it is our responsibility to take the students like Victoria who are not being exposed to English in the home (or limited English) and give them the opportunity to be competitive not only among other ELL's, but among the general population.