Multilingual Children in Public Schools

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how "Tongue-Tied: The Lives of Multilingual Children in Public Schools" addresses the different injustices suffered by multilingual children in the American school system. The paper explains the main implication of the work that the current method of incorporating ESL students into the school community renders them tongue-tied in their native language and/or culture, and does not enable these students to truly realize their academic and personal potential. The paper highlights the main message that America is a nation founded upon individualism, not assimilation, and creating an individualized and pluralistic approach is more effective for the school system and the students' education.

From the Paper:

"One of the more interesting features of this work is the fact that it does not present its argument in the form of a singular or even multiple essays, but instead uses personal essays as well as data-based research to substantiate its claims. This is to break down conventional means of chronicling academic performance, and to illustrate the emotional costs of forcing children to choose between English and their home language and culture. The diverse personal narratives chronicle the often painful experiences of bilingual or bi and multicultural children within a system that does not understand their needs. Both essays and academic sources compiled within the text show how the process of language acquisition is never culturally neutral. Rather, the system's implied need for children to acquire a new language is often rooted in colonial or post-colonial motivations, and there is an assumption that English is not simply necessary, but is superior to that of the child's home language. Thus the act of speaking English becomes a way for the state to forcibly sever the child's connection to his or her home."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Santa Ana, Otto. (2004). Tongue-tied: The lives of multilingual children in public schools. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

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