This paper examines the relationship between instructional objectives
associated with C.A.I. (Computer Assisted Instruction) and the
acquisition of English as a second language by ethnically diverse
students in classroom environments. Contained within is a critique
of computer applications in K-12 classrooms throughout the United
States. The ramifications of C.A.I. and its level of effectiveness
in second language instruction are investigated.
Following a brief identification of L.E.P. (Limited English Proficiency)
student populations, the correlation between C.A.I. and associated
forms of traditional classroom procedure will be contrasted with
neo-Vygotskian methods of interactive second language (English)
acquisition, with an emphasis on whole language instruction and
the importance of cultivating the Zone of Proximal Development
.
Examining the Impact of Technology on E.S.L. Classroom Pedagogy
Riding the crest of social reform during
the 1960's, a push to expand ESL/Bilingual instruction in this
country was initially viewed by many as a vital and long-overdue
addition to school curricula. Multilingualism in the United States
lagged so far behind the rest of the world that almost any improvement
was seen as a major step forward. As a nation, our monolingualism
was a deficit model in its own right. Educational practices in
Europe had placed heavy emphasis on the benefits of acquiring
several languages, and progressive American educators sought to
include this country as a potential producer of translators, pan-linguistic
researchers, and other high level positions not yet filling critical
international demands. An insightful, more global view of education
was in its infancy. With time, however, initial optimism began
to wane as the stark reality of oligarchic rule stymied hope for
progressive egalitarianism.
Over the course of the last three decades, the establishment
of ESL/Bilingual instruction has systematically come to be viewed
by educational neo-conservatives as a deterrent to students' educational
growth, and as a possible source for the "fragmentation of
America," promotion of segregation, and as a nourisher of
self-ghettoism (Schlesinger, Jr., 1991). As a consequence, Rightist
backlash has reverberated throughout this nation's public school
system. Linguistic instruction in second language acquisition
is among the more notable educational casualties. Twelve years
of policymaking under the Reagan/Bush presidencies fostered disdain
for concepts of whole language instruction in favor of phonic-based
strategies. A strong push to return to 'basics' included teaching
methods which determined success through strictly quantitative
evaluation of test scores. In the last quarter century, technology
has been introduced with widespread zeal-- heralded as a cure-all
for perceived slumping competency levels in core academic disciplines.
The following pages will examine the relationship between the
rising fortunes of the fifty-year marriage of economically-driven,
military technology with mainstream education through their resulting
spore, the classroom computer, and the steadily increasing assault
on specific pedagogical methods for teaching second language acquisition.
Discussed within are the ramifications of an aggressively marketed
commodity and its impact on a student population whose linguistic
needs are not necessarily met by this form and function of technological
instruction. To facilitate this study, the work of Scott Rosenberg
("Story Time: Can Narrative Save Us From Information Overload?"),
Frank Smith ("When Irresistible Technology Meets Irreplaceable
Teachers"), S.L. Strauss ("Phonics, Whole Language,
and HR 2614"), Clifford Stoll (High Tech Heretic), and other
like-minded linguistic specialists will be contrasted with advocates
of back-to-basics curricula, English Immersion classrooms, phonics-based
language acquisition, and monocultural studies.
These hotly contested issues have polarized educators into two
distinct camps. Conservatives tout their position as a surefire
method for resuscitating competencies in reading, writing, and
speech. They are often outspoken opponents of multicultural studies,
and believe that teaching strategies which have sociopolitical
overtones have served to disrupt and weaken teacher instruction
and student learning. Progressives, on the other hand, consider
their adversaries' position as sterile, dehumanizing, and decidedly
stacked in favor of White students. They view teaching-to-the-test
and computer instruction as anesthetic and robotic. Critiquing
the sterility of mechanized instruction, Rosenberg states that
"the missing ingredient is narrative-- the crucial catalyst
that can transmute a pile of raw information into valuable knowledge
crystallized within a memorable story." In the case of second
language learners, the 'story' is that which includes not only
the real-life experiences of the learner, but the relationship
between student and teacher, and what it means for students' self-esteem
and personal confidence during the process of learning a new language.
It requires the contemplation of strategies which might preserve,
or in many cases create, the democratization of classroom atmospheres
for those who stand outside the White, techno-educational paradigm.
To evaluate the relative effectiveness of computer aided instruction
(C.A.I.) and second language acquisition, a brief review of E.S.L./bilingual
student populations is in order.
ESL Target Populations
While considering the existing national political slant toward
computer-based language instruction, cultural anthropologist John
D'Amato (1993) has investigated the social and cultural causal
relationships regarding varying levels of classroom instruction.
His findings suggest that differing degrees of student self-empowerment,
and subsequent successes, can initially be traced to broad classifications
into which limited English proficiency (L.E.P.) students fall.
D'Amato (1993) noted John Ogbu's reference to ethnically diverse
students of "caste-like minorities," whereby immigrants
fall into three basic categories:
a) Autonomous minorities: those individuals who stand outside
the immediate framework of the dominant culture, but whose physiological
or cultural frame of reference falls within the "accepted"
boundaries of that social structure;
b) Immigrant minorities: those individuals who have consciously
made an effort to
become members of the United States, and who have, to varying
degrees voluntarily placed themselves in their existing social
circumstances;
c) Involuntary minorities: those individuals who have found their
existing circumstances to be the result of conquest, colonization,
or other involuntary acts which have placed them within a social
structure lying outside the cultural norms of the dominant culture.
While these groupings are far from precise on a case by case
basis, they serve to illustrate that not all members of society
have immediate access to privileges garnered by ethnic groups
currently in power. Native Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, and Native
Hawaiians are prime examples of massive populations in this country
whose historical continuity has been drastically altered through
centuries of subjugation. The following analysis will investigate
proactive teaching methodologies which address the needs of second
language learners, with emphasis on the linguistic education of
involuntary minorities.
Models: CUP v. SUP
Political rhetoric aside, research strongly suggests that the
acquisition of a second language is highly beneficial to students'
overall capacity to learn. Cummins (1981a,in Leyba) questioned
the dubious notion that first and second language skill-building
occurs independently from one another. This theory implies that
"content and skills learned through L1 cannot transfer to
L2, and vice versa" (Cummins, 1981a). This Separate Underlying
Proficiency (SUP) model has been challenged by Shuy (1981) through
his protege Cummins (1981a, 1984, 1989), as well as Ramirez, Yuen,
and Ramey (1991), whose research supports the Common Underlying
Principle (CUP) model. The CUP model, represented through data
from numerous studies performed by Kemp, Ramirez, Ricciardelli,
Hakuta, Diaz, and others, indicated that "...there is a large
degree of overlap between the standard cognitive measures which
were given in the two languages...These (findings) suggest that
bilinguals' linguistic abilities are interdependent and are not
separate, and therefore any instruction which bilingual children
receive in either language is capable of promoting academic skills
in both languages" (1981a, p.137).
Success hinges on the interplay between the internalized mother-tongue
and the spoken use of the emerging language through dialogue.
This narrative-driven instruction is as important for the digital
age as it was in the print era (Rosenberg, 1998). Diaz (1986)
notes that the "major point of the (CUPS model) hypothesis
is that for positive effect to become manifest, children must
be in an additive situation where both languages are developing"
(Cummins, 1981a, p. 137). Obviously, an ESL student is most likely
a product of a culture other than that of the dominant Euro-culture.
In order for meaningful learning to take place, subject matter
must reaffirm that student's lived experience. Learning does not
exist in a void, and sociolinguistic considerations must be taken
into account. Communicative skill building is key. Stoll notes
that this crucial educational component of narrative through
storytelling is all too often replaced by "postmodern hypertext"
(1999, p. 58). Interactive, dialogic communication between living,
breathing, thinking students has been relegated to a second level
status in favor of "conveyer belt curriculum" which
reduces learning to Orwellian science fiction. Although their
findings are often minimized by the overwhelming frenzy to push
corporate software on public and private school systems, knowledgeable
educators insist that techno-centered instruction "denigrates
the values essential in schooling, concentration, disciplined
analysis, wrestling with complexity, and pursuit of understanding"
(Everett in Stoll, 1999, p. 88).
When considering the disparity between levels of instruction
and resulting levels of academic performance between native English
speakers and E.S.L. students, the playing field is tipped in favor
of the first group. A case in point are foreign language classes
for English speakers. EuroAmerican students routinely receive
foreign language instruction in German, French, Spanish, etc.,
with ample L1 instruction to help jump-start the process. With
notable exceptions, this 'scholastic exercise' is designed to
'round out one's education,' and mastery of another language is
of only secondary consideration. Learning a foreign language for
English-speaking students is additive and peripheral to a prime
concern for mastery in math, science, and literacy. But if White
students were systematically plunged headfirst into a classroom
environment with no support system for gaining a foothold in an
academic discipline as daunting as learning a foreign language,
there would surely be widespread protests from students and parents
alike. If White students saw their grade point average plunge
because they could not keep up with their instructors' or administrators'
prescribed scholastic outcomes, the public outcry would be deafening.
Further, if through their underachievement they were stigmatized
as slow-learners, there would be public outrage nationwide. Yet,
this is exactly what is asked of ESL students. For many White
students, C.A.I. in language arts labs conceivably assist in the
direct transmittance of English into another foreign language
since programming is already in the mother tongue. Piecing together
scraps of vocabulary and grammar through specific software applications,
although dubious in its effectiveness, is possible for English
speaking students since the technology has been designed with
that type of student in mind.
Meanwhile, students whose first language is other than English
are held accountable for catching up to their advantaged counterparts,
as though the process of educating "foreigners" interferes
with the English-proficient students' "quality class time."
Consequently, full CALP-level (cognitive and affective language
proficiency) linguistic development in English is viewed as the
duty of each ESL child seeking any type of validation
as a member of the perceived American social structure. As a result
of C.A.I., language arts instructors have now become merely a
monitor of students' on-task time in the computer lab, rather
than a key component in the personal, individual welfare of subordinated
students. What could have been a proactive endorsement of human
achievement is, instead, viewed as a necessary obstacle for educational
facilities to hurdle in order to remain legally compliant with
state and federal guidelines.
With the renewed strength of right-wing educational preferences
emerging in states such as California, Florida, and Texas, ESL/bilingual
students are pushed even further into the margins of the educational
system. The "silent screen" of the computer monitor
all too often reflects the image of a glassy-eyed, expressionless
ESL student whose opportunities for advancement are of secondary
importance to a consumer-driven, White-based, economically-oriented,
educational institution. In this time of corporate down-sizing,
or its perkier equivalent-- right-sizing-- perhaps it is time
to consider Anglo-Sizing curricula until what is studied
more closely mirrors who is studying it.
Facilitated Instructional Benefits
Frank Smith argues that, while technology is not human and has
no feelings or values, "it infiltrates our lives from all
directions" (1999, p.414). The relationship between the design
of the computer and its targeted population helps determine the
manner in which "The Other" exists (Smith, 1999. p.
415). In the case of the current U.S. educational system, the
behemoth gears of the Establishment methodically mesh because
they "have a vested interest in keeping the institution as
it is" (p. 415). Smith views language "as a primary
and most potent technology" (Smith, 1999, p. 415). ESL students
who have been exposed to the benefits of sociolinguistic interactive
discourse in the classroom reap rewards from such pedagogical
practices (Stoll, 1999, p. 95). Unfortunately, this important
phase of a student's education, which sets up lifelong patterns
of respect for difference, can not be cultivated in the sterile
confines of a language lab. Monke emphasizes that for techno-trained
students "learning about other cultures is just a matter
of gathering information, but coming to terms with other cultures
is not" (Stoll, 1999, p. 95).
Dialogic, social intercourse drives intellectual, spiritual,
and sociological growth. As a technological tool, language is
"supremely different" in that it lies inside
the students' brain (Smith, p. 415). "Only the superficial
tip of language floats on the surface of the external world,"
while the internalized 'technology' of thought harbors our emotions,
values and experiences (Smith, 1999, p. 415). Whether the universality
of language is innate (Chomsky, 1986; Pinker, 1995) and, in Smith's
words, "prewired into our brains", or specific to the
individual as proposed by Foucault and others, cognition and re-cognition
(in Freirian terms, conscientizacao) is perceived as potentially
dangerous to a sociopolitical system hovering on the brink of
providing one nationwide, systematized form of indoctrination
to a captive audience. "The first major difference between
literacy and electronic technology is in the degree of control.
The authority of readers is immense" (Smith, 1999, p. 417).
As political barkers seek assimilation of White culture through
English-only mandates, any educational system that would promote
'voice' among the subordinated poor is viewed as counterproductive
to the maintenance of hegemonic control. "Learning is a social
activity, dependent on the way in which we construct our personal
identities (Smith, 1999, p. 415). We learn the kind of person
we are, and the kind we are not. No matter how hard we try to
learn something we have learned we can't learn, we inevitably
fail" (Smith, 1999, p. 415). Therefore, the self-ghettoization
mentioned earlier in Schlesinger, Jr.'s remarks are actualized,
but for the exact opposite reasons that he proposed.
Caught up in the frenzy to capitalize on computer proliferation,
technocrats seek to infuse learning with a digital mentality.
In effect, the creation of a student/cyborg is considered a desirable
thing. But Smith reminds us that "Natural teachers
are individuals with whom learners can identify" (1999, p.
415). Educational theorist L.S.Vygotsky maintained that the successful
education of any individual, regardless of ethnic or cultural
identity, necessitated that learning occur on two differing planes.
Cognitive and linguistic skill appears "twice, or in two
planes. First, it appears on the social plane, and then on the
psychological plane. First, it appears between people as an inter-psychological
category, and then within the child as an intra-psychological
category" (1978, p.163). "Teachers--human teachers,
not technological ones--are crucial in educational institutions
because students must have people they can relate to if their
identities are to be strengthened and expanded in productive learning
situations" (Smith, 1999, p. 415).Tharpe and Gallimore concur,
noting that dissemination of information and its organization
into the students' schema, are dependent upon the assistance of
the instructor until the informational components of the process
are acquired by the students. Vygotsky felt strongly that until
the internalization process occurred, any language instruction
would be best facilitated by instructors who recognized the benefit
of culturally relevant material and were willing to assist in
the students' linguistic skill-building through their combined
"Zone of Proximal Development" (1990).
This "ZPD" finds itself at the heart of instruction
which strives to validate the experiences of the ESL student.
While a somewhat simplified breakdown of ZPD components will appear
later, suffice it to say that the internalization, automatization,
and fossilization of linguistic schema can clearly promote student
interest, and therefore success, in the acquisition of English
as a second language. The initial years of the students' academic
successes must be nurtured through interactive, practical, and
relevant building-blocks of instruction which promote self-esteem
and fuel the fires of sociolinguistic growth and learning in each
individual. All too often, classrooms become a microcosmic duplication
of the larger social structure found off-campus which, if left
to its own devices, insures that ESL students inherit a status
subservient to a widespread, accepted set of White cultural norms.
Since language is a key ingredient for the survival of one's cultural
orientation, the devaluation of ESL students' beliefs and practices
poses a formidable threat to democratic processes within the classroom.
These hazards are not nebulous concepts. Deficiencies in transformative
classroom practices are concrete, tangible, and measurable. McCarty
(1993, p.182) notes that "... policies and pedagogical practices...reflect
and help construct the image of the child and eventually, the
adult, and her or his language and learning potential." Overwhelming
evidence has indicated how "potentially self-fulfilling deficit-view
assumptions and practices can be" (p.182). Referring to the
work of Meek (1997), Smith (1999) notes that parents, teachers,
and students should critically examine the "mass of official
documents and academic prose that claim to be advancing literacy"
(Smith, p. 420). Smith warns that one should be cautious of who
is planning instruction and setting the standards, and that one
should also scrutinize the motives behind these values and agendas
(p. 420). Behind Hooked on Phonics, and other such nationally
recognized movements lie the collective mentality of Sandra Stotsky,
Jeanne Chall, E.D. Hirsch, Jr. and others who are outspoken opponents
of multicultural education en total. Their "data"
and opinions are available through the oxymoronic "Free Press"
operated by Phillip Rappoport. These educators offer a sweeping
condemnation of support strategies for non-English speaking students,
while citing decreased levels of achievement for their White students.
Stotsky blames multicultural literature for this phenomena (1999).
Stotsky insists that the only challenging literature for students
is EuroAmerican literature (1999). Her position is highly worrisome
for educators seeking educational strategies to defeat racism.
Claiming that multicultural literature is unwanted and unneeded
in U.S. school systems sends a very negative message. The thinly
veiled insinuation is that non-white children are also expendable
and academically inferior. Not surprisingly, marginalized students'
academic performance on standardized tests will seldom measure
up to that of students representing the populations for whom the
test was conceived. Inherent test biases often fuel the proposition
that ESL students lack the capacity to learn. "Transform
those assumptions into ones that view bilingualism, biculturalism,
and multiculturalism as assets to be tapped, and an entirely different
image emerges" (McCarty, p.182). In order to combat the debilitating
effects of overt Anglocizing of school curriculum, Smith insists
that "the collaboration with those who want to regulate,
standardize, monitor and depersonalize should only be done under
protest. Acts of defiance-- insisting that people must have priority
over technology-- should be overt where possible and subversive
where necessary" (1999, p. 420).
Traditional Curricula and Assessment Shortcomings
Crucial to the development of proactive curricular design is
the recognition that traditional testing and assessment will not
accurately portray the academic development of culturally subordinated
students. McCarty (1993, p.184) states that strategies "require
authentic social-mediational contexts if they are genuinely to
access the language and culture strengths of students."
"Letting go of those artifacts-- basal readers, workbooks,
and the commercial programs that legitimate them" has been
a gradual process (p.184). Met with considerable resistance by
educators who cling to instructional strategies passed down from
military-industrial technology, this issue of an effective, inclusive
education for all students remains in question.
This transition to a more digitalized form of instruction is
certainly not by accident. Strauss considers the hidden agenda
behind corporate lobbyists like Hans Meeder, who has been placed
in charge of championing neo-conservative legislation such as
HR 2614 (1999, p. 47). This bill, if passed, "would take
control away from parents, teachers, local communities, and put
it into the hands of politicians and federal bureaucrats"
(Strauss, 1999, p. 47). Although Meeder has never taken any courses
in education, he and his House Committee on Education and the
Workforce successor, Robert Sweet, have the backing of the National
Right to Read Foundation and the Christian Coalition (p. 47).
These two men have educational links with Douglas Carnine, Siegfried
Englemann, and Arthur Jensen-- three individuals associated with,
among other issues, an attempt to prove the genetic inferiority
of African Americans (p. 47).
Huge profits have proven to be a strong incentive for high-tech
education profiteers to ply their trade on Capitol Hill. Power
brokers, represented by their lobbyists, have created a top-down
hierarchy of policy making which ultimately finds its way to the
classroom. "Corporate sponsors, eager to market their messages
to impressionable young minds, pay school systems to plug their
products within the school system" (Stoll, 1999, p. 106).
Electronic education has become a profit center for privatized
agendas, to the detriment of captive student audiences (Stoll,
106). Strauss emphasizes that no federal agency should be able
to dictate the restrictive definitions of reading instruction,
especially if a clandestine, political agenda is used to establish
funding criteria and professional development programs (1999,
p. 47). Drill-and-skill methodology and doling out fragmented
particles of linguistic instruction in a ethnically mixed classroom
is counterproductive to second language acquisition, yet this
C.A.I. procedure is deemed "scientific" by proponents
of phonics-only instruction (Strauss, 1999, p. 48). Traditional
classroom practices, based on time-honored rules and regulations,
create a hierarchy of power within the classroom.
Without benefit of limitless cash reserves to give them clout,
many teachers are virtually powerless to voice their concern.
Legitimate objections seldom receive media coverage because news
networks are owned by the same corporate conglomerates that profit
by the existing techno-business arrangement. The concept of developing
students who have the tools to think critically runs counter to
corporate concerns. "Little actual teaching occurs in schools,"
state Gallimore and Tharpe (1988, p.188). "All the way down
the educational ladder, teaching is peculiarly absent in transactions
between children and teachers, teachers and administrators, students
and professors" (p. 188). "Rather than assisting performance,
the supervision means direction and evaluation. This is organically
related to the classroom practice of directing and assessing:
the recitation script. At neither level is there sufficient assistance,
responsiveness, joint productive activity, or the building of
common meanings and values" (p. 188). This convoluted, disjointed
system of instruction reflects the highly problematic yearnings
of "self-appointed digerati for classical ideals of
community, democracy and connection" who claim to equate
computerized instruction with "simultaneously providing unity
and diversity, privacy and community, entertainment and education"
(Stoll, 1999, p. 115). Teachers 'in the trenches', struggling
daily to provide a classroom atmosphere that meets the needs of
disadvantaged students, scoff at such notions.
Reality for many second language learners does not reflect the
lofty claims promoted by big business. ESL students have found
themselves engulfed, submerged, and often drowning in a sea of
strange customs, beliefs, attitudes, and actions-- all compounded
horrifically by a impenetrable language barrier. In turn, their
adult, authoritarian, power figures demand that these children
meet their challenges and successfully compete against a student
population which already holds the key for academic success. The
"features of society such as norms, trust, and interaction
that promote cooperation for mutual benefit" are thus depleted
by a "serious trend of community disengagement" (Putnam
in Stoll, 1999, p. 145). In the end, ESL students appear to lack
the wherewithal to get the job done, falsely supporting the notion
that members of the subordinated culture lack the intellectual
capacity to learn. Such notions, however, are commonplace and
serve to support right wing claims that pouring money into E.S.L./bilingual
programs is financially irresponsible.
Fiscal concerns usually translate well into political verbiage
and votes. Ample data supporting bilingual programs have proven
insufficient to combat anti-intellectual sentiment. "On the
whole, contemporary teaching research is atheoretical" (Gallimore
and Tharpe, 1988, p. 199), and often appears void of any unified
philosophical direction on any level--save one. Corporate moguls
like the C.E.O's heading the Maryland Business Roundtable for
Education are seeking to link capitalistic ideology and technology
with classroom organization (Strauss, p. 50). "Strauss notes
that "more and more we see that competition in the international
marketplace is, in reality, a 'battle of the classrooms'"
(p. 50). A consistent model, dictated by the dominant culture
for the dominant culture can best be preserved through
computerized conformity of thought and practice. This "battle
for classrooms" has resulted in the creation of yet another
software curriculum designed for home schooling advocates. Education
czar William Bennett, who in the past has publicly recognized
the ineffective nature of computerized instruction, has accepted
a position as chairperson and front man for the profit-based,
Internet school endeavor christened "K-12." Ten million
dollars in start-up money has come from Knowledge Universe Learning
Group, a division of Knowledge Universe. Oracle's Larry Ellison
and the Milken brothers, Michael and Lowell, are the principal
corporate backers in this venture. Curricula features a "back-to-basics"
approach as prescribed by John Holdren, a colleague of E.D. Hirsch.
Oddly but not surprisingly, Rod Paige, President Bush's Secretary
of Education, has assumed a position on the corporation's board
of directors (Wildavsky, 2001, p.36).
Producing 'junior corporate' students is now the priority
of techno-business educators. Strauss stresses that the current
level of skills of the U.S. work force is too low to allow big
business to feel confident participating in the fiercely competitive
global arena (p. 50). He insists that "To big business, the
rote learning of letter-sound correspondences that constitutes
phonics methodology contains the germ of their idea of elevating
the "level of basic skills" (p. 50). Thus, the charge
Sandra Stotsky (1999) makes that "multicultural classroom
instruction is undermining our children's ability to read, write,
and reason" coincides with a push by mega-conglomerates for
White, computer-based, global, economic dominance and eventual
unilateral control. Critics of Stotsky and her like-minded colleagues
insist that a dramatic transformation must take place, starting
with individual educators, whereby the life-experiences of all
students are honored, recognized, and represented in each classroom
setting. In this manner racial fear and hatred, in even its most
subtle forms, may be eradicated while the identity of each individual
is confirmed and celebrated. Neo-Vygotskian theorists Langer and
Applebee note that "adequate theory must address not only
the individual processes of development and learning but the social
contexts in which they transpire" (Gallimore and Tharpe,
1988, p.199). For this reason, adults often recall some of their
former teachers as student-advocates who made a positive impact
in their lives, not for what they taught, but rather how
they taught.
This theory runs counter to the assertions made by Stotsky, whose
position clearly states that "context-based guesswork",
i.e. whole language strategies, allows for the educational "presence
of small Asian ethnic groups and a minuscule Native American population
to be accorded much prominence, while the presence and distinctive
cultural influences of the numerous and large European ethnic
groups in this country are barely noted" (1999, p. xxiii).
While bearing little resemblance to reality, these types of claims
serve to help build popular support for the continued subordination
of second language learners of English.
Identification of Student Needs
Following Hirsch and Stotsky's lead, many educators seem all
too ready to stereotype ESL students into debilitating "learning
disabled" classifications. Ortiz and Yates (1983, in Leyba)
reported that Latino students in Texas are three times more likely
to be placed in special education programs than are their Anglo
counterparts. This educational faux pax would appear dangerously
close to an illegal breach of children's' civil rights as determined
by the Supreme Court's 1974 decision in Lau v. Nichols. Cummins
quotes Rueda (1989), who indicates that "it is also clear
that psychological assessment of language minority students conducted
in English is likely to underestimate students' academic potential
to a significant extent if any credence is placed in the test
norms which are derived predominantly from native English speaking
students. It is clear that as the numbers of language minority
students increase in school systems across North America, a radical
restructuring of special education placement and assessment procedures
will be required." McCarty states that "pedagogical
change thus entails fundamental reorientations in educators, including
their own transformations in the images of their agency, as well
as in the images they hold of students"(1993, p. 191). In
her work with Navajo populations, she noted that several critical
components to the transformation process were successfully put
in place with her students.
Using corporate-owned media to propagate myths about second language
learners translates well into the political fortunes of right
wing leadership. Rather than separating specific educational issues
and opening them up for public debate, issues are purposely mystified.
Needs of children seeking second language acquisition have been
deliberately confused with unrelated accounts of illegal immigrants
seeking entry into California, Texas, or Florida. Media has blended
ESL/bilingual allocations with unrelated news stories of misappropriations
of funds, all of which serve to alienate and enrage a poorly informed
public. In light of this all-pervasive, unilateral effort to discredit
certain targeted populations, non-White children have become the
recipients of reactionary fall-out. Additionally, ESL teachers
have often found themselves placed in a position of having to
justify their educational philosophies. Such problems have led
some educators to work as advocates for ESL teachers' and students'
professional and personal well-being. McCarty's (1993) studies
indicate that staff in-services, professional follow-up, and sustained
discussion/reflection on whole language pedagogy have served to
open lines of communication in order to improve the plight of
second language students. Additionally, there was a dire need
for instructional materials that pertain to the cultural norms
of the students in question. These supplies were found to be severely
lacking in availability. Thirdly, certification and the attainment
of higher degrees among bilingual teachers were placed at the
forefront of this process of transition. Instructors have questioned
the submissive acceptance of standardized tests developed by non-Native
Americans for non-Native American students, yet which were still
being administered to American Indian students. As critical thought
processing expanded, educators began to gain a sense of positive,
personal empowerment. This type of deep, meaningful change was
not easy.
As a result of this paradigm shift, instructors were then in
a position to transform classroom activities into positive, nurturing
workshops. Transformative methodology was viewed as crucial because
"In the classrooms, curriculum and pedagogy are the mirrors
in which children see themselves reflected and through which they
construct images of themselves as thinkers, learners, and users
of language" (McCarty, 1993, p. 191). As ESL/bilingual educators,
many of whom are EuroAmerican, become more fully acquainted with
the real needs of their ESL students, a theoretical framework
for meaningful discourse within the classroom could be established.
Teachers, freed from traditional roles of dominance, would be
placed in a position to relinquish their reign of 'absolute' power
in the classroom.Through dialogue, progressive ESL instructors
could create an atmosphere which shares the responsibility of
education, while liberating students to become true participants
in the learning process. No longer seen as totalitarian imparters
of splintered bits of linguistic C.A.I., progressive ESL instructors
could then facilitate learning in a collective effort that prepares
intelligent, capable individuals to hold an important stake in
their own futures as rightful members of American society.
In Freirian terms, this transformation process would lead away
from the 'banking' system of depositing discrete particles of
input into empty heads, in favor of liberating discourse co-constructed
between teacher and students. What was once a hollow experience
for the learner, could become a process of intellectual revelation,
with facilitators employing strategies that tap into the interests,
aptitudes, and real life experiences of students. Vygotskian concepts
of cooperative learning, socially constructed knowledge, and joint
assisted performance in activity settings combine to form a whirlwind
of learning, where layered applications of varying instructional
techniques build a strong base for second language acquisition.
Gallimore and Tharpe (1988, p. 191) elaborate on this concept
by noting that "The teacher builds flexibly on the children's
responses. Thus the teacher maintains goals for the discussion
but often alters or even abandons the anticipated "script"
for a given lesson". This technique engages the children's
interest, and the result is a vigorous, enthusiastic discussion.
The Vygotskian concept of the Zone of Proximal Development provides
the impetus for instructors, peers, and other interested parties
such as parents and community members to participate as co-workers
in the students' learning process. In this way, the zone of proximal
development comes to the forefront as a critical element in making
learning relevant, engaging, and highly useful, as well as a means
by which cultural capital is made assessable for appropriation
by the child. This approach affords the reduction and elimination
of outdated, irrelevant, and mindless ditto sheets, canned-commercial
programs, C.A.I., and other dubious artifacts of institutionalized
instruction.
Vygotsky's Theory of Education
Once classrooms are transformed from mausoleums to creative workshops,
Vygotsky's three legs-- teaching, schooling, and literacy-- lend
support for a sound theory of education. The tripod metaphor emphasizes
the interconnectedness of these essential features: if one collapses,
the rest fall down as well (Gallimore and Tharpe, 1990, p. 192).
Thus, this three-pronged theory of education is united by a few
crucial concepts: a) for the theory of teaching, the zone of
proximal development is the cornerstone: b) for the theory
of schooling, activity settings are the key; c) for the
theory of literacy, word meaning becomes a critical concept
(Gallimore and Tharpe, 1988). Word meaning, in the Vygotskian
sense, is the "basic unit for the analysis of consciousness.
It is both an inter and intramental phenomenon which
produces constant, evolutionary development" (Gallimore and
Tharpe, 1988):
Vygotsky uses word (the Russian slovo)
in both the simple lexical symbol for a concept and
in the larger sense of discourse. It refers to both vocabulary
and discourse competencies, which develop in the context of social
use in joint activity. The intersubjectivities of activity settings
are created through the use of words in discourse; these signs
and symbols take on new and shared meanings, as they are hallowed
by use during joint productive activity. The social meanings of
words are internalized by individuals through self-directed speech,
taken underground, and stripped down to the lightning of thought.
When we turn our attention to word meaning, and a theory of knowledge
development and expression, we are merely attending to another
facet of the zone of proximal development and the activity setting.
But this facet is a vital one; word meanings are the threads by
which society weaves itself into one cloth (p.193).
In the Vygotskian framework, second language discourse in the
classroom begins at the concrete level whereby BICS and CALP proficiencies
are presented for the students to process and interact with peers
involved in a communal setting. This practice is based on research
establishing the centrality of social discourse in first and second
language acquisition. For example, Gallimore and Tharpe refer
to Ochs' (1982) findings that care-givers are almost uniformly
prepared to dialogue with an infant as a communicative partner.
Ochs (1982) clarifies this point by stating that "The care-giver,
typically the mother, considers the young child to be expressing
somewhat imperfectly a communicative intention." Rudimentary
forms of speech begin to develop long before children are able
to utter their first words. Most children formulate basic units
of utterances as they come to acquire the vocabulary they are
absorbing. Soon, children string a litany of word-meanings together
in order to express their needs. The toddler's newly acquired
basic word-meanings, in turn, express concepts important to the
development of that child's "world." By a very natural
process, the child builds vocabulary through whole language application,
moving from general to specific communicative skill-building with
time and practice. Through the whole language process, the child
moves from a novice state, with virtually no linguistic frame
of reference, to a grammatical expert of the language that surrounds
her by the time s/he enters kindergarten. The first language acquisition
process is one of remarkable gain in a very short period of time
(Gallimore and Tharpe, 1988, p. 190).
Conceptual Instruction
Unfortunately, when that same child enters a school setting,
s/he often finds the learning process reversed by traditional
educators who have been trained, like their trainer before them,
to provide the student with a myriad of grammatical rules and
regulations, which each student is then expected to memorize and
apply in their efforts to acquire language.
In the digitalized language lab, ESL students are expected to
encode, decode, and fossilize these bits and pieces of dry, abstract,
linguistic information into a cognitive basket of facts. Confounded
by a separate language system, these students are forced to either
try to please the adult power-figure through the tedious memorization
of fractured facts, or are placed in a position of learned helplessness.
Many simply give up their studies as an exercise in futility.
Classroom practice has inappropriately replaced meaningful discourse
with a never-ending barráge of fragmented guidelines for
second language acquisition. In many instances, traditionalists
join colleagues of like-mind in repudiating the benefits of wholistic,
conceptual instruction without thoroughly investigating the depth
and appropriateness of its application. Without this pedagogical
alternative, the phonics-advocating computer-lab technician often
mistakes her/his own professional ineptitude for a "failed"
psycholinguistic approach, which, in actuality, is based on profound
sociolinguistic research.
In stark contrast to the traditionalist, a proactive facilitator
of second language acquisition seeks to engage ESL students in
conceptual dialogue, using subject matter that relates directly
to their lived experiences. Ideally, the computer is used as a
semiotic tool to connect and extend the E.S.L. students' world
of interest to worlds of larger discourse. Their English-speaking
counterparts are now in a position to also benefit from the rich,
cultural resources made available to them by their bi/multilingual
peers. The teacher models and facilitates true democratic principles
through the establishment of an inclusive, safe, learning environment.
ESL students, whose self-esteem has grown through classroom success,
are able to participate as validated members in their school setting.
Students of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds are then supported
in their collective effort to educate themselves, while learning
important lessons from one another. In doing so, each student
moves toward the attainment of adulthood with a full array of
social, professional, and vocational tools. Successive approximations
of personal empowerment are learned and returned through a genuine
commitment to community.
This progressive style of teaching requires effort, integrity,
and practice. Methodology involves a unique blend of theory and
praxis, as well as the understanding that learning takes place
in uneven, layered steps. Teachers who understand this premise
seek strategies which address differing modes of intelligence.
Their pedagogical approach is lateral, not linear. This type of
methodology can be contrasted with the institutionized orthodoxy
of authoritative, traditional styles. For these educators, who
believe that learning is strictly based on a linear continuum,
the educational process is considered to be preparation for an
anticipated achievement somewhere in the students' professional
future. As such, C.A.I. and other related forms of instruction
are viewed as a build-up of an infinite number of parts which
the student is then expected to cumulatively piece together. This
is not unusual because many instructors, in support of behavioralist
theory, still employ the mind-as-machine metaphor as a basis for
sound practice. Such dehumanizing, prescriptive instructional
practices mirror the post-Sputnik definition of the student as
a programmable technoid. Indeed, one of the first computer programmers,
Grace Hopper, envisioned a futuristic, postmodern paradigm as
far back as 1952 (Stoll, 1999, p. 131). At that time, she "hoped
to replace, as far as possible, the human brain by an electronic
digital computer" (Stoll, 1999, p. 131). In lieu of the current
trend in standards-based, technologically-driven curriculum, Hopper's
surrealistic vision is now dangerously close to fruition. This
phenomenon is even more disturbing to advocates of multicultural
education when contextualized through the well-funded proposals
of white supremacist idealism.
At the same time, for the little child sitting in the classroom,
the distant future is beyond comprehension. Her/his reality is
in tune with the 'here and now.' To be meaningful, lessons must
address the present-day activities inside and outside school (Freeman
and Freeman, 1992, p. 8). They must also extend the knowledge
and skills of the student to prepare them for survival in contexts
beyond that of their immediate environment. In the lives of involuntary
minority students, the relative safety and longevity associated
with living the life of White privilege is not a 'given'. In this
country, the learning process often takes on a secondary role
to the child's survival of urban warfare or rural poverty. Second
language instruction must go beyond the perspective that computer
programs in English will somehow educate and assimilate multicultural
and linguistically diverse students. Educators must address real
needs, abilities, and interests of our second language students
using the power and full potential of electronic means in a far
more positive way. The creative use of the computer best
facilitates second language acquisition and development through
the symbolic encoding of personal narrative and other forms of
meaning-making. Additionally, the artifacts of capitalistic enterprise
on school campus promoting the omnipresent and omnipotent ideals
of consumerism and techno-worship should be closely examined (Stoll,
1999, p. 184). The supposed altruistic virtues of technological
classroom instruction may obscure a hidden curriculum which seeks
to further cement the hegemonic stronghold of the opulent elite.
As noted earlier, bilingualism should be considered an asset
to the learning power of the student. The acquisition of a second
language is not only facilitated by the first language, but should
insure that the learner not return to monolingualism through the
loss of the primary language. If the primary language fades away
through the schooling process, the fundamental goal of bilingualism
and ESL instruction will be negated. The celebration of diversity,
which seems so offensive to some members of the dominant culture,
still forms the basis of an educated, democratic society. While
political aspirants fill convention halls with rousing verbiage,
the denial of basic human rights still runs rampant. In the humble
surroundings of each classroom, individual teachers can make a
crucial difference in the education of students, who must depend
on proactive teaching methodologies for success in school and
beyond.
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