BILINGUALISM: ENGLISH & SPANISH Tashia Hernandez

IS THE USE OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE A CHALLENGE FOR EDUCATORS AND CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, OR DOES IT PRESENT OPPORTUNITIES TO OUR SOCIETY?

INFANT LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: ENGLISH VS. SPANISH Language acquisition is the same for babies in English or Spanish speaking households. Cooing Babbling Holophrases (one word phrases) Two word statements- “Want milk” English speaking child places adjectives before nouns “Big Tree” Spanish speaking child places adjectives after nouns “Arbol Grande” (Tree Big)

ENTERING SCHOOL WITHOUT KNOWING THE LANGUAGE Without exposure to other languages, babies become functionally deaf to speech sounds outside their native language (Exploring Psychology) Teachers struggle to communicate with students who do not speak English The student feels afraid or shy The best time to learn new language is before age 7 Children entering before this age learn more quickly and easily

ENTERING SCHOOL WITHOUT KNOWING THE LANGUAGE CONT Between the ages of 8-15 have a hard time learning grammar but do well in semantics Age 16 and older may learn the language but will always have an accent. Students entering high school without speaking English most likely wont graduate on time.

DUAL LANGUAGE Dual language program in schools helps English speakers learn Spanish Also used as aid to ease Spanish speakers into English Program prepares students to be fluently bilingual in both languages for better career opportunities in the future Some states required to offer Dual Language programs when at least 20 students share a native language (The astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all- article).

ADULT SPANISH SPEAKERS LEARNING ENGLISH Learn English to have an easier life in the US Will have an accent Sometimes hard to understand Become frustrated when English speakers cannot understand them Could cause them to want to give up

ADULT ENGLISH SPEAKERS LEARNING SPANISH Spanish is 2 nd most spoken language in the world Adults in the US learn Spanish to gain better job opportunities Keep up with constant changing work force Like Spanish speakers, adult English speakers will have an accent in their second language Lexical and grammatical knowledge are stored in different parts of the brain than first language, which makes the first language interfere with the learning of the second language (A concise introduction to linguistics).

DO YOU THINK THE SPANISH LANGUAGE PROPOSES OPPORTUNITIES OR CHALLENGES TO OUR SOCIETY?