The American Language

[Connections in "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez]

I’ve always enjoyed learning about languages other than my own, so this week’s reading was really interesting for me. I found “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez to be especially eye-opening since it approached the issue of multilingual classrooms from the point of view of a Spanish-speaking student in a predominately English-speaking community. I’ve always been curious about the experiences of those who learn English as a second language in America, and Rodriguez does an excellent job of explaining how his Hispanic background impacted and changed his experiences in school, and how his schooling impacted his experiences at home. I felt that this piece was also pretty heavy emotionally, particularly hearing about how even though learning English helped Rodriguez to be part of the English-speaking American community, his family life suffered and he lost the connection with his parents.

While reading “Aria,” I found myself making connections to other articles that we’ve read and discussed in class.  It first reminded me of the article we read last week, Lisa Delpit’s “The Silenced Dialogue.” Delpit presented a very similar issue to that of Rodriguez’s article – the communication barrier in schools. She wrote about the cultural differences in American classrooms, and the divide in communications between students and teachers of different cultural backgrounds. While she mainly addresses the difference in race, the linguistic differences that Rodriguez talks about also impact communication in schools just as much, if not more than race.  What connects these two articles the most for me is the idea of cultural identity – in this case, who someone is based on the way they speak. In Delpit’s article, she talked about “heritage languages” and different ways of speaking that define an individual and allow them to express themselves, and that “each child has the right to their own language, their own culture” (Delpit 37). The same is true in Rodriguez’s story; just because his language is not the majority in his school, he does not have the right to speak the way that he knows how to. When he is stripped of his right to speak Spanish at home and at school, in some ways, he loses his Hispanic identity.

Rodriguez’s article also reminded me of Allan Johnson’s article, “Privilege, Power, and Difference.” Johnson gives a main overview of the problems that we face today in American society dealing with race, gender, and sexual orientation, and the privileges associated with being part of the dominant ideology (straight, white male). Even though Johnson doesn’t focus on the issue of language differences in America, the idea of privilege still applies in Rodriguez’s case. For example, English-speaking people are also privileged in the same way that whiteness, straightness, and maleness are. Johnson says that if you are “different” than a straight, white male, you can be stigmatized in some way; similarly, according to Rodriguez, speaking another language other than English is cause for a stigma, and is a disadvantage in English-speaking America.  Just like Johnson explains that you have to be a straight white male to be considered “American” by most of society, Rodriguez proves that language is another factor – he even states that it was only when he was finally fluent in English that he “was an American citizen” (Rodriguez 36).

 I thought looking at “Aria” through the lens of Delpit and Johnson to be helpful, since it really got me wondering: How can students that speak other languages be free to use their own languages in school? And how are English-speaking people privileged in our society?  I also began to wonder how many people in Providence and in my hometown spoke languages other than English. I found this helpful link on the United States Census Bureau website that lets you see where other languages are spoken in the US. It really amazes me that English is still considered the main language of the United States, even when so many other languages are spoken here. What does this mean for uses of other languages in schools?

 

Pictures:

http://www.moveoneinc.com/blog/relocations/endo-speak-english/ , http://rookienotes.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/speak-english-or-get-out/