INQUIRY QUESTION

Bilingualism Benefit Present but Not Felt


Inquiry question: How does bilingualism affect our overall literacy (reading/writing) and though processing?

My Story
F.O.B. Do any of you know the meaning of this acronym in reference to the Filipino Culture? At the age of eight, I lived and grew up in the sun-shiny state of the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii. Dubbed the pacific melting pot of different cultures, various ethnicities left their respected homelands to work in the thriving sugar cane and pineapple plantation industry. So growing up, you would think that we were free from racial punt and jokes. Not entirely.
White’s became the minority and was thus labeled as Haoles in Hawaiian which means foreigner. Women Tonggans and Hawaiians were labeled as Tittas which was accredited to their though built. Portuguese pronounced as POH-tow-GEE were known for their vibrant personality and loud mouths. Labeling was done in a subtle and non-vulgar way meant as playful banter. So what’s one negative connotation of us Filipinos? Their heavy tongue and accenting that interchanges the P and F at times, in which the world “Packing” could be mistakenly pronounced as well.. . The “F” -word.
F.O.B could mean fresh off the boat or full of buk-buk , both in which refers to their inability to adopt to the true American Culture. To help with the transition my family had to go through English Remedial School or what we’d like to call ESL(English as Second Language). Thank goodness I was able to pass the aptitude test that enabled me to learn at a normal classroom pace without any remedial class. The problem came with the self-insecurities in trying to learn a different culture. How to relate with others and how to emotionally connect.

The evidence provided by the articles found prove that bilingualism increases mind processing flexibility which in turn affect our overall take in reading/writing and literature. This sort of exercise of the mind allows certain advantages for us bilinguals. In the quest to answer the question that hits close to heart, the logical findings through research seem to contradict the personal experiences that my family(myself, included) experienced.


Poetry Analysis
A writer that I can very well relate to is Rhina Espaillat in her poem called

Bilingual/Bilingüe

by Rhina P. Espaillat
My father liked them separate, one there,
one here (allá y aquí), as if aware

that words might cut in two his daughter’s heart
(el corazón) and lock the alien part

to what he was—his memory, his name
(su nombre)—with a key he could not claim.

“English outside this door, Spanish inside,”
he said, “y basta.” But who can divide

the world, the word (mundo y palabra) from
any child? I knew how to be dumb

and stubborn (testaruda); late, in bed,
I hoarded secret syllables I read

until my tongue (mi lengua) learned to run
where his stumbled. And still the heart was one.

I like to think he knew that, even when,
proud (orgulloso) of his daughter’s pen,

he stood outside mis versos, half in fear
of words he loved but wanted not to hear.

The effect of fusing English with Spanish as the echoing word represents the colliding of two distinct cultures. Coming from a distant past like the matter of how she learn it, was Spanish in the form an echo. Echo that is a reminder that although its not the dominant language, the presence and its effects will always linger. Not just the language itself but the culture from which it came from. The quote that I would like to analyze most of all is “half in fear of words he loved but wanted not to hear.” This tares the heart apart because constraining a language is equivalent to constraining who you are as a person and where you came from. I can sympathize with this because isolation comes with the cultural barriers present in trying to learn a new culture.
In Rhina Esphillat’s, Being a Bilingual Writer, the constraints of speaking English at school and Spanish at home sometime led to a sort of constrict in their family bonds. The inability to relate with one another is the price to pay for having two parents particularly fluent in the native tongue and a child trying to struggling within the two realms. Again when I speak of language, the complexity in culture gap added to the strain of generation gap made matters at home intolerable at times. The same language however that separates them, is ironically the same bonds that keep a family together. This could be in reference to culture and traditions. As a writer Esphillat concluded that the appeal in bilingualism in some writers is that, “Some acknowledges and celebrate the tendency of languages to borrow from each other and produce something different in the process.”
Do I agree with the statement that bilingualism has it’s advantages? Yes .
Was I aware of these advantages growing up? NO. The emotional self-insecurities caused by a cultural barrier was difficult to overcome.




Advantages of Bilingualism Q& A portion

Q: Bilingualism causes better Electronic Text Interpretation?
In an article presented by Carla Meskill, Bilingualism and Cognitive Flexibility, she argues that mind flexibility and multitasking presents a higher cognitive level in those who are bilingual. She supported this claim by stating that, An apparently heightened awareness of language and how it operates in the world, a flexible stance toward differing systems of representation, and the bilingual’s facility in moving back and forth between languages and cultures directly parallel what critical theorists have emphasized as characteristics essential to dealing with electronic texts; i.e., that e-texters move fluidly and seamlessly between discourses and their modes of representation .” (Ulmer, 1989; 1994) This accredited source derived from a scholarly article is meant the educate people about the effects of bilingualism. In summarization and conclusion, the effects of bilingualism is a lot more than the dual processing of language but culture as a whole in their distinct symbolisms and traditions. This in turn has led to practice of constant transitions of two different world. In relation, to the article, a connection is made that the multimodal functionality of bilingualism is suggested to possess a sense of better fluidity in electronic use or reading vie e-text. The multimodal mind is accustom to functioning in more ways which suggest that they adapt a lot more easily to various ulterior modes of teaching styles.
A: Not Necessarily. Bilingualisms is compared to the enhanced fluidity of simultaneous discourse present in electronic text messaging. This brain exercise leads to a broader sense of thought processing.


Q: Fact or Myth: Bilingualism was initially thought of as a hindrance in writing development?
In an article presented by Charmian Kenner, Biliteracy Benefits, he argues that young children are capable in learning two different writing systems simultaneously, and this benefits their cognitive and cultural development. This argument is supported by the statement,“ Biliteracy extends children’s learning and enables them to share cultural experiences with their families and communities. Mainstream teachers can give support by inviting children to demonstrate their bilingual knowledge, celebrating children’s community language school achievements, and offering resources to community school colleagues. The first step is to change attitudes. It is time to lay the literacy myth of ‘deprived bilingual children’ to rest once and for all.”(Kenner1) The purpose of this accredited source found in a scholarly search engine called EBSCO, was to lay a the literacy myth to rest and to persuade teachers and educator to support , rather that discourage writing in two simultaneous languages. In conclusion, the lack of understanding of what goes on in a bilingual is attributed to the ineffectiveness of teaching methods. In understanding bilingualism, language is a part of society as a whole which includes complex inter-social skills not to be confused with incapability of learning to write in a new language.
A: True. The complex system of writing in two different languages was thought of as a hindrance in intellectual progress. Studies show that other social factors and lifestyle are more to blame than bilingualism. Initially, educators failed to address the living conditions that affect their intellectual outcome.



Q: Is there a difference between learning a language from an early childhood vs. acquiring it later on in life?
In an article presented by Ditza Oren, “Cognitive Advantages of Bilingual Children Related to Labeling Ability” , he argues that higher average performance of the coordinate bilingual subjects in naming and relabeling has led to a major implication that early bilingualism is advantageous to the conceptualization of the notions of symbols. This is supported by the statement that, “Children’s capabilities reflects their intelligence. ..that by teaching children to express various phenomena using different coding systems, we can contribute to the achievement of cognitive flexibility in areas that do not appear to be closely related to labeling ability.”(Oren6) Since this article was written for Ethics Teaching for Higher Education, this accredited source found in a scholarly search engine called EBSCO is authentic. The proposed audience are targeted more towards teachers and educators but the article is open for scholarly research. In conclusion, the ability to think in an abstract is thought of an enhancement cause by bilingualism.
A: Yes. This is where they are either labeled as coordinate bilinguals or compound bilinguals. Coordinate bilinguals refer to children learning two different language with two different thought process. Compound Bilingualism(learning past childhood), contains one dominant thought process but was able to learn two languages. Study shows that coordinate bilingualism is a lot more beneficial because of the presence of two different semantic system. Initially, they thought that the mind is better suited and adapted when fully develop. The problem with this is that acquired knowledge will conflict with newly introduced concepts. The best time to learn a new language is during childhood when the slate is clean and mind is susceptible to change in thought processing.

In conclusion, statistics shows that the overall effect of bilingualism is advantageous in so many ways. Negative connotations such as school drop-out rates of minority is not caused by bilingualism but found in other social factors such as lifestyle and financial situations. The educational system is readjusting its foundation to better accommodate and encourage bilingualism through writing and reading. The thought process involved in the constant transitions between two worlds aid in the cognitive process which allows flexibility of the mind. This benefit doest not necessarily indicate a “higher intelligence” level comparison in regards to reading and writing. It’s a sense of broadened horizon that allows bilinguals to process different approach to different styles of learning and susceptibility to a instant change of gear in our mindset.

The personal experience however of growing up as a bilingual, proved challenging and daunting at times. The emotional aspect of growing up as a bilingual is inconclusive and barely analyzed by professionals. That is what I meant by bilingual benefits present but not felt. Based on personal experience, growing up in two different cultures was a struggle. This internal conflict of having English as the more dominant language proved hard. It took a toll in my earlier years with the constant struggle to pronounce the properly and to enunciate without a very thick and hard Filipino accent.


Works Cited

Kennedy, X.J. Reading a Story. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2007.*online copy of poem:http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=175878

Kenner, Charmian ,“Biliteracy Benefits” Literacy Today 2003 37, 21-21. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCOhost. Eastern Oregon Univeristy La Grande Oregon
23 Nov 2009 <>

Meskill, C., Mossop, J. and Bates, R. (2000) Bilingualism, Cognitive Flexibility, and Electronic Texts. Bilingual Research Journal. 23, 2&3.
http://www.albany.edu/etap/faculty/CarlaMeskill/publication/COGFLE~1.PDF

Oren, Ditza L. “Cognitive Advantages of Bilingual Children Related to Labeling Ability.”
Journal of Education Research 74.3 (1981). Academic Search Premier.
EBSCOhost. Eastern Oregon Univeristy La Grande Oregon
23 Nov 2009 <>