Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Reflection - 7/12 - Roger
In the film, Juan said that if his son Jason lost his Spanish, it would be very hard for Maria and him. We have discussed in class the internal conflicts that children can go through if they spurn their family's native language, but we have not openly discussed the pain the parents might feel if the child lost that language. Not only would there be figurative lines drawn in the family from which conflict would arise, but in Juan and Maria's case, they would no longer be able to talk to their son. If a child decides that he will shed his native language in favor of the language surrounding him at school, there could be tremendous consequences for the family structure. In this case, it might become school and peers versus family. This situation reminds us how important it is to validate our student's cultures, including their languages.
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I completely agree and am reminded of the Chinese mother in the film who was talking about her inability to really communicate with her grandmother. She stated that while she could say hello and how are you, their conversations never went past that surface level. When students enter different cultures by way of immigration, acculturation, or education, they oftentimes can lose deeper connections with their family members if their identities are not fostered and validated. In this case, the daughter was in an immersion school and learning the value of her language, all of her languages, which she uses to help her mother learn as well.
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