BLOG #3 Attainable Idealism

Thank you very much everyone for looking over my survey and for making thoughtful suggestions! It was considerate and important to add 'grandparents' to the list of people that children may speak a second language with. It is always so insightful to share ideas and get feedback from other people. There are things about the survey that I didn't notice. For example, I combined some questions together making them two part questions. I also expressed gratitude at the end of the survey! I am looking forward to reading people's responses to the constructive response questions especially how they think their child's language program at school can be improved. I am interested in hearing about the different views people have about bilingualism. I want to find out what makes bilingual families successful at keeping and advancing their child's bilingualism. This is information that I will want to share with families of my future students. After I am finished with this action research project, I will continue learning about views on bilingualism that are recent and true. I feel that there are a lot of fears, and myths about bilingualism. 

 I also have a hypothesis that language programs at most schools are either non existent, have been removed or are ineffective. I think that language programs need to be improved in regards to teaching languages to children effectively and tailoring language programs according to recent research. In my literature review research, I read how important it is for children to begin learning a second language at an early age when it is easier for the child to grasp it. The older the child or person (as we all probable have experienced), the more difficult it is to learn a new language. Extensive and daily practice with learning a second language is also necessary in order to truly learn and retain that second language. I know that it may be idealistic to implement a language program that focuses on learning one language in depth from K-8th grade but I think it is realistic. 

There are schools such as Oakland Steiner Waldorf School in Rochester that chose a language, German in this case, to be studied by the students during their entire elementary school journey. I met with Frau Martina, a lead German teacher who has been teaching German at Waldorf schools for fifteen years. She teaches 1st-8th grade, 3-4 times a week. Grades 1-3 receive four lessons per week and grades 4-8 receive three lessons per week. The language cart she brings with her to the lower grades is filled with items for games played in German, award systems she keeps track of, and books. The upper elementary cart is filled with literature in German, German items to draw and write about. She invites German speaking parents to come into each class and participate in teaching songs and games from different regions. Parents come in and bake and cook authentic German food with each class, sometimes in the classroom and sometimes in the school's spacious kitchen. The students recite poetry and perform plays, all in German. Since the whole school is learning German, there is a remarkable opportunity to practice speaking German with each other. Frau Martina also organizes grades to collaborate together during and outside of German class. I spoke to some 4th graders and they were able to carry on a conversation in German! They were also able to translate any English word that I presented them with. The 7th and 8th graders are pretty much fluent! Their main course of study is reading, writing, and speaking. When these students go on to high school and college, they will be able to take independent studies in German because of their high level knowledge of the language. 

I definitely support the idea of concentrating on one language for a prolonged amount of time as being effective. I know many schools offer an introductory language program called "Exploratory Language" to children as young as preschool. The students receive 1-3 introductory lessons per week of up to four languages. I don't think that this is enough practice to retain any of the languages. In my research of literature reviews, I found two fascinating journals talking about the relevance and important of learning a second language that is similar to the language that you already know. This helps students create a more meaningful relationship between the two languages. It also makes it easier to understand  concepts such as rules of grammar. So if a child has knowledge of a tonal language such as Chinese, it would be more beneficial for that child to learn a second tonal language. I remember reading a scientific journal about how learning two completely different languages stresses the brain out because it tries to make connections and find commonalities. I think that this piece of research should alter school's decisions in choosing languages that seem appealing or impressive to people. 

I was able to get 12 parents at Oakland Steiner Waldorf School to fill out my survey! I enjoyed physically going to a school and observing the language program. I like speaking with people and exchanging ideas. I learn a lot from listening to their conversations, joining in, answering questions, and watching their expressions. It was effective to carry the survey in a box filled with freshly sharpened pencils and stickers as incentives for their children!

Here is a link to a survey that I made on Google Drive for people who will be participating taking my survey through e-mail and Facebook. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1V5hnW4WKb135M6tiiRviHPMwgPXZY9slqOWNpLS_T6U/viewform