School board may expand dual-language program
by Morgan Siem
Carrboro Commons Writer
Overcoming his fear of the microphone, a preschool boy said, “A mi me gusta hablar en Español,” which means that he likes to speak in Spanish. He was among the many passionate supporters of the dual-language program who came to the Jan. 17 meeting of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education.
Kindergartner Jennifer Gonzalez works on her journal in Spanish with Luzma Henao, teaching assistant from Colombia.
photo by Morgan Siem
Dual-language programs began six years ago in two of the district’s schools: Carrboro Elementary and Glenwood Elementary. Since then, tremendous support and demand have prompted the board to consider expanding the program to Scroggs, McDougle and Frank Porter Graham elementary schools.
The program forces students to use visual cues, work with others and ask for help, said José Nambo, dual-language coordinator for the district.
“This program encourages students to think in a different format,” he said. “It gives them the ability to look for other ways to complete a task.”
Classes are formatted so that 50 percent of the students are English language learners and 50 percent speak English as their first language. For half of the day, the instructors teach in English. For the other half, they teach in a second language.
At Glenwood Elementary, the target language is Mandarin, and at Carrboro it is Spanish. If Frank Porter Graham, Scroggs and McDougle add dual-language programs, they will target Spanish.
Ryuko Kubota, a professor in the School of Education at UNC-CH, was involved in the program’s inception.
“As a second-language specialist, I know that this is one of the most effective programs for academic achievement for minority students,” she said. “I felt strongly that this would help the school system improve the minority students’ scores.”
The goals of the program include bilingualism, biliteracy, academic achievement and intercultural understanding, Kubota said.
She also emphasized that there are very limited costs for the program.
“People were worried that a huge amount of resources would go to this program,” she said, adding that the district received a Title VII federal grant to start the program.
María Sánchez’s kindergarten class at Carrboro Elementary spends the second half of the day learning in Spanish.
Photo by Morgan Siem
While it is hard to find certified teachers who are truly bilingual, the effort pays off, said Emily Bivins, principal at Carrboro Elementary.
“The program is wonderful,” she said. “It has done a lot for the students enrolled and for the entire school culture. It promotes understanding.”
Parents of the dual-language students have a group that meets every quarter to discuss some of the issues that come up, Bivins said.
“How do I help my kid with homework in a language I don’t know?” she said. “Or, how do I plan a potluck if the other parents don’t speak my language?”
But the response has still been very positive, Bivins said.
“We’ve only moved one student out of the program in the six years,” she said, explaining that that particular student had entered the program late.
The students go through stages of learning the language, Bivins said. There is a “silent period” in which they are comfortable reading and writing the other language, but are still shy about speaking it. Then, by third grade, they are bilingual, she said.
Sometimes the students switch from speaking English to Spanish when they don’t want her to understand, Bivins said.
In a dual-language kindergarten classroom taught by María Sánchez, who is from Costa Rica, the students showed that they clearly understood what was going on in Spanish, even if they reverted to English when they whispered to one another.
“If you’re listening to me, touch your head,” Sánchez said in Spanish. Half of the students touched their heads. “If you’re listening to me, touch your ears,” she said. Almost all of the students touched their ears. “If you’re listening to me, jump up and down.” Everyone jumped.
Christina Diaz, a student teacher at Scroggs, said she still has mixed feelings about the program.
“I agree that learning two languages is important in today’s world, but I feel like there’s already so much pressure on the kids to learn so much,” she said. “I think it would be valuable for the kids, but many of the teachers wonder what it means for us and our curriculum planning.”
According to the board of education’s work session discussion Dec. 20, board members support the expansion, but no final decisions have been made.
