Zuzanna Osiecka
ENG 2150, Dr. Blankenship
April 14, 2016
Paper 2: Narrative Argument
Dear Dr. Blankenship and Writer’s Group:
The title of my paper is “The Immigrant Experience”. The audience I have in mind for my piece could be my fellow peers who possibly share this experience with me, or simply students interested in immigration. This essay could also be aimed at policymakers and various people in charge of our educational system. This makes a difference in how I’m approaching my paper because this is something that I feel strongly about that could be changed if seen by the right people. The purpose of my piece is to educate people about the hardships faced by immigrant students. My thesis is: “Our educational system should provide immigrant students with better programs and methods of learning in order for them to have a fair chance at integrating into society, learning the language and in essentially becoming successful.” I support it by listing and explaining the struggles faced by immigrant students as well as studies that show the effects of various factors on education and assimilation.
The hardest part of this project has been organizing my paper and developing a good thesis. Although I knew the general idea of what I wanted to write about (my immigrant experience), I was not sure what point I really wanted to make.
After receiving feedback I have carefully looked over my paper and realized that I have done a better job than I thought. I have tried to eliminate as many “to be” verbs as I possibly could without altering the quality of my writing. I have also added the necessary in-text citations as well as a Works Cited page. I have taken your advice regarding certain various phrases and I have tried to paraphrase more of the quotes so that my writing sounds more personable.
The Immigrant Experience
Over 42.4 million of the United States population classify as immigrants. We are surrounded by people from all over the world. I remember my first day of school in America; I went to a small public elementary school on Staten Island, P.S.35, known for its strict navy-white dress code and its excellent reputation due to the fact that it only accepted students with certain standards. However, because of the two block distance from my house, the school automatically accepted me. Before leaving the secure and loving presence of my mother, I remember asking her what to say if I needed to use the bathroom; in my nine-year-old brain, those words embodied the most crucial words needed for the day. However, between the time spent walking into the building and sitting in the classroom, the words had long escaped my memory.
The rest of the day, or rather the next few months, school became a very confusing and lonely place. The teacher would call my name, the only word I could understand without fail, and everyone stared at me as if I had six heads. The only words that ever left my mouth consisted of “yes”, “no”, or “I do not understand”. This “silent period” makes newcomers easy to distinguish. It could last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Before I knew it I found myself in an ESL, English as a second language, class. I would leave the classroom while the rest of my peers stayed for English and science and I learned basic “survival English”, and came back just in time for math. Although missing almost a year of science caused me to fall behind my classmates, I consisted of one of the lucky ones whose school offered a program for immigrant students like myself. As I grew older, I realized that many of my friends did not receive the same opportunity. Their schools actually did not offer any help with learning English and they had to figure it out for themselves.
The basic English that I have learned through ESL could easily be classified as “survival English” because it only provided me with the essential means to communicate with others. ESL classes do not provide students with the right tools to be able to succeed in a classroom setting; in fact, ESL classes solely focus on the “language of social interaction”. The language used to communicate with your peers differs from the language used academically, yet it is most commonly taught to beginners. After less than a year I had already learned everything that the curriculum contained and I returned to my native-born peers. However, children in my class who had been learning the same material as I had for much longer were still unable to grasp it. It made me wonder what factors affected learning a second language.
In the chapter, “Who Are ESL Students?”, in the book Count Me In!: Developing Inclusive International Schools, Nancy Robinson, Barbara Keogh and Ochan Kusuma-Powell distinguish between the different factors that one must take into account when teaching ESL students. They assert that “factors that affect second language acquisition have been divided into three basic categories”. The first category discusses the student’s learning style as well as motivation; each person is different and requires a different approach to learning. Studies have shown that students that possess a more outgoing personality will learn English faster. Another category consists of the situational or environmental factors, such as the classroom setting and whether the children speak English outside of school or not. The last category explores whether the student has had “adequate linguistic and cognitive development in a home language [which] contributes positively to second language learning”, meaning that if a student has a good base of their native language, it will make it much easier for him or her to learn English. However, if a student comes from a multiple language background and does not have full proficiency in any language, he or she will have a more difficult time learning an additional one. For example, some students come from a family with parents that have two different native tongues, while others are brought up by nannies of different nationality. Many people assume that the best way for a child to learn English is to stop speaking their native language. This is not the case. In fact, “full proficiency in the native language facilitates second language development” and could even help the student succeed academically.
Learning the English language is only part of the assimilation process that immigrant students undergo. Learning the culture is an important part of integrating into society in general. Robinson, Keogh and Kusama-Powell have proven that a “high degree of acculturation into Western academic society is necessary for ESL students to express critical thinking in the classroom.” There are children from all over the world, including authoritarian societies where expressing and challenging ideas could be seen as misconduct. In their research, Gerardo Luis Santos Bocero, Susana Fernández Larragueta, and Juan Fernández Sierra found that immigrant students do not only experience “incorporation into a curricular context, but also into a particular social environment.” They discuss the two groups that teachers tend to separate their students into, the general curriculum and the parallel curriculum. The general curriculum is what most of the class learns, while the parallel curriculum is usually made up of one to four children that are either immigrants or “children of Therapeutic Pedagogy”. They do not follow the “textbook material” with the rest of the class, but rather work on material that “exclusively focuses on the leveling of these students in basic skills.” These students tend to be supervised by their teachers at first, but then it has been noticed that some could have the same page of their books opened over the course of consecutive school days. The authors also examine the social integration of the immigrant pupils; there are two distinct groups of immigrant children that share specific cultural, personal, and socioeconomic features. The first group contained children that were born in the country or arrived during their earliest primary education years; they were well-dressed with new school materials. They received good grades and were part of the general curriculum. They were accepted by their peers and sometimes they were even leaders or regarded as popular. The second group consisted of children that were born in their origin country and have emigrated in the last three or four years; they wore the same clothes all week, their school materials were in bad shape, they followed the parallel curriculum and often had trouble passing classes. Most of the time they had to repeat a grade. They also often experienced isolation.
In the beginning of my academic career in the United States I definitely belonged to the group described as part of the “parallel curriculum”. Although I was able to quickly catch up to my peers, I did not ever fully feel integrated; at times I felt isolated because I was different. Luckily I was removed from the ESL class and began to study the exact same material as my peers. I remember my least favorite part of the day, recess, due to the fact that everyone would always play kickball, a game that I neither liked nor understood. To someone born in America the fact that I did not understand kickball must sound ludicrous, but this is just one of the many cultural differences that play a role in assimilation. Just because I understood the language did not mean that I was just like the other children. I still spent most of my life in a different country, in a different continent, with completely different traditions and cultural norms. I was brought up on different cartoons, played different games, and had no idea what a “grilled cheese” was. Although I feel that now after living in the U.S. for more than half of my life I have more in common with an American teenager rather than a Polish one, there are still cultural differences between myself and my peers. From the holidays that we celebrate to the food we eat to the superstitions that we have, these disparities are still present. I have learned to accept them and embrace them, but as a child I could not help but constantly feel left out.
These socio-cultural differences do not only prevent students from feeling integrated, but they also contribute to learning difficulty. In a study done on immigrant students’ difficulties in literacy and communication skills in order to identify the differences in reading comprehension among “students from immigrant families and other socio-cultural disadvantaged situations” using a reading comprehension instrument, the results were clear (Chu). Immigrant and other socio-cultural disadvantaged students not only had problems with identifying a lot of the vocabulary, but they also had a problem with identifying the main idea and the structure of a text. This creates the problem of a cultural gap, which hinders their relationship and participation within society, considering that words allow us to “understand the reality and expand our world” (Chu). The limitations of the one size must fit all curriculum clearly do not work for everyone; every student learns differently and should not be forced to learn a certain way. Immigrants and their children consist of over 81 million people, or 26% of the U.S. population (Zong). Our educational system should provide these students with better programs and methods of learning in order for them to have a fair chance at integrating into society, learning the language and in essentially becoming successful.
Why should we help immigrants out if they will just take the native peoples’ jobs and lower the wages for the blue-collar jobs? This concern that appears a lot when discussing the immigrant population could not lie farther from the truth. As a matter of fact, the Hispanic Pew Center found that “there is no significant correlation between immigration and unemployment rates in ten critical states with high immigration rates” (Klein). They actually positively contribute to our society. They bring important and valuable skills as well as add to our national tax revenue. Immigrant families provide us with “a wealth of traditional values, such as a strong work ethic, the strength of family and community ties, and a belief in education” (Klein). Meanwhile, the rate of poverty for children of immigrants is at 21% compared to the 14% for children in native-born families. They are 50% more likely to have their parents work a job that is lower than minimum wage due to the language barrier, lack of skill or lack of education. Teenagers of immigrant parents as well as immigrant students themselves are more likely to work a part-time job while they are in school and help support their families (Klein). These economic difficulties could have negative effects on the children’s education. For example, a second grade teacher wanted to discover why one of her immigrant students never turned in his homework on time and found out that there were eleven family members living in a two-bedroom apartment. The boy did not even have anywhere to do his homework; regardless he came into school every day, ready to learn.
It is not easy to leave your country behind; immigrants have to leave their families, homes, and everything they have ever known in order to escape oppression or provide their children with a better life. People do not realize the hardships that immigrant students face. I have moved from a newly renovated house in Poland with my own room and a balcony to a sleazy rat-infested one-bedroom apartment on Staten Island. It was bad enough that I had to learn a whole new language and leave all my loved ones behind, I also had to deal with the struggles that come with being an immigrant. My brother and I slept on the floor for the first few weeks, considering that the only furniture we owned was a table. At nine years old I had to say goodbye to my grandparents, the people who have raised me for half of my life. I said goodbye to all of my cousins, all of my childhood friends, and my dog. It has been four years since I have seen my grandparents and although I miss them more than anything, I know that my parents made a selfless choice that has forever improved my life. America is known as the land of opportunity, and that should be true for everyone.
Often, students serve as “bridges” between their parents and the outside world. Since children learn English in school, they tend to learn it a lot quicker than their parents. Children are often used as translators for their parents. Their parents are often too busy to take English classes or to learn English on their own, and therefore usually settle in communities where people predominately speak their native language. I remember being twelve years old, and talking on the phone with various phone and insurance companies for my parents or translating for them wherever we went. Although it was exhausting for me considering that I was only a child, it has made me responsible and I was happy to know that I was able to help my family.
Although there have been programs implemented especially for immigrant students, there is actually no legislation regarding resources for them except the federal funding through the EIEP. However, not all immigrants can even access that depending on the district they are in. For example, LEA’s, districts with a population that contains less than 3% immigrants, do not qualify. There is also no set amount of funding; every state can receive a different amount of money. Studies have also shown that immigrant students have been treated inequitably; for example, the “non-classroom expenditures” such as counseling and parental outreach for immigrant students were much smaller than for native-born students. On the other hand, less spending and big class sizes for immigrants could mean that there are more qualified teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act implemented in 2002 had a special focus on the immigrant as well as disabled students, that usually trail behind their colleagues. It emphasized the school’s responsibility for the academic progress of its students. It also highlighted the importance of standardized testing and reporting the results as well as required that teachers are “highly qualified”, meaning that they should have a bachelor’s degree and a state certification for the subject that they are teaching.
Before a school is allowed to accept immigrant students, it should have the proper programs in place. The programs should serve to help the student and his or her family learn the language as well as aid in cultural assimilation. Because there is only one federally funded program in place, schools should create different methods of helping out the immigrant families, such as making English classes free for the parents as well. In California, there are many programs in place that are meant to help meet immigrant’s needs, such as “The Community-Based English Tutoring Program, English Language Acquisition Program, and English Language and Intensive Literacy Program”. They not only serve immigrant students, but they are also eligible for any English language learners. Funded by LEA’s, the programs also cover the cost of transportation. A lot of English acquisition programs, however, focus on elementary school while most of the children immigrating to the United States currently are either in middle school or in high school. There should be a bigger emphasis on older children.
Among the hardships that immigrant students face, such as learning English, economic troubles, and cultural norms, are issues that cannot be overlooked, such as the fear of legal issues, parental involvement, as well as health and social concerns. All of these factors have a huge effect on students’ ability to assimilate. Immigrant students do not only need the proper education and acceptance, they also need “comprehensive and supporting systems to help them succeed.” Students should have things such as family counseling available to them along with the proper programs for their needs.
Immigrant students’ struggles are often overlooked or underplayed, but they make up a huge chunk of the younger generation. We should implement programs and policies that will promote helping immigrants and their families, especially regarding education. These programs should not only teach the basic “survival English”, but help with cultural assimilation and feeling integrated. Everyone deserves a chance at the American dream; people that dislike immigrants clearly do not realize how they ended up in America in the first place. Whether it was us or our ancestors we have all come here and we now call it our home.
Works Cited
Bocero, Gerardo Luis Santos, Susana Fernández Larragueta, and Juan Fernández Sierra. “The Curricular and Social Integration of Immigrant Students: Parallel Roads.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 116 (2014): 1101-105. Print.
Chu, Szu-Yin. “Implementation of Supportive School Programs for Immigrant Students in the United States.” Preventing School Failure 53.2 (2009): 67-72. Print.
Keogh, Barbara, and Ochan Kusuma-Powell. “Chapter 6: Who Are ESL Students?” Count Me In!: Developing Inclusive International Schools. By Nancy Robinson. 2nd ed. N.p.: Overseas Schools Advisory Council, Department of State, 2001. N. pag. U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
Klein, Alyson. “No Child Left Behind Overview: Definitions, Requirements, Criticisms, and More.” Education Week. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
Martín-Pastor, Elena, Francisca González-Gil, Cristina Jenaro Río, Noelia Flores Robaina, and Raquel Poy Castro. “Influence of Immigrant Students’ Communication Skills on Their Teaching and Learning Process.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 93 (2013): 789-93. Print.
Zong, Jie, and Jeanne Batalova. “Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States.” Migrationpolicy.org. Migration Policy Institute, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.