Efrain Tovar: Read me the entire sentence.

Ever: Today is Friday, May 12.

Efrain Tovar: Beautiful. Now, can you say it in Spanish?

Ever: Señor Tovar, hoy es Viernes, Mayo doce.

Efrain Tovar: Language is tied to identity. You don’t have to give up your identity of who you are in order to learn English. So, because we value the whole student, our newcomers are becoming confident learners.

Efrain Tovar: Puedes decir en Zapoteco?

Ever: Voy intentarlo.

Efrain Tovar: I love that attitude.

Efrain Tovar: Here in Selma, we’re very diverse, and we’ve been seeing an influx of newcomer students, ranging from anywhere from Yemen to Guatemala, India, and other countries. Typically, anywhere from five to eight languages are represented in my classroom. And so that brings many challenges. It’s really important for me to know what their heritage language is, which allows me to assess whether or not they’re proficient in their primary language.

Efrain Tovar: “What,” how do we say “what” in Zapotec?

Students: (speaking in Zapotec)

Efrain Tovar: (repeats Zapotec phrase) How do we say “what” in Arabic?

Simran: He is very familiar with us. That’s why we feel so confident here.

Efrain Tovar: The whole purpose of allowing students to tap into their heritage language is for them to practice their speaking skills. If you can’t say it in your primary language, you’ll have difficulty saying it in your secondary language. I would tell them, “Do it again. Take two. Take three.”

Efrain Tovar: Say it again.

Angel: Como te letreas “hoy”?

Simran: If he asked us about English word, he say, “Simran, what you say in Punjabi?”

Efrain Tovar: So part of language development is ensuring that our students have ample time and ample opportunities to speak. The goal is for them to be able to be proficient in both languages.

Efrain Tovar: Yes!

Efrain Tovar: Translanguaging, right, being able to flow from one language to another or interchangeably using both languages.

Maria: (speaking in Zapotec) Y, hablo español. And I learn English in Mr. Tovar’s class.

Abraham: Class, are you ready?

Students: Yes.

Efrain Tovar: Every student in my classroom has a home team. That’s the team that they’re with for the entire year. Students need to be able to learn how to collaborate.

Asma: What is this?

Efrain Tovar: They all have a role. Some are really talented with technology, so I place those under the CTO position, the chief technology officer. So rather than students coming to me, they actually go to the CTO first. And then the CEO, I use team captain; they also are in charge of helping each other within the team.

Abraham: I am captain of my team. So I help my friends; to my team, I know how to learn and how to teach other guys.

Efrain Tovar: Especially in junior high, they are concerned about what their peers think of them and what… how they’re going to come across. So that’s why whenever we can, celebrate failure, applaud when they fail.

Efrain Tovar: You can change your mind. Give her a hand for failing.

Efrain Tovar: That creates this type of atmosphere where it’s OK to take risks.

Efrain Tovar: Why is it OK to fail in class? Abraham?

Abraham: It’s fine to fail in class because you are here to learn.

Efrain Tovar: So Simran, try again.

Simran: We move forward four times.

Efrain Tovar: We know—and research says—that students that are reclassified, which means that they’ve met the criteria to no longer be called an English language learner, they actually outperform monolinguals.

Rovimo: Mr. Tovar, my favorite food is pizza.

Efrain Tovar: Anytime we can encourage them to develop their heritage language so that it’s on par with their English or vice versa—the ultimate goal really is to be bilingual and bi-literate so that you’ll be able to be not only a contributing citizen but also to be a bridge maker when you speak multiple languages with multiple communities.

Abraham Lincoln Middle School

.css-1sk4066:hover{background:#d1ecfa;}Making Space for Native Languages in Newcomer Classrooms

Making Space for Native Languages in Newcomer Classrooms