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Sage Kiernan-Sherrow\u00a0<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n Professor Kim Potowski of the University of Illinois began by stating the facts: that out of roughly 7.7 billion people in the world, an estimated 60% of them are bilingual as opposed to the United States\u2019 20%. Potowski\u2019s research aims to promote positivity towards bilingualism with the hopes of dispelling language myths and increasing bilingual education.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s normal to be bilingual,\u201d Potowski asserted during her presentation \u201cNo Child Left Monolingual\u201d \u2014 also featured as a TedxTalk \u2014 given at Western on Jan. 9 in the Werner University Center.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So why is the U.S. falling behind?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur nation has policies whether implicit or explicit that aim to erase (children\u2019s) Spanish, Chinese, Korean \u2026 whatever it is that they speak at home,\u201d Potowski stated. A child who is a heritage speaker enters kindergarten and is typically placed into one of two programs: they are either given ESL support, which removes the child from the rest of the class and, as explained by Potowski, ostracizes and belittles their language, or they are put into a \u201cbilingual program,\u201d which is essentially a transition program designed on having the student speaking solely English by the third grade.<\/span><\/p>\n Potowski is in support of a third option \u2014 dual-language schools \u2014 in which 50-90% of instruction is in a language other than English. Citing various research studies that support the induction of these programs, Potowski noted that the dual-language programs ensure that students who speak a language other than English don\u2019t fall behind their English monolingual peers, that the cognitive benefits of the programs are numerous and that, most importantly, dual-language programs are respectful of language and identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The evidence shows that students enrolled in a dual-language school did better in all content areas \u2014 including English \u2014 as compared to students enrolled in a normal public school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo what I conclude is that if you don\u2019t want to do this, you\u2019ve got some kind of political agenda going on,\u201d said Potowski. However, she also acknowledged the fears created by linguistic bullying and systematic racism which prevents parents from supporting their children\u2019s bilingualism.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese parents have suffered for their lack of English, the last thing they want is for their children to suffer for a lack of English,\u201d said Potowski.<\/span><\/p>\n However well-intended, Potwoski wants parents to know that their fears, while understandable, are somewhat misplaced. Myths that one language will hinder the development of another or create confusion for the child have since been debunked.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cCodeswitching,\u201d as the phenomenon is called, \u201cis normal, follows linguistic patterns, indicates strength in both languages, and is a marker of a bilingual identity,\u201d stated Potowski.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The real issue, then, is the previously mentioned systematic racism and linguistic bullying, which \u201chappens way more often than just the stories that make it to the news \u2026 and contributes to this culture of linguistic repression and fear,\u201d Potowski asserted. While the U.S. has no official national language, states have the power to pass English-only laws, and, while Oregon has not, 31 other states have. All of these factors combined \u201ccontribute to intergenerational language shifts,\u201d said Potowski. \u201cWhat you\u2019re getting is parents who can\u2019t talk to their own children \u2026 and it doesn\u2019t have to be this way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/files\/2020\/01\/monolingual1-color-1024x683.jpg\")
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