"The Balance Theory" and "Key Points Review "

"The Balance Theory"

In Chapter 8, Baker and Wright (2011), talk about how language develops in a bilingual individual’s mind. The different theories mentioned in this chapter lead us to different implications that teachers face when they are evaluating bilingual students. All those theories are necessary to find ways to implement new curricula and different assessments to evaluate bilinguals.

In the balance theory, Baker and Wright represent bilingualism as two different balloons that are in constant balance. They stated that “as proficiency in one language increases on one side of the scale, the proficiency of the language on the other side of the scale decreases”(pg.157). This shows that a person can only be dominant in one language. They refer to Cummins (1981) findings and compare with the Separate Underlying Proficiency (SUP) model of bilingualism, where the two languages are completely separate and there is no ability to transfer the language.  Baker and Wright found evidence that supports the theory that the development of language and cognition are not separate. What is learned in one language is easily transferred to a different language. Cummins also proposed the Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP) model of bilingualism (pg. 158). Cummins represents the two languages as two separate icebergs but beneath the surface, these icebergs both emerge in the central operating system. Baker and Wright suggest that “Languages influence both the content and process of thinking”(pg. 159). We can see that bilinguals, including multilingualism, have the ability to use both languages controlled by the central operating system. The capacity that bilinguals have to hold information in both languages makes them increase their understanding, views and ideas. This is one advantage that is found in being bilingual, but we have to consider at what level the person functions so that they can succeed in school.

Key Points Review in Chapter 8 

The key points in chapter eight lay out a detailed summary of different issues that bilingual education students face in school. There are different theories that explain ways that bilingual students develop languages while they are processing communication skills in two different languages. In the balance theory, the balance that exists in the brain is incorrect because language can not be drawn as two different storage systems in the brain. It concludes that an average time span for a person to learn a language is about two to five years, depending on the individual or group where they develop their language. There are many factors that may define the process of language proficiency. In the threshold theory, the authors explain to what degree we have to take into consideration the learning level of bilingual’s two languages. The authors suggest that” language needs to be developed to a high level before high levels of cognition can be activated”(pg. 160). All those previous theories have their flaws, but I think that they are necessary to develop a better way to understand and evaluate bilingualism, especially in schools where a diverse community exists.

Bilingualism and Cognition

Based on the reading, intelligence is either an innate or acquired ability that an individual needs in order to accomplish something desired that influences their ability to learn, reason and understand. There are many factors that influence the intelligence of individuals that make it inaccurate to find one specific way of measurement. Baker and Wright mention how “the construct of intelligence and the use of intelligence test are controversial” (pg.134).  “A challenge to the construct of a single intelligence quotient is H. Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory, which includes eight different types of intelligence”(pg.134). Baker and Wright (2011) state that the IQ test correlates to middle class, white, Western views of intelligence and is culturally limited. I believe that there are many others researchers who demonstrate that measuring intelligence involves numerous factors that might affect an individual IQ test. It is, therefore, questionable to measure intelligence with a simple test.   I found two sample questions at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-iq-questions.html  where I see how difficult this type of test can be for a person who speaks a different language. These are the following samples:

Sample 1- Find two words, one from each group, that are the closest in meaning:

Group A

talkative, job, ecstatic

Group B

angry, wind, loquacious

a. talkative and wind

b. job and angry

c. talkative and loquacious

d. ecstatic and angry

Answer: c. Talkative and Loquacious

Sample 2- Which of the following can be arranged into a 5-letter English word?

a. H R G S T

b. R I L S A 

c. T O O M T

d. W Q R G S

Answer: b. rails and c. motto

These kinds of questions are not accurate to use as a form of measurement among bilingual individuals because they use words that are not commonly used. For example, “loquacious” is not a commonly used word, but “talkative” or “chatty” are. As a bilingual, if I encounter a word I don’t know I would look for the root of the word to find its meaning, but this word is a word that implies research of the meaning. In the second sample, the same confusion arises just by looking at the amount of letters. It didn’t occur to me until much later that answers A and D could never be rearranged to spell a word in English because there are no vowels, and you need vowels and consonants together to create English words. I might come up with good answers, but we have to take into consideration the way other bilinguals perceive these types of questions.  To calculate the Intellectual Quotient in a bilingual person, I would be sensitive and consider many factors such as the level of bilingualism and the cognitive functioning as suggested in this chapter.

Chronology of Events, Court Decisions, and Legislation Affecting Language Minority Children in American Public Education. pg 87-"Tong Tied"

Text: "Tongue Tied"

Chronology of Events, Court Decisions, and Legislation Affecting Language Minority Children in American Public Education. pg 87-"Tong Tied"

I have been working in the school system and I always have heard that education assessment is not very fair for minority students. Most of the time, teachers see students who speak a different language as a problem because the students’ lack of understanding causes a teacher to do a poor evaluation, and sometimes that evaluation does not reflect the students’ abilities and capabilities to learn.. After reading “Tongue Tied” by Otto Santa Ana (2004), I realized that this problem is not a new one- it has existed for many years. Using the American system as an example, Santa Anna mentioned three major ethnic groups who suffered an unfair education for so many years. One of them is Native Americans, who started to see changes in the 1930’s. The second group who also faced many obstacles is African-Americans. Before the Civil War, for instance, it was illegal in the South to teach slaves how to read. In the mid-20th century, desegregation became a hotly debated issue. The last group that also faced obstacles in education is Latinos (Puerto Rico and Chicanos).

Critical Response 

Read and review three major groups of language minority students who continue to be negatively affected by U.S. public school policy. 

African American

Reflect and summaries on key years where growth was starting to take place. 

In the book “Tied Tongue”, Santa Ana mentioned three major groups of minority students who continue to be negatively affected by U.S. public school policy. He mentioned American Indians, African-Americans and Latinos. According to Santa Ana, American Indians, from the very beginning of America's schools, were forced to learn only English in school so that they would adopt the Anglo-American way and customs. Back then they thought the “savage” American Indians could be “civilized”; they had no culture of their own, according to the European and American settlers. For 250 years, Native Americans endured English-only teaching in American schools. African-Americans had a more difficult time because they were slaves, and at that time slaves could not be educated in many states. Even after the Civil War, when the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1868, many states had Jim Crow laws that denied African-Americans their rights to many things, including a fair education. Latinos also faced many obstacles; for instance, they could never become a teacher because of their Spanish accent. Even though many years have passed and many things have improved, the fight for a better education continues to be a problem; however, there are noticeable improvements. Santa Ana mentions how the “No Child Left Behind" Act of 2002 created legislation that, for the first time, gave priority to the brief teaching of English instead of long-term English instruction. I see it as the creation of a new class for students, who do not enjoy the extra school work.