R-3-3

Our Vocal Mural

I hated Hebrew school.

But I dont feel good, my head really hurts. And I have a lot of homework. And a big

project. And a fever, I helplessly begged as my mother drove up the steep hill to BNai Tikvah.

Forget it Alexandra, youve missed the last three classes, and you hardly look sick to

me, my mother retorted.

I dont care about learning another language, I already speak English fine, and Hebrew

is useless anyway.

This was a bi-weekly event, as every Tuesday and Sunday my half-hearted prayers that

the synagogue would flood and we would all have to hop on Noahs Ark while everything was

rebuilt never seemed to be heard. I can still picture that daydream now: my mother and I drive up

in her old white Prius to absolute chaos. Rushing waters gush out of the double doors, while

small piles of blue and gold Yamakas sink lazily beneath a silky sheath of lavender, cream, and

navy Tallit. As the water rolls down the hill, all that is left is an empty shell of a synagogue, its

strong mildew scent highlighted by the now-moldy carpet; the buzzing lights silenced; the long

hallways wet and sloppy. Instead, all I got was a roll of Noahs Ark stickers to carry with me into

my classroom--which greatly resembled the design of a hospital ward, only rather than the

occasional sanitization station, a photo of Israel or a classroom activity took its place.

Now the day of my Bat Mitzvah has arrived and I am nervously pacing outside of those

same double doors. I am tugging at my dress hem, grabbing at my Yamaka, and desperately

reciting my Torah portion.

Alright, its time, are you ready to head in? Rabbi Asher asks.

1
 R-3-3

He gives me a warm, hopeful smile; but all I can do is gulp and nod at him.

I am up on the beema sweating and shaking furiously, when suddenly I am called upon to

recite my first prayer. The rest is a blur of sung prayers, cheesy speeches, and some terrible wine.

The Rabbi finishes with handing me my own engraved chalice and discussing next

week's events, and I suddenly feel both relieved and unfulfilled. I had spent eight years studying

this language, copying letters from screen to small blue notebook, reciting Sunday prayers, and

learning how to ask What time will the bus arrive? and How are you today? I realized that,

in reality, it would not be the religion and spirituality I would miss most, it would be the

language. Sitting through pages of prayers in an archaic language always felt torturous, and my

efforts to emphasize the chhhhh in baruch seemed ridiculous. It is not until now that I have

realized that that feeling, one of defeat and frustration, is constantly mirrored in English learners

everywhere. The only difference is that those children are thrown into rushing rapids, tossed a

plank of wood, and told to make the boat that will carry them to shore. After all of those years I

had never taken a moment to think that while my brain was being fed fractions and nouns and

mitochondria, it has also been nourished with language, and perhaps that was the best lesson I

learned.

Even though I was not lucky enough to grow up in a household that spoke two languages,

I was always surrounded by different dialects and cultures. Spanish, French, Hindi, German,

Japanese, Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew, they all swirled around me and swelled within me.

Languages, to me, are not just words, they are vibrant colors mixed with noise. Many people are

content living a monochromatic life; I however, want a life full of purples and blues and yellows

and golds and crimsons, to experience all of the the colors of the worlds diverse vocal mural.

2
 R-3-3

Despite hopping off of Noahs Ark as soon as it docked, the significance of languages in

a persons life has continued to interest me. Our country is a superpower, yet we do not put

nearly as much emphasis on language as hundreds of other countries. Take a trip to Italy or

Morocco and you are guaranteed to find a man or woman versed in half a dozen languages,

describing their multilingualism as something common. In a world so dependent on

communication, we are missing an integral part of interconnectedness: language. For this reason,

I have decided to explore the question: What are the benefits and deficits of being bilingual?

The world is made up of over 7,100 languages, all unique, all part of the same wonderful

vocal mural. More than half of the world speaks two or more languages, soaking up all of the

cognitive and social benefits that come with bi, tri, or multi-linguality. In an article titled 6

Potential Brain Benefits of Being Bilingual, Anya Kamenetz delves into the world of

bilingualism, and how it can be an asset to people everywhere. Research from decades ago

concluded that monolingual English students outperformed bilingual students and had higher IQ

scores; however, upon more recent research, those results have been proven to be extremely

inaccurate. According to Antonella Sorace from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, earlier

research looked at socially disadvantaged groups (Kamenetz). Today, rather than pitting

students of unequal opportunity against one another, scores from people with similar

backgrounds are being compared.

Kamenetz highlights increased benefits in attention, empathy, reading, school

performance, diversity and integration, and prevention against cognitive decline. When a child

switches between thanking a teacher in English and saying hello to their parents in Japanese, that

child is actively choosing not to speak the other language, which, according to Kamenetz, is

3
 R-3-3

fundamentally a feat of paying attention. In general, bilinguals have an easier time paying

attention as well as switching from one task to another, which also connects to a child's ability

to engage in a classroom environment.

Wayne Thomas and Virginia Collier, professors at George Mason University, spent the

past 30 years collecting information regarding bilingual students, and their results show fewer

behavioral problems, higher parent involvement, higher attendance, and happier children at a

dual-language school, as well as higher test scores. Wayne came to our research with

skepticism, thinking students ought to get instruction all day in English, Collier states in her

interview with Kamenetz; but Thomas is quick to add in, Eight million student records later,

we're convinced (Kamenetz). Once that young child from a dual-language classroom grows up,

however, their cognitive abilities will begin to decline; but bilingualism has been proven to help

prevent an onset of cognitive decline and dementia. After more than one year of research and

134 patients, researchers from the University of Ghent in Belgium concluded that bilingualism

can delay Alzheimers by up to four years as well as keep the brain active and fully functional

(Sauer). The researchers published a study in 2014 that compared the results of bilingual patients

and monolingual patients were given a set of tests to evaluate cognitive abilities and daily

functioning. According to the author of one of these studies, Suvarna Alladi, DM, of Nizams

Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad, India, Speaking more than one language is thought

to lead to better development of the areas of the brain that handle executive functions and

attention tasks, which may help protect from the onset of dementia (Sauer).

Northwestern University professor Viorica Marian was the lead researcher on a study

taking place on campus. In short, as Marian describes it to Julie Deardorff, being bilingual is just

4
 R-3-3

like a traffic light, telling one language to stop and one language to go at any given time

(Deardorff). Marians study was the first ever to use fMRI--functional magnetic resonance

imaging--to test awareness and observance in bilinguals and centered around how bilinguals

comprehended words and phrases compared to monolinguals. Through a series of tests, including

word recognition and brain scans, Marian concluded that monolinguals had more activation in

the inhibitory control regions than bilinguals; they had to work much harder to perform the task

(Deardorff). In connection with the findings at the University of Ghent, Marian also discovered

that due to the constant practice of inhibitory control, bilinguals may be at an advantage to

delaying signs of Alzheimers (Deardorff).

Many researchers, after years of studies and thousands of interviews, have come to the

same conclusion: Being bilingual opens up new worlds of global connection and understanding,

and almost certainly allows some degree of flexibility in personal expression, too (King).

Bilingualism has become such an asset that dual-immersion or two-way immersion programs are

being implemented at public schools across the country. Bancroft Elementary School, located in

Walnut Creek, is a relatively new program in which children spend half of their day

communicating in English and half in Spanish from kindergarten to second grade. Currently the

classes disproportionately contain English speakers; however, according to Marshall, the school

hopes to create two classes of about 26 students comprised of 33% native English speakers, 33%

native Spanish speakers, and 33% English-Spanish speakers in the future. In an interview with

Marga Marshall, the schools Language Development Coach and my mentor, parents are

swarming to get their kids enrolled into the program. Marshall has a daughter currently attending

Bancroft, who finds that learning both Spanish and English to be extremely beneficial for her.

5
 R-3-3

My daughter, a second grader, she loves when were traveling and were at the airport and she

hears somebody speaking Spanish and shes like, Oh they said this, Oh I can help them, Oh

they are looking for gate whatever. So even for her shes like I can understand other people and

I can help them, said Marshall.

Due to the high volume of applicants, Marshall and her fellow employees at the Willow

Creek Center in Concord are hoping to open up a middle school in the future for students at

Bancroft to continue their bilingual education. The district is thinking on a dual language

middle school, but there is no school located yet, Marshall stated. With the implementation of a

dual-language system at a local school, students are projected to see many benefits that will put

them ahead of the average monolingual child. Despite years of research and evidence supporting

the claim that bilinguals have many cognitive advantages, millions of bilingual students continue

to face prejudice and are put, socially, at a major disadvantage.

Nearly 20% of the U.S. population is bilingual, and today we are seeing ever-increasing

numbers of refugees attempting to find a better life in America, most of whom do not speak

English (Harlan 45). Although schools offer a myriad of special classes geared towards English

learners, are we really doing enough to support English Learners and help them assimilate into

American culture?

Willow Creek Center employee and secondary English Learner (EL) district coach Jen

Mahmood has noticed first-hand what kinds of challenges English learners face at school.

Having worked with schools all around the Bay Area, including Northgate and Ygnacio Valley

High School, Mahmood highlights a key problem she notices everywhere: inequality. All of the

schools I have taught at have always been predominantly English learners and you do kind of see

6
 R-3-3

the odds stacked against them in terms of needing extra help or extra support, Mahmood said.

During the 2015-16 school year, about 1.374 million English learners were enrolled in California

public high schools (Facts). In addition, around 83.5% of English learners are predominantly

Spanish speakers followed by Vietnamese at 2.2% and Mandarin (Putonghua) at 1.5%. In states

such as California, where 39% of the population is hispanic, it would be safe to assume that

schools would provide strong EL programs; however there are still many the programs tend to

produce inadequate education and a general lack of support for new students (Quick Facts).

According to Mahmood, schools tend to shy away from supporting their English Learners,

viewing them as more of a burden than an asset.

This lack of support for bilingual education is further evidenced by Rosalie Pedalino

Porter, former director of the research in English Acquisition and Development Institute. In the

year 1992, schools received $116 million in federal funding for bilingual education; however,

most of the money was funneled to native-language instruction programs, leaving just 20-30% of

the budget to ESL students (Noll 285). Porter also touches on the fact that back in the late 1980s

and early 1990s, many immigrant students were nearly 100% non-English speakers and the

parent involvement tended to lean towards nonexistent. In addition, there was a lack of bilingual

teachers and classroom tools as well as assessments to judge students progress (Noll 284).

As years have passed, of course, many improvements have been made--such as

assessments for English learners and the proportion of non-English speakers--yet English

Learners continue to face obstacles every day. One challenge many English Learners face is

being labeled Generation 1.5. Generation 1.5 was first used to refer to Asian immigrants;

however, immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and South America have also adopted the

7
 R-3-3

term. Unlike their first generation parents, these children are able to communicate in both their

native language and in English; however, these children and young adults often do not receive

sufficient education while living in America and are therefore neither proficient in their native

language nor in English (Masterson). This mixture of cultures also greatly affects their perceived

identity, which can lead to isolation of students, therefore further inhibiting their ability to learn

(Rojas). Children as young as five or six years old often serve as the bridge between their

non-English speaking family members and their English dominant community while still

struggling to assimilate into both of the cultures they have grown up with.

Even with decades of research providing evidence to support cognitive benefits bilinguals

have, there is a stigma around bilingual students that prevents them from using their competitive

edge. As Judith Harlan asks in her novel Bilingualism In The United States, Should every

American speak English? Does a country need a single language in order to feel unified?...Is

language the glue that holds a country together? (Harlan 11). The answer is simple, take a look

around the world and see if America should remain monolinguistic.

After weeks of research and many drafts with scribbled red pen, I have a new

understanding and appreciation for bilinguals, particularly those that began as English Learners.

Now, I have a glimpse into the challenges English learners face as well as the massive rewards

they reap from learning multiple languages. As an aspiring multilingual myself, I am curious to

explore the cognitive benefits that are associated with speaking two or more languages; but I did

not expect to find delayed symptoms of Dementia and Alzheimer's, better emotional capabilities,

and different methods of problem solving based on the cultural mindset a language places you in.

To me, being bilingual is an undisputed benefit that comes with unfortunate repercussions,

8
 R-3-3

specifically ones perpetrated by a close-minded, overly nationalistic society. According to the

Office of Management and Budget, President Trump plans to, eliminate the 21st Century

Community Learning Centers program, which supports before- and after-school programs as

well as summer programs (Office of Management and Budget 17). According to the U.S.

Department of Education, this program provides additional learning opportunities for students,

especially ones in high-poverty or low-performing schools. In addition, the program offers

literacy and other educational services for the families of enrolled students which would greatly

benefit families who recently immigrated. Thrusting English Learners into English-only classes

with limited outside help and expecting them to flourish and grow is like handing a child a pencil

and telling them to saw an entire tree down: they may be capable of one day achieving it, but

without the right tools, it is useless.

Many of the children I volunteer with immigrated from Mexico at a young age, and are

quickly solidifying themselves as children of Generation 1.5; but rather than simply viewing

their bilingualism as another obstacle to overcome, I want them to embrace their two dissimilar

cultures and use it to expand their minds and strengthen their capabilities inside the classroom.

As Jen Mahmood shared with me during her interview, being bilingual allows you to truly be a

person of the world, the more that you understand different cultures and youre able to interact

with people on various levels. I am in complete agreement with this statement, as there is

nothing more enriching than experiencing different cultures, and part of different cultures are the

different languages.

In general, languages are put on the backburner of peoples minds. For high schoolers, it

is just another a-g requirement or an easy AP class, in college it is simply a class you need to

9
 R-3-3

pass before heading into upper-division courses; but we are forgetting to appreciate the fact that

we are, in a sense, immersing ourselves in a completely different culture and learning to

communicate in a language unlike our own. A world of monolingualism would be plain, bland,

and cultureless; but a world with different languages is vibrant, lively, and full of rich tradition.

10
 R-3-3

Works Cited

Electronic:

Deardorff, Julie. Bilingual Brains Better Equipped to Process Information

Forget Sudoku: Speaking multiple languages routinely exercises the brain. Northwestern

Now, 7 Nov. 2014,

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2014/11/bilingual-brains-better-equipped-to-proces

s-information. Accessed 18 March 2017.

Facts about English Learners in California. Cal EdFacts, 29 Sept. 2016,

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sd/cb/cefelfacts.asp. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Kamenetz, Anya. 6 Potential Brain Benefits of Bilingual Education. nprED, 29 Nov. 2016,

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/29/497943749/6-potential-brain-benefits-of-bilin

gual-education. Accessed March 18 2017.

King, Barbara J. New Study Shows Brain Benefits of Bilingualism. npr, 14 Nov. 2013,

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/11/14/244813470/new-study-shows-brain-benefit

s-of-bilingualism. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Masterson, Laura C. Generation 1.5 Students: Recognizing an Overlooked Population. The

Mentor, 28 Feb. 2007, https://dus.psu.edu/mentor/old/articles/070228lm.htm. Accessed

20 March 2017.

Rojas, Leslie Berestein. Gen 1.5: Where an immigrant generation fits in. 89.3 KPCC, 21 Mar.

2012,

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2012/03/21/7963/what-is-a-1-5-where-an-immi

grant-generation-fits-i. Accessed 19 March 2017.

11
 R-3-3

Sauer, Alissa. Bilingualism May Delay Alzheimers by More than 4 Years. alzheimers.net, 11

Dec. 2014, http://www.alzheimers.net/12-11-14-bilingualism-delays-alzheimers/.

Accessed 20 March 2017.

Quick Facts: California. United States Census Bureau,

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/06. Accessed 18 March 2017.

21st Century Community Learning Centers. U.S. Department of Education,

https://www2.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/index.html. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Primary:

Mahmood, Jen. Personal Interview. 2 March 2017.

Marshall, Marga. Personal Interview. 2 March 2017.

Print:

Harlan, Judith. Bilingualism In The United States: Conflict and Controversy, Franklin Watts

Library Edition, Impact, 1991.

Noll, James Wm. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Educational Issues, Fourteenth Edition, The

McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2007.

Office of Management and Budget. America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great

Again, Office of Management and Budget, 2017.

12