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1 – 10 of over 5000
Article
Publication date: 5 August 2014

Lynn R. Offermann, Kenneth Matos and Sumona Basu DeGraaf

Drawing on social categorization, relational demography, and faultline theories, the purpose of this paper is to examine interpersonal relationships between Hispanic American…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on social categorization, relational demography, and faultline theories, the purpose of this paper is to examine interpersonal relationships between Hispanic American, European-American, African-American, and Asian-American coworkers in relation to language use in the workplace (English or Spanish).

Design/methodology/approach

Employed adults (n=97) participated in one of four racioethnic-specific focus groups (Hispanic American, European-American, African-American, and Asian-American) at each of four worksites in order to assess their reactions to working in a linguistically diverse environment. Interviews with onsite management and human resource directors were also conducted.

Findings

Language issues created noticeable faultlines between English and Spanish speakers. In total, six themes representing issues for multilingual organizations emerged: inclusion vs exclusion, assimilation vs ingroup identification, essential communications, composition issues, utility of speaking English, and negative affective responses.

Research limitations/implications

Results highlight the difficulties inherent in working in multilingual groups and the challenges they present for organizations. Results also suggest the importance of group composition in the development of language issues.

Originality/value

This paper is among the first to present insight into the experiences of workers in linguistically diverse workplaces, and the barriers presented by language differences. As the number of Hispanics in the US workforce continues to increase, maintaining effective relationships between Spanish and English speakers at work becomes especially important for organizational success. Suggestions for managing a multilingual workforce are included.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 29 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Anna Marie Guerra

For centuries, the Hispanic population has been proving itself as an emerging majority in the United States. The United States census shows that the Hispanic population more than…

Abstract

For centuries, the Hispanic population has been proving itself as an emerging majority in the United States. The United States census shows that the Hispanic population more than doubled from 1970 to 1980 and from 1980 to 1990. However, despite these data, libraries have not adapted their library services to meet the needs of this population, despite their knowledge that Hispanics do not feel welcome in libraries. Authors from 1970 to 2001 have highlighted the long-standing problem of Hispanic under-utilization of libraries and have provided recommendations for the library community regarding adapting their services in a culturally sensitive manner. Despite these publications, there is still literature in 2001 reporting that Hispanics do not feel welcome in libraries. The purpose of this study is to examine the current status of three facets of librarianship: (1) outreach efforts to Hispanics; (2) specialized training for Hispanics in bibliographic and information literacy; and (3) current attitudes of Hispanics toward public libraries.

Details

Advances in Library Administration and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1410-2

Book part
Publication date: 18 April 2009

Kwai Hang Ng

Language use is a highly controversial issue in the United States (Schmidt, 2000). Among all the linguistic access issues (e.g., bilingual education, multilingual ballots)…

Abstract

Language use is a highly controversial issue in the United States (Schmidt, 2000). Among all the linguistic access issues (e.g., bilingual education, multilingual ballots), however, the issue of access to justice is probably the least contentious. Most people in the United States seem to agree and appreciate the fact that access to justice premises on the ability of court users to understand the process in which they participate. The integrity of the legal process, particularly for the common law system (like the American legal system), which features an adversarial trial process, would be compromised if litigants were unable to communicate with or understand the judge, witnesses, or opposing parties or counsel. The guiding theory behind the common law is that adversarial trials set up two or more parties to be in conflict with one another in a zero-sum game; it is therefore important for all participating parties to be on equal footing (Thibaut & Walker, 1975).

Details

Access to Justice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-243-2

Book part
Publication date: 1 October 2008

Erynn Masi de Casanova

“Dora! Dora!” squealed my 18-month-old son from his stroller on the crowded subway platform. I scanned the crowd but could not locate the source of his excitement. Then a young…

Abstract

“Dora! Dora!” squealed my 18-month-old son from his stroller on the crowded subway platform. I scanned the crowd but could not locate the source of his excitement. Then a young girl turned her back to us and I saw on her purple backpack the face of “Dora the Explorer,” whose name had made its way into my son's small vocabulary. This scene could have easily taken place in any city or town in the US; young children of all ethnicities are familiar with Dora's animated television program. Worldwide, parents have spent over $3 billion on Dora the Explorer merchandise since 2001, and most products feature English and Spanish phrases (Jiménez, 2005). And Dora is not alone: her show was just the first in a recent wave of animated educational children's programs featuring Latino main characters and dialogue in Spanish.

Details

Biculturalism, Self Identity and Societal Transformation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1409-6

Book part
Publication date: 3 February 2015

Kip Austin Hinton

When bilingual teachers are first hired, many say they are pressured to teach material only in English (Menken, 2008). Removing instruction in a child’s native language is not…

Abstract

When bilingual teachers are first hired, many say they are pressured to teach material only in English (Menken, 2008). Removing instruction in a child’s native language is not likely to improve scores on English standardized tests (Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005), and long term, English-Only instruction reduces academic success and reduces graduation rates (Iddings, Combs, & Moll, 2012). This chapter looks at bilingual classrooms in a Texas school district, through classroom observations, interviews, and a large-scale survey seeking to answer the question, what do officially bilingual classrooms look like when they operate monolingually? Results showed that administrators exerted pressure, and teachers used methods they expected not to work. Some bilingual classrooms had teachers who either could not speak Spanish, or chose not to. Because classrooms operated without the legally required amount of first-language instruction, the district’s “bilingual” programs undermined accountability data while harming emergent bilinguals. Teacher educators have not prepared bilingual teachers for the reality of anti-bilingual schools. New teachers need to know how to not only implement research-based instruction but also defend their instructional choices. Wherever lawmakers, agencies, and administrators have allowed transitional bilingual programs to become de facto monolingual, there may be a role for colleges of education to play, monitoring, assisting, and, if necessary, publicizing lack of compliance. Study findings are limited to one specific district; even in districts with similar phenomena, the manner in which a bilingual program ceases to be bilingual will vary substantially.

Details

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-494-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 February 2015

Brendan H. O’Connor and Layne J. Crawford

While bilinguals frequently mix languages in everyday conversation, these hybrid language practices have often been viewed from a deficit perspective, particularly in classroom…

Abstract

While bilinguals frequently mix languages in everyday conversation, these hybrid language practices have often been viewed from a deficit perspective, particularly in classroom contexts. However, an emerging literature documents the complexity of hybrid language practices and their usefulness as an academic and social resource for bilingual students. This chapter examines hybrid language practices among English- and Spanish-speaking high school students in an astronomy/oceanography classroom in southern Arizona. Microethnography, or fine-grained analysis of video recordings from long-term ethnographic observation, is used to reveal what bilingual students accomplished with hybrid language practices in the classroom and to outline implications for teachers who want to engage their students’ hybrid repertoires. Specifically, the analyses reveal that careful attention to hybrid language practices can provide teachers with insights into students’ academic learning across linguistic codes, their use of language mixing for particular functions, and their beliefs about language and identity. The research is necessarily limited in scope because such in-depth analysis can only be done with a very small amount of data. Nevertheless, the findings affirm that hybrid language practices can enrich classroom discourse, academic learning, and social interaction for emergent bilinguals. The chapter highlights a teacher’s story in order to offer practical guidance to other teachers who seek to capitalize on the promise of hybrid language practices in their own classrooms.

Details

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-494-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 February 2015

Heather Homonoff Woodley

This chapter builds on theories of culturally responsive teaching and translanguaging pedagogies to explore teaching strategies that linguistically, culturally, and educationally…

Abstract

This chapter builds on theories of culturally responsive teaching and translanguaging pedagogies to explore teaching strategies that linguistically, culturally, and educationally empower Muslim immigrant emergent bilinguals in the classroom. These students are often speakers of less commonly used languages, not shared with other adults in the school, thus teachers and school leaders often do not know how to use home languages as teaching tools. This study sought to find practical solutions by going straight to the source – the students themselves. Through a one-year qualitative arts-based study, 15 recently arrived Muslim immigrants provided information about their language use and meaning-making of school experiences. Using interview, observation, and student-created artifacts, data were collected during after-school sessions that also included intensive group discussion and peer interviews in home languages. It was found that these students are facilitating and regulating their own bilingual and multilingual educations through cultural communities of practice. However, it was also found that these students perceived messages from the larger school community as discriminatory, thereby negatively impacting feelings of belonging and value in a school setting. One classroom where students and their languages were valued is profiled in this chapter offering practical ways teachers can engage learning through all languages, especially minority languages, regardless of a teacher’s own linguistic abilities. This chapter offers transferable ideas that may be adapted to diverse classrooms with similar student populations and needs. It is understood that classroom contexts differ based on resources, students’ home language literacy, and curricular demands.

Details

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-494-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 December 2004

Susi Long and Dinah Volk

The theoretical framework guiding these studies draws from the work of Paulo Freire (1989) who argues that transformation in schools and in society is possible when teachers value…

Abstract

The theoretical framework guiding these studies draws from the work of Paulo Freire (1989) who argues that transformation in schools and in society is possible when teachers value and utilize the diverse cultural schema of every student. Our work is further informed by critiques of the deficit perspective that dominates many school settings (Bartolomé & Balderrama, 2001; Garcia, 2001) in the United States. According to this perspective, the documented lack of school success of many children of color, of many children whose first language is not English, and of poor children in general is attributed to deficits in the children themselves, their families, and cultures. Most often, parents are cited for not reading to their children, not emphasizing the importance of education, not disciplining their children, not speaking English to their children, and/or for their own “dysfunctions” which interfere with their children’s learning.

Details

Ethnographies of Educational and Cultural Conflicts: Strategies and Resolutions
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-275-7

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2013

Abraham David Benavides

The Hispanic community is the fastest growing ethnic group in the USA and is currently the largest minority group with tremendous buying power. This trend has seen a significant…

814

Abstract

Purpose

The Hispanic community is the fastest growing ethnic group in the USA and is currently the largest minority group with tremendous buying power. This trend has seen a significant growth with respect to the Spanish-language media in recent years. Along with the media ' s ability to entertain, comes the responsibility to educate and warn its audiences of eminent threats and disasters. The aim of this paper is to look at the Spanish-language media ' s efforts to warn and prepare its listeners for local and national emergencies.

Design/methodology/approach

Using descriptive and explanatory methods the author looks at the failures of the Spanish language media to communicate emergency warnings in both the Saragosa, Texas tornado and in the case of hurricane Katrina.

Findings

Research indicated that pressure from constituents, however, forced a change on the Spanish language industry.

Research limitations/implications

The research was limited by not having first hand contact with the Spanish language media.

Practical implications

The practical implication of this research which has social overtones is that providing disaster warnings to the non-English speaking population in the USA is achievable. Emergency managers and first responders need to be aware of issues regarding non-English speakers.

Social implications

The implications for this research is that all individuals will be notified of emergencies even non-English speakers.

Originality/value

The issues on non-English speakers in emergency situations have come up before. Nevertheless, this work identifies a practical solution by involving the Spanish language media in emergency alerts. It is essential that this tremendous resource be involved in emergency alerts.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 November 2017

Sarah Catto

To gain a better understanding of the impact of students’ home languages and cultural experiences on reading and writing instruction, the instructional methods and materials that…

Abstract

To gain a better understanding of the impact of students’ home languages and cultural experiences on reading and writing instruction, the instructional methods and materials that best supported these students’ emerging bilingualism, and the contributions of their families in their utilization of their home languages and cultural experiences in a school setting. Mixed methods provided data on the literacy development in both home and school languages of three first-grade Latino students who were non-native English speakers enrolled in a school literacy intervention program for 12 to 20 weeks. The students’ confidence and motivation within their reading and writing instruction improved greatly with the encouragement of the use of their home languages and cultural experiences. All three students showed gains in speaking, reading, and writing in both their home and school languages. They made solid and useful connections between the languages and the texts, and drew upon their cultural experiences, which strengthened their reading and writing strategies in both languages. Involving the children’s families in lessons and in activities at school, and supporting their use of reading and writing at home, helped build relationships among the participants, families, and school faculty. This contributed to the beginnings of new understandings on the part of the school’s teachers and administration. Students need to have the space to use their home languages and cultural experiences in school, and I describe how educators in varied educational settings can replicate the same kinds of methods, materials, and support I offered to these students. I also describe suggested ways that teachers and administrators could include the knowledge of emergent bilingual families within the life of the school to further expand all students’ learning and promote social justice in the classroom setting.

Details

Addressing Diversity in Literacy Instruction
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-048-6

Keywords

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