Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h7TKrN725268; Fri, 29 Aug 2003 16:53:24 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 16:53:24 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <B24038C0D3E160419E320030D92C22DE8FD556@hobbes.cal.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Miriam Burt" <miriam@cal.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9333] Immigrants learning English now and before X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 2859 Lines: 31 ttweeton wrote: ( August 29, 2003 3:50 PM) "have you ever talked to those children of immigrants who arrived here at the turn of the century and declared that the very first thing they had to do was to learn English???? AND THEY DID!. No one complained at that time, that I have ever read anywhere in any article about those years when millions and millions of immigrants arrived, that they didn't have time or that it cost too much money!!! They desperately wanted to learn to speak English as quickly as possible so as to assimilate!" ><><><><><><><><><><><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<><><>< Researchers tell a different story: As documented in Terrence Wiley's "Literacy and Language Diversity in the United States" (1996, Delta Publishers and Center for Applied Linguistics) "...a study by Wyman (1993) of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europen immigrants concludes that a high percentage of European immigrants emigrated back to their homelands. As now, millions of immigrants returned to their homelands while millions more remained here. Then as now, the image of opportunistic, disloyal immigrants fostered resentement among restrictionists, who, in turn, created a past in which former immigrants were somehow more loyal and willng to be Americanized and Anglicized than those of the present" p. 15. A digest discussing this topic, also by Terry Wiley, is on NCLE's Website at http://www.cal.org/ncle/digests/Myths.htm "Myths about Language Diversity and Literacy in the United States" (May 1997) On a personal note, Terry Wiley's work made me reflect on my own ancestors' journeys toward acclimation to life in the U.S. On my mother's side, I remembered great aunts and uncles (some of whom were born in the United States) who never learned to speak English well, who persisted speaking Finnish in northern Minnesota their whole lives. There are other issues here, of course: the fact that higher literacy and proficiency levels are needed in today's post-agrarian/post-industrial world, that we expect everything to happen immediately nowadays, and of course the length of time needed to learn a language well (5-7 years - see NCLE's FAQ # 6: How long does it take an adult to learn English http://www.cal.org/ncle/FAQS.HTM#Six) However, the point remains that learning English is a priority for immigrants, now as much as ever. To conclude with another quote from Terry Wiley's book: "What then of the current situation? Are individuals who speak languages other than English really reluctant to learn English? Crawford (1992a) notes that in California on the day that Propositions 63 (a proposal to make English the official language of California) passed "more than 40,000 adults were on waiting lists for ESL in Los Angeles alone" p. 17. Miriam Burt National Center for ESL Literacy Education Washington, DC
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