Zack Quaintance
Daily Egyptian
Kindergarten teachers could soon be adding a rolling R sound to the time-honored reading, writing and arithmetic curriculum.
In one of Altgeld Hall's newly remodeled dance rooms with polished
wooden floors, a wall of mirrors and a table sporting a boom box,
stands 20 children ranging in age from eight to 11.
They are here with the Saluki Kids Academy's bilingual section, and they are learning the Mexican hat dance.
Lisa Smith, an English as a second language teacher at Carbondale
elementary schools, is volunteering her time to supervise and make sure
the children aren't rude to Ann Talbott, an SIUC music student, who is
trying to make them dance with a partner of the opposite sex.
"I need you to spread out," Talbott says. The dancers comply, but it isn't what their teacher had in mind. "With your partner!"
After she has that clarified, Talbott begins the demonstration. For the
next 15 minutes, the acoustically sealed room is filled with the sounds
of little feet stomping and little hands clapping. When it is all over,
the dancers are rewarded with a sticker for their little blue mock
passports.
"What do you want to say?" Smith asked.
The response is a mixture of "gracias" and "thank you." Surprisingly,
it seems like the Spanish speakers are the ones saying thank you and
the English speakers are the ones saying gracias.
An interest group calling itself the Southern Illinois Dual Language
Coalition is working to make programs like these a fixture in
Carbondale's grade schools.
Smith works with the coalition. Her English as a second language
students speak everything from Russian to Urdu, but Spanish is the most
common. A dual language immersion program, similar to the one the
Saluki Kids Academy is running, would be a great thing for Carbondale,
Smith said.
"The big idea is to make students totally fluent in two languages,"
Smith said. "Not just partially develop their language skills."
The program, which has been in place for years in some Chicago schools,
would put students who speak the two languages together while teaching
Spanish vocabulary in the middle of classes like geography and math.
The idea is to have children learn a second language without realizing
it.
Joan Friedenberg, a professor in SIUC's linguistics department, also
works with the group. Friedenberg said the program is important to her
because she learned Spanish later in life, and it would have been
easier if she had the chance to start young.
There is no reason to worry about the program's cost, because all it
takes to implement these classes is a teacher fluent in English and
Spanish, she said.
"I'd say it doesn't have to cost anything," she said. "If you hire a
competent person with an elementary teaching certificate and bilingual
status, it costs the same."
Elizabeth Lewin, superintendent of Carbondale Elementary School
District 95, said she is open to any program that will help students be
better prepared for high school.
"There are a lot of neat ideas out there and we will look at whatever
is going to enhance the learning experience for our kids," Lewin said.
However, officials at local schools want to see more of a demand for
the program before they commit to it. Using native Spanish speaking
students to teach others is not yet possible, because Carbondale
elementary schools have about 90 Spanish speakers spread out in five
different buildings, Lewin said.
"If we see our numbers increase dramatically, we would look into it," she said.
Students can elect to take French or Spanish when they reach
fourth-grade. That system has worked well, and Lewin said she would
expand it if she gets more applications from bilingual teachers.
Leslie Duram, a geography professor at SIUC, enrolled her 8-year-old
son Kyle Bathgate in Saluki Kids Academy bilingual section. Bathgate, a
third-grader at Thomas School, enjoyed the program so much he said if
his plans to become a professional football player don't work out, he
thinks teaching foreign language could be an all right backup.
"I wish we could have this in all the schools," Duram said. "We'd do ourselves a favor by teaching this early on."
Duram, who went to third-grade in the Netherlands, said she remembers
it was a lot easier to learn another language at a young age. She likes
the immersion idea, and said she has already seen evidence of its
effectiveness.
In kindergarten, Bathgate was in class with Spanish-speaking students
and he picked up some words. Now that he's in the Saluki Kids Academy
program, he has learned so much that his parents are starting to pick
up a few words.
The push for dual language is growing, Friedenberg said. The group has
contacted local school districts and invited them to an informational
town meeting in October. The goal is to get the program implemented by
fall 2006, she said.
"From a parents point of view, I hope they can do this," Duram said. "It'd be awesome."
Reporter Zack Quaintance can be reached at
zack_quaintance@dailyegyptian.com.
