Week 14: McKay and King & Fogle

Fogle and King's article about bilingual parenting is interesting. It is so nice to see in the article how some parents were getting informed about bilingual education and its benefits in children's academic development. We also need to consider their own personal experiences to bilingual education, it is the main motivator in opting for an additive language family policy. In the study, it would have been better to see more specific sources of information, besides just one book or hearing from other family members. As future teachers, we really need to become advocates for bilingualism in schools and provide parents with the necessary tools to help their children become successful in two languages (at least). Many families are not fully aware of the benefits of being bilingual. Families need to be aware and understand the process of bilingual education and the challenges that come with it. We need to support our future parents emotionally as well as with a variety of techniques and approaches based on specific updated research. Communication with parents is a vital part of the child's learning outcome. We need to receive as much support from the families as we can, and this can be accomplished by showing families the benefits and challenges within bilingual education along with updated research findings.
 McKay's chapter 4 discusses language planning and policies, as well as language politicking. Language policy is "the more general linguistic, political, and social goals underlying the actual language planning process", while language planning means "all the conscious efforts that aim at changing the linguistic behavior of a speech community" (p.89). It also mentions the phrase "language politicking" meaning the "focus on the position of language in real historical and social circumstances", Singapore is a great example of it (p.91). I wasn't aware that Singapore greatly encourages multilingualism and how 50% of the school curriculum is spent learning a second language. The chapter also the discusses English only movements and bilingual education in the U.S. The chapter captures the importance of appreciating the language the student brings to class, such as Ebonics. Both of these readings were interesting to read and helped me understanding more about language policies and planning, as well as the importance of bilingual parenting.