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We Need Good DLOI
Dual Language Online Instruction Materials Are A Must
By Alfredo Arango
Since ancient times, the difficulties which human beings have encountered in the attempt to understand each other when speaking different languages have been seen as a catastrophe. The Tower of Babel is a clear example. The truth is that when we understand each other our lives are easier and our societies stronger. Numerous studies have proven that being bilingual enhances intelligence and career opportunities (1). However, in highly multilingual societies -such as the one we have in the United States- schoolbooks/texbooks in only one language are still the norm.
As we well know, having dictionaries to translate from one language to another, and texts already translated into another language in separate books are tools that can help, but they do not resolve the complex challenge of being able to fully understand and express ourselves through listening, speaking, reading, and writing in more than one language. The urgent need for programs and materials to be presented simultaneously in both the native and target languages is out there, not only in literature but in all subjects, including the much needed STEM academic disciplines.
The Billingual Educaiton Act of 1968 -the first official federal recognition of the needs of students with limited English speaking ability- was an important advance, but its whole framework based on certain pedagogical segregation is now outdated. Having separate classes/materials in Spanish and ESL/ESOL for children who are not proficient in English can help those students who are involved in such programs; but, in a way it disconnects them from other key linguistic and cultural environments. At the same time, having separate classes/materials to teach Spanish as a second language to non-Spanish speaking students helps only those taking such courses, while also disconnecting them from the real authentic Spanish world. In any case, that tendency to isolate curriculum and people, at the end of the day results in an expensive and incoherent educational system that does not integrate its different components and resources.
Dual Language programs and materials were supposed to solve this issue, but sometimes the cure has been worse than the disease. It is true that in these programs all students receive instruction in two languages. However, the way in which most of those programs have been designed is inefficient and at times chaotic. In the current diverse classroom it does not make sense teaching half a day in the total-immersion style in a language that half of the students do not understand, and the other half of the day in another language that the other half of the students do not understand either. What you get is ongoing confusion and frustration. These experiments are particularly conflicting for students who understand neither of the two languages in which these programs tend to operate in the U.S.: English and Spanish. This approach is based on a lot of good intentions but ultimately leads to the building of humongous Towers of Babel. The cracked foundations of these constructions are making the whole educational structure collapse.
The most logical thing to do would be to provide instruction in several languages simultaneously, so that all students understand the content in their own language, and at the same time have the opportunity to learn it in their second language, whichever that is. In order to achieve this goal, publishing houses should develop more materials -books and instructional components- that present the content in two or more languages in an integrated and analytical way. Teachers and students should be able to access the content in several languages, as well as instructional materials that explain how certain things can be said using the same or similar words and grammatical structures in different languages, and which ones need to be expressed in a totally different way. A constant compare and contrast routine would facilitate the process of students crafting their own translations and thinking naturally in two or more languages. These ideal materials would also be a tremendous help for teachers who are not fully bilingual, which is the majority in the U.S. With these materials, teachers themselves could learn or improve their ability to communicate in the languages their students understand and be in a more comfortable position to help them all. This is exactly what happens in some regions where people use several languages all the time; for instance, in some parts of Europe, where children can understand German, French, and English; or, regions of Asia, where it is common for people to understand Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, and even Russian and English.
Developing more language-wise comprehensive materials could benefit publishers themselves, letting them correct the course and preventing their titanic industry from sinking after hitting the many icebergs of gelid financial waters. In a well documented article entitled Textbook Industry Trends: Why Publishers are in Trouble, award-winning journalist Philip Preville stated: “London-based Pearson PLC., the world’s largest education company, posted a loss of more than $3 billion last year, due to a 15 percent decline in sales, and laid off some 4,000 employees as part of a global restructuring. Two of America’s largest educational publishers were also printing red ink for 2016. Cengage Learning, in Boston, closed its fiscal year with a loss of $176 million. Meanwhile, in New York, McGraw Hill Education recorded a net loss of $116 million—a year after posting a $175 million loss.” (1)
Most publishing houses face the dilemma that books are already expensive enough to produce, and are afraid that having to present them in several languages would make them even more prohibitive. This is one of the reasons why true dual or triple language materials are so scarce. However, technology has come to solve this problem. E-books are much more affordable, and there is almost no limit to what can be accomplished with them both in terms of content and instructional components.
It is just a matter of changing the current paradigm. We all need to push for global books that can be read in any language, or at least in the most popular languages of the world. Just by clicking a phrase on a screen, teachers and students should be able to open up a world of possibilities, including drills and quizzes in the form of fun multi-language/interdisciplinary games.
This new paradigm which we can call Dual Language Online Instruction -or DLOI- would make modern educational materials sensitive to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and also be in tune with the needs of virtual education which -with or without pandemics- is increasingly becoming a very interesting option.
References
(2) Textbook Industry Trends: Why Publishers are in Trouble
August 25, 2020
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Alfredo Arango is an educator, writer, editor, and translator, who has been teaching languages (Spanish and English) to children and adults, and developing curriculum, in the U.S. for 20 years. (alfredoarangofranco@gmail.com