Memo #4: Making meaning of the Interviews

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The second person I interviewed was my cousin who came to America about 4 years ago and he is now a sophomore at University of Rhode Island who majors in engineering.  For privacy purposes I will call him Adam.  I asked Adam the same set of questions I asked Erica.  There are a couple of ethnic differences between Erica and Adam.  For one Adam was born and lived in Guatemala for 17 years meanwhile Erica was born in The Dominican Republic.  Another difference is that Adam's parents were living here in America for a while preparing themselves so that they could receive their children with a nice home, cars and stable jobs.  Erica did not know she was going to migrate to America until they actually migrated so they had less preparation.  So, I think a big difference here is that Adam knew he had to learn English.  In Guatemala he attended a private school where they offered English classes all through out his life.  Unfortunately Erica did not have that opportunity - she had to start from Basic English once she got to America.

Adam only attended high school for two years and he said that he already knew how to read English and write at a middle school level in high school.  Adam said that his weaknesses in high school were his friends - they all spoke Spanish.  His friends encouraged him to only speak Spanish, during lunch and after school.  It was hard making English-speaking friends since they were all in different classes and the English Language Learners had their own classes and friends.  He said it was pretty segregated but not on purpose, I guess you could say there were many cliques within the school and nobody really made an effort to break them.

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Adam said that although high school writing was easy for him what really "kicked his butt" was college writing.  He said that classes at University of Rhode Island are big in number so getting the courage to ask for help from the Professor was a lot harder.  Although he said living on campus helped him a lot because URI had many English Language Learners on campus.  He and a girl named Luciana made an after class study group.  Luciana spoke and wrote in English better than Adam and she would proofread his papers for him.  Luciana was a big help for Adam because without her his papers would have many grammatical mistakes.  He said that at URI there is a big emphasis on culture, language and creating a diverse community. Adam said it is normal at URI for students to have an accent or to need help with English; there are a lot of foreign students.  Adam said that even the majors try to include language into them; he is in The International Engineering Program where he would receive a B.A. in Engineering and a B.A. in Spanish.  Adam thinks that is why he is successful in college because URI really pushes for diversity and has the resources to back it up.

Adam's parents always put an emphasis on a college education.  His parents worked hard for 16 years in America so that they could pay for his private school education in Guatemala, buy a new house and have stable jobs.  He said it was hard to grow up without his parents (even though they would visit every year) and that he understands that it was a big sacrifice that they committed to.  He is happy here in America because he sees the opportunities that are offered here, while in Guatemala the government is corrupt and there is always danger that you may wake up with your whole house ransacked.

Adam said that he keeps himself motivated by thinking about the sacrifices his parents have made and all of the opportunities that will open up for him once he graduates.  He thinks that is why his writing has been so successful, because although he has had bumps in the road he keeps on trying and finds ways to get help with his writing.  He said writing is central to anyone who wants an education and at University of Rhode Island he can get the help he needs because of the diversity and the school's staff.

So, What do I make out of my two interviews so far?

Adam and Erica both have very different language backgrounds and different migration stories.  I have learned many things about both people.  Although they both had different English-Language foundations.  They both stressed many of the same ideas.  Erica thought that her writing needed to be brought up to college level as well as Adam.  Erica took the initiative and found help with after school programs meanwhile Adam found a friend who helped him with his writing.  I think both interviewers found the help that they needed in order to hit college writing level.

In my opinion students know that in order to hit proficiency they need to work harder and improve their writing.  That is where Adam and Erica come in they both sought help meanwhile what happens to the students who simply do not know how to find a friend or register themselves for an after school class?  That is a weakness that I think schools should work on.  Offering a bilingual or trilingual worker (other than a home to school liaison) that specifically works with offering English Language workers tutoring, after school programs or even a friend.  Adam's biggest english weakness was in conversation and he said that if his high school would have tried to integrate and remove the language barriers more he would have found the english-speaking or bilingual friend he needed.

I think English as a Second Language teachers know of resources to offer their students but they do not know all of the resources.

All of these thoughts keep circulating through my head, most English Language learners want help but they do not know (literally) how to ask for it.

I am interviewing one of the ESL teachers this week so I hope to come to more concrete conclusions by the end of this week.  See you in my next post!