The discourse community that I’m putting my focus on and leaning towards is bilingual students. I choose this discourse community because as a bilingual student myself I realized that there is a lot of people that don’t know the importance of knowing more than one language and what kind of advantages being bilingual comes with. The United States is known as one of the few countries with the most diversity, English is know as the countries language ( even though it’s the most spoken doesn’t mean it’s the countries official language)but many people from all over the world move to this country knowing another language that isn’t English. Some issues I noticed when researching my discourse community is that many schools don’t offer a second language for students to learn even though more than 50 percent of people know at least 2 languages and if a school does offer a language the options are very limited. Another issue I noticed was as kids grow up if they aren’t taught in both languages or continue to practice both languages it’s more likely they will forget how to speak, read, or write in the first language they learned. As a toddler the brain is more flexible so if students are taught a language at a younger age their probability of them being fluent in that language is higher. Most Students either get to learn a language in middle school or high and some even continue to practice a language in college. After the age of 12 the brain isn’t as flexible so learning a language after that age won’t be easy. It’s not impossible but it sure will take a lot of work and practice. I could use myself as an example, I was taught both Spanish and English and in middle the only option my school had was French, so through 6-12 I was taught French and I could without a doubt say I’m not fluent in that language. Being able to know more than one language is important and useful even after you’re finished with school and it’s something people should keep in mind for future generations.
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Prof: Dr. Ruth G. Garcia
Email: RGarcia@citytech.cuny.edu
This is a course in effective essay writing and basic research techniques, including use of the library. College-level readings are assigned as the basis for classroom discussion and for essay writing.
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So, I think Bilingual students is good but you might want to be more specific. Do you in middle school? Younger? Newly arrived? Second generation? Being more specific will help you figure out how to better identify the problems faced by your DC.
I really like your topic. I also myself speak four languages. I started learning these languages from a very young age. I agree with you that children should be given an opportunity to learn more languages from a very young age.
I definitely agree, knowing more than one language is vital in today’s society. Not everybody living in America speaks only English, this country is full of diversity, hence, knowing more than one language can be a great help and be put into great use. Moreover, learning languages from a young age is a lot easier than when getting older. I also agree with your statement, “toddler the brain is more flexible so if students are taught a language at a younger age their probability of them being fluent in that language is higher.” Therefore, offering more language classes is proven to make one smarter, better chance at academic achievements, looks good when looking for a job, gives you better social skills,etc.
I agree with you. My parents are immigrant, I grew up speaking Bangla at home, English ‘outside’ and then had to learn a new foreign language in high school. I’ve since learned how to speak Spanish and Arabic. It is extremely important to be fully bilingual if you wish to succeed in New York City. New York City is the gateway to the America’s. So, it would be a plus for you if you did speak it, and wrote it fluently.
I enjoyed reading about this because i agree that this is something very important. I believe that if you engrain another language to a child from a young age it is way easier for them to learn it. This then pinpoint the importance of schools having second languages.
Reading this was very beneficial because I can now understand from the perspective of my friends who are bilingual. I agree that being able to know more than one language is important and useful even after you’re finished with school and it’s something people should keep in mind for future generations.