REFLECTION ON BILINGUALISM

The following reflection is done based on the reading “Bilingualism and bilingual education as a problem, right and resource” by Colin Baker.

The most important aspects presented by Baker in his article, has to do with roots of the politics of bilingualism and bilingual education. Language as a problem, language as a right and language as a resource are three different ways of viewing language within a bilingual context.  When talking of language as a problem, Baker emphasizes on the negative consequences of being bilingual taking into account that this fact can cause cognitive, personality and social problems. To illustrate, in the United States, Spanish speakers (especially immigrants) are seen as a threat towards their cultural identity. For this reason, bilingualism is a characteristic of poor communities, communities which are the cause of the economic and educational problem that the country faces.

 In addition to the previous view of language, language as a right promotes the freedom of choosing bilingual education as a human right without being prejudged and discriminated. It means that a minority group with a minority language as its own could be allowed to use it freely without any kind of restrictions and discriminations. Thus, I believe that the use of the official language is relevant for the minority group to interact with the dominant culture, having in mind its own culture and language which should be respected.

The final perspective of the language shows it as resource since it permits a higher level of personal development in relation to culture, economy and intelligence. A bilingual person in this viewpoint can easily interact in a different culture and sees the second language as an opportunity in order to improve his personal life.

I consider that the three different perspectives of language mentioned above can be also seen in relation to our Colombian context. As we know, Spanish is the official language in our country, English is being taught in most of schools as the second language and there also exist many varieties of minority languages (indigenous groups). This shows us that Colombia is a multilingual country with an official language. However, in Colombia (totally different to the U.S.A) bilingual education, where English is taught as the L2, is seen as a resource since most of the population does not have access to the exposure of the L2. Here, it is a privilege of few people, not a characteristic of the poorest. It makes that bilingual people feel comfortable because they can interact with the globalized world that is the one that promotes English as a universal language. So, it gives prestige to bilinguals.

Language as a problem can be seen in relation to the indigenous minority languages. Some of these communities have lost their culture and their language in order to interact with the dominant culture. For different reason, many indigenous people have been forced to leave their lands to cope with a different culture and group which see their languages and themselves as a problem affecting society and economy. In this way, to survive in a different world indigenous people have almost to eradicate their own language although this does not avoid discrimination against them.

Finally, I would say that language as a right does not fit in our context given that it is supposed that people are “free” to choose the language they use. Nevertheless, as I mentioned before, learning a second language is not a choice for every citizen in our country and keeping their own language is not an option for many indigenous people. As I can see, Colombian people have the right to a language, Spanish, since there are not equal opportunities to learn a second language or the official one without having implications in our identity and culture.

Questions

1. Are we as Colombian citizens provided with a language right?
2. Does bilingual education benefit public schools in our national context?