The number of schools in the United States needing to communicate with students and parents in foreign languages is steadily increasing.  The struggle for school teachers and administrators to bridge these language barriers is becoming more difficult and important as the U.S. population continues to diversify.  Unfortunately, it appears that an increasing number of schools are relying heavily on help from bilingual students to translate for other students and parents.  This approach to me seems ineffective and quite inappropriate.  And how did we get here, anyway?

 Over the course of the last several months, I have read several articles involving school administrators using students to interpret for them.  In the latest article I have read, Bridging the Gap: fifth-grader translates for school, a school in Stillwater, OK is relying on a fifth-grader to interpret for students and parents.  The student is doing a wonderful service for those around her and should be commended (as the article does).  However, I cannot help but feel that this arrangement is inappropriate for many reasons.   

 It is simply too much of a responsibility for a fifth-grader to be relied upon to act as an intermediary when parents and administrators need to communicate and will inevitably lead to miscommunications.  Additionally, a student then becomes involved with private interactions involving his or her peers.  I am also working on the assumption that the fifth-grader only interprets on superficial matters because the article, which confused the terms translating and interpreting, only made reference to such interactions.  I would be surprised if the school did not hire interpreters for important matters. 

 While it may be difficult, cumbersome or financially burdensome for schools to hire interpreters for “superficial” communications, there needs to be a better alternative.  The fact that these schools are not finding better solutions is a symptom of a much larger, systematic problem facing the nation: the lack of effective second language education in the United States (effective meaning these skills you spend years acquiring you can use as an adult).  I would be surprised if at least several of the staff members at this Stillwater school had not studied a significant amount of Spanish at some point in their lives.  Yet, none of the teachers can facilitate communication with parents in Spanish. 

 A lack of conversation skills in a second language is not unique to schools in Stillwater, OK.  While schools in more urban and diverse areas tend to enjoy staffs with a higher number of bilinguals, suburban and rural schools find themselves in a difficult situation.  These regions are witnessing ever-growing diversity, but without the staff to cope with it.  Out of the handful of schools with which I have been associated over the past few years, not a single one has had teachers or administrators able to communicate in Spanish outside of the foreign language department. However, the majority of those individuals have studied Spanish for at least four years.

 For many Americans, bilingualism is not a goal and, as a result, our foreign language studies end as soon as it is no longer required.  Unfortunately, we may not see an improvement in this condition as schools cut back foreign language programs, according to the CAL study on which I elaborated in a previous entry.  I believe we as a nation do not value the power of speaking a second language.  As a result, schools are now finding an added challenge to teaching their students.  The effects of our monolingual mindset can be seen across our country- from the dire need for courtroom interpreters to the constant struggles hospitals face in managing their interpreting needs.

 While there will always be a need for trained interpreters and translators (thankfully), I feel if more “everyday” people – our teachers, our doctors, our social workers – spoke a second language, we would be able to better communicate as a society.  The quickest path to our goal is using and improving what we already have.    I encourage everyone who has studied a foreign language to dust off those important skills- try our Conversation Training Program, enroll in classes at a community college or even take a trip abroad.  Perhaps in the future we will not need fifth-graders to interpret for school administrators.  We can all learn something from this resourceful señorita about helping others communicate.  On a side note, she says it has been an incredible experience for her and she would like to be an interpreter when she grows up.

http://www.stillwater-newspress.com/local/local_story_361000552.html

Bridging the gap: fifth-grader translates for school