Effective Communication with the Immigrant Population – Language and Beyond

1. Effective Communication with the Immigrant Population – Language and Beyond Asian Language BETAC Brooklyn/Queens BETAC Haitian BETAC Office of Adult and Continuing Education June 5th, 2008

2. Workshop Agenda • Overview of New York State Bilingual ESL Technical Assistance Center (BETACs) • Overview of the need of effective communication with immigrant population • Language and culture awareness panel presentation • Haitian • West African • East Asian • South Asian • Spanish • Q & A

3. Mission Statement of the New York State BETACs To enhance the development of knowledge and competencies of educators, parents and local communities needed to support academic excellence of limited English proficient / English language learners (LEP/ELLs) in New York State.

4. Where the BETACs are…

5. Statewide Language BETACs • ALBETAC (Asian Languages) • HABETAC (Haitian Language) • SBETAC (Spanish Language)

6. ALBETAC • Provide technical assistance to schools and school districts with • ELLs from Asian language backgrounds and • Students enrolling in Asian languages programs • Focus on 6 top Asian language groups: (Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Korean, Urdu and Russian)

7. HABETAC • Resource Center • Haitian Spelling Bee • Essay and Art Contest • Career Day for Haitian High School Students • Haitian Studies Association • Haitian Media and CBO Collaborations • Annual Conference on the Education of the Haitian Child • Haitian materials development and translation support

8. SPANISH BETAC • Spanish Spelling Bee • Annual Children’s and Young Adults’ Literature Symposium • Spanish Language Literature Institute • Plazas Comunitarias Network • Collaborations with teacher preparation programs • Language resources and translation support

9. Most Spoken Languages in New York State in 2000 • English is spoken by 72.04 % of people over 5 years of age in New York state. • Languages other than English are spoken by 27.95%. • Speakers of other languages are divided up as follows: Source: Census 2000, Summary File 3, STP 258

10. LEP/ELLs in New York State NYS LEP/ELLs Served: 198,425* LanguagePercentage Spanish 68% Chinese 7% Haitian Creole 4% Russian 4% Korean 2% Other Languages (167) 15%

11. Major Language Groups in NYC SchoolsSource: BESIS, 2006-07Total ELL Population: 139,842

12. What we learned from your responses • Program participants reflect the linguistic diversity of New York State. • Key areas of concerns identified in the survey include: • inconsistent participation, • information on public services and community-based organizations (jobs, immigration, housing, etc.), • multilingual on-line resources, • instruction strategies (special ed, ESL, literacy) • participants lacking literacy skills in their native languages, • education systems in other countries, and • effective communication with people from different cultures.

13. Do you know what language this is? • There are 10 cards in white indicating 10 different languages. • . Your assignment Match the sentence to its corresponding language. There are 10 cards in green providing a phrase in the 10 languages.

14. Do you know what language this is? 老師歡迎學生 CHINESE ARABIC POLISH KOREAN URDU BENGALI El maestro Saluda a los estudiantes SPANISH Pwofesè a salye elèv yo. HAITIAN RUSSIAN

15. Panel Presentation – Languages and Cultures Moderator – Silvestre Wallace, Associate, NYS Office of Bilingual Education) • Haitian (Lily Cerat, HABETAC) • West African (Virginia Jama, B-Q BETAC) • East Asian (Pat Lo, ALBETAC) • South Asian (Tamo Chattopadhay, ALBETAC) • Spanish (Nancy Fernandez, OACE)

16. Making Cross-Cultural Connections:Understanding the Haitian Immigrant Adult LearnerNYS HABETAC @ Brooklyn College June 5, 2008Brooklyn Adult Learning Center

17. Haïti An Overview History Geography

18. The Haitian People Who are we? • Native Taïno (Arawak) • African (Mainly from the Kingdom of Dahomey – West Africa) • European (colonists: Remnants of Spaniard, English, French, Polish*, etc.) • Economically poor, but culturally rich

19. The Languages of Haïti • Haiti has two official languages: French and Haitian Creole • Haitian Creole is spoken by everybody • French is spoken by individuals who have had some schooling • And more…

20. Religious Practices in Haïti Christianity: Catholicism Protestantism Vodoo: is a word from the Dahomean language of West Africa that means spirit, god, or the “sacred” Others: (Jewish, Hindu, Mormon, Muslim, etc.)

21. Holidays in Haïti • Historical Dates • January 1 ( Independence Day & New Year) • May 18 (Haitian Flag Day) • November 18 (Batailles de Vertieres) • Cultural Dates • November 1 and 2 (All Saints’ Day) • December – Christmas • February ( Carnival) • April ( Lent – Rara)

22. Women inHaitian Society • Patriarchal society (male dominated) • Women in Haiti are the backbone of the economy (ti machann) -- Of the 40% of employed the majority is women • Haiti is one country where there is a Ministry on the Conditions of Women. It was created under Aristide • Women/girls and Educational Opportunity

23. Adaptation to Life in the U.S. Haitian Immigration into the US • 1600 – 1803: St. Domingue & Louisiana • 1772: Jean Baptiste Point du Sable • 1779: 800 Haitian soldiers fought w/American revolutionaries @ Savannah, Georgia • 1787: Pierre Toussaint (Philanthropist) • Census Records Register 1820 - 1930 = (20 Haitians each); 1961–1970 = 34,499; 1981-1990 = 138,379 • Today there are 500,000 Haitians in New York (documented and undocumented) • Health Care, Teaching, Human Services, Factory & Maintenance work

24. Resources to help • Haitian Historical & Cultural Legacy: A Teachers’ Resource Guide • Bilingual English-Haitian Creole Glossaries • Haitian Creole Library Lists

25. West African Cultural Notes Looking at our adult students from West Africa in New York City Virginia Jama Brooklyn Queens Regional BETAC Long Island University

26. West Africa, continued • There are over 20 countries in West Africa. We are talking about sub-Saharan places. • Personal notes—history—teaching English in northern Nigeria. • Also taught in Somalia for four years.

27. General Information • Colonial history—countries were carved out of vast areas without regard to cultural groups or languages. • Some languages spoken in West Africa: Mandingo, Wolof, Bambara, Hausa (lingua franca), Yoruba, Ibo. • French, English, Arabic, Portuguese. • Religious differences

28. Education and Adjustment • Degrees of literacy • Nomadic pastoralists versus agricultural settled people. City-dwellers. • Cultural adjustment here in the U.S.: need English, need literacy. Constant worry about how the family is doing “back home.” Political concerns.

29. Gender Issues • Women’s special cases • Been thru hardships. • Civil wars in Sierra Leone, Liberia • Married men travel a lot. Women left for months with kids, relatives. Waiting for money. Absent from your programs. Or Late.

30. Considerations • Teenage girls are forced to work in braiding salons. • No time off on weekends to study • Staying with family members or not so close relatives

31. Education systems • More documentation is required now re. graduation from schools in West Africa. • However, it is hard to produce it. • Considerations for classroom behaviors:students don’t look you in eye. • Students help each other. Whisper—allow for this. Don’t have supplies. • Different literacy experiences. Allow for that.

32. End Piece • Congratulations on the work you do. • People are finally getting the opportunity to continue their education. Even begin their education…because of your programs.

33. CULTURAL NOTES ON EAST ASIA Presented by Pat Lo, Director ALBETAC

34. Asian Languages • Legend • Chinese ■ • Korean ■ • Arabic ■ • Russian ■ • Bengali ■ • Urdu■ Japan Burmese Tibetan Vietnamese Punjabi Hindi

35. Some commonalities • Respect education. • Family comes before selves. • Celebrate the Lunar New Year. • Japanese and Korean also use Chinese characters. • Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai are all tonal languages.

36. General Information

37. Gender Issues Then: • Men were head of household • Women were subservient to husbands • Women’s main role was to produce an heir/care for home and family Now: • Shared household responsibilities • Women now work outside of the home • Married women keep their maiden names • China’s one-child policy

38. Educational Considerations • Class size • Teaching approaches • School expectations for students • Parent involvement • Discipline • Special needs

39. Chinatown Flushing Brooklyn Manhattan

40. Korea Town Manhattan Flushing, Queens

41. The Chinese and Korean Communities Celebrate the Lunar New Year in Flushing, Queens

42. On-line Resources • ALBETAC http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/ALBETAC.html • Directory of Asian community Based Organizations http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/ALBETAC/Resources/newenglishversion.pdf • Translated Glossarieshttp://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/ALBETAC/Resources/translatedglossaries.html

43. Encountering the South Asian Community Dr. Tamo Chattopadhay ALBETAC Consultant Adjunct Assistant Professor at School of International and Public Affairs Columbia University in New York

44. Where in the World?East Asia, South Asia, and South East Asia

45. Shared Historical and Cultural Legacy • Colonial India – today’s India, Pakistan and Bangladesh • Gandhi and the independence movement • The religion issue: Hindus and Muslims • Division of the territory – birth of India and Pakistan in 1947; Birth of Bangladesh 1971 • The word Bangladesh means literally the country (desh) of the Bengali language (Bangla)

46. Major South Asian Languages in NYC Schools • Bengali (2.7%) • Urdu (1.9%) • Punjabi (0.7%) • Hindi (0.2%) • Pashto (0.2%) • Gujarati (0.1%)

47. Bengali Language – Where Is It Spoken? West Bengal, India Bangladesh

48. Bangladesh Official name:People's Republic of Bangladesh National flag: Capital: Dhaka Independence day: 26 march, 1971 Currency: Taka (BDT) Bangladesh is a country bordering The bay of Bengal, between Myanmar And India, and size-wise it is slightly Smaller than Iowa

49. Bangladesh – Quick FactsBased Upon CIA Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html • Population: 150 million (2007); Urban Population: 26% • Population below Poverty Line: 45% (2004 • Adult Literacy: Males:54% Females: 32% • Most of Bangladesh is situated on deltas of large rivers and is prone to severe floods in monsoons

50. Education System in Bangladesh • The education system is divided into 4 levels-- primary (from grades 1 to 5), secondary (from grades 6 to 10), higher secondary (from grades 11 to 12) and tertiary • Alongside national educating system in Bengali, English medium education is also provided by some private enterprises. They offer 'A' level and 'O' level courses • There are non-governmental schools (NGO) and non-formal education centers (NFE) run by NGO-s; Many of these are funded by the government. The largest NFE program is the much reputed BRAC program. These programs cater to the socio-economically disadvantaged population not served by the government schools. But rarely they extend beyond the primary level • There is also a Madrasa system which emphasizes on Arabic medium Islam-based education