Stephanie Larson
English 401
Spring 2011
Choosing a Voice: Bilingualism in Writing
As I sit down next to her, I notice the tattoo that grazes the under side of her wrist. I ask
her what it means and she responds, “Peacefulness...no! Peace of mind. Well, it also means
serenity or tranquility of nature... No, you see, it just sounds stupid when you ask me to translate
it.” Her name is Andrea, and she arrived in the United States from Greece when she was ten
years old. Segueing back and forth between Greek and English is now second nature to her, yet
the difficulties of what gets lost in translation still prove to be problematic from time to time.
My research question deals with how bilingual people conceptualize their use of the
English language keeping in mind their identity as a bilingual speaker. How does our educational
system affect primary language use, furthermore, how does this language surface in university
life on campus. Because language is inherantly tied to identity, when does one language trump
the other? How do you decide when to use one language over the other?
This topic is extremely relevant given our current state of immigration within the United
States. We are a country with no defined mandated language, and while the influx of
immigration continues to grow, English often seems to overshadow all other languages that come
into this country. Language is how we communicate, think, feel, and move throughout our day to
day lives. If immigration continues to grow in rate, should we not be asking the question, how do
we maintain the language identity someone brings into this country in conjunction with learning
English?
Scholars, such as Michelle Hall Kells and Guadalupe Valdés, have worked to unpack the
relationship between bilingualism and the classroom. Hall Kells focuses more on how MexicanAmericans suffer through the assumptions of having incorrect Spanish or even English due to
their codeswitching. Codeswitching, in this sense, is stigmatized. It represents a laziness, as
opposed to what Hall Kells sees it as, rather an “innovative” practice (Hall Kells 36). Her
research directly mirrors one of my participants, Ryan. Valdés looks closely at our American
classrooms and how they deal with teaching bilingual speakers English. Creating a balancing act
between limiting their non-English language and attempting overall progression in the students’
education in her study poses several problems.
The two participants for my study, one boy and one girl, are both university students with
bilingual backgrounds. Andrea’s family has a long history of migration. Her mother, born in the
United States, married her father who came to America from Greece when he was eighteen to
attend Northwestern University. Once they married, the couple moved back to Greece where
they started their family that contains Andrea, her younger brother, and younger sister. Ryan, on
the other hand, was born in El Paso, Texas in order to gain American citizenship. His father, also
born in El Paso for citizenship reasons, married his mother, who gained citizenship through
marriage, and started their family in Mexico. Ryan, his sister, and his brother moved to Chicago
when Ryan was three because of their father’s job. While Ryan’s English acquisition occurred
very shortly after he began speaking in Spanish, Andrea began learning around the age of six.
Andrea’s quest for English acquisition began long before she arrived in the United States
when she was ten. Uniquely, it begins with soap operas and fashion magazines. She spent her
days at elementary school in Greece only to run home to her mother to catch the latest Days of
Our Lives, and after which, they would gossip about the characters and their racy, risqué lives.
The language of all things identified as “American” quickly attracted young Andrea, digesting as
much English as possible through the lens of media entertainment. Learning English was not a
chore, rather a fascinating outlet she explored in hopes to become everything that was idolized in
anything from Vogue to Elle, specifically everything that encompassed the fascinating American
lifestyle.
My interview with Andrea exposed how attractive her second language acquisition was.
Her mother was Andrea’s primary tutor, learning only from what her mother remembered before
she immigrated back to Greece. Patient and empathetic, her mother tied together the shared
interests of pop culture and fashion with English in order for Andrea to grasp the language.
Andrea advanced quite quickly, thus when she arrived in Chicago, she was seamlessly admitted
into a mainstream fourth grade classroom, with no ESL influence.
Her first language went completely unacknowledged by her teacher, and on the verge of
adolescence, Andrea, the “new” kid, was not about to reveal, yet again, something that would
set her apart. Thus, she worked to silence her accent and model American behaviors, attitudes,
fads, and most importantly, English. Her family, which encompasses everything Greek (religion,
food, home life, etc), provided an environment comfortable enough for the children to learn
English. Andrea mentioned during the interview, “the shift from speaking only Greek [at home]
to now speaking English went unnoticed. It seemed natural, only right, that we needed more
outlets to practice.” Due to advancing her English skills in the home, Andrea enjoyed the fact
that her practice paid off and her fellow students could never tell she was “foreign.” It was as if
assimilating into the American classroom became a game, and for Andrea, she enjoyed her talent
of fooling the others.
When I asked Andrea how she would characterize her Greek identity, she told me all
about her gentle grandmother who only speaks Greek and her “FOB” (fresh off the boat) father,
which she explained as “Being unformilar with the customs of the United States. Confusing
words, mispronouncing words... let’s just say he sticks out like a sore thumb. He’s very loyal,
unwilling to give up his attachment to Greece.” Andrea’s father represents what it means to
prioritize cultures. While he has lived in America for the majority of his life, he remains loyal to
Greece. Andrea has witnessed the closest relationships of her family revolve around Greek and
because of this, she remains proud of the fact that she can speak the language. But when I asked
her about her writing in Greek, all she could mention was the journal her mother found recently
from fourth grade. This was the journal that marked her transition into America that was still
written in Greek, yet certain Greek vocabulary now stick out to her as unrecognizable. “Some
words don’t come to me anymore,” she admitted as she explained how she lost so much of the
language simply because she was not practicing it daily. She can get through the writing in the
journal, yet it takes her much longer, as opposed to her effortless ability to read English. Large
nouns or words used infrequently in conversation cause Andrea to pause in concentration or ask
her mother for translation in order to move through her daily stories. Writing in English has
completely overshadowed writing in Greek.
Amanda Kibler discusses the implications for how we approach English Language
Learners in our classrooms and how students retain both languages, as opposed to Andrea who
slowly sought out only English as her means of education. She remarks about the assumptions
made, whether or not students lack knowledge due to being language learners, and how powerful
these labels attached to students can guide our instruction (Kibler 122). In addition, resisting use
of the first language is perceived as a positive model for instruction because “exposure will lead
to acquisition,” which is exactly the approach Andrea took (Kibler 123). During her study, she
follows four Latino students, three of which are “upper beginning to intermediate English
proficiency” students and one being fluent in English and Spanish (Kibler 124). The bilingual,
fluent peer, Cynthia, provides the role of the “broker,” rather the person that segues through both
languages ensuring comprehension, as well as providing a means of interaction for students to
gain expertise in writing. The broker acts as a reference during several stages of the writing
process for the student to speak in his or her primary language about anything from generating
ideas to analyzing a draft.
Ultimately, the study finds this role of the broker to be powerful for two important
reasons in particular. One, the student can help the teacher ensure that tasks and assignments are
understood. The second reason explains the crucial role this person plays for the student learning
English, specifically composition in English. Writing is an ongoing process that demands
feedback and interaction throughout an assignment. Kibler argues the “analysis of written,
spoken, and nonverbal interactions between writers and their environments – can tell researchers
much more about language proficiency and pedagogy than any finished piece of writing ever
could” (Kibler 137). The teacher in the classroom Kibler studied did not speak Spanish,
however, efforts were made to retain both languages without refusing another identity or aspects
of another identity. The student learning English uses his or her first language, Spanish, to
brainstorm, imagine, generate, create, and bounce ideas off of his fluent peer, thus comfortably
preparing and reassuring the broker and him or herself that comprehension is present and the
assignment can be completed.
This study highlights what Andrea did not have once she arrived in America. She had no
one asking her about her primary language. She had no one offering to help translate or
understand the potential for something not perfectly translating. She had no one intrigued by the
language she spoke for the first ten years of her life. In fact, she felt confident and applauded
herself when she made it through the fourth grade without anyone even knowing about her
previous life in Greece. Her case is interesting because she established her use of English before
coming to America, but Kibler adheres to the idea that the broker allows the ELL to express
themselves confidently and effortlessly in the primary language. Suggesting that ideas spark
organically in primary languages, students now have the chance to present their argument in both
languages in a way that will be respected and encouraged.1 Andrea no longer writes in Greek
because the opportunity never arises. She mentions, “My education is presented in English.
When I learn to write, it’s in English. There’s simply no use for writing in Greek anymore.” As
an English major, she continues to mature and craft her voice as a writer, but the Greek written
word seems to slowly be left behind.
Andrea also referenced how her parents began to notice her infrequent use of Greek, and
consequently they revived it in their home and enforced that the children leave English outside
home once she was in middle school. Andrea admits that she is not as proficient as she would be
given that she continued to speak it outside of her home since she arrived. When she spends time
with her grandmother, she returns to her guilt-pleasing roots by indulging herself in soap operas,
yet these soap operas are in Greek. Ironically, the social medium that taught her English now
helps her grasp the language that slowly slips away from her.
Ryan, similar to Andrea, witnesses the same separation of native language at home and
English only at school, however Ryan’s language exchange between both languages happens
Murphy, Liz and Julio Roca de Larios. “Searching for words: One strategic use of the mother tongue by advanced
Spanish EFL writers.” Journal of Second Language Writing. A study conducted how second language learners use
the first language to talk around a certain vocabulary word in English in order to prove comprehension. This activity
is similar to something that a broker would engage with an ELL.
1
slightly more frequently than Andrea’s. Ryan’s English language learning happened very closely
to the time he learned Spanish, so he says he was constantly shifting back and forth between the
two languages, almost as if they were learned at the same time. At the end of the interview he
mentioned something that beautifully frames much of my interview with him. He admits,
The interplay between both languages has really played a part in my personality. I
get flustered easiliy, I want to say things as I’m thinking them and it doesn’t
happen because I’m thinking too fast in various thoughts and ideas [in both
languages] but I think it has to do with this mesh of communication.
Ryan’s shifts between English and Spanish happen not just between the home and at school, but
they happen in between classes, during extracurriculars, during conversations with friends,
cousins, and even letters back and forth to his aunt. To me, he seemed almost exhausted due to
this constant transition of not only language, yet thoughts, ideas, and even mindsets.
Codeswitching seems to complicate his life from time to time, which is often perceived by his
peers, professors, and others as confusion.
Before Ryan enhanced his bilingualness, he began with Spanish. Spanish was the first
language he learned, and being in Mexico, he was surrounded by Spanish speakers. His home,
since he was born, has remained a Spanish only environment, never condoning English use. He
admits now that he was glad his parents enfored Spanish only at home, even once they moved to
Chicago. Even though his sister, brother and he would try to slyly share jokes with one another
in English, it gave him a place to relax and speak, and he says, “I could just focus on Spanish at
home.” He claims it was not a struggle moving back and forth between languages, rather, “I just
knew both.”
Once in Chicago, Ryan was placed in preschool at the age of three, yet, at this point, he
spoke no English. He remarks,
I probably didn’t talk [at school] until I learned English. Like I was quiet, but I
was really funny. I would play around with the teachers, like hide things from
them. My teachers loved me and hated me at the same time. I guess I needed
attention because I couldn’t talk.
Old enough to understand the language of activities at preschool was not his own, Ryan
compensated for it in a playful way. He commented on how his learning of English happened
during his second year of preschool, and while he can’t quite remember anything that marks it
distinctly, “It just kind of happened. Gradually, it wasn’t dramatic.”
Every summer and Christmas, Ryan and his family travel back to Mexico to spend time
with his family. The physical migration to Mexico is not the difficult part for Ryan, rather
switching to full emersion in a Spanish only speaking world tends to be initially problematic for
him. He says
It’s difficult to adjust, to remember all the words, not really frustrating, but
people notice that I’m not primarily Spanish speaking. I’m really confused, in
speaking and in my head. When I come back [to Chicago], my English is
troubled, too. The way that I talk is not the same so I have to change my mindset.
It’s not big, not really defined, it just kind of happened.
Here, Ryan brings to light something crucial, but also something that can be scrutinized by
others. He witnesses a period of time where he adjusts to speaking only Spanish, as well as
adjusting to his English once he returns. Ryan faces what Hall Kells describes as the fear of
speaking “corrupt” Spanish or “corrupt” English (Hall Kells 34). People may quickly assume or
judge him improper or inadequate because of this time he must take to adjust, yet his
codeswitching marks something different.2 Hall Kells notes how Mexican Americans are not
often seen as fully literate in either English or Spanish. Ryan pointed out how it was easy for
others to pick out his American accent and how it influenced his Spanish. For him, it is not a
Lagman, Eileen, Segregation between Chinese International Students and Chinese Americans at UIUC. Lagman,
in her ethnography noted how international students from China label them as Chinese and Chinese Americans label
themselves Americans. This separation can sometimes lead to judgments of Chinese Americans, similar to that of
Hall Kells’ participants.
2
matter of proficiency in either language, it is a matter of what Hall Kells describes as
“innovative” and it is “shaped by considerations for audience and occasion” (Hall Kells 34).
Intriguingly, Ryan notes his change of “mindset.” I wonder if he has three mindsets, one in
English only, one specifically for codeswitching, and finally one for Spanish only, and if so, how
could it not be exhausting having to register where you are and who is your audience? Ryan’s
confusion is something to be respected because he is at a constant battle of revealing himself in a
way that suits his audience in a very impressing manor.3
This shift back and forth occurs in Ryan’s writing, as well. In elementary and high
school, Ryan’s formal writing occurred in English, but now in college, he takes Spanish classes
to directly improve the more formal, intricate aspects of Spanish writing. In terms of his informal
writing, Ryan often writes in Spanish on Facebook, emails to cousins, and especially letters to
his aunt. His aunt, he explains, likes to send letters to him from Mexico to keep in touch with
what is going on in his life. He always writes back in Spanish, but he admits, “I can get by,” and
that he is not as proficient in writing in Spanish as he is in English. He shares, “I wish I had the
formal training. Like, for Polish people they have Polish schools they can attend on weekends.
Mexican schools aren’t really a thing. It would have made both [writing in both languages]
better.” Ryan adheres to what Andrea shared earlier that the lack of primary language use in the
classroom environment causes them to lose touch with academic use of their first languge. Ryan
can chat and keep up with his family in Spanish, but he senses the time and energy it takes to do
so.
Szafranski, Lauren. Study Abroad Choice Process and Outreach at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. Ethnography of the University Initiative. Szafranski studies how student who study abroad have a larger
global awareness. Bilingualism, as one of many other factors, helps students build a cultural awareness and
strengthens a student’s overall education.
3
When I asked Ryan about his composition practices, whether in English or Spanish, he
revealed, “I have problems in both because my mind is all over the place! Too many thoughts at
once, I don’t think it has to do with language.” I, on the other hand would suggest it absolutely
has to do with the use of two languages. He also shared, “If I’m here [at school] I think in
English, but if I get home, I talk in Spanish, and even to myself. I’m always like ‘Tengo que
hacer esto (I have to do this), but it’s dependent upon who I’m around.” Ryan’s ability to speak
Spanish, until he reached college, was something that was addressed completely outside the
academic rhelm. Taking Italian to fill his language requirement during secondary education, he
had no one walking him through grammar rules to even composition structure in Spanish, yet he
is constantly thinking in both languages, constantly switching and judging when it is appropriate
to use one over the other. Even though he attended schools where the population surrounding
him was primarily Spanish speaking, students were asked not to speak it during school.
Identified as a language used specifically outside of school, Spanish unofficially became a
language not for academic purposes for Ryan. When asked even here in college which language
surfaces more often, he explained, “English might be more prevelant because of the people I’m
surrounded by.” Ryan never feels that his languages are at competition with one another, rather
audience completely dictates what language he chooses. Because English dominated his
educational career, he lacks some of the formal aspects writing demands, and in addition, writing
in Spanish does not come as easily as writing in English.
For both Ryan and Andrea, their conceptions of the use of English became the reality of
schooling. My interviews resonated quite clearly what Kibler noted before her study. We often
fault our education system for approaching ESL classrooms unproductively. Kibler found a
classroom that achieved two things, improving English composition and sustaining two
languages. Andrea, however, was forced to choose one language in school, and consequently,
having no other area besides home to speak Greek in, her primary language suffered. Ryan, on
the other hand, always understood school to be an English only arena. The institution of
schooling is powerful enough to demand one language only, but we need to recognize what can
occur because of this and how this affects the identities of our students.
Andrea holds on to a very conversational Greek language. Through her family, as well as
Greek soap operas, she uses the language to touch base with family or mimic the language used
by her scandalous characters within these soap operas. This is why reading her Greek journal can
be a struggle. When one language does not infiltrate the area where the second language grows
and matures, the use of the primary becomes quite limited. Like Andrea, Ryan writes in Spanish
on Facebook and via emails to cousins, but both of these mediums do not demand a formal tone,
rather conversational. This is why Ryan, reaching college and finally having an opportunity to
use Spanish in the higher educational setting, has trouble transforming his Spanish into the rigid
rules of grammar. I do not think that by the time bilingual students reach college they are at a lost
cause in terms of crafting an academic voice in their primary language, rather their must be a
motivation to do so. Ryan appreciates how his Spanish has changed, but it becomes burdensome
from time to time. Both participants commented several times how writing in their first language
takes time and effort. They need to have a specific reason and a specific drive that pushes them
to write in Greek or Spanish because English is so easy for them.
Ryan, today, bilingual in Spanish and English, constantly works towards adjusting the
way he thinks and ultimately speaks to cater to an audience. He remains fluent in both languages,
yet he has never been given the opportunity to craft an academic voice until he reached college.
Consequently, he finds his Spanish classes to be some of the most difficult ones he takes, even
though they are not apart of his major or minor. For Ryan, language choice is never fixed, rather
subjective, completely dependent upon situation. He attributes his confusion to this constant
switching or intermingling of the two languages, however I, in conjunction with Hall Kells’
argument, see it as something to be applauded. Because the institution of education is dominated
by English, the subconscious notion constantly creeps in that other languages simply are not
meant or are not welcomed in this domain. This is why Ryan’s codeswitching is seen by some as
confusion. If bilingualism or multilingualism were something to be welcomed in school, perhaps
his confusion would be interpreted as something more prestigious and admired.
Andrea, on the other hand, has endured a much more traumatic outcome due to the
English demand in the classroom and the removal of Greek. Throughout the interview, her
responses started confidently, yet as the questions developed into more personal, identity arising
issues of language, she started to realize what her Greek looks like today verses what it looked
like when she was ten. A language that used to surround her life now appears at home and only
between family. Andrea obtained her English through a multimedia fashion, quickly mimicking
the lives of Americans. Not knowing it at the time, as she moved into her new American life, her
Greek language took a back seat to English. Now, she reflects on what she has left, and while she
is still fluent, she recognizes how much has been lost.
English is constantly trumping Greek for Andrea, and unfortunately, she works towards
regaining her Greek through cheesy soap operas. Absent from university life with the exception
of phone calls home, Greek will remain a language for the home. When I asked Andrea if she
plans on passing down the language to her children, she said, “Probably not. Unless I marry
someone who speaks Greek, which isn’t likely. It’s too hard when there’s nothing else available
except for your parents.” Learning English in American school systems has the opportunity to
strengthen the use of both languages, but unfortunately too often, English overpowers, thus
creating a hierarchy of language use.
Both participants witness insecurities while writing or using their primary languages, yet
both are extremely proud of being fluent in their respected first languages. English has become
easy, common, and for each of them, more appropriate to use for writing, mostly because they
each have been trained to write only in English. What students bring out of their home and into
the classroom needs to be addressed in a way where students feel a sense of pride that can be
respected by their peers, as well as authority. Perhaps if we could find a way for both languages
to mature in different aspects of life besides just the home, Andrea would not remark how it
“sounds stupid when you ask me to translate it,” rather there is much more to it than the word for
word explanation.
Works Cited
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