Classroom Lessons Based on
Surname Study
Tapping into the Linguistic
Connections between L1 and L2
Pasco Bilingual Mini-Conference
Red Lion Hotel Pasco
February 11-12, 2011
Sal Gabaldón, Presenter
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Part I: English-Spanish Connection

Nationally, 79% of ELLs are from Spanish-speaking backgrounds*

One especially powerful academic advantage for Spanish-surnamed
students is the many connections between Spanish and English.
* Source: Kindler, A.L., Survey of the States’ Limited English Proficient Students (2002)
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English & Spanish Culturally Linked
America’s top two languages are linked in many ways:

Shared origins

Similar lexicons

Geographic juxtaposition
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Linked by Birth (pg. 36)

Both born at roughly the same time: 250 to 450 C.E.

Both fathered by the collapse of the Roman Empire
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Linked by Geography

Began life in neighboring European countries:


Spain & England
Today the nations holding the most speakers of those tongues:

Mexico & the U.S.
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Linked by History

The largest population of expatriate Americans lives in Mexico;
largest population of expatriate Mexicans lives in the U.S.

Spanish is the second language of the U.S.; English is the second
language of Mexico.
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Linked by Vocabulary

Spanish was influenced by Arabic, but it predominantly
derived from Latin; English is predominantly Germanic, but
has been strongly influenced by Latin.

This shared Latin history has produced thousands of EnglishSpanish cognates.
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Our Shared Cognates

Students’ literacy in L1 boosts the development of literacy in L2

Monolingual English speakers at times can use cognates to read
Spanish with nearly perfect comprehension.
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Using L1 to Read L2
 En agosto Daniel y su papá visitarán al
magnífico zoológico municipal de San Diego.
Allí observarán varios tipos de animales,
incluyendo los tigres, los elefantes, los
hipopótamos, los cocodrilos y las jirafas.
Daniel cargará una cámara para tomar fotos.
En septiembre presentará las fotos en su clase
como parte de un reporte titulado “Mi
vacación en California.”
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Latinized English

Similarly, Spanish-speaking ELLs often can recognize terms written
in Latinized academic English. Given each word pair shown
below, which word is more likely to have a Spanish cognate?
fight / dispute
get / obtain
kill / exterminate
tell / indicate
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False Cognates

To attend the class (asistir—not atender)

To speak with the principal (director/a—not principal)

To visit the library (biblioteca—not librería)

To submit an application (solicitud—not aplicación)
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Part II: Instructional Uses

Ways that teachers can take advantage of the characteristics
shared by the English and Spanish languages:
Point out cognates (more than 300,000 such words)
 Encourage surname study
 Teach about eponyms

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Identity
Much of education is about self-discovery:

Who am I?

Where do I come from?

How am I like others?

How am I unique?
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Government and ID

Governments, since the dawn of nations, have sought ways
to identify individuals.

Surnames were invented in response to the government’s
need to document individual identities, particularly for tax
purposes.
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Names Reinterpreted

The process of discovering one’s place in society is especially
important to immigrants

ELLs can have a particularly difficult time finding
themselves, caught between
 Two languages
 Two cultures
 And sometimes…two names
José o
Joey?
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Students’ Initials

In the Middle Ages
J was born from I
 Ñ was born from N
 W was born from U


U became V in the 18th Century

A research project for ELLs: “Discover the origins of
your initials…”
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The Letter O*
“For centuries the robust O has conveyed emotion and
demanded attention in verse and oratory. It is perhaps
our most expressive letter, and hardest working. Among
O’s features are its many shades of pronunciation in
English; its uses as a word unto itself; and its beautiful
written form—a circle, a ring, intriguing and satisfying to
the eye. O is the only letter whose name creates its
shape, however imperfectly, on the speaker’s lips.”
*Sacks, David. Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z (2003)
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La LL, la Ñ y la RR

In classical Latin, geminate (or "double”) consonants
were phonemic. Over time, the Spanish pronunciation
of double L, double N and double R slurred into
unique sounds recognized as distinct letters.

English example: “announced” versus “unnamed”
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The Ñ in Spanish Surnames

Acuña

Oñate

Bañuelos

Peña

Cáñez

Quiñónez

Cariño

Treviño

Garduño

Viña

Muñoz

Yáñez

Núñez

Zúñiga
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Surname Links

The Germanic people known as Visigoths ruled Iberia for
two centuries and left a linguistic influence that is still
evident in Spanish surnames:
Heinrich-Enríquez-Henderson
 Gundisalv-González-Guntherson
 Hrodric-Rodríguez-Rodrickson

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Names as Denotative Mirror Images
Spanish
English

Sr. Campos

Mr. Fields

Sra. Fuentes

Mrs. Wells

Carlos Estévez

Charles Stevenson

Adán Pérez

Adam Peterson

Sgt. Herrera

Sgt. Smith
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
Dr. Molina

Dr. Miller
Heritage Reflected in Surnames

Adelman—German sobriquet: “nobleman”

Combs—English topographic name: “small valley”

Crawford—English topographic name: “crow’s ford”

Gabaldón—Basque topographic: “rich field”

Kleyn—German sobriquet: “small”

Krashen—Armenian place name from Shirak province: “alpha”

Vallone—Italian topographic: “great valley”

Villegas-Gutiérrez—Spanish place name/patronymic: “Egas’s
village” and “Walter’s son”
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Sharing Our Own “Name Story”

As teachers, one way for students to know us as threedimensional human beings is to share the story of our names
as we help students document theirs.

Some ELLs will know a lot about their names and will be
eager to share the information; some will know very little.
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Surname Study Promotes (pp. 37-40)

More personal connection between teachers and students

Student engagement through cultural relevance

Multicultural understanding

Interdisciplinary learning

language + content
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Name Dictionaries

Tibón, Gutierre. Diccionario etimológico de los apellidos
españoles. Mexico City, Mexico: Editorial Diana, 1988.

Woods, Richard. Hispanic First Names: A Comprehensive
Dictionary of 250 Years of Mexican-American Usage.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984.
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Sample Essays (pg. 41)

Consider the sample student essays:
Use of voice
 Word choice
 Variety of sentence structure


Note that plagiarism is virtually impossible
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Surnames and Content Subjects

Surnames can also play a role in the study of math,
science and social studies

Consider the following:
Pythagorean Theorem
 Álvarez Hypothesis
 Monroe Doctrine

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Eponyms (pg. 42)

Names of real or imaginary persons after whom
something (such as an object, organism, concept, place,
era or discovery) is named.

Eponyms are excellent subjects for independent study;
they add a human dimension to abstract concepts.
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Example: “boycott”

The word boycott entered the English language during
the Irish “Land War” in the 1880s and is derived from
the name of Charles Boycott, an Irish land agent, who
was ostracized by his neighbors in County Mayo,
Ireland, because he was charging tenants rent that they
couldn’t afford. His workers abandoned his house,
fields and stables; businesses refused to sell to him, and
even the postman refused to deliver his mail.
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Pasco, WA

Named after Cerro de Pasco, Perú

Pasco: Cornish nickname for someone born on Easter;
Italian surname meaning Easter.
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Closure—Q & A
★★★★★★★★★★★★
★★★ “In America
English promotes unity;
English-only promotes enmity.”
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