Integrating Multilingual Students into College Classrooms - Practical Advice for Faculty: Johnnie Johnson Hafernik and Fredel M. Wiant
Overview
In this slim volume, Johnnie Johnson Hafernik and Fredel M.
Wiant have created a clear and practical guide for faculty across the
curriculum who are interested in helping the multilingual students in their
classes succeed. An added bonus is
that most of the practical suggestions that Hafernik and Wiant provide would help
support the learning of all students in a classroom, not just those negotiating
between multiple languages.
The book is divided into two sections: the first section has
two chapters that focus on “The Context” while the second section contains six
chapters that focus on “Understanding and Addressing Language Skills.” In the first chapter, “Our Students,”
Hafernik & Wiant discuss types of multilingual students—creating categories
and then problematizing them. They
also focus on the need for faculty to both understand the nature of the
language differences these students bring (for example, no amount of hard work
will magically turn these students into native speakers!) but also see these
language differences as a resource and opportunity and not simply a
problem.
In the second chapter, “Constructing Classrooms Where
Students Can Succeed,” Hafernik & Wiant pose a series of important
questions that instructors need to ask themselves including, “How can we
integrate multilingual students into the academy, help them learn, and increase
their chance of success?” (26). In
order to begin to answer these questions, Hafernik & Wiant discuss what
they see as four fundamentals of second language acquisition (SLA) that apply
especially to an academic context:
1) Languages are dynamic and connected to their contexts and
their learners (26-27).
2) Identity plays an important role in language acquisition
(27-29).
3) Everyday language and academic language are very
different (29-30).
4) Multilingual students do not become “native” speakers. A
few courses will not perfect students’ English (30-31).
They then offer some general advice for faculty on how to
create productive classrooms for their multilingual students. They include both
suggestions that focus on ways instructors can think about their students as
well as suggestions that focus on how instructors can help their students
become “members of the academy” (36) and “insiders in their disciplines”
(38).
In the second section of the book, entitled “Understanding
and Addressing Language Skills,” each of the next five chapters focuses on a
different skill: speaking, listening, reading, writing, and working in
groups. The last chapter in this
section deals with issues of assessment. The skills chapters are all organized
in a similar way. First, Hafernik & Wiant discuss the complex nature of the
skill in academic contexts. For
example, they break down the skill of speaking into “formal academic speaking
tasks,” “semi-formal academic speaking tasks,” and “informal tasks” (53). Then, they offer a list of “practical
tips” for helping students with the skill—often breaking those lists down to
address the different types of speaking or reading or writing needed in a
classroom situation.
Reflection/Response
The Book I Wish I Had Written
In mid-February, I did a workshop for some English,
Psychology, and ESL faculty at Elgin Community College about “Supporting
Multilingual Writers” and though I had this book on my to-read list, I hadn’t
yet read it. I wish I had because
my ideas are very much in sync with those of Hafernik & Wiant, and they
said much of what I wanted and tried to say in my presentation but even
better. It was also clear that
they’ve read a lot of the scholars I’ve read-both in TESOL and Composition
Studies.
This makes sense since Hafernik’s training is in TESOL and
Linguistics and Wiant’s background is in Rhetoric, Composition, and
Communication. Their collaboration
developed as their two departments, ESL and English, began to work together at
University of San Francisco and the end result was the formation of a single
department of “Rhetoric and Language.” They suggest that even where a common space or
department isn’t possible, “creating community” across disciplines to address
issues of concern, such as supporting multilingual students, can benefit both
students and faculty (2). This
stood out to me because one of the things I want to do is to begin conversations
on my campus about the needs of multilingual students and the important role
that all faculty play in helping them develop and succeed as learners and
members of the academy.
Five Key Principles
One of many parts of the book that stood out to me was the
list of five principles or “common understandings” (3) that Hafernik &
Wiant outline in the introduction and return to in their Epilogue. Here is the list from the end of the
book:
- Multilingualism is positive and should be encouraged.
- Emerging English proficiency and limited awareness of US academic norms do not mean limited intelligence or limited academic ability.
- Compartmentalizing courses or marginalizing multilingual students is counterproductive for all members of the academy
- Labels such as ‘remedial’ or ‘developmental’ to describe multilingual speakers are seductive and misleading.
- All faculty can and should assist multilingual students in improving their English proficiency and their knowledge of ‘how to be’ a member of the academy. (134)
These ideas are ones that underlie many, if not most, of the
suggestions they give to faculty and these are ideas I believe in strongly as
well. In many ways, the first four
statements all connect to the idea that difference is not deficit. It can be way too easy to focus on what
students lack—advanced vocabulary, the ability to deploy articles correctly,
expertise in a certain type of academic writing—and miss the resources they
bring by being functional (if not fluent) in more than one language. Even well-meaning instructors can
sometimes interpret lack of experience as lack of ability. Hafernik & Wiant would argue, like
many of the theorists I’ve read, that multilingual students need exposure to
and practice with rigorous academic practices, but they may need language
support while doing so.
The fifth point is basically why Hafernik & Wiant wrote
this book. They believe that all
faculty have a role to play in multilingual students’ development. In chapter two, they argue:
Whose responsibility is it to help students understand the workings of the academy, adjust to it, and become full participating members? The answer is ‘Everyone’s’. Each of us can ease the transition for students by simply making what we take for granted explicit for students (37).
Hafernik & Wiant have clearly read Mike Rose’s Lives on
the Boundary as they suggest that faculty can play a powerful role in “inviting”
multilingual students into the academic community in general as well as to
their specific discipline. The fifth understanding is also the one I based my
sabbatical research around—that teaching language and academic literacies is
everyone’s job—not just the job of the English or ELI teacher. Becoming part of an academic community
is an ongoing process—not something that can be done in one or two steps (or
even one course).
Back to the Importance of Second Language Acquisition
Like Dana Ferris, Hafernik & Wiant bring in concepts
from second language acquisition—only the four they focus on (see overview
above) have even wider implications for multilingual students. I could easily spend a blog post
reflecting on each one (Yes, I just put that on a sticky note for myself) but
for now, I’ll focus on their last point—about how multilingual students do not
simply “become” native speakers. A
quote related to this that jumped out at me was this:
Throughout their academic careers, multilingual students, like native English speakers, continue to improve their academic language proficiency and academic skills. We, as faculty, can help them in this process but can’t assume that students will become native English speakers (31).
This may be a tough idea for many faculty to wrap their head
around because they see difference solely as deficit—an absence instead of a
presence. I’ve heard faculty
mutter, “How did this student get out of ESL?” when the writer’s text showed
that he was perfectly able to make important academic writing moves—create a
thesis, support an argument, etc. but still struggled with prepositions and the
occasional word order. Again, the
problem is focusing solely on what the student can’t yet do and ignoring what
they can.
Final Thoughts
Now I have two books that I think every faculty member
should read—no matter what they teach:
John Bean’s Engaging Ideas and Hafernik & Wiant’s Integrating
Multilingual Students Into College Classrooms. Go out and buy yourself a copy now!
