Inés María Mendoza de Muñoz Marín was born on January 10, 1908. When she was 17 years old she was already teaching in the rural part of the Island. In 1937 she lost her job as a teacher in Santurce because she debated and believed that Puerto Rico's vernacular language (Spanish language), was supposed to be the language of instruction in the public school system.
At that historical time, Puerto Rico was being invaded by the United States and many schools were implementing the English language as the only language for instruction. The goal was to americanize the jíbaro by forzing him to learn something that was not part of his culture, his day to day life or his identity. Inés María Mendoza de Muñoz Marín wrote many articles in the newspaper declaring the battle against an all English curriculum and instruction in our schools.
She knew that it was going to be impossible to to this by herself so later on she married Luis Muñoz Marín. With the power that she had, being the first lady of the country, she publicly voiced out how the identity of Puerto Rican students was being taken away the with americanization.
When I think about what was happening at that time, it makes sense to me that she would fight to change the instructional system from all English to all Spanish(except for the English class). At that moment in history, Puerto Rico, had more than 70% of people who were illiterate. The minorities in the Island, including some of the Ellite, knew how to read and write in Spanish because they traveled or studied overseas. The United States' Military failed at their americanization because we had a powerfull culture where Spanish was deeply related to living and being a Puerto Rican.
Since then, Puerto Rican students have not been able to learn well the English Language because they don't need it. At home, with their friends, and in the streets they will speak in Spanish. This makes the immersion in English difficult. This is why we are still in 2008-2009 and many of us spend 12 years at school learning ESL and never become fully bilingual. This is a crisis of identity that I hope it can be solved in the future years to come.
I think now days our students are more in touch with the English language because since they're little they listen unconsciously to cable TV, Pop songs, movies and video games that are all in English. I would say today we have a different kind of society, a different kind of youth who's relying more on Spanglish than English. It's a society who wants to keep Spanish language as their vernacular. It's also a society that's capable of being fully bilingual.
What's stopping us is our negative attitudes toward the language. You only learn what you desire to learn. You also learn because you encounter yourself with necessities and this forces you lo learn. Many students don't have neither the desire to learn English because they won't use it, nor the necessity that for example an immigrant faces when immersed in another culture.
What Inés María Mendoza de Muñoz Marín achieved in the 30's benefits all the other teachers except the ESL teachers because the school is not proving the students with the necessary immersion in the 2nd language. With this aspect comes the fact that this doesn't make us better speakers of the English language since there will always exist a resistance towards it. Kids know that they won't use it anywhere else except the English class.
In conclusion, I think the only thing that ESL teachers in Puerto Rico can do is to convert the classroom into another culture, a sub-culture. Provide them with the opportunity to explore another language showing respect towards Spanish and dedication to planning their classes, and practicing the language. My advice for ESL teachers is to provide the students with meaningfull experiences so that students can be in constant contact with the 2nd language.
The ESL teacher has to be a role model, someone who will be willing to accept the realities of our Puerto Rican society and will be willing to work hard to provide listening, reading and writing experiences to the students. This means speaking English even outside the classroom. It also means, preparing fun activities to guide students, without them knowing it, to love the language. ESL teachers must investigate,and integrate the language with other fields of study. Seaching for help from other organizations and other colleagues is also important.
These would be my opinions towards both languages, their Puerto Rican history, Puerto Ricos's ESL program and the decisions Inés María Mendoza de Muñoz Marín implemented a long time ago.
by:MDP
References:
Ines Maria's Biography. 9/18/08
Adress: www.flmm.com/pags_nuevas_folder/biografia_folder/bio_imm.html
Inés María Mendoza de Muñoz Marín . 9/18/2008.
Adress: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%C3%A9s_Mendoza
Inés María Mendoza de Muñoz Marín . 9/18/2008.
Adress: www.zonai.com/promociones/biografias/
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