(This post is dedicated to Sean Lawler and his wife Candice in Chicago, who have been helping to build the new Freedom Train in the Chicago Public Schools for a long time now.)
I wrote the article below in all caps because I am animated by a sense of urgency that rivals the sense of urgency expressed by the narrator/pilot in Le Petit Prince in the chapter about the baobab trees:
I DON’T THINK WE REALIZE OR FULLY UNDERSTAND THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE WE INFLICT ON INNOCENT CHILDREN – WHO ARE ONLY TRYING TO GROW UP – WHEN WE TELL THEM THAT THEY DON’T MEASURE UP TO OTHERS IN THE CLASSROOM.
THAT IS WHAT THE OLD WAY OF TEACHING LANGUAGES DOES – IT SENDS TO SOME CHILDREN A LOUD AND CLEAR MESSAGE THAT THEY ARE NOT AS GOOD, CAPABLE OR SMART AS OTHERS IN THE CLASSROOM.
AND YES, IT IS VERY TRUE, IN FACT, THAT IN EDUCATION IN GENERAL SOME STUDENTS ARE BETTER, MORE CAPABLE AND SMARTER THAN OTHERS.
HOWEVER, AND THIS IS WHY I FEEL THAT I NEED TO SCREAM IT OUT TO THE WORLD – SCREAM IT AS LOUDLY AS I CAN LIKE A CRAZY PERSON TO ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN – THE RESEARCH SHOWS CLEARLY THAT ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN A LANGUAGE AS LONG AS IT IS PRESENTED TO THEM IN THE RIGHT WAY: THE WAY OF THE RESEARCH.
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION – UNLIKE IN PHYSICS OR MATH AND IN OTHER SCHOOL SUBJECTS WHERE INTELLIGENCE DOES MATTER – ALL STUDENTS CAN LEARN A LANGUAGE. THE BRAINS OF ALL CHILDREN ARE WIRED TO LEARN A LANGUAGE.
NO LESS A SCHOLAR THEN NOAM CHOMSKY HAS SAID THIS ABOUT HOW PEOPLE ACQUIRE LANGUAGES:
…grammar is acquired by virtually everyone, effortlessly, rapidly, in a uniform manner, merely by living in a community under minimal conditions of interaction, exposure, and care….”
If Chomsky is right (is he ever wrong?), then we need to teach in ways that honors this incredibly IGNORED FACT in our profession, that ALL OUR STUDENTS ARE NATURALLY WIRED FOR LANGUAGES.
COME ON, Y’ALL. WHAT’S THAT SOUND? IT’S THE SOUND OF THE FREEDOM TRAIN. LET’S GET OUR TRAIN BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK. AFTER ALL, THE TRAIN NOW IS UNDER OUR COMMAND. THE OLD TEXTBOOK CADRE AND ITS SEEMINGLY INFINITE GREED HAS BEEN DYING FOR HALF A CENTURY NOW.
BUT SINCE THE TRAIN OF FREEDOM FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS AND THEIR STUDENTS IS SO NEW, WE PROBABLY ALSO HAVE TO BUILD A NEW TRAIN TRACK.