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Facilitated Work Group: Culture and Language

Facilitator: Linda Kills Crow, Director, Tribal Child Care Technical Assistance Center (TriTAC )
Group Scribe: Joe Varano, State Technical Assistance Specialist, Region 10, National Child Care Information Center
Note Taker: Angela Willson-Quayle, Information Specialist/Researcher, National Child Care Information Center

KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Commonly Used Terms
The meanings of several terms regularly used in this discussion are as follows:

• "home/native language" refers to the language first learned by the child in the home, usually the primary language of the adults in the home;
• "bilingual" refers to two languages; "bilingual education" is when two languages are used simultaneously in care and education settings;
• "language minority" refers in this context to a language other than English; and
• "dual language immersion" refers to child care settings in which a child experiences a primary language that is different from the home/native language.

Provider Literacy Levels
The group agreed that a key element of supporting the development of literacy in children is the literacy level of the provider. In a country of many recent immigrants, many providers whose primary language is not English may have low literacy levels in both English and their home languages. When child care providers are not literate in their own language or in English, they can respond to the needs of babies and preschoolers for linguistic interaction through songs, rhyming and word games, conversation, and storytelling. The child care field has not required a high level of literacy from providers. The group also noted that Head Start has placed a high value over the years on hiring parents and other staff who reflect the communities and cultures of the children being served. An ongoing challenge is to raise the literacy levels of all Head Start and child care staff to ensure their competence for enhancing children's literacy skills.

Parent Literacy Levels
The literacy level of parents and the value they place on reading were also seen as important factors in their children's emerging literacy skills. Parents may not understand how children become literate, the interplay of home language with a second language, or the positive impact they can have on their children's early language/literacy development.

Integration and Cultural Heritage
Parents are often torn between the desire to become fully integrated into mainstream American society and to retain their cultural heritage. Child care staff can provide parents with information on how children can acquire a command of English while maintaining their cultural and linguistic roots at the same time. Children's lack of fluency in English should not be perceived as a deficit; rather, their ability to speak a second language should be seen as an asset. Providers can set the tone by valuing children and parents who speak a language other than English, reflecting elements (including the language) of other cultures in the child care setting, and providing resources and links to support systems for families.

Second Language Benefits
The positive effects of learning a second language within the context of dual language immersion or bilingual education are underappreciated. Very young children are just beginning to develop linguistically and their bilingual competence is in its early stages. Parents need information about the neurological and educational benefits that typically accrue from these approaches. Too little is currently known and applied to classroom settings.

Assessment and Evaluation
Language minority children are often evaluated using assessment tools that have not been standardized on their respective populations. This increases the probability of children being labeled erroneously and placed in remedial classrooms. Once a language minority child is placed in such a classroom (e.g., special education), that child often remains there for long periods. Assessment instruments for language minority children that take into consideration strengths in their home language and other types of intelligence need to be developed. Assessments should also be carried out in a child's home language, although this is not always easy—especially if there are multiple dialects spoken within the same language minority group (e.g., in certain Native American Tribes). Funding then becomes the driving issue.

The challenge for providers is to prepare young children in their home language as well as to help them develop their understanding and use of English. When a child whose home language is other than English enters school at age five, we cannot expect them to be completely bilingual. Even in instances where there are funds and human resources available to implement multilingual programs, the programs need to take into account the variety of goals parents have for their children and how these play a role in parents' decisions about what is best for their children.

Staff Issues
The group perceived high staff turnover among language minority child care providers/teachers as gravely disruptive to children's cognitive, social, and emotional development. Such turnover is also disruptive to those teachers who remain with their programs and are typically charged with training new recruits. This is because (1) time spent on training new recruits is time taken away from remaining staff who might otherwise have used the time for furthering their own professional development or working on existing skills; and (2) the problems of time and resources are exacerbated; for example, in Native American communities where numerous dialects are spoken and the numbers of potential staff who understand the language(s) and culture are very low. Even when qualified staff can be found, these individuals often lack a cultural understanding of the particular group they are serving.

It should be noted that being bilingual is not analogous to being biliterate. The latter typically requires study and use of the language over a prolonged period. This raises the need for professional workshops targeted at child care professionals to support and nurture their home language.

It is also the case that many early education settings provide services for children from many different cultures and languages. Providers, even those who can speak a second language fluently, need to be able to provide linguistic stimulation and communication for children from a variety of language backgrounds.
Related issues include the chronic lack of children's books and teacher resources/materials in languages other than English, the availability of translators and interpreters, and trainers who are fluent in languages other than English.

HIGHLIGHTS OF RECOMMENDATIONS

• Lead discussions with the purpose of achieving agreement on a definition of language and culture as a necessary starting point for dialogue.
• Encourage policy-makers to visit local culturally and linguistically diverse communities for themselves to appreciate the real day-to-day issues families in these communities face; e.g., difficulty with English, scarcity of books in languages other than English, and public transportation difficulties.
• Appoint a group of representatives from the culturally and linguistically diverse communities to work in an advisory capacity with the Child Care Bureau to create a national agenda of priorities for cultural and linguistic issues as they pertain to early care and education.
• Work with others in the field to establish a central educational network/institute that can handle issues related to early care and education within the context of multiple languages and cultures, and whose primary role is to gather and disseminate information pertaining to issues of culture and language, set standards, implement regulations, scrutinize document translations, oversee teacher and provider training, and develop culturally and linguistically valid assessment tools.
• Allocate substantial funds to signal a true commitment on behalf of the Administration to the issue and to gain the credibility of community leaders.
• Target resources to provide supports and materials in languages other than English, including college-level classes for early care and education language minority staff in their home language, teacher resources/training manuals in various languages, and children's books set in culturally and linguistically appropriate settings.
• Train all staff, and include as a focus the promotion, maintenance, and enhancement of their home language (in order to meet the needs of children in that language). Training opportunities need to be culturally and linguistically relevant. Exposure to model programs should include those that effectively serve parents and children of a variety of cultures and languages. Monolingual staff training needs to focus on sensitizing teachers to cultural differences and developing effective strategies for working with children whose first language is not English.
• Promote dissemination strategies in which research findings on dual language acquisition can be applied to teaching approaches and classroom settings. Positive findings also need to be brought to the forefront of public awareness (i.e., parents, providers, educators, administrators). Groups, such as the Central Educational Network/Institute could be involved in allocating grants for research, overseeing the research-to-application process, and keeping the larger educational community informed of outcomes.
• Lead discussions intended to de-stigmatize dual language acquisition and promote such acquisition through bilingual or language immersion program strategies as a community asset instead of a liability. Educate educators and the public that bilingualism is not an impediment to children's development. Non-English speaking and even bilingual families can sometimes be isolated when provider and program communication is not inclusive. Support parents by respecting their language and culture, which sends a positive message to all children.
• Try creative approaches to reaching culturally and linguistically diverse communities (especially family child care providers and parents). Use local family child care provider associations, food programs, churches, clinics, and Head Start programs. Help language minority providers establish local family child care associations or networks. A case in point is that of Latina family child care providers who typically live and work in the community with minimal formal training and little-to-no organized support. Outreach targeted to partnering with their informal networks has been effective in drawing in their expertise and knowledge of their community while building trust and increasing participation in training and support resources.

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