Educator conducts survey of bilingual views

LAS CRUCES, N.M.—A survey among school board members statewide finds those of Hispanic origins more supportive of bilingual and ethnic studies than their Anglo colleagues are.

Luis “Nacho” Quinones, director for bilingual education and dual language in the Pecos Independent School District, said his survey shows that Anglo board members are “hesitant about providing instruction that promotes ‘biliteracy’ while Mexican-American school board members see this as a positive force in New Mexico’s educational programs.”

Quinones, who received his Ph.D. at New Mexico State University last May, said the key differences in their views show how culture and language help shape people’s views on the issue.

Prior to the study, it was presumed that there was less of a difference in attitudes about ethnicity among New Mexico school board members, Quinones said.

Many New Mexicans are “naive and ignorant about what bilingual education is,” with some even viewing it as competing with English, he said.

He surveyed New Mexico’s 453 school board members, asking them 30 questions about bilingual education and ethnic studies. He received responses from 180, slightly more than half of them Anglo.

Statewide, about 32 percent of board members are Mexican-American.

Most of the Mexican-American board members who responded said they are bilingual.

About 20 percent of Anglos said they were bilingual in such languages as Spanish, German and French.

Though he expected the two ethnic groups to disagree somewhat on bilingual studies, Quinones said he was surprised by the size of the gulf between them.

While most board members, Anglo and Hispanic alike, agreed fluency in two languages would be beneficial to students, they disagreed on what that means for their schools, Quinones said.

He said 78 percent of the Mexican-Americans believe New Mexico should “use English and another language in the classroom in order to ensure that our students become fluently bilingual” while only 34 percent of the Anglo board members agreed with that.

Bilingualism “won’t happen by accident,” Quinones said. “It must happen by instruction.”

Quinones said the quality of bilingual education in New Mexico is dictated by “support (or lack thereof) of the school leadership – school boards, superintendents, principals, vice principals.”

The state provides funds for approved bilingual education programs.

But he said about one-fourth of schools in New Mexico do not apply for these funds, and many of those have no bilingual education, he said.

Or if they do, he said, it is considered remedial or compensatory, rather than enrichment and a tool to promote academics.

Quinones said research shows that students who are fluent in two languages perform as well or better than other students academically.

Bilingual supporters should do a better job of “selling” such programs and educating the public, he said.

Quinones said his family brought him to the United States from Mexico when he was 6, and “I didn’t hear English until I was 6 or 7 years old.”

Pride in his culture helped him as he learned English, he said.

In contrast, he said, many Spanish-speaking people were told not to speak Spanish, so they never properly learned how to read and write proficiently in Spanish.



Comments are closed.