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Parents, teachers and students discuss diversity

Second of three forums covers language differences

By Justin Berton

It's the languages spoken outside the classrooms that have some parents and students at Monta Vista High School concerned about their effects on the harmony of the campus, according to those who spoke at a open forum last week in the school's library.

More than 100 parents, teachers and students discussed the topic "Should English be the only language spoken in the classroom?" at the second of three forums designed to appreciate diversity.

Those who spoke seemed to reach one common ground: English is the necessary language inside the classroom--but outside, in the corridors and during the breaks, students who can't understand another language feel at a disadvantage.

Principal Mary Stone said 44 different languages are spoken on the campus, which is is 54 percent Asian, 42 percent Caucasian and 4 percent mixed ethnicity.

Student Michelle Desmond told the forum that when students speak other languages, it creates tension and draws boundary lines between groups.

"When I have no idea what is being said, or what they are laughing about, I don't like it because I feel at a disadvantage," she said. "It's not that I don't want to understand; it's just that I can't."

Social studies teacher Virgil Pate said not being able to understand a language sometimes leads to negative feelings.

"You always think they're talking about you, and that thing they're talking about isn't always something very positive," he said.

Kathryn Ho, a counselor who works with immigrant students at Monta Vista, said she tries to teach her students that speaking English outside the classroom will benefit their overall learning experience.

"I try to make my students think in terms of what they can learn from school if they assimilate," she said.

Ho also said there is little the school can do, in administrative terms, to prevent non-English languages from being spoken outside the classroom.

Facilitator Lance Lee, a Monta Vista graduate and a family counselor, told the group it was important not to focus on coming to a solution to the issues raised. "Right now," he said, "we should just be focusing on listening to what people are saying and what they are feeling."

Lee broke the meeting down into small discussion groups to draw out ideas and record opinions.

In one group, a parent said her child complained that the non-English speaking students tend to cluster together.

"It wouldn't be a problem if the small group of students who know how to speak English but choose not to do so knew that it is intimidating to other students," she said.

The forums are designed to bring members of the community together to discuss views and perspectives on diversity issues. The topic for the next forum, which will take place March 10, has yet to be decided.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 4, 1998.
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