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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1995)
The Clackamas Print Page 5 Wednesday, April 26,1995 OPINION Letter to the Editor: Entire Department responds to ‘necessity’of official language Dear Editor: Eric Eatherton believes that English should be the official lan guage of the U.S.A. In order to “save tax dollars” he implies that public publications, such as bus schedules, should be printed in English. According to this reason ing, health department informa tion, driver’s manuals, college in formation and all other publica tions should be printed only in English, all in the name of na tional unity. As teachers of English as a second language, who by profes sion have a vested interest in en couraging immigrants to learn English, we want to state our strong disagreement with Mr. Eatherton’s position and reason ing. First, the proposal to limit the dissemination of information by printing only in English will not save money in the long run. With out access to information in their own languages about transporta tion and education options, those who wish to learn English will have greater difficulty doing so. Secondly, even when immi grants achieve a level of profi ciency adequate to participate ac tively in this society, many find that access to complex informa tion, such as information about AIDS prevention, can be more completely understood when read in their native language. In such cases, multilingual literature en hances communication of impor tant facts and ideas. Third, it is true that the ear liest colonists were speakers of English, but close on their heels were immigrants from many non English speaking European coun tries. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were even public schools conducted in the various lan guages of the communities which they served. It wasn’t until later that English was recognized as the prevailing language to be used for all government functions. Fourth, the myth of “quick assimilation” is just that, a myth. Few immigrants arriving with no English have been able to acquire proficiency in a short time. Why not? Are they lazy? Do they sim ply not care because they can get by without English skills? Far be this from the truth. Research has proven that acquiring a second language as an adult is very diffi cult. Imagine, for a moment, that you are an adult immigrant to Vietnam. You arrive in Vietnam without any language skills in Vietnamese. Because Vietnamese is the official language, you are unable to learn how to ride the bus in English. You take any job you can to support your family. Since you don’t speak Vietnamese, you probably have to do heavy, tiring manual labor. At the end of a long day at work, you rush home, fix dinner, feed your children, take care of your household responsi bilities, then drag yourself off to Vietnamese class. Because of lack of funding, classes are only of fered two nights a week, for a to tal of four hours a week. The class has 30 people of various levels of proficiency. You’re bone tired. Under these conditions, how quickly are you going to learn Vietnamese? Not very quickly. Learning a language as an adult is one of the most difficult men tal undertakings imaginable. Look at yourself. Why haven’t you made the effort to learn a second language? Finally, Mr. Eatherton im plies that most immigrants don’t want to learn English. This is a false stereotype. The majority of immigrants desperately want to learn English. They move to the U.S. for job and educational op portunities. They know that with out English they cannot take ad vantage of those opportunities. The three to six month waiting lists for class space at many com munity colleges attests to this fact. Since most Americans don’t learn foreign languages themselves, they have no realistic idea of the difficulty learning a new language entails for adult learners. Mr. Eatherton is a fine ex ample of ethnocentrism. This is the belief that the way we do things is right and how other cul tures do things is wrong. To Mr. Eatherton, English is the “right” language and other languages are “gibberish.” If every culture in this world feels that their way is the right way and others aren’t right, then we will never be able to bridge our differences. Being able to look at differ ent values, beliefs and behaviors of others will promote under standing and better communica tion between everyone. Passing an English only law is discriminatory and will not bet ter our society. It would, in fact, endanger the lives of those non English speakers who need emer gency services by eliminating the multilingual police and ambu lance services. It would limit the adminis tration of justice for those who need court translators by jeopar dizing their ability to understand court procedures. It would cause reduced productivity by prohibit ing free communication among workers in languages other that English. Public health workers will face increased problems if they cannot educate language minority people "with translated materials. Most important of all is that it will promote more dis crimination and bigotry in a coun try that needs to rid itself of these counterproductive practices. Sincerely, Molly Williams Suzanne Munro Lori Hartill Caroline Cate Lena Koessler Joe Van Zutphen Ayde York Student surveys show satisfaction with CCC In an effort to improve the educational experience for stu dents at Clackamas, the Research & Planning Office in, conjunction with the Enrollment Council, con ducted an in-class student survey project during Winter term 1995. Two surveys were adminis tered: one targeting student learning styles, and the other tar geting marketing issues. Both sur veys included the same demo graphic and college services questions. Seventy lower division and technical credit classes compris ing over 1,700 enrolled students were surveyed. At total of 1,004 surveys were completed with 486 Learning Styles respondents, and 518 Marketing respondents. Student Profile Here are some highlights of student demographics: 65.2% have an educational in tent of a transfer degree or trans fer classes. 63.2% were enrolled full-time for Winter term. 50.0% said that Winter term was their first or second term at CCC. 83.8% attend day classes; 36.5% attend classes at night. 94.9% attend classes at the main campus; 15% attend at other sites (multiple responses allowed). 55.4% are 18 to 21 years old; 41.4% are between 22 and 50 in age. 55.8% completed high school or a GED in the past three years. 50.1% attended a Clackamas County high school. 47.0% live at home with their parents; 29.7% live with a spouse/partner and/or children. 22% have dependent children. 49.8% work at least 20 hours per week; 21.1% work 1 to 19 hours STUDENT OPINIONS Winter 95 4 pt scale used Response Would choose CCC again 89.2% Excellent overall quality 90.6% Faculty & staff care 83.9% High quality instruction 95.8% 0 Strongly disagree per week. 48.9% live in households with annual incomes of less than $30,000. 35.1% receive financial aid. 7.9% are minorities; 33% said English is not their native lan guage. Service Areas Seventeen service areas were included in both surveys. Students were asked to rate the service on a four point quality scale from Poor to Excellent in the Learning Styles survey. In the Marketing survey, they were asked to rate their satisfaction with the service. Students gave their highest ratings for quality of service to the Help center, the computer lab and telephone registration. They were most satisfied with the computer lab, telephone registration and li brary services. Career planning help ranked the lowest average score for quality of service. Stu dents were least satisfied with 250 500 750 No. of respondents 1000 B Agree educational planning and advis ing help. Student Opinions Survey participants were asked to indicate the extent of their agreement or disagreement with several statements of opin ion. Four of the statements were the same on both surveys (see graph) Eight of the statements dealt with the issues of student access. “The CCC class schedule helps me choose classes when I resister” rated the highest average score. “I am able to get financial aid if I need it” rated the lowest average score. Of the 16 statements about the CCC experience, “I feel safe on campus during the day” rated the highest average score. “I got a fair price for the books I sold back to the Bookstore last term” scored the lowest. Of the 19 state ments about the student’s learn ing environment, nine dealt with equality/diversity in the class room, eight dealt with the quality of the class assignments and equipment, and three statements dealt with instructor quality. Six of the statements were negatively worded. “Students from other races cultures make me uncomfortable in my classes” rated the highest average score indicating strong disagreement with the statement (reversed scale used). “There are enough computers available in computer labs for student use” rated the lowest average score. Strengths & Weaknesses Respondents to both surveys were asked to comment on what they believed to be CCC’s great est strength and greatest weak ness. 21% said that CCC’s classes, their size, availability, and variety are its greatest strength. 17% remarked on short comings in times, locations and variety of classes and programs. Learning Methods The Learning Styles survey asked students to respond to 12 types of instructional methods and rate them for effectiveness and frequency of use in the student’s classroom experience. The most frequently used teaching methods, according to survey respondents, were in-class test preparation and instructor/staff aided lab work. The least used methods were use of the Internet, computer-assisted instruction and recorded audio lesson. The least effective meth ods were recorded audio lessons, multimedia lessons and unstruc tured class discussion. Why students attend CCC Students responding to the Marketing survey were asked to rate a series of eight factors for the importance they played in the student’s decision to attend CCC. Cost ranked first in average score. Location and availability of finan cial aid. Students were also asked to rate for importance nine types of people who might have influ enced the student’s decision to attend CCC. Parents and friends ranked the highest in influence. Employers and co-workers were least influential. Educational Delivery Formats Students responding to the Marketing survey were asked to indicate their or a friend’s pos sible interest in educational deliv ery formats CCC is not currently offering. “Getting a transfer de gree in less that two years” and “Two-week intensive summer classes” garnered the most inter est. “Sunday classes” and “Friday night classes” were least desir able. Compiled by Research & Planning
