Why Kinect Club?
The shuffles of footsteps follow an echo down the school halls. One girl seems isolated as she walks down, heading to her next class with only the thought of her loneliness on her mind. "If only someone can understand me" is a wish evident from her long sigh and downward glancing eyes. Language barriers stand before many students that identify as ELD causing their overall lack of communication with others along with their constant struggle to succeed. To ensure the success of every student, no matter their language and culture, creating Kinect Club allows students to communicate with student translators in a friendly environment. By beginning to share cultures with everyone, we are able to form a connection stronger with students within the school. Join us to make a small change that can influence the entirety of a student's experience!
Our Research for the topic of communication
What effect does a club with student translators and a video about diverse bilingual students increase the communication within ELD (English Language Development) classes? Many bilingual students often face obstacles that they are unable to overcome throughout their high school career and the lack of support and aid prevents many students from attending a four year university. Instead, they are forced to attend a community college and are trapped within the self destructive loop due to the language barrier because they are unable to transfer into a university which leaves the majority of students without a degree or a good paying career. In order to increase the workforce and education of students within the US, school should create programs and hire various translators with different languages. They should work directly with the bilingual students to help them throughout their high school career and increase the chances of becoming successful in the future. In our club, we have student translators that offer a wide range of languages and they take on the role of an English teacher on a direct and personal level to help the student adapt to the environment.
Refugees and immigrants are not often exposed to the English language in their country and, after arriving in America, they are automatically placed in the English learning classes (ELD); however, majority of the students within the ELD classes speak Spanish which causes the students to feel isolated, resulting in a lack of involvement and understanding of the language. Moreover, the “acquisition of fluency in the host-country language is one of the most important predictors of mental health in refugee children resettled in high-income countries such as the United States” (Trinh). Although the majority within Orange County are mostly Spanish speakers, that does not necessarily mean that school should only provide Spanish translators because there is still about 30 percent of Asians that don't speak English at home ("Languages Other Than English Spoken at Home”). Therefore, schools should adopt more diverse programs that addresses all students rather than a larger focus on Spanish students because it will result in an increase in student participation and better communication between the students and their community. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to attend a better college because they will network with others easily. In addition, the implementation of more challenging assignments and tasks for English learners would greatly improve the success rate of the bilingual students within ELD classes (Hati).
Throughout researching the topics of ELD and communication, many of the articles that were found evidently support the stance that is taken in the first paragraph. There must be a representation of many different languages rather than just Spanish in high schools to ensure success for all students.
The majority of new English speakers in Amterica face language barriers because their languages aren’t represented in different school programs and classrooms. Our research shows that ELD students of other ethnicities are often isolaed because the dominant language is Spanish. The lack of efficient communication between students in ELD is potent to their future as most struggle with college life.
Works Cited
Hati, Haycock, Santelises, Sonja Brookins. "The Window of Assignments." Britannica School, Education Digest, accessed Nov. 2016, Web. 09 Mar. 2017.
"Languages Other Than English Spoken at Home. " Languages Other
Than English Spoken at Home, California Pan-Ethnic Health
Network. n.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
Trinh, VyVy and Nicole Nugent. "Tutoring and Enrichment for Refugee Youth at BRYTE."
Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, vol. 33, no. 2, Feb. 2017, p. 1.
EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/cbl.30187.
Behind the Scenes
After being in Western High School for 4 years, we decided to pursue an idea regarding communication, specifically between ELD students and the community. We began our long-term project with our government teacher's assistance to combat the challenges that ELD students face in their daily lives. Through our thorough research (see above), we discovered that many ELD students feel alienated among their fellow peers
Kristine Almonte (far right) and the future representative of Kinect Club, junior Neida Gomez (far left) gather to discuss the club matters and fill out official paperwork with Ms. Criner (middle).
Binh Mai begins to edit the our video with complete concentration as she focuses on merging the voice overs with the video while also creating subtitles.
Many students are able to attend a 4 year university with bright and hopeful eyes. Unfortunately, many ELD students are left out from that experience as they end up going to community college due to their inability to connect with others in their school. As the senior group members begin to visit college campuses and tour their dream schools, the realization of how important the club will be to ELD students becomes much stronger. Thus, the group's passion for this club grows as they begin to finalize the papers for Kinect Club.
As Ankia Dhingra researches on the topic of communication, the group begins to reminisce on their high school experience with joyful fondness.
"I hope everyone, even ELD students, are able to look back on their own high school experience and laugh and be as happy as we are with our own"
Club Activities
- Meetings every week after school to mentor ELD students
- Gather in a friendly environment
- Share cultures with one another through food and activities (Pot lucks!)
- Speed dating with various translators
- Collaborate with other cultural clubs on campus (Japanese club, Filipino club, Hispanic club, Vietnamese club, etc.)
- Encourage ELD students to seek higher education through a 4 year university by acting as a support system.
Meet the CREATORS
Credits:
Created with images by GiselaFotografie - "connected together 1child"