La barrera de lengua

La barrera de lengua crea avismos en asimilación
Language barrier creates gaps in assimilation

Maria Elena Vazkuez arrived in the United States from Mexico 13 years ago to find a job.  Today, while the Edgewater resident has a job working at a McDonald’s, she still does not know much English.  “We have dedicated ourselves to working,” she said in an interview conducted entirely in Spanish, “but precisely because of not knowing English, we have struggled too much.  It is like a barrier that opposes us.”

Ironically, Vazkuez’s job has prevented her from having time to take English classes.  If she could communicate better in English, she says she could get a better job because “one does not need translation, but rather (to) communicate directly.  This helps a lot.”

Public opinion surveys conducted in 2006 by the Pew Hispanic Center in collaboration with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation revealed 57 percent of Hispanics believe immigrants have to speak English to be part of American society while 41 percent say they do not.  Income, education, political party, religion, English fluency and length of residence in the U.S. were not as important as age in profiling respondents.  Of those 65 and older, 69 percent believe English fluency necessary to assimilation, compared to only 48 percent of those 18 to 29.  And about 96 percent of all foreign-born Hispanics believe it is very important that their children learn English.

Hispanics are the largest ethnic group in Edgewater  -  19.6 percent of the population according to the 2000 U.S. Census.  Furthermore, they are an increasingly larger group in the state and country.  The 2000 Census showed a 59.1 percent increase in the Hispanic population of Illinois compared to 1990 (from 7.9 percent to 12.3 percent), and a national growth rate of 57.9 percent.

Lorena Mendosa, a friend and coworker of Vazkuez, left Mexico seeking better opportunities in the U.S. eight years ago.  She studied English upon her arrival in Edgewater, but had to stop because of her job.  Though she came away from the class understanding some English, her speaking skills are limited.  This creates a language barrier between her and the English-speaking customers and other workers at McDonald’s, and limits her job opportunities.

Don Robison taught English as a Second Language classes for 15 years at the Jewish Vocational School, which runs classes in connection with Truman College.  ESL classes for parents are conveniently held in local public schools including Trumbull and Boon, and almost all students are Hispanic.

Unfortunately, Vazkuez and Mendosa’s situations are not unique.  Parents often drop out of classes before finishing them.  “Hopefully it’s because they found work,” Robison said, but often it is because of a conflict between work and classes.  JVS offers nighttime class options, but this conflicts with family time.

Walter Urroz, himself a Hispanic resident of the area, has been an ESL and citizenship teacher at Centro Romero for 12 years.  While Centro Romero’s students are more ethnically diverse with Pakistanis, Indians, Latvians, Lebanese, Hindus, Iraqis, Filipinos and Chinese, 95 percent are Hispanic.  Of these, Urroz said 23 percent quit the classes.

Urroz attributes this statistic to both the economy as well as people’s jobs.  Gas prices and inflation force them to work several jobs to meet expenses, which doesn’t leave time to attend classes, nor the money to commute to and from classes.  It also cuts into time at home.  “They are working two or three jobs, they are working overtime; they want to spend more time with their families,” Urroz said.

Nerlida Robles cites her unpredictable schedule at the hotel where she works for her inability to take English classes.  However, it does not present much of a barrier for her there because she and her coworkers communicate in Spanish.  “I have not seen so much the need to learn it,” she said.

While she knows enough to get by in the community, Robles said being able to go to English classes would help her get a different job.  “Basically this is what I want  -  to learn to change jobs . . . . Well, something where I don’t do work that is heavy.”  She says she might like to try something with computers.

Other factors contribute to why Hispanic residents do not learn English.  Robison said age is a key factor in Hispanics learning English.  Looking at trends in age, he said older members of the Hispanic community are less likely to learn it than younger ones.  Older ones don’t see as much of a need for it because they aren’t in the market to work as long.

The level of education they receive in their home country may also play a role.  Literacy in their own language makes learning English, finding a job, and assimilation in their new country easier.

The current immigration policy is also a factor.  “The Bush administration probably twice a month conducts raids” on homes, hotels, factories and other workplaces, as part of the deportation process, Urroz said, requesting papers to prove legal status.  Not only does this make immigrants afraid to draw attention to themselves by leaving work to attend classes, but both legal and illegal immigrants feel hurt by the national media’s anti-immigration stance.

“In my 12 years in this area I never have seen something like that,” Urroz said.  “This administration was the worst in the history of this country.”

The language barrier affects the Hispanic community in many ways.  The obvious thing is that it prevents them from getting a decent level of work,” Robison said.  “If they don’t speak English they can’t get a better job . . . . Language is critical.  It’s the single most important thing.”

Vianney Derma Solis, 20, came to the U.S. three or four months ago to work in construction for an acquaintance of her aunt.  Her job prevents her from taking ESL classes, but she definitely wants to learn.  Lack of English skills creates obstacles for her daily.

“When I ride the bus and people make small talk with me and I don’t know what they say when they ask me things,” she said.  “I don’t know how to ask for a telephone.”

Going into stores where no one speaks Spanish is difficult.  And receiving medical attention is problematic, so she brings along cousins to translate for her.  She has trouble communicating with her coworkers, though her boss, Robert Alcala, is able to translate for her.

Jaquelin Sanchez is a 20-year resident of the area.  While it was very difficult for her when she first came to the U.S., she now understands English well and speaks enough to get by.  Her five adult children, on the other hand, learned English in school and speak it “perfectly,” said Sanchez.  She recalled, however, when her children were young and had to be taken to the hospital or to doctor appointments.  Nurses were insensitive, demanding she speak English.  Now she better understands what is said at her appointments, but sometimes brings her kids along to translate.

The public schools in the Edgewater area all have multicultural student bodies ranging from 15.6 to 66.3 percent Hispanic, according to the Chicago Public Schools.  Approximately 1/3 of all students (including other ethnicities) are deemed “limited English proficient.”  Many of these students speak another language at home.

Robles encounters additional barriers at home.  Her husband, an Ecuadorian whom she met and married while on vacation in the U.S., and her son, a student at Peirce, speak English.  She speaks very little English, and her son speaks only a little Spanish.  The three of them manage to communicate using a mix of Spanish and English.  She admits feeling frustrated by the language barrier that exists for her in her own family.

The language barrier often creates a need for children, who are learning English in school, to translate for their parents.  Centro Romero’s ESL students complete a questionnaire before starting classes which asks, among other things, why they’re taking the class.  Urroz estimated that 45 percent cite the need for their children to translate for them as a main reason for taking the class.  Lack of English proficiency also presents problems in parent-teacher conferences.  After the class only nine percent required assistance of their children.

A 2007 report revealed most Hispanic adults born in U.S. were fluent in English, while only a small minority of their immigrant parents describe themselves as fluent (“a dramatic increase in English-language ability from one generation . . . to the next”).  Fewer than 23 percent of Hispanic immigrants report being able to speak English very well, while 88 to 94 percent of their U.S.-born adult children report that they speak English fluently.  The transition to English dominance occurs at a slower pace at home than it does at work because 7 percent of foreign-born Hispanics speak mainly or only English at home, compared to about half their adult children.  (By contrast, 29 percent of Hispanic immigrants speak mainly or only English at work.)

Hispanics were surveyed nationally by the Pew Hispanic Center about potential sources of discrimination encountered.  Respondents cited language skills most often as a cause of discrimination.

The Hispanic community as a whole is affected by the language barrier.  “It probably isolates Hispanics more than it does other groups,” said Robison.  Hispanics’ inability to communicate cause them to stick to their own community.  Residents reported their lack of English causes them to frequent Spanish stores, where they do not have to face being unable to communicate.  Robison also said they seem to have a stronger community and hence stay together.  This also means they are less willing than other groups to travel to find work, he said.

Employers in Edgewater often try to accommodate Hispanics by hiring people who speak Spanish.  Susan Silva, herself Hispanic and a teller supervisor at the North Community Bank in Edgewater, said her bank tries to make it easier for the large number of customers who only speak Spanish.

“Fortunately at our bank we have a lot of people who speak a lot of different languages, who are bilingual,” she said.  “So if somebody at a particular branch can’t speak the same language as the customer we have a ton of other branches we can call.”