Roadblocks to Bilingualism

Introduction

Unfortunately, this joke is all too true when interacting with Americans. In fact, two of the authors of this chapter have been teaching candidates for English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual licensure at the university level and have witnessed first-hand how lingua-phobic we Americans actually are, observing large numbers of students who have minimal knowledge of languages other than English. While conducting a larger study focused on examining the experiences and attitudes of pre-teacher candidates for ESL/bilingual licensure toward language learning, the researchers noticed a group of students who had succeeded in overcoming several blockages in order to maintain ability in their heritage language at a high enough level in order to qualify as bilingual teachers.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the roadblocks that these heritage speakers encountered and how they overcame them to become bilingual teachers or candidates. To accomplish this, data from a larger, more general study will shed light on the number of teacher candidates who surmounted obstacles to achieve or maintain bilingualism among all students seeking ESL/bilingual licensure. In addition, the present study will share testimonials written by the bilingual heritage speakers to clarify the common patterns among them as they struggled to preserve bilingual abilities. Finally, the study will draw implications for teaching and how to improve education to remove some of the obstructions that prevent heritage speakers from sustaining their bilingual ability.