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Pressure to speak 'American' grows
ESL directors reject notion people don't want to assimilate

By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News
October 2, 2006

Along East Colfax Avenue in Aurora, where panaderias sell fresh Mexican pastries and carnicerias advertise quality butcher cuts, 46-year- old Eva Esparza does most of her shopping.

She speaks only Spanish as she goes about her business. Then she goes to work as a cleaning service supervisor, where, again, she uses mostly her native tongue.

Esparza has taken a few English classes at a community college, but she rarely has the opportunity to practice. Despite living in the U.S. for 14 years, she has yet to master the language well enough to hold a fluent conversation.

"If I can't speak it well, I'd rather not speak it at all," she insisted in Spanish from behind her desk at St. Pius X Parish, where she volunteers full time as director of the church's Hispanic Ministry.

Nearly half of Colorado households where Spanish or Asian and Pacific Island languages were spoken said they spoke English less than "very well," according to 2005 U.S. Census Bureau figures.

With English fluency a key part of the debate on immigration, there has been increased pressure on immigrants - whether legal or illegal - to speak "American." Many of those concerned about immigration contend that many immigrants are unwilling to assimilate and pose a threat to the country's identity.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed a measure declaring English the nation's official language. Another recognized it as the nation's "common and unifying tongue."

In April, state Rep. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, proposed a state constitutional amendment that would have prohibited government entities from printing most publications in languages other than English. The measure died on a party-line vote.

Several directors of metro area English-as-a-second-language programs say most immigrants are eager to learn English.

But they say many face formidable challenges, including work demands and a lack of education in their native country.

"From our perspective, the belief that immigrants don't want to learn English is a myth," said Mar Muņoz, ESL director at Centro Juan Diego, a nonprofit organization that helps immigrants. "We're at capacity. We have people on waiting lists. We've always had more people than we could accommodate."

At the Emily Griffith Opportunity School in Denver, which serves more than 3,000 ESL students annually, enrollment has risen steadily.

"I 100 percent disagree with people who say immigrants aren't learning English. Three thousand students a year prove differently," said Slavica Park, dean of ESL at Emily Griffith. "And we're just one program. There are so many ESL classes - in church basements, apartment complexes, community centers and other places."

But both the quantity and quality of classes remain a challenge.

More than 57 percent of 184 adult ESL providers nationwide reported waiting lists of a few weeks to more than three years, according to a June study commissioned by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

In Colorado, four of seven Denver-area ESL providers reported waiting lists ranging from one week to three months.

Waiting lists didn't deter Aurelia Hernandez, of Aurora, from signing up for English class at Aurora Community College. But her third-grade education kept her from going back.

"They started talking about rules (of grammar) that I did not know. I felt embarrassed and I stopped going," she said.

Many immigrants, especially from poor and rural areas, are forced to leave school early and work to help their families.

At the Adult Learning Source, one of the Denver area's largest providers of adult ESL classes, 80 percent of students have a fifth- to ninth-grade education. Ten percent have no reading or writing skills in their native language.

In addition, Executive Director Susan Lythgoe said a significant number of students have undiagnosed learning disabilities.

"It takes dedication on the part of the student to overcome learning obstacles, and it takes decent instruction," Lythgoe said.

The NALEO report found that the largest providers in Denver rely heavily on volunteers. Emily Griffith, the largest and oldest ESL program, has four paid tutors and 75 active volunteers. The Adult Learning Source has 150 volunteer tutors, guided by an experienced teacher. The Literacy Coalition of Jefferson County has no paid instructors.

"What is needed is a standardization of English language instruction because the level of expertise that teachers have, as well as the curriculum, varies considerably," said Mario Ortiz, district director for the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Even with good instruction, learning English doesn't happen overnight, say ESL providers.

Several ESL experts agree it takes about 200 to 250 hours of instruction to have a "functional knowledge" of English. Double that time is needed for students who are illiterate in their native language or have learning disabilities, they say.

For students like Julia Garcia-Prat, a native of France who works as an au pair, work cuts into the time she has to learn English.

"I work 9-10 hours a day taking care of three children," said Garcia-Prat, who takes a two-hour class five days a week at Emily Griffith. "The only time I have to learn English is on weekends."

According to ESL providers, the average student is from "the working poor."

Besides time, child care and transportation also are significant barriers, the NALEO study found.

And some, like Esperza, live and work in communities where Spanish or another language is still dominant. Critics say these ethnic communities keep residents confined to linguistic ghettos.

"I want to learn English because it's easier for us to get better jobs. We can work with people and not be behind the counter cooking or washing dishes," said Alexander Rosales, a native of El Salvador who is taking a higher-level English class.

"I think a lot (of immigrants) work here to send money back home and hope one day to return. But I intend to stay in this country, and I don't want to be washing dishes. My next step is to get my GED and become an electrician," Rosales said.

Park said she has "mixed feelings" about the influence of ethnic communities on learning English.

"It is important to nurture and be proud of your culture, but English is the gateway to civic integration," she said. "Someone who has been here 10 to 15 years and hasn't learned English cannot fully benefit from what this country has to offer. Ideally, they should speak both languages."

quinterof@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5250