TED演講者：Megan Alubicki Flick / Megan Alubicki Flick

演講標(biāo)題：The power of multilingualism in education / 多語教育的力量

內(nèi)容概要：Despite being ranked fifth of all countries in the world for language diversity, the United States tends to focus heavily on English in schools, with the native languages of students often going unrecognized. Educator Megan Alubicki Flick advocates for dual language programs— which focus on developing and sustaining two languages— and explains how they can cultivate and maintain languages, show respect for different cultures, and foster connections in schools and communities.

美國語言多樣性世界排名第五，但在校園里，教學(xué)重心偏向英語，學(xué)生的母語往往不受重視。教育家梅根·阿盧比基·弗利克（Megan Alubicki Flick）提倡開展雙語課程，關(guān)注發(fā)展和維系兩種語言，并闡釋了如何培育和維系語言、尊重不同文化，以及促進(jìn)學(xué)校和社區(qū)的聯(lián)系。

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【1】Many years ago, I was finishing college and I was in that, "so what's next?" phase of life, and I decided I wanted to see the world.

很多年前我讀完大學(xué), 正處于探索 “接下來干什么？”的階段, 最終決定去看一看世界。

【2】And that was all well and good, but to do that I needed money and a job.

這個愿望很美好, 但我需要錢和一份工作。

【3】So I headed off to my college's advising center, thumbed through a Transitions Abroad magazine, and there it was.

所以我前往大學(xué)咨詢中心, 翻閱了一本旅行雜志, 找到了我想要的。

【4】It was this ad that said something like, "Do you want to teach English abroad?"

有則廣告寫著: 想出國教英語嗎？

【5】And I thought, "well, if that'll get me abroad, then yeah, I guess perhaps I do."

我想如果這樣 就能出國的話,那我愿意去。

【6】So fast forward to several months later, I had a fellowship and I was off to Finland for a year to teach English to elementary school students.

幾個月以后, 我拿到了補(bǔ)貼金, 準(zhǔn)備前往芬蘭待一年, 在那教小學(xué)生英語。

【7】Now, before I got to Finland, I already knew that it was a really cool place, but what I didn't realize was how linguistically diverse a place it was.

在我去芬蘭前, 我就知道那里很酷, 但我沒有意識到 那的語言是如此多樣。

【8】Because I was on my way to teach elementary school students English, but those same students, unbeknownst to me, were already studying Finnish and Swedish and sometimes other languages in school.

我正準(zhǔn)備教小學(xué)生英語, 但我不知道的是, 這些學(xué)生已經(jīng)在學(xué)芬蘭語和瑞典語了,有時還會學(xué)些別的語言。

【9】At the time I thought Finland must be some sort of multilingual anomaly.

當(dāng)時我想, 芬蘭一定是個多語言的特例。

【10】It couldn't be the norm for elementary school students to be learning multiple languages, could it?

大部分小學(xué)生應(yīng)該是 不用學(xué)多種語言的,對吧？

【11】Well, it turns out, globally, it often is.

好吧,結(jié)果顯示 芬蘭并非個例。

【12】America really is more of a global standout, and not for good reason in this case.

美國在國際上很突出, 但不是在多語方面突出,

【13】The US stands out due to its monolingualism in schools, which is in sharp contrast to the fact that this country is an incredibly linguistically diverse place.

而是因?yàn)槊绹鴮W(xué)校的單語制, 這和芬蘭形成了鮮明的對比, 芬蘭是語言極其多樣的國家。

【14】So, how do I know?

我是怎么知道的呢？

【15】Well, I've been working with and studying multilingual learners for over 20 years.

我研究多語學(xué)習(xí)者 已經(jīng) 20 多年了,

【16】I've been a language learner, I've taught English as a second language and English as a foreign language.

我是一個語言學(xué)習(xí)者, 從事英語作為第二語言 及外語的教學(xué)工作,

【17】And I've carried out language policy research in several different countries.

并在多國開展 語言政策研究工作。

【18】And this is what I've realized: here in the US, we're doing it wrong.

我意識到在美國, 我們做錯了。

【19】America is not tapping into what I see as our greatest asset, which is our linguistic diversity.

美國沒有充分利用 我們最寶貴的財(cái)富, 那便是語言多樣性。

【20】So you might be thinking, okay, but does this even matter?

你可能在想, 這有什么重要的？

【21】And if it matters, what do we do about it?

就算很重要, 我們該怎么做呢？

【22】So, spoiler alert: it matters.

我要劇透了:它很重要。

【23】And I'm going to talk about what we can do about it.

我接下來想談?wù)?我們該怎么做。

【24】But first, I'd like you to come with me on a journey to an American public elementary school.

首先,我想讓大家 和我一起踏上一段旅程, 前往美國的公立小學(xué)。

【25】Feel free to imagine your own from growing up, or maybe one near where you currently live, or maybe even one from TV.

你也可以回想你上的小學(xué), 或者你家附近的某個小學(xué), 甚至是電視里看到的小學(xué)。

【26】Now, let's go inside.

現(xiàn)在我們一起進(jìn)入這所小學(xué)。

【27】Once we step in, it's immediately evident that this is a multilingual place.

一走進(jìn)去就能發(fā)現(xiàn) 這是個多語環(huán)境。

【28】So, how do you know?

你是怎么知道的呢？

【29】Maybe there's posters and decor in multiple languages.

可能墻上有 各種語言的海報(bào)和裝飾;

【30】Maybe you hear conversations happening with adults and students in different languages, and maybe there's even signs that explicitly say that multiple languages are welcomed and can be supported.

可能是因?yàn)槟懵牭搅死蠋熀蛯W(xué)生 用不同的語言對話; 甚至墻上可能會貼有標(biāo)語, 表示學(xué)校支持和認(rèn)可多語。

【31】Now let's walk down the hall into a classroom.

現(xiàn)在讓我們走進(jìn)教室,

【32】Inside, students are doing a math lesson in English.

學(xué)生在上數(shù)學(xué)課, 老師講的是英語,

【33】They're working in small groups on word problems as the teacher walks around the class supporting the learning.

采用小組分工合作, 一同探討應(yīng)用題, 老師在小組間走動, 輔導(dǎo)他們學(xué)習(xí)。

【34】And then, in Spanish, the teacher says it's time to transition to a science lesson.

然后老師用西班牙語說 該上科學(xué)課了,

【35】She talks about the science content, hands out some papers for the day's assignment.

然后開始上科學(xué)課, 分發(fā)當(dāng)天的作業(yè)紙。

【36】The students attentively listen, and then they begin to interact with each other and the new science content all in Spanish.

學(xué)生們專注地聽講, 當(dāng)他們開始互動時, 都是用西班牙語 討論科學(xué)課的內(nèi)容。

【37】So one subject in English and the next subject in Spanish.

一門課講英語, 一門課講西班牙語。

【38】Whoa.

哇。

【39】How does this feel?

這是什么感覺？

【40】Full disclosure, to me, this is like a school-based multilingual dream come true.

對我來說,這就是 校園多語夢成真的時刻。

【41】But I bet that this also might feel kind of unnerving or surprising or a little bit chaotic to some.

但我保證也會有人 感到不安或吃驚, 又或是感覺這樣很混亂。

【42】And I think that those feelings may stem from the fact that this true embracing of multilingualism is very, very unusual in the US and it's very uncommon to see in American schools.

我認(rèn)為這些感受 都源自一個事實(shí), 即這種真正的多語制, 在美國是非常罕見的, 很少能在美國學(xué)校里見到。

【43】But here's the thing, here in the US, we have tons of raw potential when it comes to language diversity.

然而實(shí)際上在美國, 在語言多樣性方面, 我們有巨大的潛力。

【44】In fact, in 2022, Ethnologue ranked the US 5th of all countries in the world in terms of language diversity with 337 spoken languages.

根據(jù)《民族語》 2022 年發(fā)布的排名, 美國語言多樣性 在全世界排第五, 共有 337 種口語。

【45】Similarly, nearly one quarter of students in American schools speak a home language other than English.

美國有四分之一的學(xué)生, 在家會講英語以外的其它語言。

【46】This means that millions of students possess rich language skills, but we're not encouraging the development of those skills alongside the development of English.

這意味著數(shù)百萬計(jì)的學(xué)生 都有豐富的語言技能, 我們卻沒有鼓勵 這些技能的發(fā)展, 只重視英語的發(fā)展。

【47】And therefore we are not tapping into the linguistic diversity that exists among us and is already present.

因此我們沒有 充分發(fā)掘語言多樣性, 這都是現(xiàn)成現(xiàn)有的資源。

【48】When students enter schools, their language use and English proficiency is screened, and if they're in need of support, they're provided it.

學(xué)生入學(xué)時, 會檢查其英語的 使用方式和熟練程度, 如果他們需要支持, 就會有人幫助他們。

【49】But their home and heritage languages are often set aside due to long standing policies and practices that focus heavily on English.

但他們的家庭和傳統(tǒng)語言 往往會被忽視, 這是因?yàn)殚L期以來 政策和措施都嚴(yán)重偏向英語。

【50】Now, don't get me wrong I am not here to tell you that students educated in America shouldn't learn English.

別誤解我的意思, 我不是說在美國接受教育的學(xué)生 不該學(xué)英語。

【51】Well, there's no official language in this country.

這個國家沒有官方語言。

【52】That's right.

沒錯,

【53】There is no official language in the US.

美國沒有官方語言。

【54】English absolutely is a lingua franca and it's an important sociocultural and economic tool for communicating in various settings.

英語絕對是一種通用語言, 同時在社會、文化和經(jīng)濟(jì)方面 發(fā)揮著重要的作用, 在各種場合都能使用。

【55】However, students' home and heritage languages are incredibly valuable too.

然而學(xué)生的家庭和傳統(tǒng)語言 也是十分寶貴的。

【56】And that is what we're missing.

這就是我們所忽視的。

【57】Students are entering schools with rich language backgrounds and cultural experience and knowledge.

學(xué)生入學(xué)時有豐富的 語言背景、文化經(jīng)歷和知識,

【58】And schools are often ill-equipped to support that, which means that these languages often go uncelebrated, or even worse, over time, they're lost and forgotten.

學(xué)校卻沒有資源 支持這些語言的發(fā)展。 這意味著這些語言常被忽略, 甚至在歲月中失傳、被遺忘。

【59】So it's time that we stop leveraging dated policies and operating schools in a monolingual way.

所以是時候放棄過時的政策, 在學(xué)校引入多語制度了。

【60】But there's good news here.

但也有些好消息。

【61】Because research shows that there's a language development program model called dual language that is highly effective for all students.

研究顯示有一種 語言發(fā)展教學(xué)模式, 叫做“雙語教學(xué)”, 對所有學(xué)生都很有效。

【62】And by all, I mean all.

我說的“所有”是真的所有。

【63】There are different kinds of dual language programs, but the general gist is that participating students receive instruction in two languages, meaning that over time they become bilingual.

現(xiàn)在有多種雙語教學(xué)計(jì)劃, 主要都是讓學(xué)生 接受雙語的教學(xué), 隨著時間推移, 他們就成雙語者了。

【64】Historically in the US, language policies and programs have often been subtractive, but dual language programs are additive, which means that they're focused on developing, cultivating, and sustaining two languages.

在美國歷史上,語言政策和計(jì)劃 通常都是在做減法, 而雙語教學(xué)是做加法, 意味著其關(guān)注的是 發(fā)展、培養(yǎng)和維系兩種語言。

【65】And research shows that these programs are really good for all kids.

研究表明這類教學(xué)計(jì)劃 對所有孩子都有益。

【66】Not only are they the most effective type of instruction for students who speak a language other than English, but they also benefit native English speakers,

它們是最有效的教學(xué)計(jì)劃, 不僅是對講英語之外 語言的學(xué)生而言, 對英語母語者也是有益的,

【67】and students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and students with special education needs and exceptionalities.

對種族、民族背景多樣的學(xué)生 也是有益的, 對有特殊教育需求和特殊照顧的 學(xué)生也是有益的。

【68】Students enter these programs speaking one language and they come out of these programs speaking, listening, reading, and writing in two languages proficiently.

單語學(xué)生接受這類教學(xué)后, 就可以使用兩門語言, 進(jìn)行流利的聽說讀寫。

【69】Dual language programs work and we could implement them around the country.

雙語教學(xué)計(jì)劃是有效的, 可以在全國推廣。

【70】Because the fact of the matter is that being multilingual matters, both for the individual and for our society.

因?yàn)槎嗾Z言非常重要, 對個人和社會都是如此。

【71】Speaking multiple languages expands our worldview.

多語可以開拓我們的視野,

【72】It connects us to our own identity and links us to our communities, our cultures, and our families.

將我們與身份認(rèn)同、社群、 文化和家庭相連。

【73】And research shows that there's these incredible cognitive benefits too.

研究還表明 多語對認(rèn)知也有好處。

【74】Brains function better and can do more when they're multilingual.

多語者的大腦運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)得更好, 能做更多事情。

【75】For instance, research indicates that bilingual brains are better than their monolingual counterparts at conflict management, and at executive functioning activities, like multitasking.

例如研究表明, 雙語大腦在以下方面 都比單語大腦表現(xiàn)得好, 包括矛盾處理 和執(zhí)行功能的活動, 如處理多個任務(wù)。

【76】I mean, the effects of this are incredibly far-reaching and impactful.

我想說, 多語的益處和影響是巨大的。

【77】It really is amazing, isn't it?

很神奇,不是嗎？

【78】And it doesn't end there, because there's these economic and geopolitical benefits too.

這還不是全部, 因?yàn)槎嗾Z還能產(chǎn)生 經(jīng)濟(jì)和地緣政治效益。

【79】More and more jobs seek bilingual candidates, and being multilingual often leads to more lucrative job opportunities with global potential.

越來越多職位 開始尋找雙語人才, 會多門語言的人 能獲得更高薪的就業(yè)機(jī)會, 具備走向全球的潛力。

【80】Around the world, schools are producing bi- and trilingual individuals.

在世界范圍內(nèi), 學(xué)校在培養(yǎng)雙、三語人才,

【81】But that's notably uncommon here, which means that students educated in America are at a disadvantage globally in this way.

而這在美國卻很少見, 意味著美國培養(yǎng)的學(xué)生 在全球競爭中處于劣勢。

【82】As technology shrinks our world and leads to faster communication, and commerce, and political action, being multilingual can lead to increased opportunities for travel, study, work, and personal growth.

科技讓世界變得更小, 加速了人們間的交流、 貿(mào)易及政治活動。 會講多門語言 能夠帶來很多機(jī)會, 包括旅游、學(xué)習(xí)、 工作和自我成長。

【83】So let's go back to that journey we took.

讓我們回到剛才那段旅途。

【84】Because the fact of the matter is that doesn't have to be a figment of our imagination.

事實(shí)上, 這些事并非是遙不可及的。

【85】That journey took us to a dual language program, and what we need to do is build and grow these programs in order to build and grow multilingualism.

不管是那段前往 雙語教學(xué)的旅途, 還是為了建立和發(fā)展多語制, 所需要付出的努力。

【86】Through dual language, we have the opportunity to cultivate languages, honor cultural and linguistic capital, and foster connections within schools and communities.

在雙語模式下, 我們有機(jī)會培育語言, 充分利用文化與語言財(cái)富, 促進(jìn)校園和社區(qū)間的聯(lián)系。

【87】So instead of thinking of it as a journey, let's think of it as a foundation upon which to build better school programs that honor the language diversity that exists among us.

所以與其把它 想象成一段旅途, 不如將它作為 優(yōu)化教學(xué)方案的基礎(chǔ), 以尊重我們身上的 語言多樣性。

【88】It's the first step towards celebrating and elevating multilingualism.

這是鼓勵、發(fā)展多語制的第一步。

【89】Together, we can help students develop skills in more than one language.

我們可以幫助學(xué)生 學(xué)習(xí)不止一門語言。

【90】Students who will then go on to be multilingual adults, workers, travelers, community members, and global citizens.

學(xué)生們會成為 多語的工作者、旅者、 社區(qū)成員和世界公民。

【91】Thank you.

謝謝。