Reflection and Application

Language is much more than the words we speak. It is tied to our identity, our societal perspectives and interactions, our sense of self and community. Without it, we would not be able to connect with one another. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the assets of being multilingual and preserving our heritage languages, because, without them, those connections to one's identity can be left behind. 

A prime example of how language is tied to our identity is through the ability of code-switching. Code-switching is an act exclusive to multilingual persons, as it calls for a switching of 2 different languages throughout conversation. The reason this ability is so significant is that it allows for people to linguistically and culturally connect through traits, understandings, and experiences they may not have through they shared. It allows for students, teachers, coworkers, family members, friends, colleagues, and even strangers to connect on a more advanced and comprehensible level. 

Throughout this process, we are truly focusing on preserving heritage through words. We will do this through as we listen to and understand people's real-world, lived experiences, as we ask insightful and genuine questions, and as we respect the communities we engage with. We believe that through mutual exchange, we can even provide them with some linguistic history. 

Understanding the linguistic history of the United States means understanding that for a long time, people were not allowed to speak their heritage language. Therefore, when we are focusing on the idea of actually encouraging students in today's day and age to be multilingual, it is crucial to understand that there are likely people who are still dealing with the trauma and hurt from their experiences, so a transformation as drastic as this must be properly guided with care, compassion, and honesty.

We hope that, along with our cohort, we are able to immerse ourselves in the understanding of the societal and personal values of valuing heritage languages to a point of being proudly multilingual.  

Furthermore, we wish to successfully promote the benefits that come with being multilingual. Naming only a few of the very significant advantages we have come across includes: an increase in job opportunities and pay raise; increase in cognitive abilities and awareness; improved connections with culture, social network, background, etc.; postponed Alzheimer's diagnosis for 5 and a half years; and higher academic outcomes. If this information were to be more widespread and understood, we believe that we could accomplish more of the mission of increasing the population of multilingual children and adults in the United States.