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January 4, 2021
English learners backslideNY Times |
Remote learning has been hard for students across the country. But few have had a harder time than children coming from immigrant households who rarely speak English at home. |
“I became more shy because I can’t really talk with other students anymore in online class,” said Taniya Ria, a sixth grader who moved to New York City from Bangladesh in 2019. “I feel like the year is going to waste.” |
When she first arrived, Taniya didn’t know a word of English. Within months, she began translating for her mother, made American friends in class and got good grades. Then the pandemic arrived. |
This fall, she took classes on an iPhone from her family’s one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, struggling to understand her teachers through the tiny screen. Words and grammar she once knew evaporated, along with her hard-won confidence. |
“It’s hard for me to explain what I want to say correctly,” Taniya said. “And there are so many people in class, I get nervous about making a mistake.” |
She’s not alone. English language learners in parts of Virginia, California and Maryland are falling behind more than their peers, according to district data. |
In schools, students learn English directly and in more subtle ways, by observing teachers’ facial expressions and other students’ responses to directions. But small cues rarely translate through a screen. |
When Taniya first noticed her English slipping in September, she would read to herself out loud, pulling from a towering stack of picture books and young adult novels piled on her dresser. |
But over time, it became harder to pronounce the words and took longer to finish each chapter. Eventually, she stopped trying. “I feel like it’s all my fault,” she said. |
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