My Trouble is My English: Asian Students and the American Dream

by Danling Fu, Donald H. Graves (Foreword)

Can the whole language approach adequately prepare minority students, especially those with different backgrounds, for the literate world? With "My Trouble Is My English," Danling Fu joins the current debate over this issue, examining the learning experiences of four Laotian students at a mainstream secondary school. Her study not only describes and interprets the students' learning situations, it also helps us understand their perspectives, along with those of their teachers. Fu introduces us to the Savang family, refugees who left Laos, spent time in a settlement camp in Thailand, and finally escaped to the United States. Her book is about their dreams of integration, and the ways their school often tracked them into classes where the focus was on isolated vocabulary and language skills. Fu shows, in graphic detail, how difficult this "simplified" approach is for those new to a culture. And she shows how open journal writing assignments began to tap the rich stories this family had to tell. Fu, a native Chinese teacher with her own unique learning history, brings her firsthand experience of second language acquisition to this book. Her treatment of the issues of inclusion, multiculturalism, and students "at risk" is especially personal and insightful.

Genres: Nonfiction, School

230 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 1995

Reviews

[Nora Birkholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

twas a very insightful book about the difficulties students from other cultures have when adapting to school in America. It sheds light on problems the American education system has when catering to students with low English proficiency and learning difficulties, problems such as the over reliance on curriculum and standards rather than individuals

this book should be required reading for every teacher

[Emily Sowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is great for anyone who is going to have ML students in their classroom or is going into EL teaching. Really a great case study on how improper English education can fail ML students, but also how proper and effective teaching can lead to success that gives students something to be proud of.

I feel for kids like Sy and Cham, who are jumbled around from class to class because their teachers don’t know how to help them in their Core classes. Having ESL classes is so important and taking note of their interests and schemata can make a world of difference in not only student success, but also student motivation. Danling Fu does a great job at showing what is successful and what isn’t and diagnosing those problems.

I hope the kids in this case study are doing better now and have been able to learn English and adapt to the culture, despite this 90s classroom experience stagnating those goals.

[ellie beekman · Rating 2 out of 5]

read this for a PD at work. it was alright. good case study insight into life in american schools learning english. not wildly powerful or anything but got me some license renewal credits so whatever.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic look at four ESL students and their experiences in an American public school setting.

We see everything: the good, the bad, what worked, what didn't. These students are clearly struggling in class, but there's no one true party at fault. Obviously there are some questionable practices at play (the teacher making Paw rewrite a single sentence five times over again rings a bell), but each party is trying their best with what they are given. This situation proves to be much more complicated than just black and white. The biggest problem? None of the teachers were formally trained in TESL; they have no background, no understanding of the theories and practices. They're simply trying their best with what they're given.

I loved every aspect of this book. It made me better understand ESL students and the diverse challenges they can face. It can be so isolating to be thrust in a new place, learning a language, in a new culture. I think this book is especially important for anyone going into education--not just TESL. Despite being 30 years old by this point, this book is still very much relevant to our current educational landscape, which begs the question: what's changed since then? There's still so. much. improvement left to go.

Amazing book.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I’ve read in my field in 2019, and it turns out to have been written in 1995. Fu tracks the efforts of four Laotian immigrants to the US—all high-schoolers and members of the same family—to learn English for academic purposes. She shows how their attempts to do so are hampered, ironically, by many of the structures set up to help them, since being placed in ESL classes denies them the immersion in American culture that they need to become truly fluent in English. This is a simply and beautifully written book that views students as persons with lives that extend far beyond the classroom. Fu also writes perceptively about her own struggles to learn English. It’s an incisive book, and a moving one, a powerful argument for inclusion and tolerance in our increasingly fractured and tense society.

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book was written in 1995, it is very relevant for teachers who teach across the country. Danling Fu studied four children from the same family who escaped Communistic Laos and fled to the camp in Thailand. The large family was separated a long time before they all could live back together again in the U.S. All four children had great difficulty learning English. For all four students, the ESL studies were based on learning random vocabulary, using the vocabulary to write unrelated sentences and being tested on the words the students could never connect to. The students were asked to do writing when they couldn't even comprehend the teacher's written or oral directions. The students had low self-esteems and were failing in their high school courses until a different teachers gave the students the dignity to choose their own readings, freely respond to the readings, and write what they knew most about. When the teachers began to think about these four students as individuals who came from a different culture and could be sparked into sharing about their own experiences, the students were able to rise up and reach goals their teachers thought were unattainable.

I do believe that reading comprehension and writing will improve at a greater rate now, now that Lucy Calkins and Stephanie Harvey are the major leaders in literacy for all children. Text to self connections enable students to relate to what they are reading, and Lucy Calkins has always known that when children write about their own personal experiences, they are willing to expand their ideas and expose more about their feelings in their own unique voices.

Danling Fu writes, "A multicultural approach does not mean simply adopting a week-long unit on China or India around the holidays, or a month's unit on black history. It must include every student's voice in every subject we teach every day. By inviting students to share thier own stories or express their interpretations of thier reading, teachers not only allow students to construct knowledge and make meaning in their reading and writing, but also enable them to share their perspectives and cultural values. In this way, teaching cultivates in the young an appreciation of differences, a respect for individuality and a way of looking at the world with plural meanings."

Although dated, every teacher should hear the frustrations and the true selves of English learners crying for help and a way to be recognized and valued.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you care to read about the struggles of a family of international students who come to america to find a better place, this is the book for you. These five kids are known as the quiet asian and are seen as anti-social through the eyes of the rest of the world. this book explores the five students' reasons for silence which involve cultural, social, personal aspects that people don't normally think about. not a bad read for a required text.

[Nhi Hoang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Danling Fu kept using simple words and simple structures. Maybe she didn't want to take risks as being a non-native author. The book is about her research on the Laotian family who immigrated to the US in the 80s. Language barrier and culture gap are normal to everyone who is new to the country. But it seems like she exaggerated it too much that made me sick.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a class book, this was an easy read. The author observed four Lao students from the same family. All of them struggled to learn English and adjust to their new school, but in very different ways. It's a good reminder to view our students as individuals. I have to do a similar type of observation for this class, and I think this will be a helpful guide.

[Maja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for my second language acquisition class. It was an insightful look into the school experiences of four sibling immigrants from Laos. The author was an immigrant from China doing some graduate study. It makes me wish that more ESL students could have this opportunity.

[Farrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look into the world and learning habits of English Language Learners. I would highly recommend this for any teacher who works with ELL students.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye opening case study of 4 Laos - American students.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for teachers of ELs. Valuable insights for teachers of all students.

[Bethany Dancey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read for my ESL class. The experiences of these 4 siblings from Laos were interesting. They also gave me a good case study to help guide future decisions as a teacher for ELLs.