This episode explores language as a feature of identity, as an obstacle to be overcome by students, and as an entree into many parts of American society. We begin with a surprisingly complicated question: What is the most widely spoken language in the world?
Voices in this Episode
Tobias, Lingerr, Ruth, Roya, Yesica, Ra'ouf, Caroline, Angel, Juliana, Omar, Cat
Further Exploration
"American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many" from NPR
"The Bilingual Education Act: Twenty Years Later" from National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs, part of the US Department of Education
"Boarding Schools" from the exhibit Native Words, Native Warriors at the National Museum of the American Indian
"The Complicated History Behind California's Vote on Bilingual Education" from Time
"The most spoken languages" from the ESL-Language Studies Abroad blog
"THE POLITICS OF BILINGUALISM" from The New York Times
Transcripts
See the bottom of the Points In Between page for transcripts to all episodes.