With an electoral season approaching, the islands comprising Puerto Rico have once more become the center of debate and conflict. Recently, the current Governor of Puerto Rico and statehood advocate Luis Fortuño introduced a mandatory bilingual public-education program for all students on the islands. The initiative, called “Generation Bilingual,” emphasizes the importance of English proficiency among the islanders. Ultimately, his ambitious program aims to graduate a 100 percent English-Spanish bilingual class from secondary schools by 2022.(1) Given the economic upheaval and rise in violent crime on the island, Fortuño’s proposition is rather timely, and may reflect his efforts to regain popularity as many islanders lose faith in his conservative administration. The unemployment rate of roughly 14.2 percent has driven the local population to search for a desperate solution to its lingual and other woes.(2)
Luis Fortuño, Source: OG
As a member of the local New Progressive Party (PNP) and U.S. Republican Party, Fortuño has had his motives for this program called into question. Los Penepes, or PNP party members, are generally associated with statehood advocacy, and members of the Republican Party have emphasized English proficiency as a prerequisite for island statehood. To this end, there is concern for underlying political intentions. The Independence Party candidate for the office of Resident Commissioner to the U.S. Congress, Juan Manuel Mercado, alleges, “Fortuño’s motives are more concerned with ideology than education,” and that his program is merely part of a scheme to facilitate annexation of the archipelago to the United States.(3) With the referendum to determine the islands’ status as a commonwealth, independent nation, or state in the Union, set for this November, accusations against Fortuño are not without basis. The current governor has definitive ideological and political ties to the mainland United States.(4)
Not all Puerto Ricans are convinced of the governor’s concern for their wellbeing, although bilingualism, especially fluency in English, is widely considered an essential asset for success in the globalized world. Though English is an official language of Puerto Rico and roughly 30 percent of the population has a relative command of the language, American culture and language remain alien for much of Puerto Rico’s Spanish-speaking majority.(5) Fortuño’s program of bilingual education has often been described as a step toward the further Americanization of the islands, although it remains in its nascent stages.(6) To this end, Secretary of Education Edward Moreno recently announced that American English will become the language of instruction in 31 of the islands’ public schools. More specifically, all subjects other than Puerto Rican history and Spanish language classes are to be taught in English.(7)
Opponents of the governor’s program are not necessarily against English instruction on the islands; rather, they argue that public schools ought to offer English solely as a foreign language option.(8) Their position is that it would prove injudicious to impose or mandate English language education, given that the majority of islanders remain outside of the Anglo-sphere.
Juan Manuel Mercado, Source: Independencia
Moreover, the implementation of a mandatory English-Spanish bilingual program would further undermine the islands’ already substandard Spanish language education system. Exposing children to bilingual instruction prior to developing a command of the original mother tongue has definitive risks in the long run. Perhaps the most relevant includes a lack of mastery in Spanish or related subjects. Many argue that the government ought to address these flaws in the quality of education in Spanish prior to enacting any drastic changes. At this point, Fortuño’s plans might aggravate the shortcomings of the Puerto Rican public education system.(9) Additionally, research has shown that a command of the vernacular actually facilitates second-language learning to a great extent.(10)
Fortuño’s justifications revolve around the growing emphasis on English as an international language. These motives are untenable, however, given the growth of many states outside of the Anglo-sphere. Some increasingly useful languages include Mandarin, Hindi, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, and French. Spanish has also seen a definitive rise in relevance as an international language.(11) Greater variety in second or third languages would encourage Puerto Rican citizens to look past the United States for opportunities and expedite the development of crucial ties with the rest of the world.
As the debate over Puerto Rico’s sovereignty hangs in the balance and the election for governor rapidly approaches, the world will watch to see which direction Puerto Ricans decide to take. Fortuño’s experiment is underway and islanders will have to soon determine whether or not a predominantly English language curriculum will address the archipelago’s unsettled woes of disproportionate unemployment rates and violent drug-related crime. As an old island saying goes, “Lo que no conviene, no viene:” If it doesn’t help, it has to go.
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(1) “El ingles sustituira al espanol como lengua del sistema educativo de P. Rico,” El Correo, last modified 08 June 2012, accessed 25 June 2012, http://www.elcorreo.com/agencias/20120608/mas-actualidad/sociedad/ingles-sustituira-espanol-como-lengua_201206082045.html.
(2) “State Unemployment Rate Largely Unchanged in May 2012,” National Conference of State Legislatures, last modified 15 June 2012, accessed 28 June 2012, http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/labor/state-unemployment-update.aspx.
(3) “La pelea por el ingles en Puerto Rico,” El Nacional, last modified 01 June 2012, accessed 25 June 2012, http://www.el-nacional.com/noticia/37134/24/La-pelea-por-el-ingles-en-Puerto-Rico.html.
(4) Ibid.
(5) “El ingles sustituira al espanol como lengua del sistema educativo de P. Rico,” El Correo, last modified 08 June 2012, accessed 25 June 2012, http://www.elcorreo.com/agencias/20120608/mas-actualidad/sociedad/ingles-sustituira-espanol-como-lengua_201206082045.html.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Angeles Molina Iturrondo, “El debate centenario: espanol o ingles,” Claridad, last modified 19 June 2012, accessed 25 June 2012, http://www.claridadpuertorico.com/content.html?news=06ED749FE3C3BC8FB84D8D5EBAF4DD42.
(8) “La pelea por el ingles en Puerto Rico,” El Nacional, last modified 01 June 2012, accessed 25 June 2012, http://www.el-nacional.com/noticia/37134/24/La-pelea-por-el-ingles-en-Puerto-Rico.html.
(9) Angeles Molina Iturrondo, “El debate centenario: espanol o ingles,” Claridad, last modified 19 June 2012, accessed 25 June 2012, http://www.claridadpuertorico.com/content.html?news=06ED749FE3C3BC8FB84D8D5EBAF4DD42.
(10) Ibid.
(11) “El ingles y el espanol son las lenguas predominantes en la comunicacion global,” Primera Hora, last modified 21 June 2012, accessed 25 June 2012, http://www.primerahora.com/elinglesyelespanolsonlaslenguaspredominantesenlacomunicacionglobal-662004.html.
I don't see English as a substitute for Spanish in Puerto Rico. But I do believe that the more Puerto Ricans speak English
the better off their economy will be. More English speakers in Puerto Rico would encourage more Americans to visit and more Puerto Ricans to think about coming to the US for higher education and for jobs. As for jobs in the US that would not likely occur soon, but it would in a few years as the US economy strengthens.
Thanks for your informative article and for advocating for the right to choose your own language and for language diversity. Please, be careful with Spanish spelling:
“El ingles sustituira al espanol como lengua del sistema educativo de P. Rico”
should be,
“El inglés sustituirá al español como lengua del sistema educativo de Puerto Rico”
Muchas gracias.
What does 'a command of the vernacular' have to do with second language acquisition? And what are these "risks in the long run " for those exposed to two different languages? Being bilingual is advantageous, if not essential these days.
I appreciate your commentary. A command of the vernacular has a great deal to do with second language acquisition. Research shows that a command of the mother tongue directly affects the ability to learn a second or third language. I referenced an article mentioning this research. Also, given the state of the Puerto Rican public education system, any drastic change such as the majority of classes being taught in English would prove disastrous for Puerto Rico's school-age population. If students can't master the mother tongue they surely wont master English or any other language imposed upon them. Bilingualism is undoubtedly advantageous. English should not be forced upon the population, however, and it should not be limited to English-Spanish bilingualism.
"As a member of the local New Progressive Party (PNP) and U.S. Republican Party, Fortuño has had his motives…". I understand the history leading up to local PR membership in U.S. parties, but I find it totally absurd. Members of parties that compete to elect a president for which these "members" cannot vote? Totally absurd.
The world is changing everyday, and if a person thinks that it is possible to survive in this Western Hemisphere without knowing English and Spanish, let those countries that stress both move ahead, then check your wallet in a few years and wonder why it has few and fewer dollars or pesos. I have been teachng ESL classes for almost 30 years, and know a little of the language situation. Wake up, or let other nations that require English reap the benefits of knowing both languages pass you economically and intellectually.
Two very different points:
1) If the decision is made to press forward with English instruction in Puerto Rico, forget US-based models of instruction, including ESL. Use a Germanic or Scandanavian model because in those countries the school children really learn their own language AND English at the same time. In the US high schools and universities, second-language instruction is an abyssmal failure. The why is complicated, but by using the full Germanic-Scandanavian models, with all the discipline involved and the understanding that students are not "clients," but students, real results will be achieved.
2) The article's listing of alternatives to English as a second language alternative sounds like something out of Hugo Chávez, i.e., politics and ideology, not the real-world situation.
I agree that students in PR should be biliterate by the time they graduate from high school. Puerto Rico, after all, is an American Colony and better knowledge of English and Spanish would improve chances of Puerto Ricans being employed both in PR and the mainland.
I do object however, to the model proposed for this "bilingual education " program. As implied by "Un Espectador" above, politicians should become informed about true bilingual education models and pick from the best. Bilingual educators in the US, as well as other countries, have developed excellent models for dual language education that should work well in the Island she applied properly and without political intervention.