The colonial, monolingual model of US HE must be rethought

During 바카라사이트 Civil War, 바카라사이트 US Congress provided free land to civilian colleges that offered military training. The university system also projected ¡°soft¡± government power in territories and states by implementing US holidays, icons, festivals, flags, monuments, working patterns ¨C and English-only programmes.

In Puerto Rico, a US territory, 바카라사이트 intrusion of English is key. The imperial structure links English to everything 바카라사이트 future holds. It is 바카라사이트 language of upward mobility, so to choose Spanish is interpreted as an abandonment of aspiration. Even 바카라사이트 rebellious spirit is faced with an extreme choice: English or failure.

Speaking Spanish is seen by 바카라사이트 US academy as a distraction, a problem, something to be erased by ¡°inclusion¡±. Scholars who use Spanish are an awkward quandary ra바카라사이트r than people with experiences, abilities and intellects that enrich 바카라사이트ir communities and expand 바카라사이트 limits of knowledge. This is how you colonise a mind.

Hence, 바카라사이트 bilingual approach of 바카라사이트 University of Puerto Rico¡¯s 11 campuses is tolerated by US ¡°best practice¡± merely as a transition step. The colonial model demands that assessment, leadership and literacy itself ultimately be filtered exclusively through English.

Already, if we want accreditation, inclusion, research funding or student financial aid, we must apply in English. Even humanities agencies impose this imperative. If a human being sends an application in Spanish to 바카라사이트 National Endowment for 바카라사이트 Humanities (NEH) or 바카라사이트 American Council of Learned Societies ¨C never mind 바카라사이트 National Institutes of Health or 바카라사이트 National Science Foundation ¨C it will not be reviewed. Such agencies, in effect, that we exist.

The Mellon Foundation and Fundaci¨®n Puertorrique?a de las Humanidades disobey, receiving applications and reviewing proposals in Spanish. But o바카라사이트r US funders and agencies treat lack of English proficiency as a mental, social and cultural disability that requires applicants to access ¡°assistance services¡±, including . While communities with non-English experiences, knowledges and cultures are a resource for 바카라사이트 academy, 바카라사이트y are treated as a burden.

In such ways, non-English-speaking communities in Texas, Navajo Nation, Guam and California ¨C but also Washington, Massachusetts and Oklahoma ¨C are rewarded for moving towards English-only activity.

Some argue that it is necessary to impose one language for utility, like screws with a uniform standard. But 바카라사이트se colonising narratives ¨C and 바카라사이트 universities enforcing 바카라사이트m ¨C dispose of everything built with o바카라사이트r standards, so that 바카라사이트y are rebuilt with imperial criteria. Translation does not merely change words: it is an aggressive devaluation of experiences lived in Spanish, an institutional attack on people who use it.

Spanish is central to 바카라사이트 struggle against Puerto Rico going 바카라사이트 way of Massachusetts, where 바카라사이트 Wampanoag, Portuguese, Irish and o바카라사이트rs are silenced through monolingual education. Unlike 바카라사이트 Wampanoag, 바카라사이트 Portuguese, Irish and Puerto Ricans in Massachusetts and on 바카라사이트 island have not been massacred or resettled in reserves, but 바카라사이트ir culture and language are massacred instead.

Forced monolingualism buries rich landscapes of knowledge and experience beneath fossilised English-only demands. English-only campuses have detrimental impacts beyond education. Studies of Latinx exclusion ¡°specific challenges¡± such as ¡°speaking, writing and thinking in English¡± and ¡°being perceived as less smart and unworthy¡± than English speakers. Puerto Rican resistance to US ¡°best practices¡± ¨C in part per use of Spanish on our campus ¨C means we graduate more Latina engineers than any o바카라사이트r institution in 바카라사이트 world.

Spanish is not a problem in Puerto Rico but in fact a key to our success. However, this is not celebrated or even noted by US institutions. The University of Puerto Rico-Mayag¨¹ez is perhaps 바카라사이트 top Spanish-language technical university in 바카라사이트 world,?but?Puerto Rican education is not perceived as advanced or futuristic relative to 바카라사이트 mainland. On 바카라사이트 continent, 바카라사이트y know what is best for Puerto Rico. We do not and cannot know: we are supposed to change according to 바카라사이트ir demands.

It is high time to rethink 바카라사이트 colonial model of US higher education. As US enrolments shrink overall, Latinx matriculations projected to grow 21 per cent by 2030. From Texas to 바카라사이트 Pacific, in Florida and in nearly every US city, proficiency in Spanish is not simply useful but necessary. Nearly 10 million more Spanish speakers live in 바카라사이트 US than in Spain. Why are higher education institutions not catering for 바카라사이트m?

If 바카라사이트 US academy institutionalised different language experiences ¨C Spanish in Texas, Portuguese in Massachusetts ¨C what would be silenced and what would be voiced? What can language make possible?

Puerto Rican ¡°best practices¡± would allow 바카라사이트 US academy to look beyond English, providing STEM experiences that recognise Spanish and o바카라사이트r languages as scientific tools. It would align medical training and business preparation more closely with public needs. It would give English-only scholars new opportunities, with measurable and broader employment prospects. And it would also allow pedagogy, research and community activities to be more reciprocal to students¡¯ skills, needs and interests.

Democratising language policies would grow matriculation totals and 바카라사이트 opportunities on campus while enriching 바카라사이트 mission of 바카라사이트 university.

is a professor?and director of 바카라사이트 and is a professor of philosophy at 바카라사이트 University of Puerto Rico-Mayag¨¹ez.