The purpose of maintaining culture allows these students to not fully forget about their roots but still continue to expand and learn about different cultures. This focuses on not wanting them to completely immerse themselves in the new culture by completely forgetting their own because it is special to them. This can allow these students to have more of a voice. (Cases, 187). Bilingual education, bilingualism, bilaterally, and biculturalism allow these students to have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in a completely new environment without fully forgetting where they came from. This will allow these students to be able to read, learn, and speak these different languages equally without putting priority over a specific one. (Casesa, 172).

Casesa describes this deliberative pedagogy as a way of aiding the students rather than fully following the curriculum. This means that they are able to the help that they needed in a way that was more equal and fair. (Casesa, 176). Darder describes biculturalism as the ability to adapt to their native culture as well as the culture that is more prominent in the area that they are currently living in. (Casesa, 177). 

She supports these assets by not allowing students to be bullied for speaking another language, incorporating bicultural authors within the lessons that she was teaching, and spoke about concepts of power, language and fairness to allow them to see how important the language of English was. (Casesa, 178). Biculturalism can be seen as something that is dynamic because people are constantly learning through other people, cultures, and context, allowing them to experience how cultural is and can be very diverse rather than just one thing. Casesa, 178). 

Darder’s Sphere of biculturalism describes how when a person is in a state of alienation, they would categorize with the dominant identity and language of that given area but in a private setting such as their home, the person would identify with their primary and native identity and language. This primary identity is normally seen through the patterns of dualism, separatism, and negotiation. Darder says that in the a social setting, the person would most likely deny their primary identity. Darder then explains that cultural separatism encourages people to stay with their primary identity regardless of the setting but negotiation is where the person would switch between their primary and bicultural identity depending on the setting. Lastly, Darder states that cultural affirmation is where the person accepts both identities in a comfortable setting (Casesa, 179-180).

Jose was a student who only spoke Spanish within the classroom and did everything he could to improve his speaking even though he thought it was an on english speaking area. He also started to learn how to speak in english through the use of books that could help him translate. Jenny is another student within the class that knew a bit of Spanish and english. She was a quiet student didn’t speak a lot but knew how to speak in either language if necessary. (Casesa, 185). 

One of the challenges that Casesa faced was that some of her students tried to only attach to English speaking rather than speaking both English and Spanish. This led to Casesa’s students feeling as though they had lost who they were because they weren’t staying true to their identity. Another challenge that Casesa faced was the lack of diversity within the education system because it did not allow schools the opportunity to celebrate and teach the different cultures within America (Casesa, 187-188). A victory that Casesa experienced was seeing students accept both their Spanish and American identities. This was a victory because Casesa had successfully found a way to help students adapt to the dominant language in America but also keep their true voice at the same time. Another victory that Casesa had was realizing that herself as a white and English speaking teacher can help promote change and empowerment for the students that are English learners, and she did this without forcing the students to one their identities (Casesa, 189). 

Casesa describes that students can become proud cultural beings by having a strong guide or mentor that is passionate about what they are teaching. This means that the guidance of these guides needs to be presented to these students in a way that does not force them to conform to the norms of one specific culture and to be independent in a way. (Casesa, 190). Overall, this article is very enlightening because it shows how students can become bicultural if they are in a learning environment that promotes growth. 

Additive and bicultural acculturation can help facilitate student success by allowing them to get accustomed to the new culture that they are living in without fully letting go of what is native to them. This allows these individuals to learn the importance of something new while also maintaining and continuing to grow within their own cultural aspect. Teachers can help facilitate this for English learners by ensuring that they are fully integrated into the classroom setting through the use of different strategies or different language programs that will help them achieve success. One way this can be done is through the use of incorporating different lessons or readings that relate to these specific students. 

 

Casesa, R. (2013). I spoke it when I was a kid: Practicing critical bicultural pedagogy in a fourth-grade classroom. Schools: Studies in Education, 10 (2), 171-191.