Daisy C. S. Catalan
I. Introduction:
Why should my students study about the Filipinos? The answer is simple. I teach English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at Wilbur Cross High School which is a component of the Bilingual Program. This is a transitional program that provides services to students who have recently arrived from different countries and who need more English language instruction before they can be moved to grade level classrooms. As an ESOL teacher my ethnic background is Filipino and just like them I have immigrated to the United States. Equally important to mention I was once a newcomer like them and that I share the same trials, uncertainties and difficulties that they may have experienced in the new country. Adding to this, since I teach them the dominant language here in the United States I would be a role model to them. I exemplify their ability to learn the language of the host country in addition to their own native language.
Furthermore, I have also observed that although most of my students (and also the majority of U.S. citizens) are aware of the diversity of Asian Americans in the United States, they are still unable to distinguish Filipinos from other Asians.
The underlying theme of this unit is contemporary immigration which will focus on the Filipino experiences. Since this topic is a content subject usually taught in Social Studies or History classes, this unit may also be used by the content History or Social Studies teachers in the Bilingual program classes or in grade level Social Studies or History classes where most of the students are non-native English speakers.
The current approach in teaching a second language is incorporating subject matter or content in the ESOL classroom. There are several reasons why this is highly recommended. First, the content (subject matter) provides the ESOL students important knowledge that provides foundation of grade level subject areas like Social Studies, Science and Math. Second, non-native English speakers are able to practice the language functions and skills needed to understand, discuss, read about and write about the concepts developed. Third, studies have found that students show more interest when they are learning content rather than learning the language only. Finally, the use of content provides the context for teaching learning strategies that can be applied in grade level classrooms. In the language classroom, the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) are developed for content area activities as they are needed rather than being taught sequentially.
II. Objectives and Strategies
-
1. To acquire a brief overview of the Philippines; its colonial history, people, geography, climate and economy.
-
____
____
For an introductory lesson to this unit, the students will read an encyclopedic article about the Philippines. The students will use
VISUAL AIDS
such as maps, charts, and tables which are part of the encyclopedic article. To emphasize listening , this article will be recorded for students to listen to as they read. The students will preview the visual aids with the teacher and discuss each one. Geographical locations will be circled as well as information on history, population, climate and economy. As the tape is played the teacher points out the visual aids and suggests at appropriate places that they take time to stop the tape and study each. The students will identify the circled geographic location on a map. Another strategy that could be used is for students to
MAKE JUDGMENTS
based on the information given in the encyclopedic article. Working in pairs or groups the students will note similarities and differences in colonial history, geography, language, demography, and economy of the Philippines and their countries of origin.
-
2. To identify different immigration phases of Filipinos to the United States.
-
____
____
A
TIME LINE
about the different stages of Filipino immigration will be presented to the students. This will be discussed in class. The students will read this time line and write sentences about different stages and important events that happened during these phases. A time line of Puerto Rican migration to the United States will also be presented to the students. The students will compare similar events in two places at approximately the same time. The students will have follow-up activities by writing their own time lines. They will interview family members and get as much information as possible about the lives of their parents and grandparents particularly the important events in their own family’s stories (e.g. Iiving in refugee camps; journey to the United States). The students will be shown how to count backwards with dates; how to find the persons’ birthdates by subtracting their ages from the current date; and how to estimate the dates in their story where the exact dates are not available. The students will discuss their family time lines and find similarities in their family stories.
-
3. To know the experiences of various Filipino immigrants.
-
____
____
The students will read some selective studies of the Filipino immigrant experiences. As a member of the community and at the same time a participant observer for twelve years, I will write accounts of Filipino immigrants with variables such as age, time of arrival, marital status, class background, household composition, and work history. My respondents are relatives, friends and social acquaintances mostly residing in the East Coast. The earliest arrival I am acquainted with came in 1970 with the latest in 1993. The names in the case studies were changed to maintain confidentiality. The students will work in groups. If the population of the class permits, it would be a mixed group based on their country of origin. The students will be encouraged to use
IMAGERY
to visualize events and places as they read the case histories of Filipino immigrants. The students will discuss the Filipino experience in the group, then using these cases as models they will write about their own similar personal experiences or those of the members of their families. They will interview immediate family members or other relatives to get the information needed in their case studies. The students will also get additional information about current immigration news on Filipinos, Mexicans, Dominicans, Bosnians, Chinese and other immigrants from the CD Newsbank in the school library. They will also try using the Internet in the school’s Career Center computer lab. Articles about Filipinos in the United States published in a Filipino magazine (written in English) will be available to the students. Some of the articles will be read and discussed in class.
-
4. To compare and contrast the Philippines experience (conquest; colonial experience) with Puerto Rico and Mexico; Filipino immigrant experiences with other immigrant population.
-
____
____
The students will use their individual cases of immigrant experience then compare and contrast them. The students who will be working in groups will be responsible in presenting similarities and differences between experiences of immigrants; Puerto Rican and Filipinos; Dominican and Honduran; Peruvian and Mexican; Chinese and Laotian; Bosnian and Ukrainian and others. The students will use the
VENN DIAGRAM
to compare and contrast. The questions students will answer are: How are Puerto Rican experiences different from the Filipino experience? How are Filipino experiences different from the Puerto Rican experience? How are these two experiences similar? Compare Dominican and Honduran experiences asking the same questions and etc. The teacher will guide the students to discuss and write their experiences around the following themes such as: reasons for coming to the United States; relatives or family members that help them immigrate; hardships they experienced when they relocated; how they feel going to a new school not knowing the language well and etc. The students will also use the Venn diagram to compare and contrast the historical experiences of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Mexico. These historical information will be available to the students by reading the encyclopedic history (Grolier Electronic Publishing, 1992). A teacher made brief narratives of the immigration patterns of the three immigrant groups will also be available.( See Pedraza-Rumbaut,1996; Rodriguez,1989; Falcon,__1991). These will be read and discussed thoroughly in class. Brief examples of some similarities between these three countries:
-
____
* Philippines, Puerto Rico and Mexico were all former colonies of Spain.
-
____
* All three countries were acquired by the United States through conquest and annexation.
-
____
* Philippines and Puerto Rico were ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American-Cuban War of 1898.
-
____
* The United States acquired Mexican territories after the bloody wars between Mexico which to present day are now known as the states of Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Utah.
-
____
* Filipinos and Puerto Rican contract labor migration began soon after 1898. Contract laborers were recruited to work in the sugar cane plantations in Hawaii. For both groups the farm labor system was the stepping stone to residence in the United States. Most Puerto Rican contract laborers however returned to Puerto Rico after their contracts were completed. They quickly moved out of the agricultural contract labor to live in more urban areas.
-
____
* Mexicans were recruited as contract laborers to work in the mining and railroad construction in the late 1880’s when the Chinese immigrant labor was barred. European immigration was halted because of World War I. American growers and employers hired Mexicans because they found them less costly and because of their attachment to their native land they would return home after their contracts. The European immigrant workers on the other hand, were becoming troublesome, spearheading strikes, and forming unions. In time however, the Mexicans that stayed in labor camps or “colonias” founded some of the small towns of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas.
-
____
* During the Second World War, Filipinos, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans served in the United States armed forces.
-
5. To analyze and interpret tables and graphs.
-
____
____
The students can work in pairs. They will read tables; interpret graphs and pie charts. The first graph deals about the number of Filipino immigrants that come to the United States under the occupation and family preference categories from 1960-1990. (See Pedraza-Rumbaut;1996:302). In addition, the students will answer the activities from the student workbook ( Skill Sharpeners 3, 2nd ed.; Addison-Wesley:64-65). These activities can be accomplished in two lessons. Activity 1 A Nation of Immigrants, shows two graphs with the number of people who immigrated to the United States in each ten-year period from 1821-1980. The graphs also show where these people come from. The students will use the graphs to complete sentences. A writing activity will follow-up this lesson. The students will write a paragraph : Why the United States has been called a Nation of Immigrants? Activity 2 A Nation of Immigrants deals with tables that show immigration for the seven year period 1981 to 1987. The students will answer questions based upon these tables. Subsequently they will make graphs of the information given on the tables.
