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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kay, Youth Advocate from Asian American Student Advocacy Project (ASAP)
9:44:37
ยท
3 min
Kay, a student at John Dewey High School and youth advocate for the Asian American Student Advocacy Project, testifies about the challenges faced by English Language Learner (ELL) students, particularly those from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. She emphasizes the need for more inclusive and supportive environments in schools for ELL students.
- Kay highlights the isolation, discouragement, and low confidence experienced by ELL students due to language barriers.
- She calls for better integration of ELL students with native English speakers and improved communication with non-English speaking families.
- The testimony emphasizes the need for schools to focus on building ELL students' confidence in speaking English, making friends, and finding their place in the community, beyond just passing tests.
Kay
9:44:37
Good evening.
9:44:38
First, I want to thank Chair Joseph and the rest of the council for allowing this conversation.
9:44:44
My name is Kay, a student at John Dewey High School.
9:44:47
I'm a youth advocate at the Asian American Student Advocacy Project Language Access Campaign.
9:44:54
The Asian American Student Advocacy Project is CACF, citywide youth leadership program.
9:45:01
Just to let you know that we've been waiting here for six hours, which means that we really feel that this need to be shared through this is a problem that have to be shared through and shouldn't be a budget cutting.
9:45:17
I'm here today to address the needs of ELL students, including AAPI ELL students who are trapped in the close world of isolation, discouragement, and low confidence.
9:45:30
Often struggling with language barrier academically and socially.
9:45:35
As someone who come to the con who came to the country two years ago, not only do I feel like my English is my weakness, but judgments from peers and teachers also make me feel like I'm not learning fast enough.
9:45:48
I'm also simply stressed out about having conversation because I struggle when finding words in my head.
9:45:54
I was lucky enough to make friends with my ELL students in my classes, but due to how we are separated from the native English speakers, I will still feel nervous to hold conversation with them.
9:46:09
To me, it often feels like students do not create a proper environment when ELL students are receive where ELL students can receive support when learning English.
9:46:21
Moreover, the English we learn is academic language, so it make it hard to hold everyday conversation.
9:46:29
I feel like as ELL, we are often being done by the school and fighting alone for ourself with academic and social pressure.
9:46:38
Beyond translation support, our language access team firmly believe that the city and DOE must do more to create a more inclusive, supportive, and equitable school environment for English language learners.
9:46:54
We found that many ELL students struggles with social integration because they lack space to practice English.
9:47:02
We need schools to actively participate integration of students and make sure the goals of ELL student is not just to pass the necessary test, but the goal is to gain confidence in speaking English, make friends, find themselves in the community, and have the resources they need to thrive.
9:47:22
We want the school to be able to properly communicate with our families.
9:47:26
My parents deserve to have information delivered properly to them.
9:47:30
I shouldn't be, sorry, I shouldn't be expected to translate.
9:47:35
However, this is often the case because our language is not a top spoken language in New York City, which make me feel more isolated.
9:47:43
We call on the city to create an equitable and inclusive environment to help ELL students who feel heard about their struggles by implementing special program and that can fill in their language needs and provide engaging materials for an inclusive language learning experience.
9:48:01
Thank you.