by Julia López-Robertson, Lisa Stockdale & Amber Hartman, The University of South Carolina
A man without history is a tree without root.
Confucius
. . . students are often disinterested in their own culture because their parents have worked so hard to help them blend into the Western world and environment.
We close our blog this month with another graphic novel, Vietnamerica, and leave you with a few questions regarding students’ language and culture and its place in the classroom. The main character, G.B., is a Vietnamese American who learns about his family’s past in Vietnam and America through family stories and also by visiting his home country of Vietnam. G.B.’s parents fled Vietnam during the war in Saigon to keep the family safe and to find new life in America. Although G.B.’s family struggled to adapt to their new life in America, they wanted what was best for their children so they didn’t go back right away. G.B. grows up in the United States and it is obvious throughout Vietnamerica that he has definitely assimilated to the American culture and become extremely “Americanized.” When his parents ask him to visit Vietnam with them years later, G.B. wants nothing to do with it. He questions why they still care about Vietnam when they left it so many years ago. Eventually, G.B. comes to the conclusion that his family’s past is important, and he tries his hardest to grasp what he can before the history goes away.
We began our discussion of GB Tran’s graphic novel Vietnamerica by exploring America’s long history of linguistically and culturally assimilating its immigrants and trying to dissolve any “culture” other than the American way of life. Bankston and Khou (1995) outline two ways in which this has been accomplished: Forcible Assimilation, or the English Only approach, and Reluctant Bilingualism. Both approaches regard bilingualism as a handicap, rather than a resource. García and Kliefgen (2011) assert that “bilingual instructional strategies open up the pedagogical space in ways that legitimate the intelligence, imagination, and linguistic talents of ELL students” (p. 50). How we create these pedagogical spaces and incorporate bilingual instructional strategies within our own classrooms was fodder for the remaining discussion.
Student Reponses
Vietnamerica by GB Tran was a thought provoking story that has potential to be a useful text for classroom discussions on cultural assimilation and family relationships. Reading Kibria’s (1994) research on households and ideas on collectivist cultures really helped me understand some of the dynamics of Tran’s story. I realized that Tran’s family was also an example of how “Americanization” endangers the collectivist cultural values that many elders hope in. Tran’s parents were those who left their home during a trying time, and did not return to take care of their families. In the story, Tri and Dzung are contrasted with their friend Do, who stayed behind and endured the war. It’s interesting to consider Kibria’s research for those who do transplant to the US; she found that the more diverse the family the more successful refugee families are at financially surviving and in attempting to preserve their culture of collectivist values. We as teachers can use the story of Tran to communicate to ELLs they carry a wealth of knowledge and cultural importance in the classroom community. The quote “a man without history is a tree without roots” from the book served as a theme for me as I read. GB learns his history in his return to Vietnam and helps his parents remember events that occurred years before. His search for their family history and true culture is one that will be easily relatable to our ELLs. This can also be a theme for discussion, asking students to write about their “roots” and family tree, either through interviews with family and community members, reading histories (letters, or history books), or by writing their own story of immigration and assimilation to American culture.
Student Two
To be honest, I found the story of this graphic novel to be confusing. I am unfamiliar with typical Vietnamese names, so I had to refer back to the family trees often to understand who was who, and sometimes who was narrating the story. Getting past this obvious issue, I think Vietnamerica sends a powerful message about the chaos that war created for the Vietnamese culture in these times, and explained why so many Vietnamese families fled Vietnam to seek asylum in other countries, particularly the US. As Büyükokutan (2011) mentions, politics are intertwined: “culture is built into politics.” (p. 621); the political struggle of a country profoundly affects the culture of its people.
Even I identified with GB. Growing up, your family history and parents’ past experiences do not seem to matter much. However, when we begin to change our selfish, teenage view to a more collectively open, mature outlook on the world, we realize how much our family histories, traditions, cultures, etc. really shape our lives. Knowing where we came from, the hardships of our ancestors, and family lineage help us understand ourselves better and appreciate our roots.
I particularly enjoyed the part where GB was complaining to Lisa on the plane about how hard his life was, and she got upset and angry. His “difficulties” were trivial, typical issues of a teenager. She and Manny had a much harder time adjusting to the language, educational system, culture, and traditions. It is evident in the family photo on page 243 who was most negatively affected by the family’s immigration to the US. Compare it to the picture of the family just arriving (228), and you will clearly see the difference.
Student Three:
I also found the story to be confusing at times because the names were unfamiliar to me. This really opened my eyes to how difficult it could be for emergent bilinguals to follow books that have multiple characters in them because the culture and the names may be unfamiliar to them. It definitely helped that GB had a family tree with names and faces on it that I could refer back to, but having to do so disrupted the flow as I read. It really resonates that we need to provide our students with culturally relevant books that they can relate to, but also expose them to other cultures so their vocabulary and experiences with other cultures can expand.
Reading this book, made me think about the “first world” problems that many of us go through and how trivial they really are. Even before I wrote this, I was stressing out about all the things I have due in my courses the next couple weeks but it is so trivial compared to what other countries, cultures, and immigrants go through. GB’s parents gave up everything to come to America including their families. For us, there is nothing going on in our lives that could even compare. It makes me appreciate the bravery and sacrifices many emergent bilinguals and their families have made and how strong they are.
Student Four:
In the book Vietnamerica I think that you can slowly see G.B. transform from a typical high school student who is not concerned about his culture or background, to a more mature adult who begins to question those around him slowly digging up knowledge of his past and where he came from. Like in the book, students are often disinterested in their own culture because their parents have worked so hard to help them blend into the Western world and environment. They want a better life for their children, and this often means forgetting what they left behind and moving on into the future. However, it is our job as teachers to unearth these backgrounds and bring them into the light, helping students not only come to terms with their culture but use it to empower their learning and growth. So I think that it all begins with us, teachers become researchers and inquirers, trying to understand various cultures as well as how they can inform our students and our instruction. This way we are modeling the inquiry process, and hopefully demonstrating to students how culture can be “cool” and “fun”.
In closing …
GB Tran began and ended Vietnamerica with a quote by Confucius, “A Man without history is a tree with no roots.” As teachers, we must help our students discover their roots and cultivate them. As teachers, we must lead by example. So then, we must ask ourselves, “What do we really know about our own family’s “his-stories” and “her-stories” and are we brave enough to begin a family journey of our own? Working with our Amiguitos [friends/child partners] and other ELLs have been invaluable experiences which have allowed us to put into practice sound, research-based bilingual strategies and to decide for ourselves what works best for our students. In order to build relationships with students and get to know them as individuals, we must gain their trust and respect. We must also reflect upon any possible biases and/or misunderstandings of unfamiliar cultures that we ourselves have and be willing to set the example by exploring our own cultural/ethnic backgrounds and families’ histories.
As classroom teachers, how might we encourage students like GB Tran who seem indifferent of their cultural heritages or are reluctant bilinguals to take more of an interest in learning? Is the need to fit in with one’s own peer group a natural part of maturity? Do we naturally become more interested in our family histories and stories of the past as we mature? Do we strive to include the languages and cultures represented in our classrooms in all that we do? If all of our students are monocultural (and we are not saying this exists) do we still need to expose them to other cultures and languages?
References
Kibria, N. (1994). Household Structure and Family Ideologies: The Dynamics of Immigrant Economic Adaptation among Vietnamese Refugees. Social Problems 41(1), Special Issue on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in America. pp. 81-96
Bankston, C.. & Zhou, M. (1995). Effects of Minority-Language Literacy on the Academic Achievement of Vietnamese Youths in New Orleans work(s). Sociology of Education 68(1), pp. 1-17.
Büyükokutan, B. (2011). Toward a Theory of Cultural Appropriation: Buddhism, the Vietnam War, and the Field of U.S. Poetry American Sociological Review 76(4) pp. 620-639. DOI: 10.1177/0003122411414820
García, O. & Kleifgen, J.A. (2010). Educating Emergent Bilinguals: Policies, Programs, and Practices for English Language Learners. NY: Teachers College Press.
Tran, G. B. (2010). Vietnamerica: A family’s journey. NY: Villiard.
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- Themes: GB Tran, Julia López-Robertson, Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey
- Descriptors: Books & Resources, Student Connections, WOW Currents