When students of Spanish partner with Spanish speakers in our town, they use language to bridge the language divide and increase access to services, cultural information, business opportunities and social connections. 1. Although I focus on Spanish, all languages are important in the fight for local and global social justice and transcultural understanding. 2. When people don't speak the dominant language, they cannot access information and services, creating a structural inequality. 3. Many students enter college knowing a lot about Spanish, but what can they do with it? Being able to use the language is what will enable you to attach it to a career. 4. When you step out of the classroom and use the language to work with community members to bridge that language "gap," you will quickly see "what you can do with Spanish." 5. In my Spanish community service learning (CSL) classes, students spend two hours a week in class and two hours a week working in the community with Spanish speakers (bilingual education classrooms, after-school tutoring, Refugee Center, Latino Boy Scouts, etc.). 6. You can communicate in Spanish. 7. When they tutor, students use Spanish to solve the kids' homework problems. At the Refugee Center, they solve complex and multi-layered problems (e.g., filing tax returns, handling reimbursements, etc.). My students also work on emerging problems, like the situation of the child migrants who are here alone. 8. Students quickly see that the black/white, good/bad dichotomies used in the media to talk about immigration and Spanish speakers is actually more complex. They have to be able to handle the truth within opposing ideas, such as immigrants who are undocumented are also law-abiding people who add great value to the community. 9. When you ask "what can you do with Spanish?", tests look different, too. My students have created Pinterest boards and written descriptions and tags for YouTube videos. 10. Your transcultural competence increases. 11. Last year in our town, a family from Mexico was celebrating "la novena" for a relative in Mexico who had passed away. An English-speaking neighbor had been harassing them for a while, and when he saw the miniature coffin they used for "la novena," he called the police. My student saw why it is important to work *among* cultures. 12 & 13. As an example, in my business Spanish class the students work in teams to apply business concepts to the bilingual social media marketing they do for local clients, such as La La Linea and the Refugee Center. 14 & 15. Students can see for themselves that "Latino" means many things, because they see people from many countries and people from the same country but who have different cultural practices & perspectives, like the Q'anjob'al speakers from Guatemala. 16 & 17. In class, we write on politician's Facebook pages.

1. Annie R. Abbott
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
@AnnAbbott
Languages for___________________________________________________________________________________
SOCIAL JUSTICE

2. Language creates cultural
understanding, equality.

3. Students say:
“I love Spanish, but what
can I do with it?”

4. You can do a lot with
Spanish in the community.

5. By definition, CSL requires
you to leave the building.

6. COMMUNICATION

7. I can solve problems
in Spanish.

8. I can handle complexity.

9. I can
document
and share
what I learn.

10. CULTURES

11. Click for photo source.
I can negotiate among
cultural practices.

12. CONNECTIONS

13. I can use what I learned in
other classes in this class.

14. COMPARISONS

15. “Muchísimas gracias a quienes regalaron y siguen regalando ropa para el
estudiante que mencioné la semana pasada. Sólo uno de muchos
chiquillos que han cruzado solos esa travesía entre dos países para
reunirse con sus padres o sólo para tener una mejor vida.
“En su primer día de escuela no tuvo más que sonrisas para todo mundo
a pesar de no entender lo que dicen porque su idioma es Q'anjob'al. Al
final del día se fue feliz a casa y mucho mejor vestido para protegerse
del frío. ¡Muchísimas gracias por su apoyo!”
I can recognize multiple
Latin American cultures.

16. COMMUNITIES

17. I can be civically engaged.

18. Languages have an
important purpose.

19. You can engage with
communities.

20. You can bridge
theory and action.

21. You can use
language for
advocacy.

22. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Gracias_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Annie R. Abbott
arabbott@illinois.edu
@AnnAbbott_____________________________________________________________________________________________