En Nuestra Lengua Literacy and Culture Project

PARTNERS IN SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS THAT YIELD POSITIVE RESULTS FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND OUR GLOBAL SOCIETY

Launched in 2010, the En Nuestra Lengua (‘In Our Language’-ENL) Literacy and Culture Project is a Saturday academic program that brings together the local Ann Arbor community, Spanish-speaking children, their families and veteran educators. University of Michigan faculty Drs. Teresa Satterfield and José Benkí designed a Spanish Saturday education program aimed at Pre-Kindergarten to elementary-grade students and their Spanish-speaking parents. Along with the children’s Saturday classes, parents and caregivers participate in weekly information sessions to help increase parental interactions with the schools, help parents understand the demands of the American classroom, and provide guidance on home practices that encourage classroom learning. ENL also recruits students from area universities and Spanish-speaking high school students to serve as assistants in the Saturday classrooms, thereby engaging various generations of parents and youth in positive community-building.

The ENL program works to counteract the significant Hispanic academic achievement gap. Research shows that students learning to read in their native language go on to master reading in English as well or better than native Spanish-speaking peers taught to read in English only. Participation in ENL has been demonstrated to be effective in: (a) helping heritage language speakers solidify schoolwork taught in English during the week; (b) engaging Spanish-speaking parents in the education system; and (c) supporting local teachers who teach young English learners. 

Hailed by the National Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington DC in 2012 as “a model program with strong potential for nation-wide replication,” ENL students develop strong literacy and academic skills in their first language (Spanish) while learning to transfer that knowledge successfully to their second language (English). The ENL approach has strong family, cultural and community involvement components. We currently have an enrollment of more than 150 students in our Southeast Michigan program, and a waitlist of 130 additional students.