Illegal Alphabets and Adult Biliteracy: Latino Migrants Crossing the Linguistic Divide

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Summary: ...English, como de veras se oye...
Review: Allá para el verano de 1980, en el pueblo de Cobden, Illinois, los wetbacks would pick fruit at a blistering pace, pero sus patronos se mantenían suficientemente distanciados para no crear revuelos. Everyone knew que los indocumentados rendered an invaluable service to the economic stability of the fruit-pickers market, pero el zumbido tenue-yet constant-que se generaba no dejaba de ser escudriñado by those who wanted to mend the suffering and injustice. Era necesario romper la barrera del silencio. Había que legitimizar the apparent reticence among migrant mexican workers dándoles herramientas para decodificar the seeminlgy impenetrable, iron-clad English language. El inglés, entreched in legalese and exuding una supuesta legitimidad inquebrantable, trataba de silenciar al arrullo de un español de carne y hueso que día a día clamaba por su supervivencia.
Tomás Mario Kalmar, académico, músico, historiador y maestro, documenta, con suceptibilidd y tacto, what unfolded en aquellas reuniones clandestinas where two monolingual communities redescubrían la verdadera diferencia entre el abecedario y la alfabetización. Uno de los estudiantes congregados in the dimly lit basement rompió el hielo de la primera sesión al declarar que los sonidos de un alfabeto no necesáriamente tenían que corresponder con los caracetres. Había que razonar: even though English and Spanish share the same alphabet (con la excepción de la ll y la ñ), both adhere to pronunciation keys that are radically different. Bajo la tutela de Kalmar, a new language emerged. Entre lo correcto y lo incorrecto, between the sound and the written text, una comunidad de estudiantes y maestros began to write English como de veras se oía. Hence, the Cobden Glossaries emerged líricamente. Nació, luego de interminables noches de juego y debate, un tomo lírico, suntuoso, complejo, sinewy, yet veritable, dónde la palabra juellulib nestled una verdad tan significante y legítima como la oración where do you live.

The silences que Kalmar interpreta in his manifesto son aquellos silencios que dejan atrás lo clandestino para sumergirse en lo legítimo. The migrant workers yearned for legitimacy. En esa mesa redonda in which students and teachers investigaban diversos modos de encaminarse a la comunicación, existió the possibility that silence would be pricked and made to transform itself into something dynamic and resilient, en algo que puediese reintegrar y redefinir a la comunidad.

Rating:
Summary: Great Linguistic scholarship that's also fun reading!
Review: I was impressed with this book not only because of Tomas Kalmar's clear mastery of the topic and knowledge of linguistics but also because of how flat out fun the book was to read: engaging and to the point, this book takes a serious look at what it's like to be a migrant worker in the US, struggling with language barriers and discrimination and highlights the strength of the Latino community. Because of the detailed linguistic content, I'm using it for a coursebook next semester. Because it's a fine read, I'm giving it as a gift to nonlinguist friends. BTW: if you happen to be English/Spanish bilingual, there are some very funny bits!

Rating:
Summary: Passionate Scholarship
Review: Tomás Kalmar's book is a charming combination of personal experience and erudite scholarship, written in an engaging fashion. The author's treatment of the politics of biliteracy, from the fruit-groves of the Midwest to the halls of academe, is both passionate and clear-sighted. The alert reader will also enjoy observing evidence of Kalmar's wide-ranging interests threading through the fabric of the book, notably his fondness for music and his fascination with mathematical and proto-mathematical thinking.