Workforce Language Services

An exihibit displayed at Miami’s Freedom Tower art gallery until March 7th has some non-Spanish speakers confused because almost all of the accompanying text is only in Spanish. 

The exhibit sounds like it would be fascinating to those interested in the immigrant experience, but the author of the article was disappointed that the signage has not been adapted for English-speakers who would like the full impact of the photos and accompanying commentary.

In defense of Miami Dade College, it has been – overall – a bastion of bilingualism. In this instance the college is sort of a passive vessel, hosting an exhibition supplied by agencies of the Spanish government. If Spain really wants to reach out to all Americans – and not just to Hispanic Americans and others with a reading knowledge of Spanish – it should consider providing fully bilingual signage for such exhibitions as this, and for other events in Miami intended to promote Spanish culture and to foster international trade and tourism.

Before coming to Miami, Laberinto de Miradas was displayed in Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru, where of course no English translation was needed. For this venue, someone at the cultural center or the consulate should have adapted it to the distinctive linguistic needs of Miami.

To read the rest of the author’s commentary, click here.

A Newburyport, Massachusetts local paper profiled a Brazlian woman who works for the courts as an interpeter.  The article details not only her language skills and passion for travel, but her take on the important work of working as an interpreter. 

The article also highlights the complex interplay between the role of interpreter as a bridge for non-English speakers and the need to remain objective and simply transmit the ideas from one language to another:

There is no program to teach them about the law. They may get arrested because they don’t have the appropriate driver’s license. Even when they become aware, they don’t understand completely if they don’t have an interpreter. For example, they might think if they go to court, the judge can give them a driver’s license.”

 Although Dutra understands firsthand the problems that immigrants sometimes face while adapting to a new country and culture, her job requires her to remain objective.

 The job of the interpreter is to translate exactly what has been said, she explains. The interpreter is not an advocate for the victim.

 “We’re just there to convey information to both sides,” Dutra says. “We’re not an advocate at all. We can’t give the victim any moral support. That’s for the victim’s advocate. We have to remain impartial.”

To read the entire article, click here. 

A recent article in Ad Age describes the criticism directed at diversity officers working for ad agencies.  Those levying the criticism somehow expect that, upon hiring someone dedicated to increasing minority representation in a company, that the results will be immediate and apparent.  These people don’t realize that the diversity officers have to do much more than simply hire more minorities, as implementing inclusive hiring practices necessitates a complete shift in a company’s culture.

And some of this criticism is quite harsh, resulting in the beginnings of a class-action lawsuit spearheaded by the NAACP:

The ad agencies who’ve hired diversity officers are likely praying that they do figure out a way to make a difference — and quick. Civil-rights attorney Cyrus Mehri is knocking on the door, after all. Last month, he released research in partnership with the NAACP that is believed to be the groundwork for a race-discrimination suit against the ad industry.

Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said after reading the report: “The numbers speak for themselves.”

Click here to read the article as well as an interview with Sanford Moore, an advocate for racial parity.

In Rochester, Minnesota, a new initiative called VOICES (Valuing Our Immigrants Contributions to Economic Success) attempts to draw the connection between supporting immigrants’ integration into the economy and economic growth.  The initiative is still exploring the ways in which the city can foster immigrants’ contributions and at a recent meeting attendees discussed possible directions:

Among the pages of ideas that were shared at the meeting were that immigrants bring global connections, tenacity and financial responsibility, and they can expand companies’ customer base. Employers provide a place for immigrants to realize their dreams, to receive mentorships and training, and to find social mobility. And the community provides the Rochester International World Festival, adult education, advocacy in the judicial system, charter schools and immigrant-owned businesses.

To read the entire article, click here.

There are a lot of statistics out there showing that Latino and African-American students are more likely to leave high school before finishing, but little information about gifted and talented minority students thriving in schools.  A school district in California is trying to even out the disparity between minority youth in the general school population and those in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) track as early as the first few years of elementary school.

The district is achieving this by constantly being aware of the demographics of the GATE program versus the general population, using different techniques with English language learners, and training teachers to recognize the signs of a gifted and/or talented student.

From the article, a description of how school systems identify ELL for the GATE program:

Corona-Norco school officials review the California English Language Development Test scores of English-language learners to identify potential GATE students. Rapid acquisition of English can be a sign of giftedness, said Cecilia Arzaga-Chester, a curriculum and instruction coordinator who oversees the district’s GATE program. The district also uses non-verbal tests for its GATE program.

Such changes have helped diversify the program, Arzaga-Chester said. “We’re seeing many more (English learners) being referred for GATE testing and many more are being qualified,” she said.

Changes in testing and identification have transformed the GATE population in the Rialto Unified School District, said Jennette Harper, its GATE director.

“With that non-verbal test, we started identifying a lot of our non-English speakers as GATE kids,” she said. “Everything is pictures or you complete a pattern.”

To read the entire article, click here.

Francisco Cigarroa enters as chancellor of the University of Texas system with inclusion in mind.  One of his goals is to relax admissions policies which automatically admit Texas residents in the top ten percent of their class.  By relaxing this policy and looking at other factors besides GPA, he hopes to increase diversity of the U of T-Austin:

Cigarroa said the system could keep or even increase diversity in the student body even if the top 10 percent law is modified or eliminated.

“I think we can find an appropriate balance where universities not only look at the top 10 percent, but they also look at those wonderfully competitive students who may have not made the top 10 percent but have done something incredibly special,” Cigarroa said.

A friend in the State Senate states in the article that Cigarroa is the face of Texas’s changing demographics and will serve as a role model for the Mexican-American community.

Jarik Conrad offers up 7 pitfalls to avoid when implementing diversity training.  His seven points focus on combatting resistence that trainers may face when implementing workshops as well as the necessity of being aware of the biases trainers may bring to their presentation.

He makes the important point that the training is just a jumping off point for further implementation of inclusive policies and a change in company culture:

Check-the-box training undermines the whole concept of diversity. If HR/benefits managers implement such programs just because they have been directed to do so, they are likely to implement them incorrectly or haphazardly, which will reinforce the misperception that diversity training is not needed. If training efforts are not compliance-driven, employers will miss opportunities to explore creative, innovative approaches beyond what they are directed to do in order to achieve the desired results.

This article, found in Employee Benefit News, ends with the results from a survey of the attitudes that managers have with regard to diversity in hiring.

From a Christian Science Article found on Diversity Spectrum’s website:

According to one study, 62 percent of state workers who complained of sexual harassment reported that they faced retaliation in the form of lowered job evaluations, denial of promotions, and being transferred or fired.

Based on this statistic, it’s no wonder that employees are fearful of speaking up about breaches in proper behavior.  Of course, if an employee files a complaint the law protects that employee from any retaliation.  But up until the Supreme Court’s recent decision, an employee was not protected from retaliation if they’d answered questions about harrassment but not filed an official complaint.

To read about the nuances of the case that brought about this decision as well as commentary, click here.