The bat, the ball and the dictionary


May 23, 2002, midnight | 21 years, 10 months ago

Language barriers present unique challenges when ESOL athletes take the playing field


To junior Norma Menjivar, softball is the crack of the bat, the sound of the ball hitting the glove and the feeling of team camaraderie. But the world of sports wasn't always a familiar haven for Menjivar. Just two years ago, she couldn't even understand whether her coach wanted her to steal a base or dive back into first.

Menjivar came to Blair knowing barely any English. However, this language barrier didn't prevent her from pursuing her dream of participating in high school sports. Two years and many misunderstandings later, Menjivar is one of at least a dozen ESOL students who have achieved excellence both on and off the playing field.

Early struggles

Although Menjivar, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in 1998, is presently fluent in English, she says that comprehension hasn't always been this easy. Despite Menjivar's deep love for softball, her success was at first impeded by her inability to communicate with the team. "When I came to Blair, [coach Louis] Hoelman asked me what position I played," she recalls. "I couldn't say ‘short [stop],' so I said ‘left,' but I meant ‘short.'"

According to Hoelman, such confusion was quite common during Menjivar's first year. "She would get frustrated and just nod like she understood even when she didn't. I ended up getting upset at her," he admits.

Freshman Lenin Torres, a JV baseball player, recently had a falling-out with his coach as a result of the language barrier. "I didn't know how to tell the coach I wouldn't be at practice because of a doctor's appointment," he says in Spanish. "Now the coach is upset with me."

Varsity baseball coach John MacDonald says that these misinterpretations are becoming a major problem. "It's turning into something where the language barrier can be construed as an excuse," he says. "I don't want that."

Torres still is not completely fluent in English; on the field, a teammate translates directions for him. Menjivar also enlisted such help her freshman year, when a player fluent in Spanish translated Hoelman's instructions to her.

Cross-cultural clash

According to varsity girls' soccer coach Robert Gibb, the language barrier isn't the only obstacle ESOL students face in school sports. Gibb feels that while sports such as soccer and baseball are especially popular in Latin America, Hispanic girls have not, until recently, been encouraged to participate in athletics. This puts them at a disadvantage compared with their American peers. "Hispanic girls are just [now] getting into sports," he says.

Gibb has attempted to draw ESOL female soccer players to the Blair team, but he says his efforts have failed. "There was an all-girls indoor league of ESOL girls, and I watched them and talked to potential players, and I came up with a pretty good list," says Gibb. "But only one came out next fall."

ESOL teacher Margarita Bohórquez feels the responsibility of incorporating all students into sports should be solely the coaches'. "I don't think the school does a good job of
outreaching to [ESOL] kids," she says. "Efforts need to be made to come to ESOL classes to announce dates. ESOL teachers can't take on the role."

MacDonald disagrees, saying students have a responsibility to take the initiative. "Whether you speak English or Spanish, you have to seek out the coach," he says.

One problem students, teachers and coaches acknowledge is that many ESOL students are intimidated by the present racial make-up of the teams. "I know a girl who plays softball, and she was going to try out, but she said, ‘Only white girls play softball—I'm too scared,'" says Menjivar.

Gibb attributes this trepidation not necessarily to racial structure of a team but rather to the already-cemented relationships on the team, specifically in female sports. "With girls, bonding is so paramount. They're such an entity, it can be intimidating," he says.

Playing sports is a way for ESOL athletes to do what they love while also becoming accustomed to American culture.

Hoelman believes that the atmosphere of a sports team fosters acculturation. "[ESOL kids] are more comfortable speaking on a team than in a class. Being with the same people two hours a day, six days a week makes it easier to open up," he says.

Tennis coach David Ngbea agrees. One of his players, freshman Alia Halabi, recently immigrated to the United States. Despite cultural and lingual differences, she excelled, making the All-County team and winning the county doubles tournament.
In addition to cultivating her athletic prowess, Ngbea says that tennis was a factor in Halabi's adjustment to Blair. "Had it not been for tennis, she would not have mingled," he says. "Tennis broadened her circle of friends."

Menjivar concurs that her participation in softball has greatly helped her adapt. She recalls that when she first started, things were difficult. "I felt stupid, and when I went to try out, people were staring at me like, ‘What is she doing here?'" says Menjivar.

But now, Menjivar feels quite at home as a varsity starter. As Hoelman puts it, "She's become everyone's favorite."




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