10 interview questions

So, this will be a bilingual literacy interview and it will have a stronger focus on the verbal and
writing component of literacy. I going to ask you questions about your own early experiences
with literacy and you recollections of mine.

1. Compare and contrast the diculty level of each language? Was there one more dicult to
understand and speak?

2. What was the language you preferred to speak? Which one did you speak the most?

3. What helped you improve your writing skills in both languages?

4. Do you recall a specific time where you struggles with one language?

5. Did the media play a role in the improvement of your literacy in either language?

6. Did being fluent in one language hinder learning literacy in the other?

7. What is a story of your earliest writings (in either language)?

8. Did anyone ever read to you when you were young? What books? What language? Can you
tell us any stories about this?

9. Think of a time you were proud of or embarrassed by your ability to communicate.

10. What language do you speak to your family? What language do you use to speak with
peers?

P: So, this will be a bilingual literacy interview and it will have a stronger focus on the verbal
and writing component of literacy. Im going to ask you questions about your own early
experiences with literacy and your recollections of them. Since we are twins, your own
experiences will be representative of mine since we are identical. We are both bilingual in
English and Farsi. Ill only be asking you five questions.

P: So the first question is What language do you speak to your family? What language do you
use to speak with peers?

T: well, since most of our family only speak Farsi, I have no choice but to communicate with
them in that language. This is for our entire family. It is a little dierent for the domestic family.
Both me and Pontea speak both languages simultaneously. We like to call it Fenglish. Our first
language was Farsi but as a family, we learned to master English and incorporate both
languages for speaking. Since we were born and raised in California, we are surrounded by
people whos dominant language is English. That is why outside of the house, we speak only
english, unless one of our peers is also a Farsi speaker. Another time I use Farsi is if Im
working and a Persian or farsi-speaking customer needs help and you can obviously tell that
Farsi is their number one language because of the accent and hesitation in their speaking.
Other than that, those are the only times I use Farsi. I do speak english far more than I speak
farsi ever since I have moved out of the house and lived in the dorms for college.

P: The second question is Think of a time you were proud of or embarrassed by your ability to
communicate.

T: Im going to tell you a story of when I was embarrassed of being bilingual. In elementary
school, because of this ability of speaking two languages, I had to take after-school language
exams. These were done so the school could keep track of the progress of my English. It was
embarrassing every time I would hear my name on the speaker announcements because it felt
like a public announcement of my stupidity. Many of the students also thought I was some
rebellious child that would be sent to the principle oce each day. Little did they know, I was
walking up there to take quizzes to test whether or not I knew basic English. Both Pontea and I
would meet up together to answer very basic english questions. I remember one question
included a picture of a paperclip and the instructor asking what that was. I remember I
responded with safety pin and she wrote something down in the needs improvement part
of her exam sheet. I felt so embarrassed taking those exams. They made me feel dierent and
less intelligent compared to all the other students who were born and raised speaking only
English.

P: Did the media play a role in the improvement of your literacy in either language?

T: Definitely. I would say that media played the largest role in my improvements for speaking
English. Our parents spoke only Farsi to us at a young age. However, every morning and after
class, we would watch Disney channel or MTV, where we would watch english speaking shows
and listen to American music. Both were very essential in improving my literacy. My parents
would also put subtitles on the tv so we could read the words or the lyrics. I didn't watch or
listen to anything that spoke farsi. Only on rare occasions. I only improved my literacy in farsi
was through soaking with my family and having my parents teach me how to write at a very
young age.

P: Do you recall a specific times where you struggled with one language?

T: I remember struggling with English in class all the time. When I was in Kindergarten, I had to
take alphabet quizzes every week. I would always forget the letters after U and write some of
the letters incorrectly (my P would look more like a Q). I would always have to look at the
Alphabet poster on the wall - even though we weren't supposed to. I used to get in trouble for
that. I also was behind - all of elementary school- on reading. I would read about two levels
lower than everyone else in my class. My skills at reading were so terrible that my 1st grade
teacher suggested that I stay back one more year and repeat the first grade again. My parents
were devastated when they heard that suggestions. However, they decided to decline it and
have me move further to the second grade. As time went on, my reading skills and writing skills
have improved tremendously and I have become not only decent in my skills but have
accelerated in them.

P: What helped you improve your writing skills in both languages?

T: As I said before, the media really helped me in my reading and writing skills for english. My
parents would put subtitles on the screen so I could not only listen to the words, but also read
them. Music really helped me with the American vernacular lingo. There were a lot of terms and
phrases I learned through music. As for farsi, I learned to read and write from my parents. We
would also listen to Persian music here and there but not as often and we did with American
music. My parents also had us go to an english tutor twice a week to improve our english. The
exams we had to take after school also helped, but not as much as the others did.