153
they helped as they were needed. About one-third said they received
no help with chores. The same number said no one helped with homework.
Mother and/or father were the main people to provide homework assistance.
Although only 35 students said they had one or two friends with whom
they most enjoyed spending time, all 41 indicated a person with whom
they most enjoyed spending time. Almost half of the students chose
their friends.
One hundred percent of the students indicated that they wanted to
learn English. Helping family, getting better grades, and going to
college were almost equally chosen as the most important reasons for
learning to speak English, according to the students.
Questions 23 through 36 were used to determine the amount of
English or Spanish students believe they used in a variety of situations.
Naturally, responses tended to group toward the Spanish end of the scale.
In speaking with parents and other adults, Spanish was the dominant
language of 80% of the students. The percentage of Spanish decreased
to 31.6 when speaking to younger people. It appeared that at least 10%
of the students had relatives who generally spoke or only spoke English.
Most students (70%) lived in neighborhoods where some English was spoken.
Shopping in their neighborhoods required English. Although 34% said
they spoke to their friends only or completely in Spanish at school,
almost 60% used half and half. Students report that they use Spanish
more during school to speak with friends than they do after school.
During school, 7% generally used English. Afterschool English use in
creased to 20%. Almost 70% used only or generally Spanish at church.
Interesting here is the fact that 20% found this question not applicable.