All photos by Ayianna Maddox

by Areli Hernandez Romero

Each year hard-working students taking the Heritage Spanish class hope to receive one of two seals on their diploma and Multilingual recognition their senior year.

World language teacher Megan Cortes prepares her students to take the ‘AAPPL’ test in their junior year of high school to be able to achieve that goal. 

The Two Seals

Cortes described the two types of seals Greater Clark County offers to students and what they stand for. 

“Greater Clark offers two different seals that you can get. One seal is from the state of Indiana called ‘Indiana Comp,’ which is ‘Certificate Of Multilingual Proficiency’. You can take that in a lot of different languages, not just Spanish. We also offer the ‘Global Seal of Biliteracy,’ which can grow across state and national borders and is also like our state one, but just with different levels.” 

Cortes explained the different levels of the ‘Global Seal of Biliteracy’ and how they are broken down, as well as, the ‘Indiana Comp’ seal. 

“It depends on what your scores are; so the ‘Global Seal Of Biliteracy’ has three different levels. In high school, you can only earn two levels, so they have functional fluency and working fluency.”

“Functional fluency is what I call the level one seal that you can get — it’s kind of like the lowest one, but still shows that you have a certain level of biliteracy, which means that you can read, write, and understand whatever language you are testing. Then, there is a higher one on the ‘Global Seal of Biliteracy’ called ‘Working Fluency,’ which means you’re in a level where you are competent in all four of those levels.”

Students who take the test can also end up getting both seals on their diplomas.

“The ‘Global Seal’ is broken down and ‘Indiana Comp’ is kind of in the middle for their test scores. So, if you get ‘Indiana Comp,’ you are already going to get ‘Functional Fluency’ on the ‘Global Seal.’ Then, the same thing if you get ‘Working Fluency’ on the ‘Global Seal’  — you’re going to get ‘Indiana Comp.’ Some people will end up with two seals,” said Cortes. 

Cortes said the test ‘AAPPL’ may be taken by juniors to get one of two seals on their diploma.

“We offer the ‘AAPPL’ test at our school — it has a whole lot of different languages that we have offered in, and that test is acceptable for ‘Indiana Comp’ and it’s also acceptable for the ‘Global Seal of Biliteracy.’ The test scores will determine what level of the seal you can get and seal you are eligible for. The main difference between those levels of seals that you can get is, what scores you have on the test.”

Eligibility

 Cortes said any student is eligible to take the ‘AAPPL’ test.

“However, it’s geared for people who are advanced in a language. You can take a regular foreign language test and still take it. We have several different languages,” she said. 

Cortes recommended foreign language students take the test. 

“If you are a student who’s never studied a second language, I wouldn’t recommend taking it until you’re at least in the third level. Just because it’s probably too advanced for someone in just like the first or second level, but, yeah, I encourage people to take it if they’re in any kind of foreign language class,” she said. 

Senior Alejandra Arredondo Resendiz took the ‘AAPPL’ test her prior year and found it to be a challenge.

“I did take the ‘AAPPL’ test. I passed three of the sections; the only section I didn’t do as well was writing. I’d say I’m not struggling anymore. I think I got the concept down; I just think I wasn’t prepared last year for the test.”

Junior Fernando Leon Garcia looks forward to taking the ‘AAPPL’ test. 

“I’m nervous but I’m looking forward to it, to see where my level of Spanish is at and where I could improve on,” he said. 

Challenges and Successes

Arredondo said taking both regular Spanish and Heritage classes, along with personal experience, helped her.

“It’s been two years I’ve been in Heritage and took two prior years of regular Spanish I and II. I think it’s been pretty easy. I was born and raised in Mexico, so I got the language down. I don’t have a language barrier anymore for either English or Spanish, but it’s definitely helped.”

Leon spoke about his current struggle in class and the subjects he has improved on in Cortes’s class.

“This is my third year in Ms.Cortes’s class. The only struggle I have is writing, word accents, and grammar. Sometimes I don’t know how to pronounce the words, so I just try to listen and try to pronounce them correctly. My reading has gotten better and my writing has been the same. I still have to work on that,” said Leon.  

“I love teaching about culture and history. I think it is really important for our students who are Heritage learners to know more about their heritage, background, and culture.”

World Language Teacher Megan Cortes

Sophomore Ariana De La Cruz Guerrero said speaking two languages has helped her. 

“This is my second year in Ms.Cortes’s class. Speaking two languages has helped me because it was easier to come into that class knowing some knowledge about Spanish and it being easier to read and write.”

Cortes said students can retake sections that were missed in their junior year. However, there are certain criteria to do so. 

 “You don’t have to be in a foreign language class— anyone in this school is allowed to take the test if they signed up to take it. The state has certain criteria, but the way they administer the test in individual districts can be decided.”

“We have decided here that juniors can take the test. If they’re a foreign language student or Heritage student and if they don’t pass one of the four parts — they can still take time to learn in your class and retake those your senior year. Now say, a student took the test their junior year and they’re not in a foreign language class at all — If they don’t pass all four sections, they either have to enroll in a foreign language class, or they’re responsible for paying to retake the test.”  

Benefits for the Future

Cortes said taking the test has advantages for students. 

“Some colleges will accept it for credit. You can use it to help get a job. There are a lot of jobs that will hire you if you’re bilingual, and some of them may require a test. If you show them that you already have a certificate, then that’s already saying that you are Biliterate. It says you can listen, understand, read, write, and speak at a certain level. So it proves that you are at a certain level. I think that’s really good for a student advancing to college or looking for a job in the community and to be able to use their language skills,” she said. 

In the future, Arredondo said she would be able to offer help to others in her career. She explained the different opportunities the Bilingual seals may offer. 

“Well, since I’m going into real estate I would be able to help out a lot more in the Hispanic community and be able to get back to the people. It can be a pretty valuable asset in my future resume, showcasing my language proficiency to employers. It can also give me an edge in job applications. Especially, for positions requiring bilingual skills. Additionally, it could even open up opportunities for international work or travel.” 

Guerrero explained how the bilingual seal would help with her future career and credited her mom for encouraging her. 

“I would use the bilingual stamp in my future career to get paid more because like mom always tells me ‘Tu hablando espanol y ingles vales por dos y te pueden pagar mas,’ meaning since I speak Spanish and English I’m worth a lot because I speak two languages. Also, since I want to be a sports agent I would be able to help the players get represented and speak their minds. I want to work in women’s soccer to help represent women because I feel like it would be nice to help women’s soccer be heard more and make it grow,” said Guerrero. 

Being able to speak and understand two languages is important to Leon and his future career. 

“How I would use the stamp is by using it in my future career, which is being an architect. I would use it because let’s say I become one of the best architects; by being able to speak two different languages. I could get more clients and be known for being able to do so,” said Leon. 

The Classes

Guerrero mentioned the challenges of being in Heritage class.  

“Something challenging about her class is writing, especially spelling words because in Spanish they are spelled the way they sound. That confused me sometimes because it’s different in English,” she said. 

To prepare her students, Cortes used different exercises with her students before taking the ‘AAPPL’ test 

“All of the activities we do in class, whether it be grammar exercises, working on accents, speaking, reading, and writing, will help prepare for the test. But we also work on specific practices. The AAPPL test site has samples of what the test will be like. We do practice sessions before the test so students know what to expect,” she said. 

Arredondo spoke about how being in a foreign language class has improved her understanding.

“I think it helps me understand the struggles that different people face regardless if it’s because of a language or not. I understand people more certainly now,” she said. 

Leon agreed with Arredondo that being in a foreign language class has improved his understanding and learning. 

“My Spanish is much better. When I was a kid it was hard to speak. I would have difficulties having conversations with adults and would stutter a lot. Now my grammar is getting better,” he said. 

Arredondo described the current day-by-day structure of Cortes’s class.

“We start off by doing a simple ‘Diario,’ which is like a bellringer for any other class. Then, we get to the basics of the class which are grammar, vocab, spelling, mostly about what we are learning. Right now, we are learning how to go back through the text and be able to pick out certain details and specific information. It helps me find more important details in a text rather than just reading and scanning through it,” said Arredondo. 

Accomplishment and Pride

Apart from the rewards students get from the test, Cortes proudly talked about the pride and accomplishment it brings to many students. 

“I think apart from the job and college and benefits that you can get. I think it’s a great sense of pride for the students it’s something you have accomplished. It’s something you may have felt anxious about throughout their life. It gives you a sense of achievement. I think that is something their families can be proud of too. I think that is important for the kids to have.”

Guerrero talked about the accomplishment of passing the test and what it meant to her.

“I would feel proud of myself and I feel like it would be a big accomplishment. My family would definitely be proud of me because it would make them feel good because I’m representing my roots and my parent’s country,” she said. 

Leon described how passing the test would bring accomplishment to him and his family

“I would feel amazing because if I’m one of the few students who ace the test perfectly. I wouldn’t have to redo any sections next year. My family would be very proud of me for such an accomplishment,” he said. 

Arredondo credits Cortes and spoke about the encouragement and pride if she passed the test. 

”I think I’d be pretty proud of myself and pretty grateful for Ms.Cortes’s contribution to my success as well. My parents would feel pretty proud and pretty happy. I’d also feel encouraged to continue trying to help out the Hispanic community by furthering my education.” 

Cortes expressed the importance of being a teacher and being able to teach her students. 

“I love teaching about culture and history. I think it is really important for our students who are Heritage learners to know more about their heritage, background, and culture. Specifically, because a lot of them grew up in the U.S. For me being able to help them learn more about their heritage is really important to me.”