Week 3

After reading Pavlenko’s work this was one of the main sentences that stood out to me, “second language learning was transformed into a painful journey, involving a loss of primary identities linked to the mother tongue” (63). We live an America which is full of diversity and people with various backgrounds. Years ago people came to this country speaking a wide range of languages and even the indigenous people had their own language at that time. However, nowadays it is seen as a defivit and students learning English or any other language go through a very rough time because it is not looked at as accepting in the country. Learning a new language should not mean giving up who you are and losing your mother language. Instead, it should be an addition to your identity that is always changing and progressing. I associated the “painful journey” to the education systems that have many controversial issues with implementing adequate services for the language learners.

I believe that students learn in various unique ways and that a one size fits all style of teaching does not work so schools need special programs to help these students succeed. It is crucial that a teacher gets to know her students. The teacher can make home visits and have a meet the teacher or open house at the beginning of the academic year to interact with the students and their families. In a previous class we learned about an identity text. It would be an amazing way to learn about the students’ background. Both the students and they families can work on the activity together and in doing this activity the teacher will learn about the students’ culture, traditions, and overall have a better understanding of who the student is. In addition, education requires equality.

Language minorities in the classroom need support and special services in order for them to be equal with the English speakers. Equality doesn’t mean that everyone needs the same support or help, in my opinion it means offering assistance to those who need it so that they can be at grade level with the rest of the students in the class and not lag behind. In my classroom I will do whatever I can to make sure that everyone is getting an equal education by providing differentiated instruction. I will keep in mind for when I teach that education needs to be meaningful and that I need to make sure that students are able to comprehend lessons whether they are in their native language or English as they progress. This would make their journey of learning English a lot less painful and they would feel cared about in the school that would encourage learning.

One of the main reasons that I would like to be a bilingual teacher is because I know that I can help and advocate for the needs of these students. Fortunately I just learned English in programs I was in that when I started schooling I was in regular education classes. I know that that is not the case with all students so I want to because well trained and qualified to learn to work with English language learners.

Holliday (3-5) (63-75),

Holliday (3-5) (63-75),

We were first introduced with Identity in section A, and it is much like the word culture that may be difficult to define. I also believe that Identity is ever changing just as culture is being redefined. 

As I read Holliday on pages 63-75, I was reinforced about how important it is for anyone, to learn how to speak about cultures. We as future teachers cannot pretend that it isn’t an issue. It is our job to make the students aware of the world and culture awareness. Having a multicultural classroom library where all types of students are depicted will allow the student to feel at ease and accepted in the school community. Learning to be culturally sensitive, especially in the classroom because whether we realize it or not, there are so many cultures around us at a given time that we might say the wrong thing without even realizing. This proves that anything we say can be viewed as rhetoric, thus giving it the capability to be read in many different ways. For instance we touched on this during class and it reminds me of when people say things like “Oh you speak Mexican?” I simply reply with a no, Mexico is a country not a language and I speak Spanish. I try not to get annoyed because it can happen to anyone including me. However, it just proves how we need to be aware of our surrounding and keep up with what is going around in the world.

This time culture is described as two different categories. The two categories presented by Holliday are standard and complex. The standard category states “culture is a complex set of shared beliefs, values, and concepts which enables a group to make sense of its life which provides it with directions for how to live.” I linked this to the article previously read about how culture shapes who a person is and it provides structure in the various aspects of their lives. On the other hand, the complex category is described as when issues arise or when there is a difference in beliefs.

I will continue to try to define culture because I have gained great insight from the readings that I have done so far and I look forward to see what other things I learn in the readings to come. This is all very interesting but also a bit challenging to reflect on because it makes you think a lot. I just know that including culture in the classroom might be tough at first because you want to make sure you include everyone and that no one is left our or disrespected by what is said.

As stated previously it is important to know how to talk about culture so that we as future teachers can create a nurturing and accepting community within the classroom and school so that that it does not cause problems. It would also teach students to be respectful of one another and talking about culture or other hot topics won’t be as challenging in the classroom.

What is Culture? Week 1 & 2

What is culture? In the activity during class I found it quite difficult to define culture. I began to jot down words that helped me describe what culture was. Some words that I included in my notecard were: traditions, food, language, dance, music, media, values, religion, always changing, beliefs, literature, etc. Turns out my definition of culture is widely used by many. As I continued to read the article “Cultural Globalization and Language Education” by Kumaravadivelu I longed to redefine my definition.

I do agree with how the article stated that culture provides individuals with structure that guides them with various aspects of their lives. I have previously read Huntington’s work in previous classes and his work is very controversial. As stated by Huntington, culture is linked to civilization because people can change and redefine their identities as time goes on and as a result that shapes civilizations.

Culture and community almost go hand in hand because they share common characteristics. The characteristics bring together all the members of the group together. Culture and community are both made up of individuals. This takes us to individualism and collectivism. The article stated that collectivism is made up of individuals who see themselves as parts of one or more collectives such as family. On the other hand, individuals view themselves as loosely linked individuals who view themselves independent from the collective. I related this to myself because I do not know what category I fit in. For example, I am very independent but I also see myself as a collective because I love working with other people especially students. I think that it is important to have characteristics of both individualism and collectivism because people belong to both groups. They belong to a family or a nation and yet they are an individual.

The section of culture and language would have to be my favorite because it is something that I am very interested in. I strongly believe that every student regardless of race, background, or economic status deserves a fair opportunity to an education. I want to make this a reality by providing a nurturing environment where youth can learn the importance of culture awareness. I had never heard “Language determines thought” so it definitely made me think about it. I learned to speak Spanish at home first and then English as soon as I stepped foot into a classroom. I now believe that when I think, I think in English. And I do agree with Kumaravadivelu about how the grammatical structure of one’s language determines one’s view of the world.

I trust that language learning cannot be isolated from everything because then real learning does not take place. As a future teacher I need to be aware of the influences that students face when in school that can be due to their specific culture. The reading added to my understanding that I need to be aware of what students are in my classroom in order for them to succeed. For example, I need to learn a about their home life and if they have the support available to them. Students who have support at home are more likely to succeed in school than students with less or no support. In addition, I believe that a student should not let go of their home culture and traditions because then they let go of their identity. A student should never be denied to speak their native language; instead we should encourage them to preserve it because I know many Latino students who do not speak Spanish or the language that was spoken by their ancestors. It has been proven that skills attained in L1 transfer to students L2.

I would like to erase the ideas that the programs like TESOL, ESL, Bilingual education, etc focus on problems and difficulties. Speaking another language should not be looked at as a deficit instead it should be accepted because not everyone is the same.

Culture is hard to define but I look forward to defining it better by the end of the semester as well as learning about language acquisition since I will be a bilingual elementary teacher. I also want to learn to cope with the difficulties or obstacles I may face because of the path I have chosen to take because I know that sometimes bilingual teachers are looked as inferior to regular education teachers.

Hello,
I am Fabiola, I'm studying to be a bilingual elementary teacher and this is my last semster at ISU. Next year I will be student teaching in Wheeling, Illinois. I am  excited to be taking this class to learn many new things! I look forward to the readings and chapters to add to my understanding of language acquisition and sharing my reflections with the class.