Week 16

The article written by Lin et. al explores different international stories and journeys of individuals learning English and the struggles that came with it due to the unpopularity or low usage of the English language based on where they are from. Many of these narratives explained how English was utilized as a subject course in school and nothing more. No one actually bothered to try to really speak and learn the language. This article introduces the readers by explaining the term “Othering” and later explains how these individuals perhaps felt Otherized while attempting to acquire English. Because of this, the article also explains how these EFL learners felt a sense of identity loss/change during this process. The stories of these individual learners were very eye-opening and interesting to read, because it gave a first-hand view of real experiences and feelings people had learning English internationally. As future educators of students who will be learning second language, it is important for us to prevent them from feeling “Otherized” so that they don’t feel inhibited from acquiring English and can successfully work to their fullest potential. The article suggests that in order to prevent otherization from happening, we must change TESOL to TEGCOM: Teaching English for Globalized Communication, which would refer to the students as being monolingual native English speakers. This approach may be difficult, but I can definitely see it being beneficial in a classroom.

Chapter 7 by McKay and Bokhorst-Heng discusses multilingualism in a classroom and how assumptions of an English curriculum result in foreign languages being marginalized. However, although native English speakers may be in a surrounding that promotes monolingualism, they are more likely to want to  learn another language and practice mulitingualism. The authors explain Westernization and the importance of teaching culture in a classroom which will benefit students and make them more culturally aware. They also explain Othering, which is “those from Western Inner Circle cultures are portrayed as having modern and desirable behavior while those from other cultures, who exhibit other ways of doing things, are seen as backward or lacking" (183). In order to help our students be successful, it is our role to provide appropriate textbooks that do not marginize local Western cultures. We can also follow the EIL pedagogy guidelines provided in this chapter that I also found to be very interesting and helpful.

Week 15

This week’s articles were very interesting to read, especially since this is an area I have always been fascinated with in regards to language acquisition. To begin, Lippie-Green’s findings in Chapter 2 of “Linguistics, Language, and Ideology” discussed present accents in an L1 and L2. The article explains how every native US speaker with English as their L1 has an accent resulting from a variation in language and is based off of geography or regions.  This makes me question though- what is an accent and how do we define it? Yes, the article says that it is “a specific way of speaking”, but how can we say: oh, this dialect is the standard way of speaking and the other ways are strange? An even more thought-provoking thought is how did these “accents” even come about? If we are all America and we all live in the same country and speak the same language, then how did geographic boundaries create such diverse dialects within the US? Where did they come from?!

I had never really realized this notion of every native speaker of English obtaining a specific accent until a studied abroad. Having classes with students from all over America opened my eyes to the different dialects and ways of saying certain words that are among us. I was constantly picked out for my “Chicagoan” accent, and I could definitely pick out some accents from other regions in my classroom (specifically the east and west coasts). My housemate in Spain was from Boston, so we always had a fun time making fun of each other’s choice of words and accents.

Another note mentioned in this article is that people who are learning a second language will have an accent along with their accent in their first language. Referring back to my study abroad experience, there were times of frustration when my host mom couldn’t understand what I was trying to say because my Spanish accent is very weak, so to read about how it is considered a “breakthrough” to achieve the correct accent in an L2 is exactly right. I always admired my friends who could speak Spanish with a perfect Spanish accent, and according to this article they were able to do so because of a breakthrough of native language phonology into the target language (43).

Chapter 5 in McKay and Bokhorst Heng’s book then discusses language intelligibility and that language EIL pedagogy should recognize the different variations of English and be aware of the validity of each one. I agree with this argument because I strongly believe in the importance of representing every language equally and providing enough awareness for our students of these diverse variations of language so that they are culturally conscious, open-minded and well-educated to prevent confusion.

Week 14

The readings this week regarding the impact of language policy and planning had many interesting and clarifying notes. Chapter 4 of “International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts” by McKay and Heng discusses some underlying consequences of designating an official language and how particular languages can cause an issue with different social attitudes. The definitions of language policy and planning, two words of which I was unaware of until now, put this stance on language direction in a different perspective for me. The authors explain how language planning aims at changing the behavior of a particular speech community (89) and involves making unified decisions about the position of the language. It usually has a direct effect on education and the status of the language which is why it is important for officials to keep language planning at a good stand point and in check. Language policy, on the other hand, refers to the goals of the actual language planning process that include a more general linguistic, political and social theme. I, as I believe many of my classmates did as well, was confused upon reading this section at first because I had predetermined that these two key terms meant the opposite. However, this chapter filled my gaps of confusion and uncertainty. Another key term discussed in this week’s reading was language politicking, which refers to the worldliness of a language and how the relationship between language and power, such as political, historical, and social contexts can affect the reflection of language in a society.

This week’s reading described how Singapore encourages multilingualism and the effect that encouragement has on their school curriculum (which involves 50% spent learning a second language). It was also surprising to read how Singapore’s official language is English and yet America hasn’t claimed English as their official language yet. Is this causing harm to our educational or political system?

This chapter also discusses bilingual education in the US with some positive viewpoints, along with English only movements. King and Fogel’s study on bilingualism was refreshing to read because it is my personal belief that bilingualism is a beneficial thing (although I know many disagree and there are many contributing factors we have learned in class that argue this). 

Week 13

I was able to make several connections during this weeks reading. I enjoyed exploring the importance of making students realize their own accents and the need for our students to have knowledge of this linguistic diversity. I think it’s very important to aware our students of the linguistic diversity that is among us and the different variations and dialects of the English language, especially since English is so commonly used (which relates back to our previous discussion on globalization). Here is a short video of a girl performing different impersonations of different “English” (some are dumb!):

As you can see, although this girl was only speaking one language, she was using different dialects and variations of this language to portray a certain demographic or culture. I have always assumed I spoke the “Standard English”, and was quickly informed that I had a strong Chicagoan accent while studying abroad with many students from the west and east coast. This came as a shock to me, but the more I paid attention to their words, the more I realized the difference. Especially after taking a linguistics class, I now find myself fascinated with how people pronounce things and why they do so! If our students are aware of these differences as well, then they can view English with an open mind and avoid confusion. It will also help them tolerate and be more knowledgeable of a certain community. 

Week 12: Globalization

Chapter 1 & 2 by McKay and Bokhorst-Heng
     Globalization is an important key term that I've learned about not only in several history courses, but in many language courses as well. Chapter one discusses the different meanings of globalization and how it has caused English to be a shared national language among many countries- making it much easier to exchange information and knowledge in a variety of social contexts. The world-spread usage of English can be used for economic purposes, advertising, music, movies, and much more. Having taken many economic and history courses, it was not surprising to me when reading about how knowing the English language is correlated to having personal success. This sort of influence that globalization can have is extremely powerful, and the two others continue to discuss throughout these chapters whether or not it can be a good thing or a bad thing.
     The second chapter then describes Kachu's presentation of these different social contexts as being the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle- which are permeable with the rising number bilingual speakers. There are many different programs to serve the individuals within each circle, but it is hard to say which one would be the most beneficial (especially when taking personal differences into account for each student). However, I do believe that the student's learning English as a second language should also concentrate on their first language as well. Just because knowing English will make you more "successful" is no reason to completely ignore your first language.

The impact of globalization on language teaching in Japan by Kubota
     This article discusses how globalization in this case can relate to Americanization, along with the discourse of internalization. Americanization includes the three categories of: 1) ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity in the local communities, 2) the prevalence of English, and 3) nationalism endorsed by linguistic and cultural essential-ism.  Internalization, on the other hand, has led to four premises for foreign language education which are: 1) English is the foreign language, 2) the model for English should be standard, 3) learning English leads to intercultural understanding, and 4) national identity is fostered through English. The two terms are similar in that they both understand the concept of diversity, and the fact that English linguistics endorses nationalism. This article continues to suggest that Japanese students should adapt to the English way of logic while learning the language to help them and reflects on other types of speech-thinking as well. Overall, globalization has had a huge impact on not only people in Japan but all over the world in terms of the English language.

Week 11

      Out of all the readings assigned for this week, “Becoming Black: Rap and Hip-Hop, Race, Gender: Identity, and the Politics of ESL Learning” by Ibrahim stood out to me the most. The author’s explanation of how Blacks base their representation (culturally and linguistically) on pop culture (and in this case-especially rap). The author continues to describe how the effect of pop culture also helps them form an identity. Pop culture not only influences this certain group, but many others who change the way they dress, talk, act, and more. Ibrahim suggests that since learning takes place within the curriculum sites of rap and hip-hop, then using these popular culture contents while teaching will help us as teachers to have our students be more invested in learning and help them become more engaged in these identities.  I believe as teachers it is in our best interest and our student’s best interest to adapt to any certain change that might help them along the learning process, and if utilizing rap in a lesson plans is what it will take to help them then so be it.

“Race and TESOL: Introduction to Concepts and Theories” by Kubota and Lin focused on the difference between some well-known terms: race, ethnicity, culture and identity, but also states how there is no specific definition of what each one is and how they define us as a person.  This relates back to what we have been learning in class since day one when Dr. Seloni had us write out our own definition of culture.

            “Cultural Stereotypes” by Kumar focused on stereotypes in relation to the Asian population and why people may think these stereotypes. As future TESOL teachers, this was a great article to read because it advises us to be aware of these student’s in our classroom so that we can help them learn in a classroom setting. 

Week 8: Culture, Materials, and Methods Reflection

This week's readings were very insightful in regards to the materials used in a classroom and the effect it can have on the students- especially English Language Learners. Tyler-Mendes, Giashi, and Hinkel all demonstrate and explain to what extent the materials-specifically textbooks-can influence an ESL classroom. Before reading these articles, if someone were to tell me a textbook could negatively influence students, I would think it would be due to inadequate content or poorly written structures. Therefore, after these readings, you can understand how surprised I was to find out how much the images in a textbook play a role in the perspective of ESL student. Images of white, middle class people and images of poor black people in textbooks demonstrate how gender roles or race are perceived in a certain culture which can create stereotypes that the learners are somewhat taught to believe. Tyler-Mendes's article mentions how we should discuss the images in the EFL books to prevent this from happening. Having ethical discussions with our future classrooms can really help us as teachers to avoid the students from forming social prejudices and stereotypes.

Giashi explained the difficulties ESL students go through when given material to read in their English classes due to a feeling of "inferiority" to the teacher and the rest of their class. I can't imagine what that would feel like, and I am positive that if I were in these student's position I would feel the same way. Its so easy to feel vulnerable when exposed to something that we may feel we will fail at, something that will possibly embarrass us something that has potential to threaten your cultural stereotype.  This author also discusses how ESL textbooks should focus on its visual presentation rather than the textual content, and that critical image analysis is the way to go about dealing with these images. As teachers, it will be beneficial to critically analyze the images in a given textbook to help the students become more aware of the issues in society and how to deal with them. 

Chapter 11 by Hinkel's discussion about the importance of having a textbook that emphasizes culture stood out to me because I agree with this suggestion. It relates to his focus on how a teacher can learn along with his or her students through discussing and evaluating the cultural content of the textbooks such as social identity and social groups, social interaction, belief and behavior, national identity, etc. I believe these are very important things to discuss in an ESL classroom so that the students understand the diversity that is among them and to help the teacher understand their students perspectives as well. Discussing and evaluating cultural content of textbooks will (hopefully) create a more comfortable atmosphere in the classroom by allowing the students to freely express their opinions and thoughts and, more importantly, free themselves of any stereotypes they may hold of a culture according to the texts. 

Culture and written discourse: Cross-cultural writing

This week's readings were filled with powerful information. I would be lying if I said I understood everything 100%, but what will do my best to explain what I got out of it. To start out, I think it is important to discuss the contrastive rhetoric hypothesis (CRH). This hypothesis focuses on the research and teaching of writing among different international students and cultures in English as a second language. According to Hinkel in chapter 4, "The major theoretical claim of the CRH is that different speech communities have different ways of organizing ideas in writing." Hinkel further goes on to explain that this piece of information results in the language learner to have a "basic" or even "unskilled" level of writing, and that it is necessary for them to follow a specific paradigm if they wish to "contribute to the pool of scientific and technological knowledge."

Before further reading this chapter, I was skeptical on whether or not this was true. I felt as though I know several people who's second language is English and they are just as capable as forming an intelligent paper as I am. However, it is important to take into account their culture and how it may affect their thinking process and style of writing. According to Halliday (1985), "People express meanings to realize some social goal. Evaluation of texts rests on interpretation of the context of situation and the context of culture." What this makes me wonder is two non-native English speakers from two separate cultures would take away a message in English the same way. They would be both reading something in a language non-native to their own, and even though they would be reading the same thing, would their culture affect how they interpret it? This is something we have previously discussed, and is still something that really interests me.

The main focus in Hinkel's chapter 6 seemed to me to be the varying cultures that we might have in our ESL classrooms and how to go about dealing with that and teaching our students in an effective manner. Hinkel states, "there is a thin line between informing students of cultural norms that will further their L2 writing development and ability to function as L2 writers in academic contexts, and prescribing and enforcing dominant cultural norms in and through writing." I think this is an important piece of information to know, because what he is saying is that as teachers we must make sure that we don't force our students to focus on just one culture in the classroom but to inform them of all cultural norms and help them develop a steady writing pattern in their second language. I am determined to make sure I do this in my future classroom!

Kubota and Silvia's readings also mention constrastic rhetoric and how the thought process of each culture can create negative transfer while learning a second language and interfere with the learning process. I enjoyed the writing style of Kubota's article, and Silvia's reading offered many helpful tips to help students with their writing in an ESL class, and I look forward to taking advantage of those in the future.

Week 5: Korean Immigrants Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Step from Heaven by Ana. The fact that the story was told through the voice of a very young girl made it very real and eye-opening. At the end of every chapter, I found myself having to take a moment to soak in what I had just read. The writing was very powerful and full of relate-able issues to what we are learning in class. It also tied in very well with Kang's Korean-Immigrant Parents' Support of Their American-Born Children's Development and Maintenance of the Home Language. As I was reading this story, I marked down some of the quotes that stood out to me and made some connections with Kang's article:

Pg. 16 - "Gomo says a lot of Mi Gook people have curly hair."

Korean immigrants (as well as other immigrants as well) at times feel the need to fit in with Americans so that they feel accepted. There are many other situations throughout the story where I notice that the Park's try very hard to fit in with Americans, but also try very hard to remain true to their Korean culture. Where do they draw the line?

Pg. 26-  "Everyone in Mi Gook loves Ko-Ka-Ko-La. They drink it like water. You will love it too."

Another example of trying to immerse and become accustomed to the American lifestyle.

Pg. 29- "In school you are only Young. Mi Gook people will have too much trouble saying all the syllables. It is better to keep it simple for them."

Pg. 29- "I have never seen so many different colors of hair."

Some of the differences that Young Ju noticed when coming to America were things that I would have never thought would be noticeable- such as hair! This could be egocentric of me, and I can definitely see how it would be confusing to a little girl coming here from Korea. 

P6. 30- "The witch teacher is talking fast like she is mad. I cover my ears. I am so scared..."

This really put the struggle of a second-language learner into perspective for me.

Pg. 41- "She does not understand the English that sounds perfect in my head and then comes out messy as the can of Spaghetti.."

I can definitely relate this to when I am trying to speak Spanish. I can form sentences perfectly in my head, but when I go to speak it it comes out a mess. 

Pg. 51- "Use my best English teacher voice."

Imitating authority figures such as her teacher helped Young Ju with her language learning process. 

Pg. 52- "I nodded and said yes, even though I did not know what cider was."

This stood out to me, because I remember several times while studying abroad I would pretend I would know what something meant even if I really didn't. At times, it would work out and I would figure it out on my own. Other times, I would be confused and regret not asking what it meant initially. 

Pg. 52- "I have found that the dictionary doesn't always explain everything. Like 'going'...none of it makes any sense to me."

This paragraph was extremely powerful. It really shows the reader how confusing it can be for a non-native English speaker to hear these sort of implicatures in conversation. 

Pg. 62- "Uhmma and Grill Woman spoke in a language of mixed and chopped Korean and Japanese, glued together with pieces of English."

In this situation, English may have been the median in which the two woman could communicate. 

Pg. 63- "We clinked glasses just like people in the movies."

This is another example of imitation. 

Pg. 73- "Let's pray like they do on TV and in church." Imitation. 

Pg. 75- "I am embarrassed when Uhmma puts down a million pennies...I pretend I am not that woman's daughter. Not a poor Oriental who saves pennies like gold."

Feeling ashamed of your family and culture is something that a lot of immigrants go through when coming to the United States.

Pg. 98- "I was shopping at the Korean market."

In this community, there are still plenty of opportunities to only speak Korean. Young Ju's mom takes advantage of this market and most likely doesn't shop anywhere else so that she can stay in her comfort zone.

Pg. 103- "Uhmma and Apa do not like it that my best friend is an American, a girl who might influence me in the wrong ways. Fast American ways. Supposedly, American girls do not study, they are boy-crazy, and they do not think of anyone but themselves. Uhmma and Apa do not want me to end up like them."

This example shows how adamant some families are when it comes to preserving their culture. Uhmma and Apa are very proud Koreans, and don't want Young Ju to fall into the negative stereotypes they have learned about American girls. This must have been very frustrating for Young Ju since she was the one who was going to school and fully immersing herself with the Americans and got to see and witness first-hand that that is not how they are like.  

Pg. 104- "Young Ju, have I not taught you never to take from others? Do not make yourself obligated to another person." "In American it is fine to borrow money from friends." "We are Korean, do not forget."

Another example of showing how they want to remain proud Koreans. This relates to Kang's article when many of the Korean woman with families insist on only using Korean. Mrs. Cho, for example, explains how she doesn't spend too much time in the community, therefore making her English very weak. Mrs. Cho and Uhmma seem similar to me in this situation where they both are conservative and want to stick with what they know. 

Pg. 106- "There's my house. I not my head to a two-story gray stucco bungalow on the corner."

I was wondering why Young Ju chose this specific house to have the Doyles drop her off at. Was it very "American-looking" to her?

Pg. 108- "I eat my rice and wonder why my parents can't speak or joke with the ease of the Doyles."

It could be part of the Korean culture to be more on the serious side. Comparing and contrasting could be very confusing for Young Ju. 

Pg. 109- "You have been running around with that American girl for too long. You are not allowed to see her anymore. She is a bad influence."

Another example of being afraid to let Young Ju be influenced be Americans.

Pg. 110- "You are becoming too American. That girl is worthless."

Pg. 121- "Did you bow?"

Even though they are in America, Uhmma still asks Young Ju if she bowed to her principal at her graduation ceremony. Young Ju then becomes frustrated. In Uhmma's defense, it must be difficult to stray away from such traditions. 

Pg. 129- "Your life can be different, Young Ju. Study and be strong. In America, women have choices."

While they want to remain proud of their culture, Uhmma still believes that America is the place where opportunities are available. It makes me wonder if she sees America in a better light or darker light...It's very in between. 

Pg. 138- "Do I really believe the police can help? They care about me? They would not help people like us."

This makes me sad to think that Young Ju believes that the police wouldn't help her family because they are immigrants.

Overall, this book was very powerful and tied in well with Kang's article. Two questions I have for Kang are:

1. What do you think is the best way to fully immerse in a different culture and to learn a second language?

2. What was your biggest struggle learning English?

Language and Identity I

Norton and Pavlenko's readings were very insightful. They brought up many key terms and concepts in which I have experienced or witnessed, but never really knew how to explain. What stood out to me the most in these readings was Norton's theory on social identity and how it affects the learning process of another language. It is something that I have always recognized and thought about, but after reading her explanation and research I now have a better understanding of how one's experience and social identity can really affect communication.

Whenever I am reading something for this class, I always seem to relate back to my time abroad in Spain. It isn't intentional, and I think it is a good thing that I am able to make certain connections. Having said this, I'd like to discuss some of the connections I made in Norton's research, Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning. To begin with, she discuses the key term: social distance. According to Schumann (1976), where there is great social distance between the language speaker and target speaker, the less acculturation there is, therefore leading the second language speaker to become less proficient. I find this concept to be 100% true. If a person who is very intelligent sits in his or her room and studies a second language every day for a year, it is guaranteed that they won't be as fluent as someone who has had many conversations with someone in that target language. This is where I made my connection. In Spain, I could tell a drastic difference between the people's speaking abilities who were always conversing with the Spaniards and their host families and the people who refused to speak Spanish to anyone. Social distance is something that everyone who plans on learning a second language should become aware of so that they know it is something to work on if they want to succeed.

Norton also discusses how power relations play a crucial role in social reactions (pg. 12) and how language learners all have a complex social identity. We can see this through Eva and Martina's stories in the research. Both of their identities and investments were completely different, but both forced them to learn English. According to Norton, language is not conceived of as a neutral medium of communication but is understood with reference to its social meaning (pg 13). She also argues that investment rather than motivation more accurately signals the relationship between language learners and the target language speakers (pg. 17). Therefore, Eva and Martina's investment in surviving in their communities signaled them to learn English. As future teachers, we must help students claim the right to speak outside the classroom so that they can avoid the problems that Eva and Martina experienced. To do this, we must research and observe the experiences and social identities of the language learners and apply it to our curriculum.

Moving on to Pavlenko's text, I really enjoyed reading the immigrant narratives and getting their perspective on learning a second language as well as seeing how the issues they face today are so different than the ones they have faced in the past. It was interesting to me to see how effective these narratives are in portraying identities as a second language learner, and I think it would be effective to use this technique in my future ESL classroom.

My Definition of Culture

After reading Teaching culture: Perspectives in practice by Morgan, I am pleased to find that I now have a deeper understanding of what culture means. The author is completely correct when stating that culture has a wide array of complexities that we must embrace in order to define the word itself, and a quote that stood out to me in this reading was,  "To be fair, the complexity comes not just from definers and definitions but from the nature of culture itself."

Morgan further defines culture as the center of five different dimensions: products, practices, communities, persons, and perspectives. I believe that this is a great way to refer to specific things while also being extremely broad and general at the same time (if that makes sense!) In other words, we now have five concrete dimensions and aspects that contribute to the definition of culture, but the definitions of these words all vary according to the type of culture.

According to Morgan, it is also important to research different cultures because while there are many explicit and obvious aspects, there are also several tacit aspects to a culture in which we would not recognize without further exploration. After spending a semester in Spain, I can definitely relate to this. While many of the Spaniard's traditions were expected, such as their midday naps or late eating schedules, many were a complete shock to me. For example, I once yawned in public at a cafe during lunchtime. My Spanish friend then proceeded to tell me that in Spain, that was very looked down upon and that I was being rude. This was something that if I hadn't lived in Spain and experienced this first-hand, I'm not sure I would have ever known that yawning wasn't approved of in the Spanish culture!

My original definition of culture was: a common set of morals, lifestyle, beliefs, traditions, etc. within a group of people, and is a way people live according to their demographics and/or ethnicity. However, after this reading these chapters I now understand that culture is much more complex, and is something that can be easier to relate to if you experience it first-hand. Doing this is clearly not an option for most people, but breaking a culture down into the five dimensions Morgan states earlier is a great start to get a better understanding.

My name is Kelley and I'm a Spanish major with TESOL as my minor. I have a huge interest in culture so I'm really looking forward to further exploring the relationship between that and language. It is possible that I may eventually teach an ESL class in the future, so I'm interested to learn more about teaching English Language Learners as well!