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.