Integrating Skills

Kuma Ch. 9-10 Brown Ch. 17

Brown discusses the integration of the "four skills", reading-writing-speaking-listening and the importance of integrating skills for more authenticity and better reinforcement of the language. After reading what he had to say about the types of instruction (content-based, task-based, theme-based, experiential, episodic), I was able to establish a basis for my future teaching. When thinking back to my experiences learning a second language, the more integrated the four skills were, the more progress that I made.  Seeing that the four skills are the fundamentals of learning a language, the different appraoches that illustrate the integration of skills is extremely important. It will be up to us to integrate skills while making  sure that the needs of all students are met in the classroom.

Kumar reinforces the importance of the integration of skills as well as communicative competence and discourse in language learning. Chapter nine was a review of contexualizing input. In order to purposefully and beneficially integrate skills, our students have to properly differentiate input. Also, to maintain authenticity, educators need to move outside of the traditional textbook and use authentic texts such as newspapers or media. Kumar ties in both chapters by reminding us that the comination and integration of all four of the language skills builds upon the contextualization of the input. I really liked what Kumar said in Chapter ten about creating a colorful tapestry with the weaving of the strands that consist of the four primarty skills. As a future educator, I plan to work towards finding the perfect weave while facilitaing classroom activites that involve a meaninful and simultaneious engagement with language in use. The main focus of this weeks reading was to become familiar with instructional methods in integrating skills in our classrooms. Also, it is important to go beyond the limitations of teaching and the classroom in order to promote a postive and meaningful learning experience for students learnin a second langauge. 

Kumar Chapter 1

The first thing that caught my eye in chapter one, Conceptualizing Teaching Acts, was the quote below the title. The quote by Larry Cuban stated, "To teach is to be full of hope." After reading, I felt that the quote was very appropriate after reading the various definitions of a teacher and all of the different components that go into the career of teaching. 

Many of us are waiting to come out of college with a teaching certificate from the state. Kumar states, "...learning to teach does not end with obtaining a diploma or a degree in teacher education but is an ongoing process throughout one's teaching career." This made me realize that my original thoughts were that after college I am going to know everything I need to know to have my own classroom and be a successful teacher. The fact that being a teacher includes much more than the average person sees or thinks. As we begin our teaching careers, we will continue to develop and reflect on classroom-oriented research and problem-solving activities. Kumar mentions that this role of teachers is known as reflective practicioners. The other two roles are passive technicians and transformative intellectuals.  

I found it interesting that the descriptions for the role of a teacher were limited to three main titles. I agree with Kumar that it is difficult to precisely pin down the role of a teacher because our roles are endless. We will be whatever we need to be in whatever situation to faciliate our classroom and educate our students. Although each part of the role included in-depth descriptions of what a teacher does and will have to do thoughout their careers, I feel that the role of a teacher goes beyond what was stated in Kumar. I believe that the roles didn't always acknolwedge the extreme importance and influence that a teacher can have in the classroom. I also believe that true teaching comes from building a relationships with students and working together to lead the classroom. With that bond, a hope for making a difference in the world and in children's lives will be made possible. Going back to the quote at the beginning of my post, I understand that to teach is to be full of hope. Full of hope to become the best teacher you can be, full of hope to make an impact in the lives of students and full of hope to be a part of the history of education that will help the field to grow and move in the right direction. 

Week 14: Language variations, language Ideologies

Chapter 5 in the McKay & Bokhorts-Heng book talked about the linguistic diversity of present day English use. As I started reading, I found it very interesting to see that with the extreme growth in speakers of English as a second language, they are beginning to use both their native language and English hand in hand on almost a daily basis. It make me think about how the world continues to become more and more bilingual especially with all of the immigration taking place. The book talked about the different variations of English that are coming about with the use of English and other languages by bilingual speakers. For example, the changes that these speakers are using while speaking English are being codified and accepted as standard. With that being said, the number of standardized varieties of English is growing in Outer Circle countries as well as Expanding Circle countries. After reading the description of Nigerian English, it really is something else how many different varieties and or dialects there can be of a single language. I feel that these dialects continue to change day by day as more words, phrases or changes of the English language are becoming the standard. I then went on to read about the different features of variation within the language. As an aspiring teacher, it makes me wonder if the standard English taught in classrooms is going to change. What technically is the right English to be teaching? Is there even a "right" one?

My question was somewhat answered when I read about the Standard Language ideology. The definition in the book states, "term generally used to refer to that variety of a language that is considered the norm." But then again, I questioned myself about what is the norm, is it changing? When the book went on to define Standard English, I still wasn't sold on the idea after watching the videos in class where students are being encouraged to use their dialects of English in the classroom however still being directed into using this Standard English.

In Lippie-Green Chapter 2, I thought it was interesting how they reffered to the different accents of English especially between L1 and L2 learners. I also found it ineresting that they were reffering to Standard English as the non-accent. The example about the native man from Hawaii. He applied for a job and was turned down because he was a bilingual speaker and did not use Standard English pronunciations. I found that as a shame to see that we are trying to do our best to shy away from this standardidized, "one fits all" mentality. We all come from different backgrounds and should be accepted for that. Especially when so many Americans are worried about people speaking English in American, it was surprising to see that if these second language learners of the langauge do not speak perfect Standardized English, it still isn't good enough.........

Week 12: Multilingual Practices

Chapter 2 from the McKay book identified issues in English teaching and learning in the Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles. The main problem in the Inner Circle is that language minority students are positioned as outsiders. Inner Circle countries view language diversity as a problem. To help their "problem" they have programs that are focusing on the acquisition of English with little emphasis on devloping the student's first language. This is a turn in the monolinguistic direction. This is causing students to lose their cultural identity and where they came from. In the Outer Circle, the need for English proficiency is growing and becoming more necessary for tertiary education. However there are practical problems arising from trying to develop academic literacy in both English and the national language. Since these students need English to receive higher education they are putting all of their effort into the English language. Lastly in the Expanding Circle, the fact that educators sometimes do not have sufficient proficiency in the English language which then causes a lack of teacher confidence. These educators also have a hard time motivating the students who do not see the purpose in learning the English language. I think that those teachers need to focus on the reason why TESOL classes exist and all of the benefits that comes from being biligual. As we talked about in previous weeks, the globalization of English continues to grow and raise issues about native and second languages.

In Chapter 3, it moves on to talk about multilingual countries characterized by diglossia. What I found most interesting was the fact that providing English education, alongside mother tongue languages is seen as an important feature of nationalist policy. There has also been growth in those who believe in monolingualism. I don't know how anyone can see the benefits of losing ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity. This once again goes back to the idea of cultural identity. How could one want to lose their identity? What would the world be like if it were monolinguistic? Would any of the ethnic and cultural diversity still exist? Every  ethnicity is rich in culture and language. I am all for people learning two languages. But if they are going to take on a second language, I strongly suggest that they preserve their mother tongue, their native language. That is the benefit of speaking two languages, you can broaden the type of people you talk while expanding your cultural identity. Learning a language includes learning a culture as well. We need to learn to appreciate all that a language is. As English continues to spread, one of the major incentives of learning the lanague is for the purposes of citizenship and social and economic integration. I believe that the globalization of English is a good thing but can also be contributing to the death of languages.

Week 11: English in an era of globalization

Chapter one in Interaction English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts talks about the English language in an era of globalization. There is this wide spread of English taking place all over the world. However, with that being said, homogenization is leading to the loss of other languages around the world. With the loss of languges comes the loss of culture. I agree with those stating that is devastating to see languages dying with the increase of English language speakers. This comes down to the fact that in order to save these cultures and languages they need to continue speaking it and spreading it. I see how this can be so hard when such a language as powerful as English is globalizing. What would happen if English eventually became the only language in the world?

I found it very interesting to read about the spread of English through colonialism. Also, I thougth that it was cool to read about all of the various incentives for learning English. The incentives included economic, education and mass media incentives.   It made me realize how much of necessity there is to speak the English lanuage. I had a flashback to my study abroad experience yet again while reading the section about music. The chapter states how English is the dominant language in popular music today. In many countries, the exposure to these popular songs has led to code-mixing in locally produced pop music. I remember my Spanish friends not being able to speak English however they were able to sing the lyrics of popular English sang songs. I thought it was funny how they would sing but didn't even know what the lyrics meant. They would then use those words in everyday speech. 

With the high demand of having the ability to speak English, monolinguism is an important factor to consider in all of this. Each and every person has these cultural layers and languages as they choose to learn another language. It seems as if these layers and beginning to fall off and they are being left with only the English language. I think that especially as future educators, we need to help students realize the beauty of having such a unique cultural identity. It is an incredible experience learning another language but that does not need to include losing native languages. I plan on helping my students to protect their cultural identity and stress the importance of keeping linguistic and cultural background. 

Week 10: Race, Language, and identity; critical multiculturalism in TESOL

The Ibrahim article, Becoming Black was very interesting to me. I was also taken back by the story of these French speaking Africans coming to North America. It makes me wonder why blacks only find themselves identifying with other blacks. In this society today unfortunately that is still the case, but not in all cases.  However, generally you see people of the same race or culture identifying with one another. It is amazing to me how they would just fall into the categories of becoming black just for having that skin color. I remember talking about with whom we find ourselves identifying with. What makes up our social identity? I had found myself identifying with many different groups of people and my culture only being one of them. I believe that we need to continue to expand our identity by looking past skin color. Anyone can learn BE (black English). As seen in today’s society, it is another dialect of English and not only black people are speaking it. I have seen and heard people who wanted to be black or identified with that type of person.

The idea of racism comes to mind when I was reading the article. He also addresses the white racist in the article which made me question my beliefs and if I am falling for the stereotypical mind set. I believe that you should not fall into the stereotype stated in the article if you have black skin. It was so crazy to me to hear that these continental Africans are falling into these dominant groups such as blacks. They are facing a social imaginary right off the bat as Ibrahim states in the article. I can’t imagine how it would feel like to enter a society that already had preconceived ideas about where one does and does not fit in. That want and need to fit into society could definitely have an effect on with whom these continental Africans were identifying with. He states that they mostly identified with African American blacks and their culture.  It goes back to the idea that everyone is an individual and we all come from different cultural backgrounds. I believe that anyone can identify with whatever kind of culture or identity that they want to.

It was eye opening to see that he did not identify himself as being black, he described his identity as tall, Sudanese and a basketball player. However, when he got to North America he made the transition from his identity to becoming black. In the end, I think that it is important for TESOL educators to begin to put aside the stereotypes and treat all students equally. I believe that in today’s society we need to embrace the different cultures and like Ibrahim says to look into rap and hip-hop and instead of banning it, embrace it and assist students in finding their identity.  

Week 8: Cultural Representation

In this week’s assigned reading, I was surprised to see how great of an impact that images can make for a non native speaker learning English. The images in the EFL textbooks can be a very important aspect for these students when learning. I thought about myself being a visual learner and a native speaker. These students may not completely understand the text but can draw conclusions from images. Right in the introduction of Taylor-Mendes’ article I was stunned to see what the student Fatima had to say.

She is quoted saying, “I see more White people than Black people. I saw ... when I saw Black people, I saw them in a poor situation. Here they don't put a rich man for example who have a job and have a happy family. To me this is ridiculous ... it's like they show the majority who have money is the White people, and who have this lifestyle is the majority of people who have money ... and they are White. I think the [English language] books ... This people who study in ... schools very expensive want to see themselves, and to see themselves is to see White people ... White people and happy situations, a car, a beautiful beach, beautiful things.

Fatima’s reaction to images in her EFL textbook made me question how I would depict English language speakers in a textbook. Her reaction also upset me to see how much of an impact stereotypes have in our world. As future educators of the English language we need to break the mold and stay far away from stereotypes. It is crazy to see how the creators of these kinds of textbooks believe that the images are apolitical, neutral and enjoyable. These images are putting ideas in to the learners of English that may not be true! Also, from reading the other comments made by students learning the language is that each and every one of them have their own interpretation with the same general stereotypical observations. It is incredible how much they can interpret just from viewing a picture. They do say that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Another idea that stood out to me was when the author discusses the question, what does an English speaker look like? Once again, I began to question myself as to how I would answer such a question. The first thought that came to my mind was a white person, seeing that I am one. But is that the right answer? I don’t necessarily believe so and therefore I started to understand how the responses to this question would be biased, prejudiced or even racist. However, the simple answer that can be depicted from the images in EFL textbooks is “White, wealthy, powerful, isolated with members of their own race, and free of problems.”  I think that we have come such a long way from the past of harsh racial biases to even jeopardize our chances at reinforcing our past ideas.  It makes me uncomfortable for people of other races to see these kinds of stereotypes reoccurring in our society today.