Week 6: Culture and written discourse: International Rhetoric, multilingual writing

     I had the chance to read Kubota's Unfinished Knowledge: The Story of Barbara. The most interesting part of this weeks reading for me was the story about the teacher Barbara and her encounter with three students from China, Korea and Japan. Since this teacher had lacked experience with other cultures she was quick to make the assumption that there was something wrong with the students- either low intelligence or some cognitive deficit that prevented them from thinking logically. What really surprised me is the fact that she didn't even stop to think that maybe English wasn't their first language and they were still working on improving their writing skills. Developing oral proficiency skills takes a lot of time and effort as well as improving writing skills. 

     Later on in the story I began to feel a connection with Barbara because she was in a similar position to me in the fact that she was needing more experience in cross cultural experience. Most of us students are taking this class to learn and prepare ourselves for our future classrooms that will most likely be more culturally integrated than today's classrooms. Us future educators will be more informed and ready to embrace other cultures with a strong background knowledge on nonnative English speakers and their various cultures. The only experience with other cultures that I have is mostly the Spanish culture so in that sense I too feel the need to branch out more to learn about more culture. 

     In the Kubota article, Carol tells Barbara "When two people from different cultures meet, misunderstanding tends to occur, because we tend to judge the other person with our own cultural frame of reference. However, neither culture is right or wrong, or good or bad. They are just different." I really thought that that particular quote stood out in describing why there are so many misconceptions. Seeing that Barbara grew up in a white community, she had the expectations for those students to be writing as a native English speaker. 

     The Connor article was hard for me to understand. I didn't grasp the whole idea about what rhetoric is and how teachers can incorporate that into lessons.  

Week 5: Power and discourse; otherization, cultural assimilation, cultural stereotyping

Social Identity in Language

The first article that I looked at was Norton’s article in regards to social identity, investment and language learning. Bart from the Simpsons caught my attention right away because it was something that I could relate to. Putting myself in Eva, an immigrant language learner’s position, I too would feel uncomfortable. Once again, I think that it raises the question of judgment. Norton states that Eva, for not being familiar with the character from the show could be seen as a poor language learner who has not developed sociolinguistic competence. I myself, never really watched the Simpsons however have lived here my entire life I would be able to recognize the character. The article made me realize how difficult it must be for immigrants or second language learners to be put in situations like that of Eva. It also made me think about how hard it may be to not only learn the language but then have to obtain the knowledge of the social aspect of another culture. With that being said, it also made me realize the importance of exposure to the language. It truly reflects the motivation one must have to not only learn a language but to learn a culture. I remember when I studied abroad in Spain and the daily situations that I faced. I know that for a fact I would not have the speaking abilities that I do now in the language of Spanish if it was not for immersing myself into the culture. I was surrounded by the language daily with my local friends from the area. Many times the two cultures clashed and I felt like Eva when my Spanish friends would say “you don’t know what that is!?”

            Hall touches on the idea of social identity and how we are defined by part of our membership in a range of social groups into which we may have been born. This made me realize how many groups that I belong to. All of these layers have an effect on when we use language. In reference to our involvement in the various activities of social institutions such as school, church, family and the workplace, Hall states “these institutions give shape to the kinds of groups to which we have access and to the role-relationships we can establish with others.” All of these social groups play a role in how we use language.

As Hall summarizes at the end of Chapter 2 it states, “this view recognizes that culture does not exist apart from language or apart from us, as language users.” I feel that this statement clarifies that culture and language go hand in hand. Hall talks about the idea of socialization. Hall also talks about how language helps a person to identify themselves.

            These readings demonstrated the sense of identity and language and helped me to think about my very own identity and how that will play a role in my classroom. I was overwhelmed with everything that makes up culture and identity and now understand the investment that it can be in learning a new language or assimilating into a new culture. 

Identity

The main idea that I took away from both Holliday and Pavlenko’s The Making of an American  was cultural identity and identity itself. The majority of the article discusses the immigration of people coming to America during the beginning of the 1900’s. Immigration generates the thought of coming to a new place and either changing your ways, not changing your ways or a little of both. I feel that now days many people frustrate themselves with the fact that there are many immigrants who still do not speak the language. These kinds of people are in doubt that the country is continuing to become more and more culturally integrated. They are bitter towards immigrants who do not speak the language and therefore turn them away or treat them poorly.  

            There are all different types of people in this world and in today’s society there unfortunately still remain groups of people who do not accept others for who they are where they come from. For example, after 9/11 many American’s stereotyped all types of dark skinned Muslims, etc. I feel that us Americans need to drop the idea of having one identity or one culture and continue to embrace the new. Our country is extremely unique I feel in the sense of being so much more integrated than other places. I have neighbors whom both come from different cultural backgrounds. For example, my neighbor Estrella is from Cuba. I was exposed to her cultural from a young age seeing as she is similar to a second mother of mine. She speaks both Spanish and English and has assimilated to the American culture and has been living here since a very young age. This is more background knowledge for me in teaching my students.

Holliday’s ideas were also on identity. I thought that the reading was interesting in the fact that it talked about what one thinks about him or herself as well as what others think about those people. Stereotypes are a big part of today’s society and in order to help avoid people being mislabeled is to avoid all of the nonsense and think past the general stereotype which I agree, can be hard at times. As future educators we must do better than the rest of society in changing these stereotypes around and not letting them come into our classrooms. Holliday also talked about truly defining who we are. I am a Spanish Education major and therefore already have an appreciation for two languages. I studied abroad in Spain and fell in love with the culture. I have found a balance between embracing the Spanish culture as well as not losing my identity as a native born American. After taking my English Linguistics course last semester, we had a discussion on second languages and it was very intriguing because we had a discussion on whether or not we would have our children learn both their native language and then the American language. I believe that in order for the society to continue to culturally grow that people do not need to drop their native culture and language. I think that they need to find a balance of the cultures. Especially with the rapid growth of foreign languages in American, being bilingual is almost becoming necessary.

Cultural identity will be very influential in the classroom for teachers and students. For teachers, we need to realize that each and every student has their own story and personality. We cannot be quick to judge for we may not know their culture, likes, dislikes, etc.

Culture

           One of the most key themes that appeared in the reading and most likely will reappear for the course is culture. I feel that everyone defines the word a different way. With that comes many questions that appear such as what is the real definition of culture, and how do those definitions affect those teaching and learning a language. It is important for us as future professors of English as a second language to understand what our students will be bringing to the table, who they are, where they are from etc. Also, it is the idea that these students are not only learning a new language but they are becoming accustomed to a brand new culture as well. I can’t imagine how overwhelmed some of these learners must be. The only time that I have experienced being placed in a situation like that would be when I studied abroad in Spain. I was forced to change my ways and accept a new culture for the five months that I was abroad. I also had to learn a new language, Spanish as my second language.

            After reading the Atkinson article, I realized that there may not be one exact or correct definition for the word culture. With that being said, I was stumbled because then how do we go about defining this major theme. Another point that was discussed was that culture itself may not have a place in the education field. I disagree because culture is present everywhere that you go, especially in schools. Education gives a chance to embrace all of the different cultures especially in learning new cultures aside from your own.

            Being an American, I feel that all of us should have respect for the constantly changing society with new cultures. It is something to be embraced I feel and not pushed away. As a future educator, I will be helping future immigrants for example to broaden their culture, not by changing who they are. I see it as building onto what culture they already have and giving them the knowledge to embrace the English language for example.

            The Holliday reading was interesting and it made me think about the fact that I have my Spanish boyfriend visiting America for the first time. He doesn’t speak English but is eager to learn. After reading the charts on pages 57-59 I began to laugh a little bit because of how much this can apply to our relationship. We have both had the chance to appreciate our very own cultures by missing things about them. “Appreciate that every society is as complex and culturally varied as your own” (Holliday, 2010) For example, my boyfriend Mario misses the food in Spain, especially the bread, however can’t get enough of Taco Bell ;). Another thing caught my attention was the idea of stereotyping and trying to explain the different people of America to him was very difficult. I’m not sure if he understood how culturally integrated the country is to begin with. I feel that we share something special in the sense that we are able to share our cultures and essentially “add layers” onto who we are. Experiences like this will better educate me for when I have students with different religions, traditions, mannerisms etc. that will be sitting in my classroom. I want to have a strong cultural knowledge to make all students feel welcome in the sense that they too can succeed in embracing new culture and language.

            I now can view culture in a different light. I can see and understand the complexity of the world culture and the impact that it will have on my future career as an educator. The readings made an impact on my thoughts and made me think about how I perceive the statements for example in the Holliday reading.