Blog #11

In Lippie-Green’s chapter 2 article, they talk about non-accent English. I find this concept to be really interesting to think about. If non-accent English is apparently Standard English, then who exactly speaks Standard English. I kind of think that every native English speaker has the belief that they speak Standard English. For example, when I hear myself speak English, I do not consider the fact or acknowledge that I may have an accent. However, when I talk to my cousins that live in Missouri they say that I say certain words weird. On the contrary, I have the belief that they say words differently and that they have a slight accent. Yet, we all think that we speak Standard English. How can we all speak Standard or non-accent English if we pronounce the same words differently? We stress different syllabus and pronounce some vowels differently. This shows that there really is no such thing as a non-accent. If native English speakers have an accent, then it’s not fair to judge an English language learner, or someone who does not speak English as their native language, by their accent. In the article, it mentions how a Hawaiian bilingual did not get a promotion because he had an accent. Due to his accent, he was seen as unfit for the promotion. He could read and speak perfectly well, but his accent was viewed as a setback. But why? What is so wrong with having an accent? Like I mentioned before, I think that all native English speakers do not recognize that we do in fact have accents. We have this mentality that we speak perfect, Standard English. However, if we (as a native English speaker) have an accent and the Hawaiian bilingual meteorologist has an accent as well, what makes the native English speaker’s accent superb to the other? This mentality makes me wonder about the way that I speak Spanish. I probably speak Spanish with more of an English accent versus a Spanish accent. This is probably true because I learned Spanish in the United States, surrounded by other native English speakers. If I speak Spanish to a native Spanish speaker are they going to think lower or less of me because I don’t have a native Spanish accent? Or, would they just accept the fact that I can speak the language even though it is not my native tongue. I would hope that my Spanish would be accepted by native Spanish speakers. But this creates a double standard. Non-native accents in English are not appreciated as much, yet I have hope that my non-native Spanish accent will be respected. We should respect all accents and all dialects of any language because when it comes down to it, everyone has an accent. I also thought there was a very interesting quote on page 48 saying “Do people like these choose to speak English with an accent? Have they not worked hard enough, long enough? Are they not smart enough?”. I think that is a very naïve way of thinking. An accent has nothing to do with the intelligence or ability of a person. Every person is different; some people can learn to speak English with a native accent while others do not. No one has the right to say that one person is more able than the other due to the accent that they speak with. When a young child has a speech impediment we do not think of the child as stupid or unintelligent. And some children grow out of their speech impediment or fix it through speech therapy while others do not. It doesn’t make one child better than the other. 

Blog #10

While reading in chapter 4 of McKay, I found the idea of bidialectism (116) to be something that I could see myself promoting in my future bilingual classroom. I’m a definite advocate for preserving the native language and being bilingual and biliterate. I do not believe that students who do not speak English as a native language should feel like they have to replace their native language with English. I like how in bidialectism, you’re not necessarily trying to fix something that is wrong. Rather, the teacher builds of what linguistic features the students have in their native language to help build up their English. I believe that teachers should build off of a student’s funds of knowledge. Every student brings some kind of knowledge and some kind of strength to the classroom which teachers can use to help the students learn most effectively.  I think that is really important when working with students who are English language learners. You don’t want them to feel that their native language is inferior or wrong. It’s important to show students that there are certain situations and places where their native language is completely appropriate while there are certain situations when English is more appropriate. In my future classroom, I want languages to have equal status. I also found it really interesting how the teacher, Mrs. Prat, had her students interview different people and listen to a variety of radio and television shows to document the similarities and differences in the way that people talk. By making her students “language detectives”, this teacher showed her students that there are multiple different ways to say the same thing. I think that would be a great experience for students to see when certain types of language are appropriate in specific situations. I also think that it can be reassuring to a student to hear the same thing said in different ways. This way, they can see that they don’t have to feel bad speaking in their native language, since they are seeing how people speak differently depending on the context of the speech. It can be so discouraging for a student to think that their speech is inferior or inadequate. That’s why I believe that bilingual education and bidialectism are so important for English language learners. Who are we to decide which language is better or more powerful? English language learners should not have to choose between languages. They should not have to throw away their native language and culture to become a monolingual English speaker. Too many times, if an English language learner is put into a monolingual mainstream English speaking classroom rather than placed in a bilingual program. In the monolingual classroom they can be discouraged due to the fact that their teacher puts down their language and does not use their native language, or their funds of knowledge, to help develop their English. When this happens to English language learners, they have a very difficult time advancing socially, linguistically, and academically. By not supporting bidialectism and bilingualism, the teachers are basically setting these students up for failure. It’s not fair to the students, and it’s our job as teachers to make sure that each student has the linguistic support that they need. 

Blog #9

While reading McKay, chapter one, I definitely agree with the idea that the media has a great impact on people’s incentives and motivation to learn English. I believe that pop culture plays a huge role in people’s lives, this day and age. In a literacy class that I took, we discussed how much of an impact pop culture and the media has on our literacy practices. It’s obvious how the media also plays a role in language use. Most movies, and music, advertising, and the internet are in English. If the popular music, movies, magazines, websites, etc., are in English, it obviously gives people more of a reason to actually want to learn English. I found in interesting how on page 15, when discussing music, they mention that since English is the dominant language for music production that local musicians use code-switching in their music. When I first read that, I figured that meant that they were trying to be more like the mainstream, popular music by using English. And, Mckay shares that in some cases the English is used to show modernity and globalization.  However, they gave an example saying how the code-switching to English was sometimes used as a way to make fun of Western culture. I found that interesting because it shows that not all people and cultures support the language shift to English. Not all see English as a language of power and still place importance and emphasis on their native language. However, overall, you can see why English can be viewed as important to youths who place an emphasis on pop culture and the media. I find it weird though how a lot of Latino artists will use code-switching in their music, even though their music is popular in the United States. I understand that when they code-switch to Spanish, they are targeting a specific audience, Latino youths. I just find it interesting how code-switching can have such different meanings and purposes. Another concept that I found interesting was how to distinguish monolingualism versus bilingualism (22). McKay asks the question, how much knowledge must one have of a second language to be considered monolingual/bilingual? Some people think that if you have a basic understanding of a language, in regards to reading, writing, speaking and comprehension, then you are bilingual. Other people think that you have to know more than just the language, but also the culture and the unspoken aspects of a language. While I can speak, read and write in Spanish, I often wonder if certain people would consider me to be bilingual. It’s possible that in some people’s eyes, I would be monolingual. I may not know or share certain cultural aspects of those who speak Spanish as a native language. But, since I’m not from that culture does that mean that I cannot be bilingual and speak that language? In the United States, we expect people who are not native to our country to learn English. However, we also expect those people to replace their native language with English. Bilingualism is not being promoted, rather monolingualism is. The double standard in language is very interesting to me. Because English is viewed as the dominant language and promotes the idea of modernity and globalization, it is believed that all people should want to learn English to survive in this world.

Blog # 8

While reading Kubota’s article “Race and TESOL: Introduction to concepts and Theories, I found the idea that race does not exist to be very interesting. In my Social Foundations of Education class, we recently just watched a documentary on how race does not exist as well. Like the article mentions, the documentary explained how there really isn’t genetic differences amongst people of different “races”. I think that people came up with the idea of race so that they can place people in a hierarchy. A lot of times in history, the darker your skin color was, the lower you were viewed as an individual. In fact, when many people were immigrating to the United States, the government actually used the idea of “race” to determine whether or not people could become citizens. These types of thoughts promote racism and negative views on people who are a different skin color than you are. I do wonder though, is there a difference between race and ethnicity? I mean, I think it’s important to recognize where you came from. If you are African American than I think you should recognize that and appreciate it. Same thing if you are Mexican, Irish or Chinese. In that way I think that “ethnicity” is important and maybe not just a social construction. I think that ethnicity is different from race in that it’s more than just skin color. I feel that the word “ethnicity” relates to language, religion, lifestyle, etc. However, I do find the quote, “However, like race, ethnicity is an equally contentious term with definition and boundary problems (Miles & Brown, 2003). If it denotes sociocultural characteristics, how, for instance, is culture defined?”, found on page 475, to be a very interesting thought. Kubota goes on to give an example about how if Asians immigrated to Peru, and them years later, immigrated to the United States, which ethnic group to they belong to? I not only wonder how they would identify themselves, but then you have to wonder what their teachers or peers would think of them. Are they Asian or Latin American? I actually have a friend whose parents were from Poland, but whose parents immigrated to Argentina during World War 2 to escape the Nazis (they were Jewish). Her parents were Polish, but grew up in Argentina and then later moved to the United States. One thing I really liked about my friend and her family was that they identified themselves with both cultures. She spoke Spanish and her family would practice some Argentinian customs, however they would also eat Polish food and practice their Jewish faith. They didn’t let the idea of “race“ or “ethnicity” define what they believed in, what they practiced and how they lived their lives. Her family represented a mix of cultures and they were able to identify with their multiple small cultures rather than on identifying with one large culture. However, not everyone thinks this way. Many times, students that do not speak English as a native language are viewed and judged by the color of their skin. Inferior thoughts can be placed onto these students because they may have a different skin color. These thoughts are racist and I believe that they help create the idea that people should become as American or “white” as they can. And, a lot of people believe that the first step to becoming American is learning to speak English. 

Blog # 7

While reading in Holiday about Martha and Reza, it really showed how images of culture that we see through the media can be very wrong. Martha was surprised to hear that Reza was a judge and that his sister was successful as well.  She was also mistaken by assuming that there were no good hospitals back in Kabul for Reza to get medical help for his finger.  This section explained how the media can really skew images of people and culture. Holliday states that a major source of Martha’s prejudging of Reza and Afghanistan came from images that have been portrayed through the media. I actually found it interesting, when reading in Holliday, that many Arabs are not Muslim and many do not wear the hejab. That is probably a misconception that I have due to the image they give off in the media. This reminded me of the documentary that we watched about the Middle East called “Orientalism”. The director, Edward Said talked about the Middle East is seen as dangerous, mysterious, and violent and how those images are not accurate. He refers to “orientalism” as the lens in which Middle Easterners are viewed. The problem with this lens is that it allows for all Middle East people to be viewed as the same. That is probably why I just assumed that all Middle Eastern people were Muslim and all the women wore hejabs. This lens is probably why Martha had prejudices about Reza before she ever really met him. The media does such a good job of portraying and reinforcing the portrayal of Middle East people as being a certain way and it’s hard to not form beliefs based on what we see.  Even when we watch a movie as harmless as Aladdin we can see the media stereotypes of the Middle East. There is magic, mystery, betrayal and violence. Those are all stereotypes of the Middle East that the media has created. Of course, the media doesn’t just portray the Middle East a certain way, the media effects almost all cultures. We have talked in class about stereotypes that people have about Americans that aren’t necessarily true. These stereotypes are probably formed through media such as movies portrayed about the American culture. While reading Holliday, I also found the concept of “New Racism” to be very interesting. I do agree that racism now is different than two hundred years ago and that racism still does exist.  The new view on racism represents a different type of culture, different types of people with a different type of lifestyle. This racism of course is stereotypical and not true of all people that are discriminated against with this “New Racism”. Holliday expresses that “New Racism” is discursive in that it is talked about and confirmed through everyday talk, movies, articles, etc. It seems so normal, but to many people these views can be hurtful. The media makes these stereotypes seem natural and normal, but that again is just the media portraying culture in a certain way that is not necessarily true. Sure, some stereotypes may be true for some people, but it’s important to understand that they are not true for all. You can’t lump all people of a culture into one large sum. One size does not fit all. Not two people are completely the same and share the exact same thoughts and beliefs. 

blog # 6

While reading Baker’s article I found the idea of languacultures to be really interesting. Languacultures refers to the different cultures that language can represent, depending on the context that it is being used. I think that this idea is true in many different ways. Many people speak the English language, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are from the U.S. or share U.S. culture. Language is an important part of a culture, but according to this idea, the way the language is being used is more related to the culture it is representing. I speak Spanish, yet I have never been to a Spanish speaking country. Just because I can speak Spanish, that doesn’t mean that I am demonstrating, for example, Mexican culture. I speak a Spanish in a different context than someone who lives in Mexico and therefore our language use is part of two different languacultures. I can definitely see how English can be part of many different languacultures. There are so many people that speak English as a second or foreign language and many different dialects of English spoken. There are even different dialects of English spoken amongst native English speakers themselves. English speakers from Southern United States may use different words and expressions that English speakers from Northern United States don’t use and wouldn’t understand the meaning of. The fact that so many people, from different countries, cultures and backgrounds, use the English language, it’s clear that the different contexts that English can be found in shows that the English language take part in different languacultures. It’s kind of weird how language and culture can be separated in this sense. I’ve always thought that language was the one of, if not the most, important aspect of culture. However, I don’t think that Barker’s article is trying to say that language is not an important aspect of culture, maybe just that a language can be overlapping in different cultures. This article maybe is showing a more non-essentialist view of languages. I like the quote on page 573 that “a wider understanding of language and culture is needed because individuals do not stay within such neatly defined boundaries as scientist or business person”. I thought this was interesting because it kind of shows the non-essentialist view of language and culture as well. This quote is expressing how people aren’t just part of one large culture which would be the only culture that they would represent. Rather, people are part of many different small cultures in which they will use language differently in each one. This reminds me of the idea of different “registers” in a language. For example, I use a different register of speech when I am in class, speaking with a professor, than I use when I am at the mall with a friend. I am speaking the same language in both instances, but I am using the language with different people in different contexts and therefore am using different words, expressions and tones while speaking in the different registers. I think the whole idea of “lingua franca” makes it obvious that languages can be found in many different cultural contexts. The whole idea of lingua franca is that the people speaking a certain language do not share the same native tongue. If the people do not share the same native tongue, then it is likely that they come from different cultural backgrounds. However, they are still speaking the same language to one another, therefore showing that languages can be found in a variety of cultural contexts. 

blog # 5

One thing that I found really interesting while reading Connor’s article was the conflict for Senegalese students when it came to writing in English for their course ESL course in the university (230-232). First of all, I actually liked the structure of the French “dissertation”. The four parts (introduction, thesis, antithesis and synthesis) seem very straight forward and to the point when compared to the five paragraph essay that we are used to writing in English. However I think it’s really odd that they don’t voice a position in their writing when they write a dissertation. I feel like most writing that we do in English is to convince our audience to agree with the stance we are taking. I feel like the whole idea of rhetoric is how someone uses language effectively to persuade readers or the audience. A lot of times in English-essay writing we focus on who the audience is. If you are writing a dissertation and aren’t taking any particular position I feel like the audience isn’t as important of a factor to distinguish. Dissertations are definitely a very different form of writing than a five paragraph essay. I do however think that if I grew up writing dissertations rather than essays I would find dissertation writing more understandable. I can see why Senegalese students would have trouble writing an essay in their ESL course since it is a form of writing that they are not used to. It took me a lot of practice in writing to become an effective persuasive writer. For a student who never had to pick a position in their native language writing, I can imagine that the Senegalese students probably struggled not only in writing in their second language, but also taking on a completely different writing style than they were used to. I know that in my bilingual education we talk a lot about BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALP (Cognitive-Academic Language Proficiency) in a student’s second language. There is a big difference in being able to have a casual conversation with someone (BICS) and writing an academic essay at the university level (CALP). Developing CALP in a second language is a lot more difficult than developing BICS. In fact, I believe that for a lot of people, CALP can even be difficult to develop in a person’s native language since it is not language that people use on a daily basis and it isn’t language that comes natural. That being said, I don’t think it’s fair that the Senegalese students were assessed by the essays that they wrote in their ESL class. If they were assessed on their essay writing and then were not able to test out of ESL classes I don’t think that is fair. Not only are they having to use CALP, which I already mentioned is very difficult, but they are also writing in a style that is foreign to them and is not something that they have practiced throughout their native schooling. I do think that CALP is something that does need to be developed in an L2, however I don’t think that the style of writing should be that much of a factor. What the writing says and the research and support presented should be more important than the writing style used.