Anthology Chapter 3:
Daily lesson plans benefit English teachers (all teachers really) by planning ahead an attack of how to present content, materials, sequencing, timing, and activities. It provides protection in the crazy world of.. THE CLASSROOM! You always got to bring backup, can't come to duel with your hands in your pocket. A plan also gives you a log of what is going on and being taught, which can save your butt when an administrator questions any of your methods.
I agree with Tyler's (1949) rational-linear framework of "choosing your objectives, selecting learning activities, organizing learning activities, and specifying methods of evaluation," but I feel he (and this chapter) is missing out on taking account to all learners in the class. I know that his model is from 1949, but the rest of the chapter forgets to touch on learners on different tiers. I also know that this book is from 2006, but now we have to address RTI (Right to Intervention) into our lessons. Now, since we are dealing with ELLs, we will already have to address the issue of "tiering" our students by the help they need. We will have ELL students that are all over the board, and we are the ones who will need to differentiate our lessons based on the proficiency levels of our students. #challengeaccepted
Anthology Chapter 7:
The Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics defines "curriculum" as the educational purposes of the programme (the ends). I can agree with this, I feel that curriculum is like a musical or play, or whichever theatre term that fancies you. There's a prologue that guides us to what we are about to embark into, then the action as the story (learning) begins, an interlude where the students are able to mingle among one other (activities), an intermission (end of class, homework, study), then the next act (next class hour) begins, assessing and evaluation is thrown around during these acts as well, and culminates with the end of the unit, but the twist is that it is a continuous show, one leads into another... muahaha! (Sorry for the rant)
The chapter touched more on models which fit into the curriculum, presenting 'ideal' versions of applications of major types of curriculum models: content, objectives, and process. The book states that these are ideal because in order to actually get a blend of all of these models require school administrations and the state to loosen the handcuffs. What the chapter ended on was the move in ELT toward consolidation and integration, I will be very interested in hearing how that goes. Until then, we need to fight for more flexibility and openness to change and influences from the a bigger perspective of general educational theory, but let's not hold our breaths.. #realitycheck
Blogfully yours,
The TESOL Bro,
Tommy T.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
MADE IN AMERICA 5; MYTHS AND AMERICA
Chapter 5:
Sandra's presentation left me stunned. Honestly, it was something I had never felt til I told my mother. She actually understood. She felt the feeling of people that didn't understand her, but didn't want want to go any farther. I have seen the pan of latin-americans trying to break the barriers, as I dated a mexican-american for 3 years. I went through the parental backlash and dealings of bringing her "into" my life. It was difficult at first. I had to fight to get her into "americanized" socializations. It was the inevitable-breakup of our relationship. This chapter brought up a lot of relationship problems we had... I still deal with it now-a-days. My mom says it is the best, as I feel still confused... Is it? or is my mom's pride right? I am 22.. do I know what is best for me? Or I am still shooting fish-in-the-barrel?
Sandra's presentation left me stunned. Honestly, it was something I had never felt til I told my mother. She actually understood. She felt the feeling of people that didn't understand her, but didn't want want to go any farther. I have seen the pan of latin-americans trying to break the barriers, as I dated a mexican-american for 3 years. I went through the parental backlash and dealings of bringing her "into" my life. It was difficult at first. I had to fight to get her into "americanized" socializations. It was the inevitable-breakup of our relationship. This chapter brought up a lot of relationship problems we had... I still deal with it now-a-days. My mom says it is the best, as I feel still confused... Is it? or is my mom's pride right? I am 22.. do I know what is best for me? Or I am still shooting fish-in-the-barrel?
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Comprehension to Promote Language and Content (9/22/2011)
SIOP Model. Echevarria. Vogt. Short.
"The goal of this book is to help prepare skillful teachers to teach content effectively to English language learners while they develop the students' language ability." (pg. 3) The model presented in the chapter, the Shelter Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), is seen as a resource for assisting faculty in observations and evaluations of teachers.
As I first read about the model, I was a bit skeptical about it. It initially seemed very "cookie-cuttery" to me, but as a read more further I felt that it was a great frame of reference for developing and transferring lessons to a variety of subject areas. Also, I think this model allows teachers to be "creative" in the classrooms, which I feel is a dying term in our educational society. We judge children by test scores instead of their individuality. All children are different, and EVEN learn differently, no matter if they are white, ELLs, green, "gifted," blue, black, yellow, brown, or maroon. A big issue, however, is if school administrators would even consider such "wild" ideas.
Anthology Section 5: Chapter 10
"...project work is particularly effected (content-based classrooms) because it represents a natural extension of what is already taking place in the class." (pg. 109) Projects allow students to simulate the rigor of academic courses in a sheltered environment. They also help to encourage language use and contextualize the students' understanding of the language and content.
I believe that projects in a content-based classroom allow English-language classrooms to be a more lively environment for learning and collaboration. Students are able to demonstrate their understanding of the content through their own creativity. A project is a way for students to take pride in themselves as language learners. We know that if students are working on a project in the target language that they are practicing the target language, as participatory learners and workers. These collaborations allows students to reflect of the curriculum for not only the evaluators, but also themselves. The students are able to understand where they are at when it comes to their goals of the academic year.
As a teacher though we must break that feeling that a project is a final "end-all" of the learning process. We must promote improvement through motivation and assistance on how they can fix the mistakes that need to be adjusted a bit. During a project, we are the facilitator to the learning and constructing that is going on. We are there to guide and assist them in the creation process.
Some interesting, motivational readings. Can't wait to hear others' thoughts!
Blog yaz lata!
The TESOL Bro,
Tommy "Tomas" T.
"The goal of this book is to help prepare skillful teachers to teach content effectively to English language learners while they develop the students' language ability." (pg. 3) The model presented in the chapter, the Shelter Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), is seen as a resource for assisting faculty in observations and evaluations of teachers.
As I first read about the model, I was a bit skeptical about it. It initially seemed very "cookie-cuttery" to me, but as a read more further I felt that it was a great frame of reference for developing and transferring lessons to a variety of subject areas. Also, I think this model allows teachers to be "creative" in the classrooms, which I feel is a dying term in our educational society. We judge children by test scores instead of their individuality. All children are different, and EVEN learn differently, no matter if they are white, ELLs, green, "gifted," blue, black, yellow, brown, or maroon. A big issue, however, is if school administrators would even consider such "wild" ideas.
Anthology Section 5: Chapter 10
"...project work is particularly effected (content-based classrooms) because it represents a natural extension of what is already taking place in the class." (pg. 109) Projects allow students to simulate the rigor of academic courses in a sheltered environment. They also help to encourage language use and contextualize the students' understanding of the language and content.
I believe that projects in a content-based classroom allow English-language classrooms to be a more lively environment for learning and collaboration. Students are able to demonstrate their understanding of the content through their own creativity. A project is a way for students to take pride in themselves as language learners. We know that if students are working on a project in the target language that they are practicing the target language, as participatory learners and workers. These collaborations allows students to reflect of the curriculum for not only the evaluators, but also themselves. The students are able to understand where they are at when it comes to their goals of the academic year.
As a teacher though we must break that feeling that a project is a final "end-all" of the learning process. We must promote improvement through motivation and assistance on how they can fix the mistakes that need to be adjusted a bit. During a project, we are the facilitator to the learning and constructing that is going on. We are there to guide and assist them in the creation process.
Some interesting, motivational readings. Can't wait to hear others' thoughts!
Blog yaz lata!
The TESOL Bro,
Tommy "Tomas" T.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Task-Based Learnin' and Teachin' fun! (9/19)
Skehan's Task-based Instruction (2003):
After being aware of what the subject of our readings were, I felt ready to jump into Skehan's article and become more aware of task-based instruction. However, I felt quite overwhelmed and difficulty in what exactly I was suppose to be getting out of this. The beginning gave us a real 'quick & dirty' look into the history of how 'task' came to be, with its' roots coming from the term communicative activity. I felt the use of task-based is still unclear a bit to me. However, I was able to understand his approaches from a vary vague standpoint.
The psychological approach of interacting among language students offered certain assessment techniques like feedback. Students would be able to perform a task, while then receiving insight and support on how they are doing with the target level, knowing how they are comparing with the goals and expectations of the language class.
The sociocultural approach looks into how learners co-construct meaning while interacting. Van Lier and Matsuo (2000) discussed whether discussion tasks were symmetrical and collaborative among all the learners in their study. The results showed clear differences with learners. I feel that it is hard to say if discussion tasks are useful and beneficial for every party. There is the chance that a student might dominate the conversation over another, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the dominated one isn't learning. Students' minds work differently. As much as we want to keep our students busy with communicative language techniques and activities, it isn't always going to work with all students.
Skehan gave us a very well-developed article, but I still feel that there was maybe just too much going on in the article, and that he could have taken a more in-depth look into certain approaches, instead of us digesting it all. Maybe I just wasn't able to wrap my head around it all, but thank goodness we will be discussing this tomorrow!
Anthology Section 5: Chapter 9
Right after starting this chapter, I became very interested in direct approach to teaching language (Dornyei & Thurrell, 1994). The approach explicitly instructs learners in specific microskills, strategies, and processes involved in conversation. The project Beglar and Hunt designed was a 12-week student-generated action research plan, which required a whole semester to complete. The project provided the learners the opportunity to use their English for authentic purposes, allowed them to enhance their presentation skills, and to further enhance their own education and development (to name a few objectives).
I feel that this program offered a lot of choices and benefits for the students. They had freedom to choose a topic to investigate, and were guided by the instructors so that they would be able to stay on-task and make progress throughout the project. The different methods/strategies employed by the authors (ie. negotiation of meaning, communicative strategies, etc.) allowed students to become active in their groups so that everyone had a role in the project throughout the process. For the most part, I thought the authors did a great job, not saying that it was perfect (curriculum development is never-ending), but I felt that they did a nice job of encouraging the learners by playing the strengths and finding the interests of them, which in turn makes the learners feel that the instructors do care about them.
#getyourhandsdirty
Blogfully yours,
Tom The TESOL BRO
After being aware of what the subject of our readings were, I felt ready to jump into Skehan's article and become more aware of task-based instruction. However, I felt quite overwhelmed and difficulty in what exactly I was suppose to be getting out of this. The beginning gave us a real 'quick & dirty' look into the history of how 'task' came to be, with its' roots coming from the term communicative activity. I felt the use of task-based is still unclear a bit to me. However, I was able to understand his approaches from a vary vague standpoint.
The psychological approach of interacting among language students offered certain assessment techniques like feedback. Students would be able to perform a task, while then receiving insight and support on how they are doing with the target level, knowing how they are comparing with the goals and expectations of the language class.
The sociocultural approach looks into how learners co-construct meaning while interacting. Van Lier and Matsuo (2000) discussed whether discussion tasks were symmetrical and collaborative among all the learners in their study. The results showed clear differences with learners. I feel that it is hard to say if discussion tasks are useful and beneficial for every party. There is the chance that a student might dominate the conversation over another, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the dominated one isn't learning. Students' minds work differently. As much as we want to keep our students busy with communicative language techniques and activities, it isn't always going to work with all students.
Skehan gave us a very well-developed article, but I still feel that there was maybe just too much going on in the article, and that he could have taken a more in-depth look into certain approaches, instead of us digesting it all. Maybe I just wasn't able to wrap my head around it all, but thank goodness we will be discussing this tomorrow!
Anthology Section 5: Chapter 9
Right after starting this chapter, I became very interested in direct approach to teaching language (Dornyei & Thurrell, 1994). The approach explicitly instructs learners in specific microskills, strategies, and processes involved in conversation. The project Beglar and Hunt designed was a 12-week student-generated action research plan, which required a whole semester to complete. The project provided the learners the opportunity to use their English for authentic purposes, allowed them to enhance their presentation skills, and to further enhance their own education and development (to name a few objectives).
I feel that this program offered a lot of choices and benefits for the students. They had freedom to choose a topic to investigate, and were guided by the instructors so that they would be able to stay on-task and make progress throughout the project. The different methods/strategies employed by the authors (ie. negotiation of meaning, communicative strategies, etc.) allowed students to become active in their groups so that everyone had a role in the project throughout the process. For the most part, I thought the authors did a great job, not saying that it was perfect (curriculum development is never-ending), but I felt that they did a nice job of encouraging the learners by playing the strengths and finding the interests of them, which in turn makes the learners feel that the instructors do care about them.
#getyourhandsdirty
Blogfully yours,
Tom The TESOL BRO
Sunday, September 18, 2011
MADE IN AMERICA (Ch. 4); MYTHS AND REALITIES (CH. 3) [9/19/2011] [ENG394]
MADE IN AMERICA Response:
The quote on pg 91 defines the theme of the chapter, "Where am I? Doesn't anyone know how to speak English? Is this some kind of foreign country?" The quote was from a general education student that walked into ESL classroom. This shows the ignorance that many have about language learning, and what it is to be "American."
Language learning is not something that is just picked-up, it takes time to acquire it and express it. Students of new languages have fears of being ridiculed or being seen as invisible. I feel that the students need to be made feel more a part of the school. This falls on the school as a whole, to make the newly immigrated students feel welcomed.
The argument over which techniques of teaching English is the best approach. Some argue for embracing students' previous languages, as others think students should just be learning English, and that's all. Personally, I am a believer in embracing students' cultural and language identities. However, many administrators and/or school boards would not agree with that due to state standards and funding. It isn't fair, but it is something that we as an educational cohort need to handle. It is not right for us to embrace this cultural segregation, because all that does is ignite and continue practicing and teaching ignorance.
MYTHS AND REALITIES Response:
The chapter touched on native language (NL) myths such as students only speaking the target language, or that bilingual education is too expensive. I feel that the myths discussed were more of just ignorance, insensitivity, and laziness. These myths are visibly seen, however, in schools that are trying to meet educational standards. Schools have to make decisions on how they can budget their curriculum so that they can still find a way to meet expectations and yearly progress. These schools that are forced to cut-down on bilingual programs are not doing what is best for ALL their students, they are just doing what is best on their pockets, and that isn't right. All students come from different "walks of life," and we need to embrace that, not trying to take away their identities. The question comes though is "How struggling schools can overcome these social injustices?"
Teach on mates!
#equality
The TESOL Bro,
Tommy T.
The quote on pg 91 defines the theme of the chapter, "Where am I? Doesn't anyone know how to speak English? Is this some kind of foreign country?" The quote was from a general education student that walked into ESL classroom. This shows the ignorance that many have about language learning, and what it is to be "American."
Language learning is not something that is just picked-up, it takes time to acquire it and express it. Students of new languages have fears of being ridiculed or being seen as invisible. I feel that the students need to be made feel more a part of the school. This falls on the school as a whole, to make the newly immigrated students feel welcomed.
The argument over which techniques of teaching English is the best approach. Some argue for embracing students' previous languages, as others think students should just be learning English, and that's all. Personally, I am a believer in embracing students' cultural and language identities. However, many administrators and/or school boards would not agree with that due to state standards and funding. It isn't fair, but it is something that we as an educational cohort need to handle. It is not right for us to embrace this cultural segregation, because all that does is ignite and continue practicing and teaching ignorance.
MYTHS AND REALITIES Response:
The chapter touched on native language (NL) myths such as students only speaking the target language, or that bilingual education is too expensive. I feel that the myths discussed were more of just ignorance, insensitivity, and laziness. These myths are visibly seen, however, in schools that are trying to meet educational standards. Schools have to make decisions on how they can budget their curriculum so that they can still find a way to meet expectations and yearly progress. These schools that are forced to cut-down on bilingual programs are not doing what is best for ALL their students, they are just doing what is best on their pockets, and that isn't right. All students come from different "walks of life," and we need to embrace that, not trying to take away their identities. The question comes though is "How struggling schools can overcome these social injustices?"
Teach on mates!
#equality
The TESOL Bro,
Tommy T.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
CLT Resistance and/or CRuMBLe!?!?!? (9/15)
Hu: Cultural Resistance
Hu's article discussed the Chinese culture and how it tends to resist the use of communicative teaching language. Since the 1980s, they have claimed that more of these Chinese teachers have claimed to be using CLT practices, however, they say it is a lip-service. Some argue that they have not received adequate resources or necessities in order to develop a thorough development of communicative competence.
However, from a cultural standpoint, I can definitely understand why the Chinese are apprehensive to the idea of CLT. CLT bases the learning process without teacher dominance. China is considered a traditional culture that still holds on to customs like honorific titles and the teachings of Confucius. The Chinese model of teaching views students as "empty-vessels" that need to be filled, using techniques of mimicking and repetition for language learning. I am not going to say that I agree with this way of thinking, but I can respect it. As future teachers of foreign language, we have to understand where our students come from. We must be respectful of their backgrounds and realize that they aren't "empty-vessels," they have been "filled" with some knowledge, and it is our job to use their learning abilities in their vessels to help and guide them in language learning.
One last quotation that caught my attention (Hu, pg. 10), "It is dangerous for educational policymakers to take an 'autonomous' attitude, as opposed to an 'ideological' one.." This is fitting for this article in that we can't assume that a pedagogy that works for one group is going to work in any cultural or social context. Taking the ideological approach helps to differentiate our instruction and does not let us become ignorant in believing that their is a universally-appropriate approach to language teaching and learning.
Bax: End of CLT
Bax argues that language instructors are "riding the bandwagon" of communicative language learning (CLT) to much, in believing that without it that countries that don't use it are somehow "backwards." Bax brings us the idea of The Context Approach. The Context Approach considers the whole context, the validity of other methods other than just methodology (CLT). I can agree with Bax in his views that CLT is observable throughout the profession in that methodology is held higher than the actual context. However, I am a strong proponent of CLT. I believe that we can't always take in the whole context of the unit, that we have to find practicality of the context. I don't think that CLT completely overlooks context, it assists and helps bring understanding and usefulness of the context. If I am teaching high-school students of 16-18 year-old students, how likely am I going to keep their attention if I just lecture to the nitty-gritty about grammar but don't offer any way of connection to real-life application. Students all learn differently, true, but I think CLT offers students a reason to learn and listen. CLT engages students to participate, where I feel a context approach doesn't capture the attention of students.
I may not be on the wrong-track of my thinking about contextual approaching language teaching, but at the moment I feel that it is as effective as something like CLT or a lexical approaches of grammatical structures.
#ayudame
Blogz you all later! Can't wait to discuss.
Scholarly yours,
The TESOL Bro Tommy T.
Hu's article discussed the Chinese culture and how it tends to resist the use of communicative teaching language. Since the 1980s, they have claimed that more of these Chinese teachers have claimed to be using CLT practices, however, they say it is a lip-service. Some argue that they have not received adequate resources or necessities in order to develop a thorough development of communicative competence.
However, from a cultural standpoint, I can definitely understand why the Chinese are apprehensive to the idea of CLT. CLT bases the learning process without teacher dominance. China is considered a traditional culture that still holds on to customs like honorific titles and the teachings of Confucius. The Chinese model of teaching views students as "empty-vessels" that need to be filled, using techniques of mimicking and repetition for language learning. I am not going to say that I agree with this way of thinking, but I can respect it. As future teachers of foreign language, we have to understand where our students come from. We must be respectful of their backgrounds and realize that they aren't "empty-vessels," they have been "filled" with some knowledge, and it is our job to use their learning abilities in their vessels to help and guide them in language learning.
One last quotation that caught my attention (Hu, pg. 10), "It is dangerous for educational policymakers to take an 'autonomous' attitude, as opposed to an 'ideological' one.." This is fitting for this article in that we can't assume that a pedagogy that works for one group is going to work in any cultural or social context. Taking the ideological approach helps to differentiate our instruction and does not let us become ignorant in believing that their is a universally-appropriate approach to language teaching and learning.
Bax: End of CLT
Bax argues that language instructors are "riding the bandwagon" of communicative language learning (CLT) to much, in believing that without it that countries that don't use it are somehow "backwards." Bax brings us the idea of The Context Approach. The Context Approach considers the whole context, the validity of other methods other than just methodology (CLT). I can agree with Bax in his views that CLT is observable throughout the profession in that methodology is held higher than the actual context. However, I am a strong proponent of CLT. I believe that we can't always take in the whole context of the unit, that we have to find practicality of the context. I don't think that CLT completely overlooks context, it assists and helps bring understanding and usefulness of the context. If I am teaching high-school students of 16-18 year-old students, how likely am I going to keep their attention if I just lecture to the nitty-gritty about grammar but don't offer any way of connection to real-life application. Students all learn differently, true, but I think CLT offers students a reason to learn and listen. CLT engages students to participate, where I feel a context approach doesn't capture the attention of students.
I may not be on the wrong-track of my thinking about contextual approaching language teaching, but at the moment I feel that it is as effective as something like CLT or a lexical approaches of grammatical structures.
#ayudame
Blogz you all later! Can't wait to discuss.
Scholarly yours,
The TESOL Bro Tommy T.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Communicative Language Learning, (Larsen-Freeman, 2000)
"In short, being able to communicate required more than linguistic competence; it required communicative competence" (Hymes, 1971). I agree with Hymes' viewpoint because I feel that sometimes communicative competence is overlooked in schooling. Teachers of foreign language will instruct students about a grammar topic, or a vocabulary list, and store all they can into the students. However, once the lesson or unit is over, the students forget all about what they had just been taught. I feel that students need to feel some sort of authenticity to what they are learning. In the article, the teacher used a real newspaper article, and for homework, he assigned the class to listen to a podcast. One philosophy of mine, even goal, is that my students will find ways to connect what is being taught to them, and branch it to the outside world. If students cannot transfer the knowledge obtained in the classroom, what is the point of retaining it?
After going over the teacher's lesson and reading it a few times, I found that he was very successful in finding ways of creating genuine communicative teachings (to the idea of predictions) for his students. He used authentic texts (newspaper), a card game (which allowed the students to make predictions about one another), a comic strip, and a role-play exercise. The teacher acted as the facilitator so that the students could be the ones communicating throughout the lesson. Through this, I believe that he achieved his goal of enabling students to communicate in the target language.
#highfive
Blogs ya'll lata!
Tom the TESOL Bro
After going over the teacher's lesson and reading it a few times, I found that he was very successful in finding ways of creating genuine communicative teachings (to the idea of predictions) for his students. He used authentic texts (newspaper), a card game (which allowed the students to make predictions about one another), a comic strip, and a role-play exercise. The teacher acted as the facilitator so that the students could be the ones communicating throughout the lesson. Through this, I believe that he achieved his goal of enabling students to communicate in the target language.
#highfive
Blogs ya'll lata!
Tom the TESOL Bro
Sunday, September 11, 2011
MADE IN AMERICA: Ch. 3, Demographic Myths Thoughts
MADE IN AMERICA:
The title of this chapter, We Make Eachother Racial, really defined this chapter well. The chapter touched on curriculum and social inequalities in society. The high school, Madison, is a very diverse campus, with a third of it being white. The whites at the school are for the most part working-class, so when the topic of Affirmative Action came up, many of the white students were up in arms! They had a class discussion in which some students chimed in how Affirmative Action gives un-deserving people jobs, and also aids them more than white people. I felt that many of these views were passed along to them via their family or particular company they are around when not in school.
Another issue, curriculum, got the white students a tad peaved as well. They didn't understand why there is a black history month, or latino-cultural clubs, when there doesn't exist a Euro-American club.
The segregation at this high school seems to really be a touchy issue to a lot of the students. I feel that the fault should fall on the administration. Yes, it is likely that groups will be constructed and people tend to hangout with people "like themselves." However, a high school is where students begin to mold and construct their views on the outside world. Therefore, what does a division like the visible one at Madison help to do? It just perpetuates the cycle of segregation to the next generation. I feel the administration should take a more active approach in helping students become more open to new cultures. If you have a school with such an immense pallete, you must embrace each one, whether it be special programs, or reaching out to the junior high schools to create after-school programs where the different schools in the high school district meet and greet. Little steps like that can at least shine a little light to helping find a way of having a more civil school environment.
Demographic Myths:
I found the Chapter of Demographic Myths to be very basic, saying that it's myth that "the number of ELLs is decreasing," or that "mainly you find non-English speakers in urban areas." I found that these myths weren't myths, just more ignorance. It is ignorant to believe that our country is the land of opportunity where everyone can find their dreams of prosperity, but believe that we all speak one universal language, and that is just false. The scenario of the three teachers, beginning with their pre-service teaching, where 2 of the 3 believed that they would never have an ELL, was keeping with that American ignorance that NOOO, this will never effect me because I want to work/or do work in a suburb that is at a higher-SES rate. I feel that I was very critical with this chapter, but as we are all involved with the TESOL field, we would find these myths to be more "thinking inside our own bubble world."
The title of this chapter, We Make Eachother Racial, really defined this chapter well. The chapter touched on curriculum and social inequalities in society. The high school, Madison, is a very diverse campus, with a third of it being white. The whites at the school are for the most part working-class, so when the topic of Affirmative Action came up, many of the white students were up in arms! They had a class discussion in which some students chimed in how Affirmative Action gives un-deserving people jobs, and also aids them more than white people. I felt that many of these views were passed along to them via their family or particular company they are around when not in school.
Another issue, curriculum, got the white students a tad peaved as well. They didn't understand why there is a black history month, or latino-cultural clubs, when there doesn't exist a Euro-American club.
The segregation at this high school seems to really be a touchy issue to a lot of the students. I feel that the fault should fall on the administration. Yes, it is likely that groups will be constructed and people tend to hangout with people "like themselves." However, a high school is where students begin to mold and construct their views on the outside world. Therefore, what does a division like the visible one at Madison help to do? It just perpetuates the cycle of segregation to the next generation. I feel the administration should take a more active approach in helping students become more open to new cultures. If you have a school with such an immense pallete, you must embrace each one, whether it be special programs, or reaching out to the junior high schools to create after-school programs where the different schools in the high school district meet and greet. Little steps like that can at least shine a little light to helping find a way of having a more civil school environment.
Demographic Myths:
I found the Chapter of Demographic Myths to be very basic, saying that it's myth that "the number of ELLs is decreasing," or that "mainly you find non-English speakers in urban areas." I found that these myths weren't myths, just more ignorance. It is ignorant to believe that our country is the land of opportunity where everyone can find their dreams of prosperity, but believe that we all speak one universal language, and that is just false. The scenario of the three teachers, beginning with their pre-service teaching, where 2 of the 3 believed that they would never have an ELL, was keeping with that American ignorance that NOOO, this will never effect me because I want to work/or do work in a suburb that is at a higher-SES rate. I feel that I was very critical with this chapter, but as we are all involved with the TESOL field, we would find these myths to be more "thinking inside our own bubble world."
MADE IN AMERICA Response Q's: Intro and Chapter 1 (ENG394)
1) Olsen's study in this novel takes on an anthropological approach of viewing TESOL. She observes, interviews, and records the life of a highly diverse high school in California in order to gain better insight into how racial/social barriers are set-up among the students. In the novel, the author accounts her own observations, along with views of the students and school about certain societal issues that entail themselves into the school environment.
2) Olsen began her research with acknowledging the fact that she has to understand the complexities of immigration and Americanization. She defines schooling as a process where inequality is produced by sorting students by granting credentials from the school into appropriate school positions. She adds that it serves to shape individual's attitudes and identity to fit their class positions.
3) Olsen uses a ethnographic methodology (observing culture) for her research. She does this so that she can observe the environment of the school, the different cliques that the school exhibits. It helps her to visualize the seperations, and be able to gain insight to how they are layed out and why.
4) The participants of the study were 15 faculty members and administration at Madison High, 7 at the Newcomer School (ESL Program), 47 students, and 5 teachers.
5) A few of the Research Questions:
- How did they understand "America?" What does it mean to be "American?"
- What borders and boundaries did they create or detect in social relations? What language did they use to articulate and create borders and boundaries?
- How did they experience and view their encounters with each other across languages, cultures, and national identities?
6) She gained some data sources through census reports and school reports, while gaining her information through keeping three journals with three different personalities within herself. (The storyteller, the anthropologist, and the advocate)
7) The researcher's roles are to observe the school environment among the students and staff. She views them in and out of the classroom, so that she can see the "boundaries" created and how they effect the students' views on their education and social-lives in school and outside in the community.
8) Demographics: 32.8% white, 26.1% hispanic, 13.5% African-American, 13.3% Asian, 11.1% Filpino, 2.4% Pacific Islander, <1% Native-American
2) Olsen began her research with acknowledging the fact that she has to understand the complexities of immigration and Americanization. She defines schooling as a process where inequality is produced by sorting students by granting credentials from the school into appropriate school positions. She adds that it serves to shape individual's attitudes and identity to fit their class positions.
3) Olsen uses a ethnographic methodology (observing culture) for her research. She does this so that she can observe the environment of the school, the different cliques that the school exhibits. It helps her to visualize the seperations, and be able to gain insight to how they are layed out and why.
4) The participants of the study were 15 faculty members and administration at Madison High, 7 at the Newcomer School (ESL Program), 47 students, and 5 teachers.
5) A few of the Research Questions:
- How did they understand "America?" What does it mean to be "American?"
- What borders and boundaries did they create or detect in social relations? What language did they use to articulate and create borders and boundaries?
- How did they experience and view their encounters with each other across languages, cultures, and national identities?
6) She gained some data sources through census reports and school reports, while gaining her information through keeping three journals with three different personalities within herself. (The storyteller, the anthropologist, and the advocate)
7) The researcher's roles are to observe the school environment among the students and staff. She views them in and out of the classroom, so that she can see the "boundaries" created and how they effect the students' views on their education and social-lives in school and outside in the community.
8) Demographics: 32.8% white, 26.1% hispanic, 13.5% African-American, 13.3% Asian, 11.1% Filpino, 2.4% Pacific Islander, <1% Native-American
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Pennycook's Critical Approach to TESOL (9/8/2011)
I would like to give my take and thoughts of this article from the backgrounds, starting from page 18, "Critical pedagogy in TESOL must not be a static body of knowledge, but rather must be open to question." (Pennycook, 2007). I thought, as a whole, this quote really brought together Pennycook's argument throughout the whole passage we read. The whole politics of TESOL where we feel that we can't challenge or go against what the top researchers in the field of TESOL theorize. As Pennycook challenges on page 2, "... who gets published in the international context. The power and politics of publishing in English once again act as a major gatekeeper." I believe politics clouds and distracts us from the importance of education, which is the students.
Fairclough's (1992) idea of critical language awareness as an essential element of social change struck me with some ponder. The article brings up a lot about social domains or areas of interest in critically approaching TESOL (i.e. sexuality, ethnicity, and representations of otherness). From a standpoint of culture, especially here in the United States, this is a big issue that can come up in any of our classrooms. However, certain cultural backgrounds of some students may not feel as comfortable about the subject or be against it. Therefore, how do we approach bringing up a subject like homosexuality? Or racism? I feel the best way is to teach tolerance through culture, finding ways on inter-connecting different groups of people. That is the foundation of what the U.S. is all about.
Gee (1994) suggests that "English Teachers stand at the very heart of the most crucial educational, cultural, and political issues of our time" (p. 190). As future ELL, ESL, EFL teachers, we do have this responsibility. We mold these language-learners' minds in the way they view and interpret the language and culture of society. Its' a job that should be taken with pride and passion for education and opening up a new worldly views for our students.
#Dreambig
Blogfully yours,
The TESOL Bro,
Tommy T.
Fairclough's (1992) idea of critical language awareness as an essential element of social change struck me with some ponder. The article brings up a lot about social domains or areas of interest in critically approaching TESOL (i.e. sexuality, ethnicity, and representations of otherness). From a standpoint of culture, especially here in the United States, this is a big issue that can come up in any of our classrooms. However, certain cultural backgrounds of some students may not feel as comfortable about the subject or be against it. Therefore, how do we approach bringing up a subject like homosexuality? Or racism? I feel the best way is to teach tolerance through culture, finding ways on inter-connecting different groups of people. That is the foundation of what the U.S. is all about.
Gee (1994) suggests that "English Teachers stand at the very heart of the most crucial educational, cultural, and political issues of our time" (p. 190). As future ELL, ESL, EFL teachers, we do have this responsibility. We mold these language-learners' minds in the way they view and interpret the language and culture of society. Its' a job that should be taken with pride and passion for education and opening up a new worldly views for our students.
#Dreambig
Blogfully yours,
The TESOL Bro,
Tommy T.
Monday, September 5, 2011
9/5/2011: Response to Kuma's First 2 Chapters (ENG 345)
In chapter 1, I really liked how Kuma commented on continuous education, and the value in it. I believe that nobody is ever done learning, especially teachers. Teachers, especially myself and many of us specifically, are going into foreign language teaching. In the field of TESOL, there are always new methodologies that are being produced to increase efficiency in the teaching profession. In order to for myself to be an effective teacher from now and many years to come, I will need to have the write "tools" to instruct my students (ie. best teaching practices, methods, using multiple intelligences). Kuma's emphasis on teaching education is the path of knowledge as an educator that I want to follow, being knowledgable about my trade and improving on it as well.
Chapter 2 touched on postmethod pedagogy and methodologies, and how they are practiced in the classroom. I particularly agreed with his thoughts on language-center methods, commenting that, "Language-center methods treat language learning as a linear, additive process." (25) In that, I think he is saying that the teacher is to take the curriculum (grammar, vocabulary, etc.) and bring the tasks or subject into the lesson individually so that the learner can practice internalizing that specific item. This quotation got me thinking back to a book I read, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire. In the novel, he touches on many issues of how we are all oppressed in the way of which the world works. From an educational viewpoint, he talked about the idea of education from a banking approach and a problem-solving approach. The banking approach is how many teachers do approach the trade, in that they try to stuff and fill students' minds with endless amounts of information so that they can pass a test, not truly finding any use of it other than that. Freire was a huge proponet of the problem-solving approach, in which balanced the learning scale between student and teacher. This approach promoted critical thinking and questioning, so that the student and teacher could learn from one another, so that students can find a reason or practical use of the information being taught to them, finding clarity in it all. From a foreign language learning viewpoint, the problem-solving approach is way more beneficial than just shoving random facts and grammar and words and whatnot into their minds. We have to remember that students do not come into your class "empty." Students have been taught a language before, their native language OBVIOUSLY. Therefore, it is our job as educators to find ways of approaching the subject in the best way that fits the need of our students, it is that "give and take" mentality that will indeed help with your "rep" factor among your students.
Overall, I found Kuma's (ps I LOVE that we have a nickname already for him) interpretations on TESOL methods and language teaching in that we have to follow our philosophies, what works best for us, to be thought-provoking and open for group discussion.
Until Tomorrow,
Tom "The TESOL Bro"
Self-proclaimed John Madden of TESOL
Chapter 2 touched on postmethod pedagogy and methodologies, and how they are practiced in the classroom. I particularly agreed with his thoughts on language-center methods, commenting that, "Language-center methods treat language learning as a linear, additive process." (25) In that, I think he is saying that the teacher is to take the curriculum (grammar, vocabulary, etc.) and bring the tasks or subject into the lesson individually so that the learner can practice internalizing that specific item. This quotation got me thinking back to a book I read, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire. In the novel, he touches on many issues of how we are all oppressed in the way of which the world works. From an educational viewpoint, he talked about the idea of education from a banking approach and a problem-solving approach. The banking approach is how many teachers do approach the trade, in that they try to stuff and fill students' minds with endless amounts of information so that they can pass a test, not truly finding any use of it other than that. Freire was a huge proponet of the problem-solving approach, in which balanced the learning scale between student and teacher. This approach promoted critical thinking and questioning, so that the student and teacher could learn from one another, so that students can find a reason or practical use of the information being taught to them, finding clarity in it all. From a foreign language learning viewpoint, the problem-solving approach is way more beneficial than just shoving random facts and grammar and words and whatnot into their minds. We have to remember that students do not come into your class "empty." Students have been taught a language before, their native language OBVIOUSLY. Therefore, it is our job as educators to find ways of approaching the subject in the best way that fits the need of our students, it is that "give and take" mentality that will indeed help with your "rep" factor among your students.
Overall, I found Kuma's (ps I LOVE that we have a nickname already for him) interpretations on TESOL methods and language teaching in that we have to follow our philosophies, what works best for us, to be thought-provoking and open for group discussion.
Until Tomorrow,
Tom "The TESOL Bro"
Self-proclaimed John Madden of TESOL
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