I learned a lot in these three readings. The first one, which is Hinkel's Chapter 2 and 3,talked about implicatures. The person hearing what someone else is saying has to inference what is meant when not everything was described in detail to describe fully what they meant. It's hard for a bilingual student to learn a new language and sometimes a lot of guesses have to be done in order for them to understand the new language.
In the Kumaravadivelu article, what caught my attention was when culture was said to be used as a noun and it gives the wrong impression of an object, thing or museum piece. The article mentioned that culture is a verb. What is important is what culture does not what it is.
In the Wintergrest article, what stuck out the most to me was reading about the differences in big C culture and small c culture. Big C culture includes the "classic or grand themes," little c culture is "minor or common themes." I had not learned about these differences before and I found it very interesting in this article. I also liked that the article gave a lot of activities that teachers could use in their classrooms in order to teach students about culture. Finally what I liked about the article is that they explained the five dimensions of culture, which include identity, hierarchy, social gender role, truth value, and virtue.
It is important for teachers or future teachers to know these definitions about what culture really is in order to be a great bilingual teacher. There are so many parts of the definition of culture that I didn't know before reading all this. It is interesting to know that the word culture can have such a big definition.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
My Own Definition of Culture
After reading Morgan's Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 in Teaching Culture, I have learned a lot about culture and language. In her articles, she defines culture as having five dimensions to it, which are products, practices, persons, perspectives, and communities. She says that culture is the evolving way of life that consists of a group of persons, that share a set of practices that are associated with a set of products, based on a shared set of perspectives on the world, and that are set in specific social contexts. I agree with her definition.
I agree that culture does consist of the products or artifacts that are produced by those in the culture. Each culture has its own objects that are used to identify them. If we look at the Hispanic culture, people might have pinatas at a birthday party. Maracas, sombreros, or a mariachi band might be heard or seen at an event. The objects that they have make them a distinct culture from everyone else.
Members of a culture have their own practices and this is very important. They have their actions or interactions that they carry out by themselves or with other people. If we look at a group of preschool students and their culture, we can see that some of their practices could include reading out loud, singing, or dancing. These actions can be used anywhere else, but the way it is used in their own classrooms makes it possible for them to have their own culture.
The perspectives of culture include the beliefs, values, and attitudes about the culture. I agree with this as well. People have different views on different things. If we look at the Catholic religion, they believe in God and saints. Everything that they believe in, what they, and so forth, is part of their own culture.
Culture has it's own community, where they do whatever they do. Offices at work have their own community where they carry out all their activities, they work at buildings with offices and do office work. This goes for any other culture; they have their place where their activities are held.
Everything in the different cultures is carried out by the persons. These individuals are the members who carry out their own unique actions to keep their culture alive.
Language is used throughout all this in order for people to be successful in their culture. Things so basic, such as products, that seem like no language is necessary to use them or buy them is not true. At some point you had to read how to use them or how to read the value of money, which requires knowledge of the language.
It makes sense to me that culture is all of the above mentioned that I read in Morgan's article. After reading all this, I have realized that culture can be anything from race, religion, work, school, or anything else. It happens everyday through active members that keep their own traditions going. Culture is ongoing, it's nonstop. It also keeps changing everyday, new things could happen, etc. Culture can be a social group, ethnic group, or age group. It includes the shared beliefs, ideas, values, attitudes, and goals.
I agree that culture does consist of the products or artifacts that are produced by those in the culture. Each culture has its own objects that are used to identify them. If we look at the Hispanic culture, people might have pinatas at a birthday party. Maracas, sombreros, or a mariachi band might be heard or seen at an event. The objects that they have make them a distinct culture from everyone else.
Members of a culture have their own practices and this is very important. They have their actions or interactions that they carry out by themselves or with other people. If we look at a group of preschool students and their culture, we can see that some of their practices could include reading out loud, singing, or dancing. These actions can be used anywhere else, but the way it is used in their own classrooms makes it possible for them to have their own culture.
The perspectives of culture include the beliefs, values, and attitudes about the culture. I agree with this as well. People have different views on different things. If we look at the Catholic religion, they believe in God and saints. Everything that they believe in, what they, and so forth, is part of their own culture.
Culture has it's own community, where they do whatever they do. Offices at work have their own community where they carry out all their activities, they work at buildings with offices and do office work. This goes for any other culture; they have their place where their activities are held.
Everything in the different cultures is carried out by the persons. These individuals are the members who carry out their own unique actions to keep their culture alive.
Language is used throughout all this in order for people to be successful in their culture. Things so basic, such as products, that seem like no language is necessary to use them or buy them is not true. At some point you had to read how to use them or how to read the value of money, which requires knowledge of the language.
It makes sense to me that culture is all of the above mentioned that I read in Morgan's article. After reading all this, I have realized that culture can be anything from race, religion, work, school, or anything else. It happens everyday through active members that keep their own traditions going. Culture is ongoing, it's nonstop. It also keeps changing everyday, new things could happen, etc. Culture can be a social group, ethnic group, or age group. It includes the shared beliefs, ideas, values, attitudes, and goals.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
About Me
I am currently a senior majoring in bilingual elementary education. I still have two more years to go so that I can graduate with my degree. I'm from Palatine, IL and I transferred two years ago from Harper College.
I am really excited about this course and hope to learn a lot.
I am really excited about this course and hope to learn a lot.
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