Week 12 Readings

The first chapter of International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts, introduced English as a language that is most commonly used all over the world. There were many statistics about where and how it is used. One reason is for economic use. In order for people to have a successful career, knowing English plays an important role, especially when the career includes something to do with knowing the language for international business. Advertising, movies, music, and electronic communication are widely used all over the world and English influences those in many countries.

I find it very interesting to know that the English language is that popular. I never really paid much attention to that because by living in the United States, I thought it was normal here. I didn't know that so many countries out there are influenced by it and they might even change their advertising so it includes words in English. People see it as a language that is in a way superior to the rest.

In the second chapter, it talks about teaching and learning English in Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle countries. I find it so interesting that in a lot of Inner Circle countries, the student's native language is seen as a problem and only English is important. In other countries from the Outer Circle, they do appreciate their native language and English so they can become bilingual. It is important that we encourage this multilingualism everywhere. English does not have to be the best one. Just because it is used more, it doesn't mean the rest are not as great.

In the article "The Impact of Globalization on Language Teaching in Japan," it was somewhat surprising that in Japanese schools: "the 'foreign language' is English; the model for English should be standard North American or British varieties; learning English leads to international/ intercultural understanding; and national identity is fostered through learning English." We can see how English plays such an important role in Japan and they are highly motivated to learn it.

If English is encouraged to be learned and used in countries all over the world, I wonder what would happen in the next few years. Would the native language of countries die and English would be the only language left to use? Even though it is good to have a language that can be used all over the world, we should not stop learning more about our own native languages and cultures. We should not forget that by knowing our native languages and culture, it will help us continue to be the unique individuals we are.

Week 11 Readings

Week 11 Readings

                After reading the “Becoming Black” article, I found it very interesting how students and people in general make assumptions of how Blacks are and how they act just because of what they see in the media, especially pop culture. People have thoughts of how they are based on the music they listen to, such as hip hop and rap, as well as the style and language that they see on TV. As future educators, we cannot let our students do that. We should not encourage that kind of thinking that only allows students to think of people by having these ideas they get from pop culture. Not everyone follows that trend and Blacks can be different than that. The African American students who do follow pop culture and go along with the style, music, and the way of using the language, are doing so because it gives them an opportunity to be who they want to be. They are forming their own identities.

                Assumptions and these preconceived thoughts can make people think something without knowing for sure the truth. In “Problematizing Cultural Stereotypes in TESOL”, we see how there are also stereotypes of Asian students. These include that students from Asia are obedient to authority, they lack critical thinking skills, and they don’t participate in classroom interaction. These beliefs are most commonly held in the Western hemisphere and they might also not be true. We as educators cannot let these ideas, stereotypes, or prejudices take over and tell us how students from other countries are. We have to understand and learn on our own who they really are.  

                The first article I mentioned talks about how teachers should be familiar with what the pop culture is. If they don’t know much about it, they can have their students teach them about what it means to them. We can learn about any culture if we take the time to know our students. By knowing our students, we can be better prepared to help them.

                In “Race, Culture, and Identities in Second Language Education”, it talks about the differences of the words race, ethnicity, and culture, as well as racialization and other important concepts. It is important that we know these differences and not get them mixed up.

Week 8 Readings

It is important for teachers to choose textbooks that will be helpful for children's learning.

In Taylor-Mendes' article, it talks about the racial stereotypes that are seen in Foreign Language Textbooks. I find it interesting that so many of the books that students read include images that have stereotypes of different races. The images in this study showed Americans as clean and nonviolent; war was seen in other countries such as Afghanistan. There are many famous people in power that were recognized from America and business people were also portrayed in images with Americans. There were not as many minorities shown in the images, and if there were, Blacks in particular, they were represented as powerless or poor. What was seen overall in this study was that the images only reinforced the previous thoughts or stereotypes of those countries that does not exist (because there was no multiculturalism shown).

In Giaschi's article, we see gender differences in the images. Men were seen in the majority of the images as having the principal role. They had the active roles. They were in most of the business images, but women had the principal role in the fashion images. Men were given higher status in these images and if a woman didn't look straight in the eye at them, the men were seen as sort of angry; whereas if the man looked away it was perfectly fine and the women would be looking up at them.

In Hinkel's chapter 11, it says that a textbook can be a teacher, a map, a resource, a trainer, an authority, a de-skiller, or an ideology. This is very true.

It is important for teachers to be aware of the books they are choosing for their children to learn. Stereotypes and gender inequality should not be portrayed that much in books for children. If students rely too much on these books and images without no one really explaining, they might develop the wrong ideas and thoughts about certain people or countries. Teachers should inform their students about all of this in order for them to not develop these stereotypes and continue believing them. Students should not be judging people or countries based on the wrong textbooks they have.