Week 16

The article talks about Othering. There are four parts to it that help explain. It was very interesting to read about the way the authors became interested in English even though their parents might not have spoken it, it wasn't common at the time, or for other reasons. For me, by living in the United States I knew that I had to learn English at one point. Even before I started school, I would ask what certain words were in English. Once I started the bilingual program, I was able to successfully transfer to an English-only classroom in the middle of fourth grade.


Chapter 7 talks about some topics we have already learned about. Othering is one thing they mention, which is "those from Western Inner Circle cultures are portrayed as having modern and desirable behavior while those from other cultures, who exhibit other ways of doing things, are seen as backward or lacking" (183). It talks about how teachers can evaluate and choose the right textbooks for their students so they don't only see the Western cultures and not the marginalization of local cultures. There are principles for a socially sensitive EIL pedagogy. One of those is that "EIL curricula need to exemplify L2-L2 interactions." This can help students see some examples of L2-L2 interactions and they can discuss clarifications of what was said. Another one that I liked is that "Full recognition needs to be given to the other languages spoken by English speakers." Code-switching should be encouraged and not be seen as a problem.

Week 15

After reading the article for this week, it made me aware of how accents are really important in different situations. I thought it was sad that a man was refused a job position just because he didn't have that "Standard English". Accents are what make people stand out and let's them be who they are. Not everyone can easily leave behind their own accent. As long as people are understandable, their accent shouldn't be used against them. The man in the article should not have been refused a job position because of that. I really disliked that they called the accents a "handicap". Why should speaking the way you can be a problem? We can't force everyone to speak the same way. Accents occur even between native English speakers. They can be different depending on what parts of the region they live in.

In chapter 5 of the book for this week, it talks about how other people from other countries might speak English. There are many varieties of noun or verb usage that might be grammatically incorrect in the US, but for them it is just the way they want to say it. Different countries speak differently, but again these ways of talking should only make them be who they are.

It was interesting to have examples of how other people from other countries might say things differently.

Week 13

English is widely used in other countries like Africa or India. Some encourage the English-only movement, while others agree that bilingualism is better. In my opinion, bilingualism is the way to go. Not only should students learn a new language, but they should also maintain their native language that makes them who they are. No one should be pushed to forget their native language. As future teachers, we must motivate our students to use both languages. Some people think that by having a bilingual program, students will not learn the English language, but that is not true. Students need to use the language they know so they can learn a new language. If you were to learn Chinese for example, would you learn it better if you were put in a Chinese class where no one spoke English (or whatever language you know)? Of course not.

Many people want to learn English because of citizenship, social, and economic integration. Everyone wants to be a part of the country, so they try as best as they can to learn the language. This can help in communication and to get a better job.

We can teach our students about world languages by doing some of the activities mentioned in "Exploring Linguistic Diversity through World Englishes." This can include having class discussions in circles where everyone participates, watching videos on language, inviting in guest speakers and many more. We should explain to our students that it's ok to have an accent and just because people have them, doesn't mean they don't want to learn English.

Studies show, according to page 86 of International English in its Sociolinguistic Contexts, that children who are in bilingual programs do better than their monolingual peers in tests of academic achievement in English. As we can see, by using their native language, students can be very successful. Using their native language is not the problem, its the solution to learn English.