Day 5 WE

There were a number of interesting pieces of info that came up today. Ryuko Kubota said NNSs always sought training while the NSs weren't really as interested in getting trainin g. (2001) I agree with her in part. Since moving to the Middle East, I have been involved with local TESOL affiliates and I have noticed how passionate the NNSs are about getting training, but it is often at the behest of their institutions. I wouldn't agree with her that the NSs don't seek training, but perhaps it isn't with the same fervor.
Kubota also mafe a good point when she mentioned "...the necessity of developing a positive attitude toward other WE speakers." (2001) I think NSs can easily fall into the ethnocentric vein and completely forget about others. Kubota's work is a good reminder.

Day 4 WE

Who owns language was so powerful. After the documentary, I was trying to categorize the genre. At first I thought it was personal narrative, but since it evoloved through the the methodology of interview, we came up with emerging narrative? Two points in the film were so fascinating for me: first, was the Amish woman. I have been intrigued by the Amish since I started driving to my grandmother's house (from the Cleveland airport). I would find myself driving out of the way just to get a glimpse of the Amish community and satisy my curiosity. I regularly think about an Amish homestay. How exciting to learn there is an Amish woman in our program. The second point of intrigue for me was learning about Ladino. How did I live in Istanbul for a year and never hear anything about the language?
Watching the film reconfirms to me that I will have to do something researchwise which is related to narrative as it will hold my interest for an extended period.

Day 3 WE Do you speak American?

I certainly enjoyed today's video; it was both informative and entertaining. I was surprised at some of the new vocabulary or Pittsburghese that surfaced. Yins was new for me and my father was from Pittsburgh. Aht was also new. In Massachusetts, yins would be youins, but it would be interesting to look at these equivalents across the US. I was also intrigued by the grammar hotlines. What a great idea since there are so many public aberrations of "standard" English that could be easily corrected with just a call.
I continue to be shocked by and ashamed of the practices of some people in the teaching profession. The example of the boys at MLK High School who were ignored in the almost all-white school because of their use of black vernacular is shocking. What is more disturbing is that, despite the incident having taken place a few decades ago, history will repeat itself in a similar scenario with a diffierent minority.

Day 2 WE Threat

I may be naive, but I find the fact that people think that English is a threat to national identity quite preposterous. I certainly understand that people could fear the "politicos" that come with English since we have all seen the devastation that results from political intervention. However, I don't think the angst should be attributed to language.
What I found funny in class today was the talk about the fear of Spanish taking over as an "official" language in the U.S. Those who are voicing the fear, I would wager, are not multi-lingual and guess what? If the majority of the population are proficient in or are users of Spanish (since the Hispanic race is the fastest growing in the US), hasn't this already happened? I think it's time for those who are afraid to think about taking a few language classes?

Response to Robin's blog

I felt the same way when I was plowing through the readings Robin. Is it a human rights abuse if someone is denied access to education? According to UNICEF, I believe it is. I kept having recurring feelings about being an oppressor because I come from the inner circle. We must raise awareness. I have a feeling this is not the right place to respond, so I will stop.

Monday 24 May 2010

What a day! All the theories blurred into one except B. Kuchru, probably because everyone referred to him again and again. I find the repetition of buzzwords throughout the articles quite interesting though they might have precluded my understanding of x article. Semiotic? Finally got a workable definition of that. Language identity-still developing that concept. Lingocide? What a vivid image that projects. What has been most daunting about the course and coursework so far is recognizing the characteristics of the English imperialists. How disturbing that the white oppressor spills over into language. Speech communities? How many are we a part of?
I'm going to make Language is Power the theme for my students in the fall. I hadn't really thought about the relationship between student attitudes toward language acquisition and their actual acquisition. Of course, it makes sense that a positive attitude would help. I'll consciously employ that starting in August!
One of my goals for the course is to be able to categorize what I am learning.

test

This is a test of my new blog.