Week 16 Reading Response

Towards a transformative and empowering teacher education agenda: Revisioning TESOL

SUMMARY

McKay & Bokhorst-Heng Chapter 7: Towards a socially sensitive EIL pedagogy

This chapter was amazing. All throughout the semester we have been talking about the issues and problems surrounding teaching English as a second language. This chapter finally provides some solutions to these problems and issues, while also summarizing the chapters that have come before it. If you could see the annotations I made, you might guess that nearly 50% of the pages have been highlighted with the sole word "Yes!" written next to them. That or a little star. This chapter, I believe, will be largely influential on the ideas that go into my final paper. The authors discuss the varied sociolinguistic contexts in which English can be taught as a second language. They write "A socially sensitive EIL pedagogy would recognize the other languages used by EIL learners, as well as take into account the specific ways in which English is used in their sociolinguistic contexts." (181). They argue that new varieties of English should be viewed "as languages in their own right." (182) and I agree. They are valuable resources that can be used to facilitate the development of the learners' L2 proficiency and linguistic awareness. The authors then discuss repair strategies for conversations between L2 speakers. The authors then problematize the dominant discourse of the ELT materials that occur, while also discussing ways in which local teachers can challenge these discourses. The authors close the chapter with "Principles for a socially sensitive EIL pedagogy", which were all good, in fact great, but I will only close this summary with a quote from the very end of the book which I believe summarizes the authors' message quite well:

"An appropriate EIL pedagogy is one that promotes English bilingualism for learners of all backgrounds, recognizes and validates the variety of Englishes that exist today, and teaches English in a manner that meets local language needs and respects the local culture of learning. It is our hope that by enacting such a pedagogy, EIL educators can mitigate local and global tensions and reduce the Othering that currently exists in EIL pedagogy." -Sandra Lee McKay & Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng

Lin et al. (2002). Appropriating English, expanding identities, and re-visioning the field.

This article used the authors own autobiographies with respect to learning English to critically examine the field of TESOL. The article was broken into four different parts. The first part discussed the kinds of institutional Othering that occurs, particularly in writing styles. English academia often encourages the dismissal of the self in writing. The authors ask then "How should we position ourselves as we are writing this article" (298). The second part is the authors' collective story, which focuses on how the personal, biographical, sociological, and political intersect. Each author provides their own story with relation to English language learning, highlighting different, underexamined aspects of the narrative of ELLs. In the third part of the article, the authors discuss how local knowledge (that is, local agents of English language learning and teaching) influenced the narratives of the authors. They examine ways in which these local agents affected the path of the authors, and then in the final section, the authors discuss the implications these issues have on the field of TESOL. The authors argue that we need to abolish the dichotomized notions of native-nonnative speakers of a language, and instead focus on a more localized conception of teaching English. They argue for a shift from TESOL to TEGCOM. I quote them:

"Our proposal does not consist of merely renaming the field and erasing the previously mentioned dichotic boundaries. We are proposing a rethinking and re-visioning of the field from the perspective of sociocultural situatedness... a parallel decentering of the production of pedagogical knowledge in the discipline needs to happen... the 'good' pedagogy cannot be found without taking socioculturally situated persepctives, and without engaging with issues of agency, identity, appropriation, and resistance of local social actors when they are confronted with the task of learning or using English in their specific local contexts." - Lin et al.

regards,
tfm

Week 15 Reading Response

Globalization and language teaching


SUMMARY

There were two readings for this week's assignment. I unfortunately did not read the first required reading, but instead read the optional reading written by Ryuko Kubota and Sandra McKay. It was titled "Gobalization and Language Learning in Rural Japan: The Role of English in the Local Linguistic Ecology". In the article the authors re-examine the role of English in a local context in a midsized city in Japan with a population of about 160,000 people. The city had an increasing ethnic population, with foreign residents from Brazil, China, Peru, Korea, and Thailand. The authors then examine a few different individuals who have differing language attitudes about the role of English, Japanese, and other foreign languages in their city. The authors then discuss the issues raised by these individuals' attitudes. An interesting point: "attachment to English observed among the learners seems to be influenced by social, cultural, and historical backdrops that reflect symbolic colonialism involving the superiority of English, American culture, and Whiteness."

"It is clear that the spread of English in Japan in the form of increased emphasis on teaching and learning English does not threaten Japanese langauge. Instead, Japanese threatens the maintenance of the heritage language of migrant workers in places like 'Hasu' because of the monolingual/assimilation orientation for newcomers... What is also threatened or undermined seems to be mainstream people's willingness to learn other languages and embrace linguistic and cultural heritage of minorities." - Ryuko Kubota, Sandra McKay

The second reading was by Aya Matsuda and Paul Kei Matsuda and was titled "World Englishes and the Teaching of Writing". In this short article the authors discuss the complexity of the term "English language" and its relation to "World Englishes" or WE. They argue that the pedagogical implications of WE are complex. They state that determining an appropriate target variety of English in expanding circle contexts is difficult. There is a wide variety of contexts in which English will be used for any particular English speaker when you take into account the intranational and international contexts that occur in expanding circle countries. The authors then go on to argue that while these issues apply to speaking, they can also apply to writing, but with different expected norms.

"The impact of the traditional focus on normative features is particularly serious for English, which is one of the most extensively described languages. Although the textbook industry is becoming increasingly aware of issues surrounding WE, the development of specific strategies for addressing language differences is only beginning to happen. The dominance of codified varieties of English is constantly being reified by well--intended teachers and editors who try to help students and authors learn features of standardized written English." - Matsuda and Matsuda, Arizona State University

The authors then end their article with some "principles that can guide teachers who wish to help students negotiate the complex push-pull relationship between standardization and diversification."

They are:

• Teach the Dominant Language Forms and Functions
• Teach the Nondominant Language Forms and Functions
• Teach the Boundary Between What Works and What Does Not
• Teach the Principles and Strategies of Discourse Negotiation
• Teach the Risks Involved in Using Deviational Features

RESPONSE


It was interesting to read the Kubota/McKay article and see that the relative prestige of English and Japanese in Japan was influencing the maintenance of immigrants' first language. It reminds me of attitudes of assimilation in the United States. I suppose this could just be what happens when two languages are used in proximity with one another. One language will take the dominant role. I wonder if this is a colonial or post-colonial notion. But I am also sure that there are situations where two or more languages exist in proximity to each other that hold equal status. Really though, it just seemed to me kind of silly to type that sentence out. I realize that that idea is probably and idealization, and probably won't occur frequently, if at all.


And with the other reading, the Matsuda Matsuda article, it was fascinating to see that all the issues we talked about with teaching the speaking of English also apply to the writing of English. I suppose it is easy for me to forget how critical literacy and the ability to write are, since they have been part of my life since I became a conscious human being. But then also the standards I have been taught and reinforced to abide by, I took all these for granted too. I can't just go around the world being an English teacher teaching these proscriptions all willy-nilly.  I gotta stop and think about what I am teaching, to who am I teaching it to, and how are they going to use it. Will I be equipping them with the tools necessary to achieve the tasks they wish to complete? Or at the very least, equip them with the tools to discover ways in which to complete a task?


I never though ESL would be this complicated. It's good though, because I like a challenge.


Regards,
TfM

Week 14 Reading Response

Language Variation, Language Policies

SUMMARY

There were two readings this week. One was chapter 5 from the McKay Bokhorst-Heng "International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts". In this chapter the authors discuss language variation in context, citing pidginization and creolization. The authors discuss features of variation on a number of levels including phonetics, grammar, and vocabulary. The authors then go on to talk about standard language ideology within a particular context. They argue that "the definition of each Standard English should be endonormative (determined locally) rather than exonormative (determined by outside its context of use)." The authors then discuss the issue of intelligibility with regard to English use. They cite two opposing viewpoints: Quirk who argues "for the need to uphold standards in the use of English" and Kachru who argues that "the spread of English had brought with it a need to re-examine traditional notions of codification and standardization". The authors argue that at the core of these opposing viewpoints is the idea of intelligibility.

The second reading was from Rosina Lippie-Green and was called "English with an Accent". In this text Lippie-Green discusses aspects of the ideology that states there is a neutral, accent-less variety of English that could be taught to people. The author problematizes this concept by talking about the metaphor for a Sound House, which is a house built during youth that comprises an accent which is picked up contextually. The author argues that some people are better than others at building a sound house. The author also argues that no one can completely rebuild a sound house, that the phonology we acquire as a child will never be erasable. Pretty interesting stuff.


COMMENT

I really liked both readings from this week. The more I learn, the more I realize that any methodology I choose to teach by will necessarily have to be informed by the desires and goals and aims of the students I teach. My question is, then, do we as TESOL instructors focus on phonology at all? If we do, to what extent should we focus on it? It's seems kind of problematic that L1 phones will interfere with the L2. But, this shouldn't mean that we ignore phonology. But then again, some students could excel at accent adoption or learning. So it should probably be approached on an individual basis.

As for the debate between a monolithic standard of English versus multiple world-English dialects, I would have to fall with Kachru. I would rather challenge the concept of a standard world English. I think learning a variety of English is a good thing, as long as the students understand the general differences between the English variety they know and the standards of English that they will be expected to know in the context that they hope to enter by learning English. This, though, is another problematic notion. Perhaps there will be students in my classroom that do not need to learn any variety English. Perhaps they are content knowing their first language, while their government demands that they learn English. Why is this the case? Why should students have to learn STANDARD ENGLISH? Why can't we also legitimate the varieties they also know, while educating them on the differences between their varieties and the ones we wish to teach?

Am I on the right track?

I don't know.

TfM

Week 13 Reading Response

SUMMARY

The readings this week focused on Language planning and policy and how these are highly influenced by the language ideology of a culture.

The first reading was from Sandra McKay and Wendy Bokhorst-Heng. It was the fourth chapter from "International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts". In this chapter the authors discuss the interplay between language policy and language planning. The authors discuss how these policies and plans interfere with how language is taught in the classroom. They use a number of different case studies to examine different aspects of how language politics influences language learners. The discussion about Singapore involves the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM), where politician decided that the non-standard form of English known as "Singlish" in Singapore was to be removed.The goal was to get Singaporeans to turn away from Singlish and begin speaking Standard Singaporean English. The motivation for this change comes from the idea that it would be economically advantageous to speak a form of English that the rest of the world can understand. Closely linked with this attitude is the idea of a standard world English, which is a problematic notion because internationally English has taken on many forms and the idea that there is one standard is very misled. The other part of this chapter dealt with attitudes and policies of English in the United States. The authors discuss the English-only movement and move on to discuss the impact these attitudes have had on bilingual education in parts of the US. Lastly the authors examine the role of English policies and language ideologies in Expanding and Outer circle countries such as China and South Korea.

The other reading for this week was Farr and Song's 2011 "Language Ideologies and Policies: Multilingualism and Education". In it the authors discuss the concept of standardization in the Western world and how that has influenced the language ideologies and policies toward English in the rest of the world. The concept of one standard English.The article describes how language ideology arose, and further how this ideology influences language policy. Summed up, perhaps, the authors write

"Language policies, then, are ideological constructs that reflect and reproduce power differentials within a society (McCarty 2004)... a English-only policy adopted for the schooling of students whose multilingual realities challenge the notion of a monolingual standard not only deprives such students of learning opportunities, including developing (and becoming literate in) their home languages, but it also furthers an ideology of contempt toward subordinate languages and dialects" (6).

COMMENT

I was really surprised to hear that some TESOL teachers were fining students for using their native language in the classroom. This to me is an egregious offense. I do not hold the opinion that ESL classrooms should be English only. It is a really delicate line to toe, though. I think native languages should be used in the cases where their use will benefit or aid learning of the second language. If a concept needs to be explained in their native language, then let that be so. Closely linked with this is the idea of native language maintenance, which I also believe is a good thing. I think studies have shown that greater skill in the first language can transfer to greater skill in the second language. Also, first or native languages are a large part of the identity of the language learner, and to dismiss this aspect of their identity is to deny a large part of who they understand and represent themselves to be. Well, this is likely the case, not always the case. So when a teacher fines students for using their first or native language in an ESL classroom, what is that saying? It says "You're first language is not valued here...." (Where here is arguably a microcosm of portions of the larger English speaking world that presumably these language learners want to become part of. I think the practice is really discouraging to students and should definitely be avoided. It might be interesting to reverse it the fine and do some sort of positive reinforcement for the students. For example, everytime someone answers a question correctly (or something to this effect) I will put a nickel in a jar. At the end of the semester we as a class will decide what to do collectively with the money. I don't know, its just a thought.

Regards,
TfM

Week 12 reading response

Reading Response

Chapters 2 and 3 of "International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts" by Sandra Kee McKay and Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng

Chapter 2

This chapter discussed the social contexts for English as an International Language learning. The authors use the frame of Kachru's concentric circle theory to discuss the context of EIL education in different contexts across the globe. The authors acknowledge the limitations of Kachru's theory to accurately describe the actual situation in these countries, but they note that it is an easier way of looking at the situations. The authors then go through some examples of Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle countries and describes some aspects of the language learning environments in these countries. The authors discussed critically developed pedagogical approaches to education in each of these environments.

Chapter 3

This chapter discussed the issue of diglossia in multilingual societies. In particular the authors focused on South Africa and India, and examined the aspects of multilingualism within the countries. The authors discuss the differences in the aspects of EIL with diglossia as compared to EIL without diglossia. The authors point out that maintaining the use of the mother tongue in the classroom will ultimately be beneficial for ELLs. "Studies... consistently show that children in bilingual programs outperform their counterparts in all-English programs on tests of academic achievement in English."


RESPONSE

I am not sure if I've commented on this before butI think this class has been giving me an existential crisis. A year ago I would have had no issues saying that I want to be an ESL teacher abroad, but now I am not so sure. This class has made me rethink my position of wanting to be an ESL teacher. It's a lot more complicated than I thought. Like, my motivation for making this decision was that I wanted to help people while also traveling the world. I thought I would make a good ESL teacher because I am a native speaker of English, with an above average education. But these readings have made me feel guilty for thinking this way, and also for wanting to do what I want to do. I just looked and I did post about this two weeks ago. Yes, it is still bothering me, and I am not sure if I will find an answer.

Perhaps I should talk to Dr. Seloni for encouragement or advice on how to cope with these feelings.

TfM

Week 10 Reading Response

Week 10: Race, language, and identity: Critical multiculturalism in TESOL


SUMMARY:

The first reading for this week was written by Awad Ibrahim. The title is "Becoming Black: Rap and Hip-Hop, Race, Gender, Identity, and the Politics of ESL Learning". The article focuses on the impact that a social imaginary has on ESL learners in a community. Ibrahim examined the effect that Black Stylized English had on a group of refugee status immigrants within the context of an urban, French-Language high school in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Ibrahim defines BSE as well as how it relates to hip-hop culture. Ibrahim explains his involvement with the school as well, which went beyond the researcher/participant dichotomy. The author conducted individual interviews as well as two focus-group interview sessions. Finally, from his data, Ibrahim discussed how particular individuals perceived themselves in relation to the community they had emigrated to. The author also discussed how this perception influenced their acclimatization to the English-speaking community.


The second reading was a selection from Ryuko Kubota and Angel Lin's book "Race, Culture, and Identities in Second Language Education". The selection was the first chapter of the book and is meants to be an introduction to research and practice. In this section, the authors attempt to define race and culture with respect to TESOL, as well as present some theoretical backgrounds for the understanding of race or ethnicity within the field of TESOL. The authors also invoked Bordieu's concepts of habitus and cultural capital. The authors provide some inquiry themes for  second language education, which problematizes the concept of race within the TESOL classroom as well as examines some of the manifestations of biases within these contexts.


The last reading was "Hard Times: Arab TESOL Students' Experiences of Racialization and Othering in the United Kingdom" by Sarah Rich and Salah Troudi. This article was published in TESOL Quarterly and was included in the brief reports and summaries. As the authors write "The study sought to address the following research question: How far and in what ways do Arab Muslim students perceive racialization to be significant to their experiences of Othering in a TESOL community in the United Kingdom?" The participants were all graduate-level TESOL students at a UK university. The authors discuss two aspects of racism perceived by the participants, which were categorized as such: Othering based on Non-racial categories, and accounts of Othering based on racism. Understanding the limitations of this study being so brief, the authors suggested that it be used as a stepping-stone for further inquiry into racialization with respect to TESOL pedagogy and practitions.


REFLECTIONS:

I really enjoyed all the articles we were to read this week. In particular, the Ibrahim and the Rich & Troudi. It was fascinating to hear the stories of others who have experienced racism. As a white male from a middle-class background, I feel as though I have not experienced much otherization within my lifetime. So I feel as though it is important for me to hear these stories, and that seemed to be one of the cruxes of the readings (and of this class), that we (all) should attempt to experience and hear and understand the experiences of those different from ourselves. Empathy, man, what gives?

On a more serious note, it was at some point in the Kubota and Lin reading that I began to feel guilty about my decision to become a TESOL pedagog. It's hard to communicate, but when they started talking about attitudes toward the idea that native speakers should be the ones to teach English, I began to feel it, the guilt. The authors basically encouraged me to step back and examine the choices I've made in my life, and basically question the things I understood about myself and what I wanted to do as a career choice. It was very troubling to me. I wish I could communicate it more clearly. I'll have to look for the section again and examine the emotions it evoked last night.


Further Questions:

1. How does one broach the concept of race or ethnicity in an ESL classroom without allowing the conversation to devolve into white people talk like this, black people talk like this? (I have a feeling that this may be a loaded question, with a not so clear and straight-forward answer)

2. Can we ever talk about race too much?



Regards,
TfM

Week 8 Reading Response

Cultural Representions: Culture and Teaching Materials

SUMMARY:

Holliday et. al; A 3.1 and 3.2

Section A 3.1 discussed the the problems that media representations create with respect to intercultural communication. The authors provide us with a vignette of a Canadian teacher struggling with communicating with a refugee as a result of her perception of him being tainted by both media and professional images. The authors recommend that an individual "bracket popular representations" and rather 1. "be aware of the media, political, and institutional on our own society which lead us to see people from other cultural backgrounds in a certain way" and "See through these images and fictions when we encounter people from other cultural backgrounds, and always try to consider alternative representations."

Section A 3.2 deconstructed some real-life examples of essentialization and otherization. The authors talk about how "dominant discourses can be so naturalized that people become unaware of them". Essentialism ties very much into this notion as well. The authors suggest that we should:

"Be aware of dominant discourses which are easily perpetuated by the media, and which lead us to think-as-usual that familiar images of the foreign Other are normal."

"Be aware that even images projected by sensitive, intellectual sources can seduce our own sensitivities and intellects into thinking they are true."

Lastly the authors mention about sensationalism:

"Although sensationalism in the media is something we know about and guard against, we need to appreciate how deeply it exists in our traditional views of the foreign Other."


Holliday et al; B 3.2 and B 3.3


Section B 3.2 discusses social constructionism and social representations. The authors explain that our perceptions of the world might be said to be socially constructed. They state that social representations have an historical dimension. There are four key assumptions, according to the authors, they are:

1. A critical stance towards taken-for-granted knowledge
2. Historical and cultural specificity
3. Knowledge is sustained by social processes
4. Knowledge and social action go together

The authors finally explain in this section how to interpret and explain cultural representations.

Section B 3.3 examines representations in the media. Particularly, how these representations can be misleading for a multitude of reasons. Noam Chomsky argues that the news media provides us with 'a very narrow, very tightly constrained and grotesquely inaccurate account of the world in which we live'. Through the texts in this section, numerous authors critically challenge media discourse as being essentializing in nature.


Tyer-Mendes 2010: Construction of racial stereotypes in EFL textbooks

This article discussed the problems surrounding sample images used in EFL text books. The author researched EFL teacher and student attitudes toward images used in EFL textbooks. The responses were surprising to the researchers. They found that the subjects were responsive to the power-imbalance issues implied through the use of these images. The subjects articulated what the researchers were suggesting about the images. Finally, the researchers suggested ways of encouraging educators and students to critically think about the images presented in textbooks, and try to problematize the implications of these photos.

RESPONSE

These readings were interesting because they take another aspect of intercultural communications and critically dissect how these aspects (Media and professional images, textbook images) influence our perceptions of cultures different from our own. You never really think about where your ideas about those from different cultures come from. Sometimes, its from conversations you have with others (but you need to remind yourself that an individual does NOT represent the culture group you associate them with), and more often, it is from the media that we get our preconceived notions about different cultures. We often let the rhetoric of these discourses influence our notions of other cultures. Some times we don't even notice or are aware of the influence. This is especially problematic because we take these assumptions for granted. For example, an individual might think that a Mexican's favorite food is tacos (or nachos).  Where does this notion come from? It is hard to say. But for an EFL learner, it might be even more difficult to decide what to believe, especially if they are not thinking critically about the typical assumptions we make in intercultural discourse. We, as future educators, have a responsibility to encourage critical thinking skills about the images and representations that the media portrays to us.