McKay Ch. 5

Throughout the semester we have talked about what "Standard English" is.  As a class, we agreed that if we HAD to put a definition to it, it would be the form of written English.  The text seemed to agree with this selection as well, saying that "Standard English associates more directly with the written form of the language" (p. 139).  But as far as spoken English is concerned, that is still up for debate.  But the textbook did mention how there “is no standardized accent associated with Standard English” (p.139). This would make sense, considering the number of countries that speak English. Even within the United States, there is a wide variety of accents.  People can tell that I am from the Chicago-land area based on my accent, just as I can tell someone is from down South from their drawl. 

So what is the problem with Standard English? Should every single person in every single country speak the exact same form of English? Is this even possible? I would like to believe that it is not, and that a “standardized” form of English does not exist because that would be labeling on form of English as superior to other forms.  We see this a lot in our educational system today.  Why could this present a problem? Don’t we want our students to learn Standard English so they can advance themselves in a career?  Yes, we do want our students to learn Standard English, but not at the expense of losing any other language or dialect that they may already possess.  The modern schooling system seems to have a hard time understanding this concept.  Our system today DOES NOT believe that “the changes in English that are developing are being codified and accepted as standard” (p. 124).  Instead, schools “suppress variation in their attempts to impose control and order on English acquisition and use” (p. 139).  Schools are so focused on “the correct way of speaking English” that they can’t see that students whose first language can offer just as much, if not more, to the class than monolingual students. It is a shame that students should have to be forced to ignore part of their identity, their native language and culture, just because the school doesn’t think that it would be beneficial for them to further themselves in those aspects. 

The text continued to discuss how the battle between the standardization has been going on since the 1980s and continues on today.   On one side, “the tolerance for variation in language use was educationally damaging”, whereas the opposing opinion believes that “the spread of English had brought with it a need to re-examine traditional notions of codification and standardization” (p. 140). I find it upsetting that this petty discussion still continues on, over 20 years later, when all the research is so wishy-washy about the standardization of English.  How much longer will students need to suffer from discrimination before people realize that a variety in a language is a gift, not a deficit?

McKay Chapter 2

Chapter 2 focused on the reasons people learn English and the programs that nations from each circle use in order to teach the language.  The chapter starts with an intriguing quote on page 31 that states "There is tremendous pressure for immigrants to learn English since most social and employment situations require the use of English." I thought that this was a little ironic because they feel pressured to learn English, many English-speakers are feeling pressure to learn other languages for the same reason.  Is their pressure similar to the pressure that Americans feel to learn languages such as Spanish or Mandarin-Chinese?
The author next looked at different models that inner circles used, such as Britain, the US, and Australia.  In Britain, the Swann Report endorsed mainstreaming so the students could interact with native speakers.  However, critics say that the report fails to recognize "the important role that first language maintenance can have on both cognitive development and the acquisition of a second language" (p. 33).   The author acknowledges that a decision Inner Circle countries has to deal with is whether to give emphasis to social integration and risk losing language support, or emphasize language support and risk losing social interaction.  It's a give or take situation.  This decision then questions "to what extent development in a learner's first language can have beneficial effects on second language acquisition?" (p. 35).  Unlike Britain;s train of thought, Australian programs were designed to promote bilingualism.  Their 4 guiding principles were:
1. competence in English
2. maintenance and development of languages other than English
3. provision of services in languages other than English
4. opportunities for learning second languages
In my opinion, I think that the Australians were dead on as far as intentions go.  They wanted their citizens to be bilingual because they understood that knowing more than one language is a resource and not a deficit.  Unfortunately, some "teachers cast these students' ability to communicate in two languages not as a special talent or strngth but rather as a disability" (p. 37).  We clearly know from various studies and research that the old saying "two is better than one" is certainly true when it comes to languages.
An interesting point was make on page 49.  According to the text, "there is tremendous pressure for teachers to conduct English-only classroom."  I found this ironic because all the evidence proves that "the use of L1 in language classrooms have documented the ways in which the first language can be used very effectively in language classrooms" (p. 49).  My question, not only for just the Expanding Circle but for everyone, is that if the L1 can help in language classrooms, then why have English-only classrooms?  I firmly believe that all teachers should either have certification in bilingualism or ESL and it would not only be beneficial for teacher but for the students as well.  I think that bilingual teachers would be able to help the students realize that their language skills are a gift that is meant to be cherished, not a problem that needs to be erased.

McKay Ch. 1

The first thing that I will discuss in this post is Phillipson's 5 tenets about the English teaching profession.
TENET 1: "English is best taught monolingually."  No offense to Phillipson, but he clearly has never analyzed any of the studies that prove English is best learned among with other languages.  This tenet suggests that bilingual education and ESL instruction are not necessary, and obviously that is not the case.  IF a student has a native language other than English, then that language needs to be included in the learning process in order to obtain maximum results.
TENET 2:  "The ideal teacher of English is a native speaker."  Again, this is a very limiting and exclusive statement that I completely disagree with.  If we are going to say this, then they need to answer certain questions such as "What makes an ideal teacher?"  The only reason I would even think this could even remotely resemble a true statement is that a native speaker understands coloquial sayings, and even then, such sayings can be looked up in a book.  This tenet automatically assumes that anyone who is not a native speaker can never be a good teacher.
TENET 3:  "The earlier English is taught, the better the results."  This I do agree with.  So many studies show that the earlier a language is learned, English or not, the more likely it is that the learner will achieve native-like fluency.  This is why more bilingual programs need to be installed at the elementary level.
TENET 4:  "The more English is taught, the better the results."  Although this seems like a confusing statement, I interpreted it as "the more often English is spoken."  If this is the case, then I agree. I feel that continuous contact with a language is extremely beneficial for the learner.  Why else do students who go abroad come back more proficient?  It is because when the first thing you hear in the morning is that target language and it's also the last thing you hear at night, your brain adapts to it.  As teachers, we can hep our students by having different resources for them to access the language.
TENET 5:  "If other languages are used much, standards of English will drop."  I am honestly not sure what this tenet is supposed to mean, it seems very vague.  I took it as "if other languages are used, then English will not be as powerful."  I think that people feel that the English language will be threatened if other language use is promoted.  I do not fell that this is the case at all in reality.   The reason that English is such a powerful language is because people learn it for different reasons.  Some do it to help advance them in their careers, some do it to make more money, and some do it just to improve themselves or learn something new.  No matter the reason, everyone has the right to be able to freely use their native language without discrimination or prejudice.
I believe that the reason that people are scared of foreign languages is because they are uneducated. That is where language teachers come into place.  Not only do we educate our students, but we need to inform their parents and community members ab out acceptance and awareness of different languages.  Once society can come to the realization that other languages should be praised instead of shunned, then it will be more beneficial for everyone.

Holliday A3.1/3.2 & B3.2/3.3

Unit A3.1 talks a lot about how much power the media has on the representations of images that we see.  “In modern society we are constantly fed images of the foreign other…” (p. 41).  What is crucial for society to remember is that what we see on T.V. is most  likely only a portion of what is going on in the real world, and also very carefully selected.  We see what the media wants us to see; the opinions and prejudices we make are done so because they want us to think that way.  “The news media provides us with a very narrow, very tightly constrained and grotesquely inaccurate account of the world in which we live” (p.195).  It’s a little scary to think of how much power the news media has on a society, how they can change the image of a certain group of people in either a positive or negative light, and how they can create new stereotypes.

On page 200, Stuart Hall writes that “stereotypes get hold of the few simple. Vivid, memorable, easily grasped, and widely recognized characteristics about a person, reduce everything about that person to those traits…” (p. 200).  I absolutely hate stereotypes; I don’t understand how people think it is acceptable to take a human being and shove them into a mold of how society thinks they should behave.  Everyone has been stereotyped.  I personally have been stereotyped for several things. People don’t understand the effects of stereotyping until they have personally experienced it.  On a personal level, I get stereotyped for being in a sorority.  Once people find out that I am in one, they automatically assume that I am a “typical sorority girl”: a raging party tramp with a low GPA and absolutely no ambitions in life.  The fact that people would assume I am this type of person just because I wear Greek letters across my chest is hurtful and damaging to my esteem.  Then once they get to know me, they realize all the positive things that a sorority can bring out in someone; my friends are flabbergasted when they learn that I have a 3.5 GPA, I don’t party a lot, and I complete over 100 hours of community service every academic school year.  Stereotypes not only hurt the people that is mentioned, but also the people that hold those stereotypes mentioned.  When I studied in Spain, many of the Spaniards thought that all Americans were over-the-top alcoholics, basically exactly like the cast of “Jersey Shore”.  I had to break those assumptions as well.

                I feel that recognizing stereotypes is important, especially for educators.  In my classroom, there will be a variety of races and cultures among my students.  It is up to me to take care that not only I remain neutral from stereotypes, but that I encourage everyone to look at the assumptions society has about their peers and to get to know each other on a deeper and more meaningful level.  If every teacher was able to accomplish this in their classroom, imagine what the next generation of students will be like: open, accepting, and independent.

Cultures of English as a Lingua Franca

This article brought up a lot of debateable topics; the one that I focused on is the relationship between language and culture.  Are they related? Can the two be separated?  In the first week of class, we talked about how there is no set definition of what culture is.  On page 570, Baker writes that "language both embodies and creates cultural reality."  Go to any country, even here in the United States, and you will see how integrated the two terms really are.  Language is a part of culture; culture is a part of language.  They cannot be separated and go hand in hand.  So what does this information have to do with English as a lingua franca?  Since there are so many different varieties of ENglish and so many different cultures that have English as an L1.  "learners of English are not learning to join a single language community, but are shuttling between communities, between local and global." (574).  In the interviews conducted in this study, several Thai students were set up with other students and researchers.  In Extract 4, Oy was talking about how she felt when she spoke English.  SHe said "in English, you can express yourself more...English is a kind of message containing something that will make other people more open" (580).  The other participant, Nami, talked about how she was influenced by English speaking norms and how she learned to adapt them so they suited her whenever she needed them.  From this study, we learned that the "participants do seem to view ELF as a vehicle for expressing and perhaps creating cultures and identifications" (586).  These aprticipants help us to understand how connected language and culture are.  "Language can never be culturally neutral."
There are so many different reasons for why people learn English. However, to "the learners of English as a lingua franca, the ability to negotiate, mediate, and adapt to emerging communicative practices is important." (p. 588).

Holliday 2.1-2.3

After reading these three selections, there was one story that stuck out the most to me and that was the one with Jeremy and Jabu.  Throughout reading this, I could see and understand both  sides of the situation.  Jeremy probably thought that he was helping his student, whereas Jabu felt insulted and belittled.  Unfortunately, this situation occurs on a daily basis with language teachers and students.  The reasons range from lack of communication to stereotyping to prejudice.  It was frustrating to read because I could sense the tension and irritation that Jabu felt every time Jeremy addressed her or spoke to others about her.  I myself have felt this way in my own foreign language classes in high school.  My comprehension is much more advanced than my oral proficiency.  When the teacher would lecture or explain things to us, I understood everything that she would say to a T.  But the second that I was called on to answer a question, I would freeze up and stutter and mess up my conjugations.  I knew that this was not the best of my capabilities and I would become angry with myself for allowing myself to look incompetent infront of my teacher.  But then whenever I would mess up in class, the teacher would start to treat me differently.  She would talk slower and louder and look directly at me when she spoke to me.  It was really annoying because I felt like she was sugarcoating everything and it didn’t need to be that way.   I knew what I was capable of, I just needed to prove that to my teacher.  I remember that when I would turn in papers or exams, she would be so surprised at my work and give me extra praise.  Normally, I would welcome this praise with open arms, but I knew that this was only because she did not expect that much from me.  Therefore, it would embarrass me and aggravate me.  In the end, I approached my teacher and explained that I did understand everything we were doing in class, that I struggled with my speaking skills, and that I felt like I was not being challenged enough in her class.  Once we discussed this, everything was much better, but we had to get to that point where we verbally communicated what was going on. 

                My personal experience and that of Jabu’s in the story are evidence of how important it is for teachers to recognize how fragile communication is between themselves and their students.  We need to acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of every student, but not belittle them or treat them differently because of those differences.  First off, NEVER speak to them the way you would to a 2 year old; it is rude and degrading.  Just because they have a different native language doesn’t mean that they need you to shout at them.  Treat them as equals, and if need be, ask them how proficient they are in speaking and listening.  Communication is the key to successful teaching, and both parties need to be on the same page or else one is going to be miserable.  

Holliday Post

The readings in this book gave a lot of definitions and examples of exactly what culture is. As we previously discussed in class, there is no exact definition of what culture is.  Some view it as a noun, something that can be seen. Others view it as a verb, something that is done, a way of life.  Obviously, I am no expert in this area of study so I am not capable of giving the perfect definition.  But what I do know from my classes and personal experiences is that I think it can be a little of both. In language courses, you read about the culture of a country and watch video clips.  These clips contain info on things such as the language, customs, festivities, and food.  But if one really wants to know the "culture" of a country, then reading a book will only get them so far: they need to go out and experience it. I remember reading so much about the Spanish culture and hearing stories, I thought I would be prepared to handle whatever when I arrived there. Boy, was I wrong. I had culture shock, like most travelers, and despite all my "expertice" in Spanish culture, I still was blown away by everything I soaked in.
I feel confused on why some people feel the need to have a set and solid definition of what culture really is.  Like it is written on page 66, "attributions of culture and community can clearly not be reduced to one factor alone."   There is so much involved that weaves in and out of everything, it all becomes entangled like a ball of yarn.  Why try to limit something so creative, amazing, and inspiring into one definition?
One thing that I have experienced here in the US and abroad is that people need to be more aware and appreciative of other cultures and customs.  This is something that we learn about in bilingual education: the importance of ensuring students that their unique cultures are something to be treasured and embraced, not embarrassed of.  I believe that most of the prejudices against certain cultures are based on stereotypes; not evveryone will react to certain cultural situations in the exact manner so personal experience has a lot to do with how one interprets it.
All in all, while I do not have a definite definition of exactly what culture means, I do know that I enjoy experiencing different ones and that there are so many things that represent culture and its displays, that I think people will be struggling to find a "real" definition for a long time.