Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Ch. 1 & 2
'The term English Learners simply means those who are learning English as nonnative speakers' (Diaz-Rico 2). English Learners can be two different types of students; the first, ESL meaning English as the Second Language and secondly EFL meaning English as a foreign language. It is becoming more clear that language teaching is interwoven with language planning. All around the world English is taught to students to make them more marketable in their own countries. However in the US, the schools focus more on students acquiring the language and conforming to the culture and standards. 'The first challenge is to teach English effectively, to motivate English learners to achieve the highest possible level of proficiency under the circumstances, and to gain a sensitive and complex understanding of the target culture' (Diaz-Rico 15). Many theorists believed that the proper use of a language would help students gain social power, justice, awareness, and equity. I never realized how El students live and breathe in such discriminating environments. I never thought about how different their lives and education must be. These chapters not only opened my eyes as to what other students are going through, but that this has been a hot topic for years! It saddens me to think that the EL students in my classroom may not feel equitable to the other students, I will be keeping a closer eye on their behaviors and how others treat them. This website outlines many colleges and programs that are available to those students wanting to learn English, or further their education in teaching strategies of EL students. http://www.esl.com/
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JRohrman used a from Pennycook, 2004; “Is the spread of English natural, neutral, and beneficial”. I like this quote as it can be analyzed from many different perspectives. I think the acquisition of english is natural for the people that live in prominent english speaking homes. However, how could english be natural in other countries? I think that foreign countries learn english to be neutral. They understand that the use of english is the dominant language of the world, so EFL students learn this language to fit in with the world. The learning of english is beneficial through all languages, theories, cultures, etc. Being that it is one of the most popular languages, it would always be beneficial to learn. I liked the comment that Joe Tapia used; "English Language Learners consist of not only Latin American countries, but areas from afar such as: Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, p.8. This information helps me become more aware that the students we service may not always necessarily be Spanish speakers". I felt the same way as I read this, I never even thought about how far an english learner can go. I have always thought of spanish only, however the chapter has opened my eyes as I now understand that it is a much broader concept than I originally thought.
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