2/22 Readings

References: Cary Chapters 9 and 10

Chapter 9, "How do I support a student's first language when I don't speak the language?", addresses a very pertinent issue in ESL classrooms. When we enter the classroom environment, we generally do not know the student's other language; I feel quite fortunate that I speak Spanish because that is the majority of the language minorities (not really even a minority anymore!) speak this language, but I do not speak Hmong or Chinese or Arabic, so I feel like it is a daunting task to have to know these other languages in my classroom. I worried about how I make comparisons between languages when I do not even know the structure of that native language. I feel like I would be doing my students a disservice in that case.

However, upon reading the article, it gave me so many awesome ideas to incorporate in my future classroom. I LOVED the idea of the teacher (Dolores) having her students present their culture and language in front of the class and teaching them the three-set phrase (hello, please, thank you) and then putting it up on the walls so that students could look at them. "Because Vietnamese was honored and because Nguyet and all of us have so much of our identity tied to what we speak and how we speak it, honoring Vietnamese honored and validated Nguyet" (pg. 138). It is such a great idea to incorporate that native language and make them proud of their heritage instead of focusing on English-only programs. I also thought the class newspaper idea was really cool and innovative; I've heard of this sort of project in mainstream classroom settings in elementary schools, but never before in an ESL classroom. I think it really brings home the idea that ESL students can do whatever mainstream students do if we just give them the opportunity to do it! The other teacher called Dolores' classroom "loosey-goosey" because it did not follow strict rules or regulations, but to me, if it works for the class, then it works. Every teacher is different, just like the students. If the students respond to rules and a strict schedule, then great; if they do not, then we have to work with them to find out what is going to work best in the classroom. I would rather my students learn than be bored, which I am pretty sure everyone else feels about teaching.
 "Students who develop a strong foundation in their primary language in multiyeared bilingual programs consistently outperform second language learners in all English programs" and have an "economic advantage: proficient bilinguals were the 'prize hires' in an increasingly competitive global market" (pg. 137-138). I think this statement sums up everything that I try to advocate about bilingual and ESL education to everyone I talk to. The whole Prop. 227 in California issue and English-only programs get me so angry because people who run them are being ignorant; if they would just see what schools are doing and look at the research, maybe they would stop focusing on wanting to be the language majority and being superior to seeing that language brings people together and facilitates international cooperation. It can only help us, not hinder us.

Chapter 10, "How do I minimize communication conflicts in a multilingual classroom?" addresses the issue of students having conflicts as a result of their communication and as a result of their cultural differences in speech and how they rationalize and handle issues. I was just surprised to see that the students were just so mean to each other, like the one kid saying "Chopstick Boy" and "reinforced it with a mocking laugh" (pg. 148), and that the students were teasing their classmates about "their English pronunciation and jumbled syntax" (pg. 14). I guess maybe I was under the delusion that the students would be helping each other and would cooperate and that was how an ESL classroom worked in my mind. I was just shocked to see that they were not cooperating well at all with each other and I was curious to see how the teacher would fix that problem because obviously having conflicts can result in a very chaotic classroom and interfere with daily classroom life. At first I thought the teacher's PowerPoint presentation was a great idea but at the same time was not surprised entirely to see it bomb. The students are not going to listen to a presentation when the evidence is in front of them; they need to actually cooperate and experience art as a collaborative process and work through that to make art or a project memorable.
I think the teacher in this vignette's first mistake was that he let them group themselves in what the book refers to as "ethnic enclaves" (pg. 150). I know this happens in every school no matter if the students are ESL or not; I know in my high school at home this happened all the time since the groups who were considered 'minorities' really were minorities: my high school was about 88 percent Caucasian, and that was about as diverse as you could get as far as European related backgrounds, and plus the economic divide in my town added to the separation factor. I think teachers (especially ESL ones) need to take these factors into consideration. I think if I was an ESL teacher in his position, I would try to group them by who I know are actually friends or cooperate well together, or maybe cultures that do not have some historical negative context with the other, like Israeli and Pakistani students because that could end up pretty badly until they get accustomed to each other. The teacher's job is to feel the situation out and make sure they are making the right decisions for that particular context. He definitely made it better by grouping them by "two different primary languages and several had students from three different language backgrounds" (pg. 151), because then the students cannot rely on their first language and have to use English to get their task accomplished. That was a good strategy.
Also, giving them the option to pick an artist they all liked and were interested in helps the group collaborate more on the project, and gives them specific ownership over it which all teachers want their students to have. We do not want to be the ones forcing them to do every single thing in the classroom! We want them to have some say in the matter. As the book says, it was also very important that Toby "cared enough to deal with them as individuals and not embarrass them in front of their peers" (pg. 153), which we all know junior high and middle school students are HUGELY self-conscious and they do not want to be embarrassed. We want them to do things that they feel proud of and be confident in their products, and who belongs to their group makes a difference in that respect as well. They need to be working with people that they feel comfortable with, and this helps their presentation and research go much more smoothly.