In Judith Baker's essay "Trilingualism" Baker addresses the three types of English that she has observed all English speakers speaking-- "home" English, "formal" English, and "professional" English. As an English teacher at an urban high school, she has developed a system of accepting and teaching acceptance to the different dialects of English spoken in her classroom, which starts with a personal language evaluation project.
When reading this essay, I was amazed at how effective the language project was for her students. She wrote it moved students to consider problems they may have with writing or speaking, and also gave the students in her classroom a better understanding and acceptance of each other. I think what I've taken most from this essay is that it is very possible and beneficial to support and accept students' language and culture while also encouraging them to learn "standard English". It's also possible to openly and tactfully discuss code-switching for formal, professional, and familiar situations.
The biggest question for me from this essay is how could I apply this same practice in an ESL classroom? My goal is to teach English as a Second Language, which is tricky because often the students in ESL classes don't have much grasp on English at all, so what's an effective way to teach English to non-speakers while still respecting their culture?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
First, Karen, I want to you to know how much I admire your goal. Admittedly, I am intimidated by the idea of bridging the gap between English and an ESL student. But I believe chapter 7 of The Skin That We Speak offered us both some insight.
ReplyDeleteGloria J. Ladson-Billings's "I ain't writin' nuttin': Permissions to Fail and Demands to Suceed in Urban Classrooms" places importance on three things: students' academic achievement, students' cultural competence, students'and socio-political consciousness. Ladson-Billings illustrates a classroom of kindergarten and first graders, in which, a young African American student is "regularly permitted to fail." This is unacceptable.
Ladson-Billings goes further to illustrate a situation in which, a young novice teacher, Carter, did not allow for failure. Despite pressures from his students and from his fellow teachers, his "care" and expectations for his students far exceeded that of doing worksheets.
In order to remedy the situation, "Carter began a systematic examination of his own practice." I believe that this is our answer. We must assess ourselves, our goals, and those things things important in our lives. We can draw upon these items and transfer them to our classrooms with the hope of sharing our passions with our students.
For Carter, his passion was music. His passion for music was relative and translated well within his classroom. I believe the most important lesson learned Carter and Ladson-Billing's essay is the "sense of uncertainty and a willingness to question." I plan to make the question, "I wonder what I do next?" central to my teaching philosophy.
I could see this approach working in an ESL classroom - choosing something important to you and sharing it with your students. As it has been said, we create the weather in our classroom. Your excitement may translate to your ESL students and aid them in learning.