ENG 345 Post # 11

The readings from this past week dealt with assessment. In my 346 class, we have been discussing the differences between assessment and testing and the various types of assessments you can use in order to assess students. As Brown has said, a test is something that measures knowledge in a specific domain where as an assessment measures a wider domain in an ongoing process. An example of this would be a portfolio that a student could look back on and see how much they have progressed and the knowledge they have gained. I personally prefer assessments in the elementary and secondary school settings. The purpose of school is for students to learn and progress. With diverse assessments students can explore their abilities and talents and learn and experience more than in just one test that is not always valid and reliable. Also in the readings, Brown discusses norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests. I became aware of norm- referenced tests last year due to my professor grading our exams and papers in comparison to the rest of the class. I hated this. Since the class I took was a Spanish history class, there were many native Spanish speakers in there. Therefore, my level of ability was seen as lower due to my L2 being compared to someone's L1. I did not think that that was entirely fair. In my future class, I would be sure to use criterion-referenced tests. I feel that it is only fair to base a students performance off of what they can do and not compare it to everyone elses. Every student should have the opportunity to obtain an A, not be scattered through out a scale based on comparability.

Eng 345 Post # 10

Brown's readings that were assigned this past week talked about curriculum and unit plans. Curriculum can be very overwhelming in the idea that not everything goes to plan. You may have planned out numerous activities for a day that dealt with the topic matter you were teaching and were not able to get to all of them due to the students not grasping the idea of the concept immediately. It was a relief to see that Brown talked of this because things never always go to plan and it is a crazy to believe that in a classroom of diverse students a teacher will be able to follow the curriculum or their unit plan word for word or step of step. Brown discusses the needs of the students as objective and subjective. The objectives are what we have all been used to preparing and planning, "The students will be able to demonstrate...etc" in our lesson plans. Of course these are important and essential because students attend school in order to learn. However, because things change from year to year, day to day, and especially from student to student, we need to keep in mind the subjective needs of the students when teaching in order to accommodate to their needs.The question that arouses for me, is how exactly do you incorporate all of these subjective needs in a lesson plan? Do they necessarily have to be written out, or can we simply imply that things are not going to go as planned and give our plans and curriculum flexibility?

Kumar took a different approach in what was discussed in the readings and focused on M&M/ macro-strategies / mismatch observational scheme. In this observational scheme, the teacher observes themselves in how they approach a lesson, teach it, meet the students needs, and how they can improve themselves in doing so. The three main points of observation include pre-observation, observation, and post observation. I feel that all three of these observation points are important in the idea that this gives ourselves as teachers so observe ourselves before, during, and after in order to compare what we had to planned, to actually what happened, and then focus on the improvements we can make in future lessons to better them. The quote that my C&I 212 teacher would always say is "There is no other profession like teaching where each day you have a fresh start". I completely believe and agree with that. By analyzing and observing ourselves we can definitely continue to improve in order to become the best teachers we can be. 

Eng 345 Blog # 9

 Reading Blog: Cultural Awareness

The readings from this past week dealt with raising cultural awareness. As we have learned and talked about in the past, it is extremely important to be  aware and respectful of other peoples cultures. Being ESL teachers, there are for sure going to be students from diverse backgrounds that we need to take in to account for teaching. Not only to do we need to recognize and be sensitive in order to make students feel comfortable and welcomed in the classroom but we also need to pay attention to the differences of what is culturally acceptable in some cultures and what is not in comparison to ours. It is important to be aware of these factors in order for us to understand actions and behaviors of certain students and also to inform them and teach them the "norms" of the American culture. Due to the probability of having a class full of diverse learners, It would be smart to include lessons of each students culture so that the whole class can also learn and be aware of it too. Not only will it give the other students a better understanding, but it would make the students culture that's being presented feel proud and welcomed in a diverse setting.

Research Proposal Update

The topic that I had decided on from the two that we had discussed was, should the use of the learners L1 be used in the classrooms or should they be English only? Although we had talked about focusing more on one of the skills, reading, writing, speaking, or listening, in regards to a more narrower topic, I have chosen to take a different route. I would like to compare English Only classrooms with respect to reality vs. ideology. It can be very easy to have an idea and feel that that is the right way to go but sometimes we forget to put these ideologies in to play and pay attention to their outcomes in reality. Therefore, I think that this aspect would be very beneficial to research and discuss since this topic of interest is still so controversial.

Articles

 http://www.aare.edu.au/10pap/1755HoangJangYang.pdf - This article talks about the use of English -only classroom in a comparison of reality and ideology.

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED467741&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED467741 - This article discusses the opinions and points of view from the classroom including the teachers and students. (reality)

http://www.azcentral.com/families/education/articles/0228ellprimer0228.html - This article discusses Arizona's English only program and also the effects of complications in regards to families trying to fit in,  teachers and language struggles, schools and their different directions, and lastly the state in regards to politics and money. (reality)

ENG 345 Post # 8

The chapters from Brown and Kumar this week focused on context, models of integration, and integrating language skills. In chapter 9, Kumar focus mostly on context in the idea of linguistic, extralinguistc, situational, and extrasituational realities. In my opinion, it is extremely important to keep these four factors of context in mind when teaching and speaking in an L2. Depending on your culture, diverse ways of expressing things can be seen as acceptable or unacceptable. For example, when I was in Spain, when referring to others, the people there would be very blunt and ask questions such as "where is the gordo"?  In English "gordo" means fat. Although this is acceptable for their culture, it would not be seen as acceptable to ask that in American culture. It would be seen as rude. Also, in terms of linguistics there are words that can have diverse meanings causing L2 learners to possibly use them in the wrong context and people are then not able to understand them.  
In chapter 10 discusses the importance of integrating language learning skills and not just focusing on teaching reading, writing, listening, and speaking separately. I completely agree with this because now a days in order to communicate all four of these need to come naturally with one another. For example, they reflect off of each other as in speaking and listening, when conversing one needs to speak and listen, not just focus on one or the other. Also, when learning Spanish because they focused so much on writing and reading skills, I lack confidence and skill in regards to my speaking. 
Brown chapter 17 bounces off of the ideas in chapter 10 regarding integrating language learning skills. However, he goes in to the models of integration that include content, task, and theme-based. I feel that a good combination of all of these helps cater to the diverse learning needs of L2 learners in becoming successful and well rounded in their L2. Of these three models, which one tends to be the most utilized?

ENG 345 Post # 7

The chapters that we had from Brown dealt with teaching reading and writing in the classroom. As a second language learner, I have always found reading to be the easiest out of the two for me.

In regards to reading Brown proposes techniques in how to provide students with good teaching steps in successfully reading in their target language. In order to be able to comprehend and understand a reading, one needs to have prior knowledge of basic vocabulary (or vocabulary of that certain topic), and be aware and recognize grammar structures and conjugations. Due to this, I found Brown's top down approach to be the most beneficial out of the two approaches. The other being the top down approach. However, because learners all have their own way of learning and connecting to things differently, a combination of the two and providing the students with both  of the approaches would fully benefit my students. They will be exposed to a various genres of reading context that can range from 18th century to poetry. Since these genres can tend to be a bit more difficult, it is good to have approaches and techniques for how to have a full understanding when reading.

In regards to writing, Brown states that "the process of writing is the most important rather than the product". I like his perspective on this topic. Although it may be easier to just grade a final product and not the process of it in the idea that it can be a little more subjective, I feel that paying attention to the process of how the student came to the finishing product is also more beneficial that just seeing the final product. Being able to base progress and writing levels is within the process; not necessarily always at the end of it. Not every student starts off at the same level finishes the same as another student. It is a learning process and students should learn from their mistakes in order to continue the process of creating better and better writing.

What are some techniques that students can use to practice their writing skills and find their voice in their writing pieces?

Eng 345 Post # 6

The readings from this week were very interesting to me due to the idea that I could relate to them. To begin with, in the Cary article, there was a focus on the benefits of bringing diversity in to the classroom along with culture. Diversity and culture are huge proponents in successful second language learning. Due to L2 learners of the English language all being diverse, it it smart to bring in their own culture to make them more comfortable and have a better understanding of their identity. It is already frustrating and challenging to learn a new language and be exposed to culture aspects that are diverse from your own. By having the familiarity of ones own culture when learning a language helps for them to compare and identify as well as feeling more comfortable in the classroom that leads to more motivation put towards learning an L2. The teacher in the article did a good job in supporting the other cultures that existed in the classroom. Along with this, as Kumar emphasizes in chapter 5, is the interaction between the student and teacher. Having the learners and the teacher negotiate through out the class and maximize learning opportunities will also increase this motivation and success. In order to maximize these learning opportunities, we, as teachers will need familiarize ourselves with our students and how they learn.
The reading from Brown, in regards to speaking and listening, is the reading that I could relate the most to. He talks about the difficulty and also the aspects of ease in the speaking aspect of learning a second language. I myself have trouble with speaking in my L2. I can get very timid and reflect on every little mistake that I make which sometimes makes me not want to speak. The techniques that he discusses were not only a benefit to me for helping teach students, and to see the levels that they were at, but to also help myself. The characteristic that ideally helps listening and speaking easier was redundancy. When learning my L2, I definitely repeated things over and over to fully understand and feel comfortable with it. This is one of the things I plan on doing in my classroom. I do believe that these two components, listening and speaking, are the two most important in learning a language. In order to communicate one needs to not only comprehend but also produce.

Eng 345 Post # 5

The readings from Kumar and Brown from this past week concentrated on teacher and student learning, cognitive, socio-effective and linguistic principles, and strategic based instruction.
To begin, I like how Kumar stated that it is the responsibility of the teacher and the student to utilize learning opportunities. Normally, I feel that it is always one way sided. I either hear that it is the fault of the teachers as to why students do not succeed and that it is only the teacher's responsibility to make sure every child is at the same level, or that the student is just a slacker or not smart enough and it is their fault that they are not succeeding.  There is a relationship between the two and that you can not have one with out the other. Although I do believe that it is the teachers responsibility to accommodate to students and make learning creative, there still needs to be involvement from the students. Brown talks about the idea of motivation and intrinsic motivation. For me, I feel that the most important quality a student can have in order to succeed is having the motivation to do well. Think about it, if there is something that you are not interested in and dread doing, the likelyhood of you excelling in that task is not high. If you are motivated and enjoy to a certain extent of what you are doing, the likelihood of success increases immensely. I know from my experience in learning Spanish I would not have been this successful with it if I had not been motivated. I wanted to learn the language on my own for my personal accomplishments. There was no demand in me having to learn the language. The kind of motivation that I had was intrinsic motivation, that Brown discussed, which does not depend on any outside factors. This is where the teacher role in learning comes in to play. The teacher should try and make learning more fun and exciting in order for the students to have better motivation and possibly obtain that intrinsic motivation.
To go off from here, Kumar then explains in the chapter about strategic- based instruction opportunities in order for teachers to use to increase student learning. One of the strategies that she commented on was also what Brown had mentioned, increasing motivation and also learners of diverse styles. By accommodating to these styles, students can feel more comfortable in their learning environment and have a better understanding.
All in all, it is important that this relationship between student and teacher learning continues to grow. The need from both parts is important in the success of education.
What are the some of the ways that we can try and increase this bond? Can we think of any classes that we had more motivation to learn in? Why or why not was this?

Eng 345 Post # 4

In the reading The End of CLT, it discussed a negative side of the what CLT (Communicative Learning Teaching) concentrates on which is something that has been used in the past. The idea of CLT is that if you are learning a language you need to be learning that language in the target language. With that said, there was a proposition in the idea that there can only be one method in teaching L2 learners and that in every situation it would be satisfactory. However, we all know that there is not just one method for teaching. As we have discussed numerous times, every classroom and L2 learner is diverse. Therefore, in order for a learner to learn in ways that are best fitting to them, the teaching in CLT needs to be accommodated to each learner and classroom. There can not simply be one method. I do, however, agree with the CLT that speaking in the target language is an important skill, it just may not be the most important. In my opinion, I feel that depending on the level of the learner in their L2 language depends on how much of the target language needs to be spoken. If they are advanced, of course it should be all in the target language, but at beginner and intermediate levels, there needs to be diverse methods in order for complete comprehension which is a huge factor in learning a language that needs to be adressed.
Another topic that branches off of what was talked in the earlier in regards to different methods  according to Skehan,  had to deal with input and interaction with communicative activity and task based structures. Skehan mentioned that although input and interaction combined were beneficial, it was not enough. What Skehan stated was the most important was form. When learning English as a young child, I never paid attention to form and any type of strategies for that matter. Therefore, when I think about my English language abilities I can never relate. However, in my L2, Spanish, I realized that form is a really important aspect in learning a language since I would compare comprehension and and structure to my L1 language.
After reading these, I took a moment to think about my experience  I had as an L2 learner and I thought about the methods that worked for me. Now that I am at a more advanced level, I prefer the concentration of my learning in that target language, however as I was learning, I preferred not only direct translations but also the translations as to how native speakers of the language say it. I also did like feedback and input. Although, the consistent error making helping would get annoying and make my self esteem go down, I did like knowing the correct way to say something so that I would not make the same mistake again. I want to take my experience as an L2 learner and take my methods of learning into my teaching but also adapting to those of my students. A question to consider, What were the ways in which we all learned our L2, and what methods did we appreciate the most, and how can we incorporate them in to our teaching?

Eng 345 Post # 2

The reading that I am going to focus on in this blog is Chapter 2 by Kumar.  In this reading Kumar focused on the understanding of post method pedagogy in regards to three broad main ideas. These include the traditional concept of method on language learning and teaching, learning teaching wants, needs, and situations, and lastly the primary task of in-service and pre-service teacher education programs. Throughout this chapter there was much talk of the dissatisfaction with the concept of method and moving towards post method pedagogy. Reasons for the dissatisfaction of a method pedagogy is due to,

• “Teachers who are trained in and swear by a particular method do not conform to its theoretical principles and classroom procedures,
• Teachers who claim to follow the same method often use different classroom procedures that are not consistent with the adopted method,
• Teachers who claim to follow different methods often use same classroom procedures, and
• Overtime, teachers develop and follow a carefully delineated task hierarchy, a weighted sequence of activities not necessarily associated with any established method.”

These reasons provoke why there needs to be a move from a method-based pedagogy to post method pedagogy. In my opinion and from my experiences I agree with Kumar. It is true that teachers do these above things and do not stay up to date with what skills and knowledge need to be applied in the classroom as the education field continues to progress. With having post method pedagogy there will be reflection on the specific needs, wants, situations and processing of teaching. Also, this will stretch the knowledge, skill, and attitude to stay informed and, updated, and involved. In this pedagogy, appropriate teaching strategies will be maximized along with the monitoring and evaluating of reactions in diverse situations.

The education field that is alive today continues to change every day through accommodations. Not only are the children learning, but the teachers are also learning with them through their ability and knowledge of doing different teaching techniques in regards to the children’s’ learning techniques. A post method pedagogy would be the best method for today’s schools.

Although we are trying to move in a better different direction, what are some of the complications that could come about from this pedagogy?

Eng 345 Post # 1

The readings for this week were in regards to teaching in an English Speaking classroom; planning lessons, the outcomes, where to begin, and etc. Basically these readings were aimed towards the basic steps one needs to take when going in to the classroom setting and the many fears and doubts that first time teachers tend to have.  Many of the questions that were aroused in the book included: “How do I begin to start a lesson? What if the lesson fails? Are the students going to criticize every wrong thing I do? How do I know if the students understand what I am teaching them?” The topic that I found to be the most interesting was in chapter one that dealt with observations. I have done observations in the past and I feel I can relate to this selected topic the best.

The first step that we were supposed to take was to have an observation of an English Speaking classroom in Seoul, Korea. I feel that observing other teachers is a good way to get your feet wet. It provides the future educator with examples of how other educators teach a class. With observing, the future educator can see first hand what techniques worked and which ones did not. Also, besides just seeing if they worked or not, the future educator can pay attention to what lead to this success or failed. This could depend on the atmosphere of the class, the level of language learning, the students, the way it was represented, and etc. In my previous C&I classes, I had done many hours of observing other teachers in diverse content and grade level areas. This really gave me insights as to what was expected of me by seeing everything first hand.

 I believe that it is good to work up to educating slowly and by doing so one needs to observe and learn from others that are in the profession. Teaching is a field of trial and error. It is hard to predict the outcomes of each of our lessons that we will prepare. One of the questions that I have from reading this is what are some of the ways that we can try to be the most effective English educators from our previous experiences from observing other classrooms?

Intercultural Communications Post 8

The article by Lin that was for reading this past week was a critical analysis on autobiographical narratives of them teaching and learning English by the authors of this article. These narratives all come from diverse sociocultural contexts with English. “English is now a heteroglossic language that has become pluralized …we can point to the creative communicative strategies adopted by people from their own communities from way back to acquire and use English in their own terms” (Canagarajah, 2000, pp.130 – 131).  This quote ties in with what was read and discussed from the last week. English has truly become more pluralized and it is interesting to see when and why people use English, how they use it, and of course like it is said in the quote that each community has adopted creative ways of speaking the English language.The first connection I made with this article was the activity that we had done in class last week. It had to do with what strategy you can do in order to teach and have students understand the different varieties of English and distinguishes between errors and these non dominant language forms and functions. In ours we chose to have the students write on a short topic that would be discussed in class. We chose an invitation for them to write. We would break them up in partners of diverse cultural backgrounds and each one would write the invitation on their own in a natural manner. The partners would then switch papers, read each others, and then identify the variations in their partner’s paper that they would not use in theirs. This analyzing and writing is similar as to what the article was about. In the article, the authors of the narratives compared and contrasted and identified diverse situations that each faced. Of course there were some similarities and then differences that caused each person to have a different approach on their teaching and learning English. These students that we could give this assignment to would be seeing the differences in their variations and analyzing and would then see from their background why they write this way. In my future classroom I plan to do the activity that we came up with last week and also ones similar to it. Clearly it is a good strategy due to the article that we had to read this past week followed the same guidelines. My students are going to all be diverse in either my Spanish class or in my ESL class. This method of teaching and learning would work well in both class but I feel it would be more effective in and ESL class in the idea that because they are still learning the language they need to understand and be knowledgeable of these differences and people’s backgrounds and also because I am a native speaker of English. In the Spanish class of course I could do this but with teaching the different variations, forms, and functions of Spanish. It really is interesting to read and discover the reasons why other people do things even as simple as how they write or use the English language in their natural manner. What other ways can we engage ourselves in understanding and learning people’s diverse backgrounds in learning and teaching English from diverse sociocultural backgrounds and how and why they write and speak they way they do?

Intercultural Communications Post 7

The reading from this past week dealt with world Englishes. World English, according to the article, is said to not be a monolith but a catchall category for all its linguistic and functional varieties. There are problems that arouse from this in regards to teaching standardized written English and diversifying the language in writing. When English learners begin English writing there needs to be an in between this standardization and diversification. Although corrective feedback increases the ability of being able to write “correctly”, sometimes certain grammar errors should be let go so that the learner does not get too discouraged. In my opinion, if the linguistic feature does not disrupt the flow of the writing and there are other more important grammar features that need to be addressed, it should be let go. “Writing has long contributed attempts to stabilize certain aspects of language” (Howatt, 2004). There needs to be some type of dominant variety of English in order for everyone to communicate and understand each other effectively. In the diverse regions around the United States there are dialects and language differences in English that sometimes makes it difficult for others from different areas to understand each other. Although this gives culture to each regions way of speaking, if we do not understand each other no one is going to know what is going on. It is important to be aware of these dialect and diction differences in order to learn and understand what others are saying. This correlates with the speaking and writing of English Language Learners. For the most part their speaking and writing makes sense but there are certain errors that stick out when listening or reading that tend to be addressed either due to confusion from the listener of reader or just a matter of a small mistake that the other can still understand. In what ways can we as future educators do to help establish a relationship between the standardized English and variations of English? For me, as a future educator, I plan to teach the standardized rules of English that my students will need to know use in order to perform well with their language abilities. However, at the same time I am not going to tell them that their way of speaking is wrong and that they should not use that variety of English. I will be sure to differentiate and show the boundaries between a variety and a mistake. It is good for the students to be able to realize what is considered an error and what is considered a variety. Also, in order for students to understand how English has changed over time and continues to change I will teach them the non dominant forms and functions of the English language.

Intercultural Communications Post 6

The reading from this week dealt with the idea of culture. We have talked much of this idea of culture at the beginning of class. Due to that, I was able to relate to a lot of the topics that we had been reading in class that we have discussed and experienced. Culture was talked about not only as defining the word itself but also as culture and language, community, and language education.  Throughout the article there are many diverse definitions of exactly what culture is. “Although culture is one of the most studied and most used concepts in human history, it has stubbornly defied a clear cut definition of what it exactly is: There is no consensus about what it really is (Green Pippies, 43).  For me, I would always define culture as a group of people that share a common belief, religion, language, and traditions. These could include foods, dances, and music. However, from what I have learned throughout this class, these things do not entirely mean or signify a culture. For many, people like to categorize a certain category of people in to their “culture”. Through this, they expect that this certain group of people are to follow along with these traditions, languages, beliefs, and etc and are not allowed to have aspects from a culture other than theirs. On a very basic level, for example, many people would categorize Mexicans having their own culture where they only eat burritos, tacos, and rice. However, this “culture” incorporates other “culture’s” traditional foods in to their diets. What I have just explained is why people have such a hard time in being able to define what a culture is in black and white. Instead it is in a gray area.  As I have seen and read throughout this article and in this class, people can not be classified as just one “culture”. We are all our own person and have aspects from each of our experiences that define us. Although our family history and traditions make up part of where we come from, we can not define a culture and the way people are supposed to act, feel, and think based on that. In regards to culture and language, community and language education, these cultures are based off and separated in these groups. As a future educator I will be in a diverse classroom working with students from many different cultures. Not only will I introduce and familiarize my students with the diversity of other cultures, I will also be sure to enlighten them in the idea that just because someone is from a “culture” does not mean that that culture defines them. I will hopefully be able to let my students have the understanding of what culture really means and that their knowledge and understanding will help for a better a future of seeing people as individuals. Also, it will hopefully help with the decrease of separation of the culture of languages, communities, and language learning.  In what ways can we help create a more unified world?

Intercultural Communications Post 5

The article Language Ideologies and Policies: Multilingualism and

Education, written by Marcia Farr1 and Juyoung Song2, talks about the controversy over monolingualism and multilingualism. For the most part, many countries speak a variety of languages that they have learned through out their education. The one that seems to be the most spread official language of countries is English. Although the countries mother tongue is still one of the official languages, English continues to be the number 2 official language. America is one of the countries that appears to be pushing for this monolingual country and making standard English as the only official language. “Thus both liberals and conservatives share a belief in the culture of monoglot Standard: everyone should (learn to) speak Standard English. But what is Standard English (Farrl and Song2, 4). According to the article, Standard English is “not an empirical reality, but an abstraction, an ideal use of what is deemed ‘best’ linguistic practice. In the U.S., what is considered Standard varies regionally, and what distinguishes any particular language use as ‘Standard’ is actually the absence of stigmatized linguistic forms, not the presence of particular forms (Farr and Daniels 1986). For me when I think of Standard English I think of the grammar, readings, and writing that we learn in school and are tested on through out standardized tests. Since I have been in third grade I have been learning that there is only one correct standardized form of English. But who is to distinguish this? It was not until last semester when I took English 241, the history of the English language, where I learned about the diverse dialects and linguistic characteristics of the language in other regions in the country. We do not all speak the same English. However, for the most part we can understand each other. Different words may be used for the same thing but the word is unknown to the speaker from a different region. Due to not having a clear definition of what is “Standard English” I feel that conflicts arise from this even to make it the official language of America. Along with that, America is made up of people that are from every where around the world that speak their mother tongue. Dorian argues that “the pairing of nationalization and language standardization yielded an ‘ideology of contempt’ toward minority languages and dialects, which in turn contributed to the disappearance of ‘small languages’ worldwide”. I believe that in order to stand by the American dream we need to allow for this country to be multilingual. There is too much history and significance of languages that have disappeared and are continuing to disappear due to their lack of use and the focus on only English. For me, I think that multilingualism is a good thing. It will open up for better communication with those that do not speak English in other countries. Also, we will not be as ignorant to others cultures and languages if we begin to learn about them. In my future classroom I will be teaching Spanish. Therefore I will be teaching in support of multilingualism. My students will be exposed to different cultures. Those cultures include cultures of Mexico, South America, and Spain. I can only hope that by having them learn this language will encourage them to learn other languages and cultures.  

Intercultural Communications Post 4

The article by Taylor focused on the images in textbooks that ESL/EFL students would perceive as the norms of society in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity. The study was researched through 15 participants that were English Language Learners from Brazil. The conclusions from this study as to “What does an American look like?” resulted in “white, wealthy, powerful, isolated with members of their own race and free of problems” (8).  These results had to do with the images that were portrayed in the textbooks of diverse races. There are many that think that “students of ESL may find it difficult or impossible to challenge the hidden meaning in the materials provided to them” (34).  Due to Taylor’s experiences from her research she believed otherwise. One of the participants observed and criticized a picture and stated that “This picture where there is a man and a woman, a couple ... probably they have a lot of money or a good position because it's a kind of picture that only who has money want to have, okay the man standing behind the woman an9 using a suit and tie. And I don't like this kind of picture, really. Probably one day if I will be very, very rich I 'will not take one of these pictures. But I think they represent power, money, and status” (6). There is clear evidence that in this research that images do express meaning and people interpret its significance. This assumption from people made me think about the controversial arguments about Disney. There are many hidden messages in our favorite Disney movies that we think the young children that watch them do not understand. This may be true for some, but the messages about ethnicity, race, and gender are made very obvious through these characters images. The majority of the Disney Princesses are white, wealthy, and beautiful. This image is put in to the minds of young people, especially young girls, that this is the only acceptable image. How would one feel if you were African American and grew up with out having a princess that looked like you? Wouldn’t that make you feel as if you were not an equal and in order to feel accepted you had to look white? One of the participants made the comment that “American women wear too much makeup” (8) which goes along with the role that women should play in society; looking beautiful. Also, it can be interpreted that women can not save themselves and that the men have to save them. In the majority of Disney movies this man is always portrayed as a hero. The man always saves the woman from her troubles portraying his masculinity. The only movie that does not portray this exact image is Mulan. However, in order for Mulan to accomplish what she went out to do she had to pretend to be a man. Although I do feel that people at times can look in to things a little too much and over-analyze, I do understand and see how a certain image can create opinions and make a statement indirectly.
In my classroom there are going to be many diverse ethnicity, races, and genders especially because I will either be an ESL teacher or a Spanish teacher. I will try and focus on the positives of every race and have the students draw and take their own images of what really is reality compared to what they are just seeing as stereotypes.

Intercultural Communications Post 3

The readings for this week had to deal with stereotyping, prejudice, othering, and culturism. The example the book mentioned was about a man that stereotyped a family on how they should act because they were Amish. The man never got to know the family, but only made judgements based on their appearance. They were a large family, weren’t exposed to the media, the girl’s had long hair, and the boy’s had long beards. Also, due to their religion and way of living the man had learned and seen through a movie “Witness”, the man was surprised when his wife invited them over to watch the news on t.v. Since the man had this stereotype of the family based on the little knowledge he knew, he made opinions about them before getting to know them. “Many argue that is is natural to form opinions and that they indeed help us to understand ‘foreign cultures’  that they act as a template or as an ideal type, against which we can measure the unknown” (Holliday, 2000; 25).  The book disagrees with this statement and describes this as othering. It is seen as othering because the ‘foreign cultures’ would be seen as the others, what is different. Although I do not agree it is alright to stereotype others, I do agree with the statement that it is natural to form opinions. When something is diverse and not something were used to, it is easy to categorize these aspects into a group with things similar to it. However, like the man did in the example, when one sees someone doing something out of the ordinary from what their “culture” believes or does, they all of a sudden have lost part of their “culture” and are not ‘really” from that culture. Instead of having the perception of them not fitting their culture, we should view them as their own individual and having their own identity. In today’s society people  are adapting to its change and progression. This does not mean that it necessary for them to loose part of their old identity or that they someone is not a “real Amish” or any other stereotype. This simply means that their identity is continuing to change as does everyone's. Our identities are continuously changing due to our experiences and that does not make one any less of anything that they may be.

In my classroom my students are all going to be coming from diverse backgrounds. Due to this they are probably going to be stereotyping each other because they are all different and not used to each others differences. In order for my students to not make these judgements based on first appearances, I will incorporate diverse cultures and ethnicity and do activities to show that we all have a lot in common and its our experiences that make us different, not what someone had categorized as. In that we can learn and talk about each others experiences. In what ways are our experiences related to others?

Intercultural Communications Post 2

The reading for week three was about identity and culture. Throughout the reading the book discussed how people did not necessarily like to categorize things under “culture” due to many wrong misinterpretations of who people really are. Instead the readings focused on the idea of  discourse, schemata, face and framework, social identity, and rhetorical devices. Many of the people did not like to associate with the term “culture” because it meant to describe how people behave in a given society. They preferred to use “cultural scripts” which articulated certain norms that people in a given society are familiar with. After reading I felt a little overwhelmed with all the diverse ways in which people had categorized a person’s identity and the idea of culture. There was so much thought put into the “roles” of people in different situations. Everyone does act differently in certain situations and sees things in ways other people don’t. I liked the example of how one would act at family dinner and act at a formal dinner. Since we understand what is expected of us at each of these and what is appropriate we act in different ways. For instance, in my family when we eat dinner together we wear comfy clothes, drink out of plastic cups, make jokes, laugh obnoxiously loud, and even put our elbows on the table. However, at a formal dinner these actions would be viewed as inappropriate. One would wear formal attire, speak and laugh at an appropriate level of loudness, and the conversation would not be as relaxed. This example provides evidence that sometimes people act the way in which  society wants and says is appropriate. This is normally what others see because it is at a public place. If someone were to be invited to a family dinner who only had seen this person act at a formal dinner, they would most likely be taken back at the actions in which they partake in with their family. Although we all act differently in diverse social settings and know that we ourselves act differently, it confuses me as to why when other people act differently it comes as a shock. I know I am guilty of it at times. However, because we are so used to basing our judgements off of society’s views and what we have learned from text books about others, we fail to see people as their own individuals. The connection I can make with this in my teaching is not categorizing my students and making judgements off of things that I have heard. I will get to know them on a different level other than just how they are supposed to act in a school setting or if they feel they need to act a certain way based on their “culture” due to them thinking they have to because that’s what society says. In order to do this I want to make my classroom a comfortable setting where everyone can feel welcomed and not have to worry about acting a certain way. I feel by doing this I will be able to build good strong relationships with my students and I will have the ability to know them as individuals. . How can you have your own identity if you are already given an “identity” based on your “culture”?

Intercultural Communications Post 1

In today's society it is not uncommon for Americans to view different cultures that live here as having become “Westernized” as it has been stated in the book or “Americanized”. In our textbooks throughout our schooling and listening to what is going on in other countries on our news gives us this idea of how other countries are and we portray them in a stereotypical way. Therefore, when we see them acting and participating as “Americans”, Americans tend to portray these people as being “Westernized”. With that said, there might be some that follow the guidelines and beliefs that we learn that occur in other countries but that does not necessarily mean that all participate practice these values. Also, the ones that do participate in it might also have different traditions and do things differently that we are unaware of and have not been taught. For instance, the book gives an example of when a teacher thinks that her two Chinese students are not participating in a class discussion due to Confucianism. In Confucianism it is viewed as impolite to question authority. In this specific example it would be impolite for a student to question a teacher which is what occurs during classroom discussions. However, when the student confronts the teacher about it, he states that that is not the reason and that there are classrooms where discussions in the classroom take place. The teacher claims that this shocks her due to her having heard this more than once. This example gives evidence of how people can just assume things by just going off of what they have heard and not having experienced it. Sometimes when people tell us things that have experienced it that go against what we have learned before and are different than what we already know and have heard, we tend to either be skeptical of it or not to listen. In this example that is what the teacher does. She has heard it more than once that Confucianism does not necessarily play its role in the classrooms where discussions take play with the students and she still continues to believe and question that that is the reason why her Chinese students are not participating.

The readings have also opened my eyes up to things that I was unaware of such as the portrayal of Iranian women. I believe that it is important to be placed outside of your comfort and have experience with different cultures instead of just listening to what is on the news and in our textbooks. This way we will all be able to be more understanding of others and not be as ignorant as to what is really going on in the rest of the world. This will also decrease the amount of the stereotypes that there are of diverse groups of people, and hopefully create better relations among those from different cultures.