Conclusion

At first when I was finished reading the article I was just upset. Upset that everything we are studying is constantly being disproved and new information comes out saying that what teachers have been doing with their students for the past five years is not beneficial and they need to update their teaching. However, I then began to think of how happy I am to actually be in a class where we have gotten a full range of where our content has been to what it is now. This change is so refreshing from the typical classes of just saying what is right and what is wrong. The main point I got from the article and Ch 7 is that TESOL is every changing just like our world, classrooms, and students.

What interested me the most from the article was the focus on soicopolitical and geographical issues in TESOL. Mainly because of the quote "In postcolonial communities, recent edited collections on language policy articulate the dilemmas involved in planning the relative status of local languages and English in society and education" I am constantly interested in this topic because I find it astonishing that only TESOL teachers are taught about theses subject matters when mainstream teachers should know the effects of their language as well. Also I found it interesting how the language of English has been pluralized because of its political aspects that are surrounding it.

Decolonizing English

"Our goal as teachers is to provide students with access to English and all the personal and professional possibilities that come with the ability to speak English, and to decolonize the teaching of English."

This quote is especially important to me because it is my dream to teach English in the Peace Corps. Because of this I am very interested in ways and techniques that I can use to decolonize the teaching of English. The English language has been globalized because of British colonialism as well as economic and militant power the United States holds. As teachers we must be aware that we are culture bearers and through our teaching we must be sure that we are not colonizing our students. We cannot simply force the English language and our specific accents among students, we have to take into consideration that English is a language addition not a language substitution. If students want to know who they are as people then it is vital for them to know the 'mother-tongue' of their language. We must be sure that while teaching we are not inadvertently oppressing that history and creating a language loss. Obviously since we are in TESOL classes none of us have the intention of dismissing the already existent cultures students will have. Yet, the colonizing nature of our teaching may be something that we are not aware of, and that is why it is necessary to not only teach our language and culture but to facilitate and promote the culture of our students. As teachers if we promote the other cultures and strive for double consciousness in our students we are taking an active role ensuring that our students do not forget who they are, but actually add to who they are.

Energy and Community

Hello fellow bloggers,

What I found the most intriguing in Chapter 2 of Under the Ginkgo Tree was the Chinese idea of ethical and social teaching coming from their ideas of the cosmos and how cosmic energy is always changing. The quote "Yin Yang provides the idea of harmony within creative tension" made me think of how as preservice teachers we are given so many theories and methods that will help with our teaching. However, after given all of these conflicting theories we must pick and choose ideas that each one possess in order to make our own philosophy of education. I feel that a harmony must be reached through the different theories. As well, the idea of collective learning reminded me of this positive and negative balance. (As the book said, not positive and negative in the idea of good and bad but just as two completely different ideals) Especially in a class such as this, we are constantly in discussion with one another and our own culture and backgrounds give us each an unique lens that we see the world through. Discussion and group learning provides students with ideas that may be completely different than their own, which allows them to see the same context in a different manner. I know for myself sometimes the ideas and thoughts that are the complete opposite of mine stick with me the most. By listening to these ideas and thoughts I feel as if I am able to make my whole more complete by gaining pieces people have to offer.

-Donny

Pedagogy

What I am choosing to write about is the section on Dialogic Pedagogy. I found this interesting, and relevant to myself for several reasons. First, I have learned (more like attempted to learn) two languages (Spanish and Italian). Both of these were taught to me in severely different ways and I feel as if that, along with other factors, greatly impacted how much of the language was really learned. With Spanish I learned in a purely academic setting in which situational learning and practice was only hypothetical. From this I could see the only situation in which I would need to use Spanish was a test or quiz, I believe that this reason why Spanish never really stuck with me. Whereas in Italian, our situational learning was direct and obvious. Our teacher took us to certain places, such as; grocery store, butcher, laundromat, etc where we are able to use our language in a practical matter. This took learning a language and made it a creative process rather than purely educational. Second, I think this will help me as an ESOL teacher by creating lesson plans that are not just simply dialogue that may seem redundant in the learning process.

Nature of Language

Within many of my linguistic classes, including this one, we have discussed how language is a "uniquely human character." (pg 32 Saville-Trokie) Humans of many different races, cultures, and beliefs speak a language unique to them and the people with whom they speak it. As we all may be very well aware, as humans, we do not speak/understand every language that is in existence. Does that mean that because we are not able to understand and utilize that process it is not real? Obviously the answer to this is no, yet, saying language is uniquely human is something that has bugged me for years. Just because we cannot understand different creature's ways of communicating does not mean they do not exist. An utterance is defined as a spoken word, statement, or vocal sound, which many animals are more than capable of producing. For example, dolphins and whale use sound systems to communicate their thoughts and feelings to one another. Humans often think that because we are the top of the food chain that we are on a much higher level than animals. I am not saying that this is a false statement since we are self-aware and have the ability of deeper thinking than most animals. However, according to Saville-Trokie "languages are social. Each language reflects the social requirements of the society that uses it." (pg 32) When reading about behaviorist ideas regarding SLA I begin to think how a dog is trained to respond to human words with the SRR process. I understand that this may seem to be an irrelevant topic to teachers, yet, this was the only thing I could think about while doing the readings.