English is Tough
Throughout my experiences in learning Italian, my training to become a Writing Center tutor, and my English courses both in high school and here at RIC, I've learned that English is one of the hardest languages to learn. It's a conglomeration of Anglo-Saxon, French, German, and other borrowed terms from other languages. Since it is so irregular, it is hard to pick up on, whereas other languages such as the Romance Languages of Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese are rather formulaic and much easier to learn.
Yet native English speakers sadly take this for granted way too frequently. English, while not the most widely-spoken language in the world, is the language of commerce and capitalism, so it is the dominant language upheld by the dominant narrative. Because of this culmination of factors, those who are privileged enough to learn English as their native tongue and are SCWAAMP frequently look down upon those who cannot understand their language or are learning their language because they perceive them as inferior, incompetent, or just plain unintelligent.
These views are simply untrue. The thing I hate most about white culture is the inability to consider the narratives and experiences of other cultures and cohorts of people. Many whites think that because they learn English from an early age, and because they have mastery over the language, mastery of the English language is therefore not very challenging, ergo those who cannot speak it or struggle to learn it are lazy, inferior, and unintelligent. This to them easily explains why they are in poverty, why they are failing in schools, and explains why they are seemingly committing more crime than white people (which according to the data is grossly untrue). I had the good fortune to learn at a young age of the complexity of English and how emergent bilinguals are disadvantaged through my Italian courses that I started in middle school, which I had started late after being moved to more challenging courses. When I was moved to more rigorous courses in middle school, I wanted to take Spanish because I realized it was more practical, but my mother said that if I wanted to learn Spanish, all I should do is hang around Walmart for a few hours. I believe that the only reason I am not fluent in Italian today is because of my lack of immersion; if I had challenged my mother's views earlier and taken Spanish, I am confident I would be fluent in Spanish today.
However, my family's inherent racism has granted me first-hand experience of how it is detrimental to others. I realize that people who cannot speak English are not unintelligent; they are trying to promote themselves in a world where the dominant narrative dictates English as the mainstream means of communication. I find it important to place oneself in the shoes of another; for example, what if I had escaped government persecution from an impoverished country and moved to America? What would it be like for me to move to China and learn Mandarin, which is also one of the hardest languages to learn? Would it be fair for the Chinese to classify me as unintelligent because I would most probably struggle with learning Mandarin? Many would argue no, but are unable to register that this is also applicable to English language learners. Yet because English is the dominant world language, this consideration is unjustly overlooked.
I am frequently reminded of how many struggle to learn English through my position at the Writing Center. I encounter many native Spanish speakers who are trying to learn English, and struggle to write the essays required of them in their college courses. Many of them are able to articulate great ideas, but when it comes to writing them in English--a foreign code--they struggle, and understandably so. Recently, I've been working with a middle-aged woman who recently migrated from the Middle East whose first language is Arabic. She is highly intelligent, and offers insight into literature that I have read, such as Hamlet, that I have never considered. Yet she struggles to write in English. There is virtually no similarity between English and Arabic; hell, even the alphabet is different and written from right to left instead of left to right. She often feels incompetent because of her struggle with English, but I seek to reassure her that English is complex, and that learning it is a lifelong process, even for native speakers. Thus I have advised her to embrace her bilingualism, and have advised her to write in Arabic before writing in English to cement her ideas in a format she understands best. This process has helped her improve her writing in English, and has granted her more confidence in her bilingual capability.
Thus as a teacher, I will assimilate the REAL approach that Steward outlines in my pedagogy. I will attempt to keep my curricula relevant to students while avoiding common stereotypes and attempting to account for my own subjectivities. I will instill biliteracy, embrace translanguaging, and promote diversity in my classroom through multilingual awareness and interrogating acts of physical and linguistic violence. I will attempt to create an environment of collective education, where students and myself are simultaneously learners, teachers, and fellow humans interacting in the same community and world. Through understanding our backgrounds, the current sociopolitical environment, and outlining future growth, we can all grow as students of language and life.
Yet native English speakers sadly take this for granted way too frequently. English, while not the most widely-spoken language in the world, is the language of commerce and capitalism, so it is the dominant language upheld by the dominant narrative. Because of this culmination of factors, those who are privileged enough to learn English as their native tongue and are SCWAAMP frequently look down upon those who cannot understand their language or are learning their language because they perceive them as inferior, incompetent, or just plain unintelligent.
These views are simply untrue. The thing I hate most about white culture is the inability to consider the narratives and experiences of other cultures and cohorts of people. Many whites think that because they learn English from an early age, and because they have mastery over the language, mastery of the English language is therefore not very challenging, ergo those who cannot speak it or struggle to learn it are lazy, inferior, and unintelligent. This to them easily explains why they are in poverty, why they are failing in schools, and explains why they are seemingly committing more crime than white people (which according to the data is grossly untrue). I had the good fortune to learn at a young age of the complexity of English and how emergent bilinguals are disadvantaged through my Italian courses that I started in middle school, which I had started late after being moved to more challenging courses. When I was moved to more rigorous courses in middle school, I wanted to take Spanish because I realized it was more practical, but my mother said that if I wanted to learn Spanish, all I should do is hang around Walmart for a few hours. I believe that the only reason I am not fluent in Italian today is because of my lack of immersion; if I had challenged my mother's views earlier and taken Spanish, I am confident I would be fluent in Spanish today.
However, my family's inherent racism has granted me first-hand experience of how it is detrimental to others. I realize that people who cannot speak English are not unintelligent; they are trying to promote themselves in a world where the dominant narrative dictates English as the mainstream means of communication. I find it important to place oneself in the shoes of another; for example, what if I had escaped government persecution from an impoverished country and moved to America? What would it be like for me to move to China and learn Mandarin, which is also one of the hardest languages to learn? Would it be fair for the Chinese to classify me as unintelligent because I would most probably struggle with learning Mandarin? Many would argue no, but are unable to register that this is also applicable to English language learners. Yet because English is the dominant world language, this consideration is unjustly overlooked.
I am frequently reminded of how many struggle to learn English through my position at the Writing Center. I encounter many native Spanish speakers who are trying to learn English, and struggle to write the essays required of them in their college courses. Many of them are able to articulate great ideas, but when it comes to writing them in English--a foreign code--they struggle, and understandably so. Recently, I've been working with a middle-aged woman who recently migrated from the Middle East whose first language is Arabic. She is highly intelligent, and offers insight into literature that I have read, such as Hamlet, that I have never considered. Yet she struggles to write in English. There is virtually no similarity between English and Arabic; hell, even the alphabet is different and written from right to left instead of left to right. She often feels incompetent because of her struggle with English, but I seek to reassure her that English is complex, and that learning it is a lifelong process, even for native speakers. Thus I have advised her to embrace her bilingualism, and have advised her to write in Arabic before writing in English to cement her ideas in a format she understands best. This process has helped her improve her writing in English, and has granted her more confidence in her bilingual capability.
Thus as a teacher, I will assimilate the REAL approach that Steward outlines in my pedagogy. I will attempt to keep my curricula relevant to students while avoiding common stereotypes and attempting to account for my own subjectivities. I will instill biliteracy, embrace translanguaging, and promote diversity in my classroom through multilingual awareness and interrogating acts of physical and linguistic violence. I will attempt to create an environment of collective education, where students and myself are simultaneously learners, teachers, and fellow humans interacting in the same community and world. Through understanding our backgrounds, the current sociopolitical environment, and outlining future growth, we can all grow as students of language and life.
I like the fact that you are putting yourself in the shoes of these students who feel marginalized because of their lack of fluency in English. Language doesn't dictate a student's mastery in LITERACY. I think we teachers have to appreciate these students as they are, and help promote their culture/language as they are learning to read and write in English. I agree with, I would definitely make use of the R.E.A.L. Instructions in my classroom, in order to make the classroom conducive for all students, also make learning enjoyable for all.
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