Session 3: English learners and their teachers
This reflection is a discussion post about the qualities of English learners and what they need from their teachers. It shows my understanding of the cultural and linguistic challenges that are faced by English learners and the ways that I can provide an environment that leads to the success of the learners. For example, teachers in all subjects need to have at least a basic understanding
Amanda's reflection on Feb. 2, 2014:
All of the reading selections for this session bring to light the complexities facing English learners and their teachers. I like the broad view of teachers and the roles they play for their students with regards to language: communicators, evaluators, and inductors into the culture associated with school and higher education. It is easy for those of us who are used to (or whose families understood the importance of) academic usage of Standard English to take for granted the language skills needed to navigate instruction and education. All parents from any culture would want their student to have access to the resources and materials that can help them improve from year to year and learn how to interact within their communities and in society. So it is important for teachers to be prepared in language and literacy to remove obstacles to this learning.
I strongly agree with Fillmore & Snow (2000) that this knowledge of language and literacy is important for all teachers and not just ESL or Bilingual teachers. Regardless of the subject one teaches, students from all different backgrounds and cultures will fill the seats in the classroom and will need to use language to communicate what they've learned and synthesize it into other content areas.
As a Language Arts teacher I have a better-than-average professional understanding of the English Language and literacy. As Diaz-Rico and Fillmore point out, I have a duty to make students more aware of their socialization and to invite discussion about language and acquisition when it's appropriate. I have had interactions with students whose English usage is non-standard, because often the other students will bring the topic to me and ask me to correct their classmate! They feel that the other student is just saying something "wrong." Sometiems there is a misunderstanding of Standard usage and sometimes, there is a cultural difference between languages. They are surprised to learn that English has dialects/vernacular such as Ebonics which is valid and necessary in social contexts... they are often taught that this language "does not belong in school."
I make it a point to discuss topics like academic and standardized English opposed to casual and dialectical English and try to invite discussion about the topic as part of the introduction to my Language Arts class. This is why it surprises me when I read Maum (2002) that native speakers of English are more likely to be hired for the ESL jobs than someone who learned another language besides English at birth: NNEST are the most prepared to have candid discussions about English! I think that NNEST are more likely to notice and address issues about standardized language and cultural diversity than native speakers. If they are coming from the same culture as the students who are ELLs, as Maum states, then they have the understanding of the learning process and can foresee struggles their students might face and can guide them through the process.
Not all teachers have the same understanding I do about language acquisition and different uses in different contexts. They may have political or social reasons (whether they are aware of it or not) for addressing language usage when they see it is nonstandard. They may judge students on their grasp of language and ability to write or speak well as opposed to grasping concepts and showing insight and understanding.
Grant's reflection:
While all of the articles, videos and readings presented some alternative viewpoints and shed light on several important and specific issues within ESL instruction, the overwhelming sense I got was that an effective teacher can come from a wide variety of backgrounds and one's previous language learning experiences and perspectives can lend themselves in numerous ways. Before allowing prejudice from schools, other teachers, parents and students to guide their thoughts about the instructor, Diaz-Rico touch on how it becomes critical to see the student as an individual and to understand where the individual came from as well as what setting they learned Englsh within to know how they will take on the roles and responsibilities as a language communicator, educator, and evaluator, as well as embracing the critical human and social elements of a language. I also thought that Fillmore and Snow's points considering oral aspects of English such as phoneme and morpheme production for certain ELLs is beneficial and something that I think native English speakers take for granted, as our language building blocks can be unfamiliar and confusing, especially considering our homophones and homonyms and other foreign sounds to any given unique palate.
Although short, probably the most thought provoking article to me was Rosie Maum's on NNESTs. Along with Kara and others, I wasn't fully aware of the trend and extent to which native speakers were preferred over qualified NNESTs for teaching positions in the US and abroad. Especially when considering that nearly a majority of native speakers that are selected have little to no teaching experience, it's difficult to understand why. As Maum notes, NNESTs may not have ideal proficiency across the board, but they clearly share a similar language learning experience with their students, especially if they share the same L1 as their students and likely have a heightened awareness to potential needs, as well as a stockpile of experiences and language-learning activities and strategies that worked for them. She also addresses "the native speaker fallacy" and points out that, "...People do not become qualified to teach English merely because it is their mother tongue, and much of the knowledge that native speakers bring intrinsically to the ESL classroom can be learned by NNESTs through teacher training." While parents may want their children to learn to learn from a native speaker so they may acquire a more "native" or natural pronunciation, I wonder if one could say that their students' would necessarily improve their pronunciation, especially if the native speaker didn't previously have an educational background. Prejudice against NNESTs in Arizona, (surprise, surprise) came to light several years ago as parents believed teacher's accents and nonnative tendencies would carry over to their children. It took time, but calls for more teacher criticism and evaluations because their non-native approach was influencing student's accents and proficiencies was dismissed.
Perhaps listening and speaking could be influenced by a native instructor, but Maum also points out that in the other realms of reading and writing proficiency, NNESTs can learn English intangibles such as idiomatic expressions and more subtle cultural connotations can be learned as well (Phillipson, 1996). Essentially her main point to me was that whether as a native speaking teacher, with a tendency to be an English language model, or an NNEST and a tendency as a better learner model, all instructors can bring a diverse skillset to the table and benefit their students in different ways.
Another factor that I sadly had not considered was the complete and offensive overgeneralization that the term "Asian" carries, not just culturally and historically, but specifically within the realm of English language learning. As Kumaravadivelu asserts, it's important to develop a classroom environment that engages students in interactive ways. Combatting the stereotypes of passive and quiet and inactive language learners is important, especially in the initial stages of the course. Again, it becomes critical to get to know students and to activate their interests to tailor-fit lessons, such as music or pop culture based activities that can get normally "quiet" students and "passive" interacting and experimenting with the language.
I also found the videos to be quite interesting too and it helped to have personalized experiences that again assert the importance of getting to know the individual learner to better understand how to approach their individual needs. While Diaz-Rico again were centered on the impact of the social, cultural and political baggage that everyone brings with them into the classroom as they stride for more or less Standard English, I also thought Fillmore and Snow's questions around what academic English really qualifies as was an important consideration. With that in mind, it is also important to then consider what the specific goals of the students are because there, again, are a variety of Englishes (Australian, UK, American, Indian and more) and dialects within those varieties of English so then "proficiency" becomes a relative term as well, as some students have general English learning goals, while others have extremely specific future English-related aspirations. In the end, it becomes apparent that students and teachers alike are extremely diverse and avoiding prejudgements and making personal connections are the best ways to evaluate teachers and students and ultimately improve teaching and learning together.
Amanda's reply:
Hi Grant,
Nice job of connecting all of the materials and noting their different emphases. The teacher background issue seems to stem from a lack of understanding about learning as a whole. If we all transferred 100% of the skills of our instructors into our own skill sets, then the preference for Native Speakers as teachers would make sense, but this is definitely not the case. Having a skilled NNEST design learning opportunities is much more effective than listening to a NEST who isn't comfortable teaching language classes, at the extreme.
I appreciate the fact that you note at the end of your reflection
"...it is also important to then consider what the specific goals of the students are... so then "proficiency" becomes a relative term."
The different responsibilities and roles of the language teacher include providing guidance in finding these goals and helping the students work toward them. Their backgrounds and previous language experience will factor into this, as well as their culture and future plans. I agree that the videos brought to mind how much individuality the students are going to have and their reasons for wanting to learn English.