Last Week 4/29

In Wendy’s story, she talks about codeswitching and using two languages in the classroom.  She said it made her feel a sense of belonging.  I couldn’t help but think of bilingual education just then and how much I love the dual-language program and think that it is the best program when implanted effectively.

It was interesting to read the narratives.  Wendy’s talked a lot about how much the English language was looked up to.  Phrases like “Language of freedom” and “language of dream” were used.  This makes me think back to how we discussed English as a language of power.  These people felt like if they knew English then that meant that they had a leg up on everyone else.  English represented “who they wanted to be”.  It was just so interesting to hear how much these people wanted to learn English and how much it meant to them.

I really like how this article talks about the successes in these people’s journey but also talks about how it wasn’t so successful.  Because of this “Standard English” idea people have, and because many people in America are so close minded and quick to judge, people who are not native speakers of English feel inferior and suddenly self-conscious.  I am not a native speaker of Spanish but my family is native speakers and I talk with them frequently.  I have found that when I was in Mexico, native speakers would obviously know you were from somewhere else but they never once judged me or made fun of me.  They were so excited that we were all learning Spanish.  If only people in the U.S. had a similar attitude.

Sandra McKay talks about the practice of “Othering” in chapter seven and how it is evident in discussions of native and non-native English-speaking.   Non native speakers are seen as lacking skills.  I couldn’t believe what I read about educators saying that in some countries they have different attitudes toward education and its function in society.  I think that a serious problem is that some native speakers think that they are superior and that non-native speakers should look up to them.  I think that is a huge problem in our society.  Just because we are speakers of the “language of power”, doesn’t mean that we are high and mighty and that we know everything or that our beliefs are more correct or better than other peoples.  

Standard Language

In the Lippie-Green article, I found it interesting how the author discusses how a standard U.S. English does not exist because language is always changing and evolving.  However, people still believe that a homogeneous, one-language-fits-all language is desirable and possible.  The author talks about how this language doesn’t really exist but the ideal does in the minds of speakers.  I always knew that there was never a Standard English language but, I never thought of how it was really just an ideal that that people had in their minds that they saw as attainable.  I think that this is another reason why students need to be educated on dialects.  Not only is that a good way to start off a discussion on world Englishes.  Students, along with people in general, need to realize that there is not Standard English and that it is not ok to make generalizations or stereotypes based on people’s dialects or accents.

In McKay’s chapter 5, standard language is also addressed.  McKay talks about how discourses attempt to “suppress variations in their attempts to impose control and order on English language acquisition and use.  What is scary is that the author proposes that schools are among the group of institutions that participate in these ideologies.  I think that it is important that educators stay up to date on issues like these and that this knowledge also gets passed on to their students.  I agree with McKay that standard language and ideologies that go along with this idea are mostly about control and issues of power.  It is so critical that we get these ideologies out of our school.  

Week 14 Post: Language Policy

I really enjoyed McKay’s discussion on language planning and language policy.  Particularly, I found the part about bilingual education fascinating because I will soon be a bilingual educator.  I agree with what is said about how there should be more of a language policy at the federal level rather than teachers being informed at a local level.  Multilingualism should be encouraged at the federal level so that every student in the US has the same opportunity to learn different languages and so that students who speak another language can maintain that language while learning English.  I don’t know how long it will take for our country to get to that point or if it ever will but in my eyes, that would be ideal.  While we are lucky to have bilingual education at all, I am not in favor of some “sink or swim” models.  I am happy to see more dual-language models being implemented but I still wish that there were more.

I found it interesting how the article on bilingual parenting addressed how even though parents might encourage bilingualism on their children, the dominance and superior role of English in our society can play a part in how well that ends up happening.  Because national and local language policies fail to support languages other than English, there is a lack of high quality bilingual education.  Also, one must think about how difficult it might be for lower class families to get access to high quality bilingual education.  Higher class parents have the resources to provide their children with access to bilingual education as well as extra help outside of school.