Week 12

This week’s reading discussed social contexts for EIL learning and examined multilingual societies. Both chapters are by Sandra Lee McKay and Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng.

The first chapter discussed issues found in English teaching and learning. Early on the chapter presents Kachru’s seminal model of English use contexts viewed in three concentric circles; inner circle, outer circle and expanding circle countries. While there are arguments raised to modify Krachu’s concentric circles and the authors agree with Bruthiauz, Yanu and other’s versions which present cylinders to represent English speakers, the authors use Krachru’s seminal model in the chapters.

The first is the Inner Circle where English is the primary language. Language diversity is seen as a problem leading programs to encourage the acquisition of English and quickly. This process often times ignores the student’s first language. As a pre-service bilingual educator I know the importance of using a first language in language acquisition. The book also mentions the effects being a language minority can have on a student socially. While students may be seen as outsiders by their peers, unfortunately sometimes educators view these students as having deficient cognitive abilities. I have heard of teachers doing this before. In some cases teachers will refer to an ELL student as “dumb” because they don't speak in class or participate because they are not provided with appropriate materials or instruction. When I first heard of a peer's experience of a teacher referring to a student's cognitive abilities because of their status as an ELL I was shocked. As embarrassing of a reference as this is, I thought of the movie Holes. One character never talked at the camp and the camp counselor teased the boy and called him "stupid". Many times with ELL students understand what is going on around them but focus on the input there are receiving. In learning Spanish, while I can understand what is being said around me and am proficient in reading and writing I still find it very difficult to speak especially around native speakers. In classes where I need to speak in Spanish I find myself participating much less than a classroom conducted in my first language. Being able to clearly express your ideas and thoughts is difficult at first for L2 learners and develops overtime. Putting students down during this difficult time is damaging to their progress and success in their second language. 

In outer circle countries, English serves as a second language in a multilingual country like Singapore, India and the Philippines. Sometimes it’s hard to provide equal access to English education. While the country may be promoting multilingualism the design of the programs creates problems. In expanding circle countries, English is widely studied as a foreign language like in China, Germany and Korea. In expanding countries, teachers may have difficulty motivating their students. Because they are monolingual, many learners may not see a reason in learning English.  The book defines integrative motivation as the motivation that is based on a desire to participate in social groups in which the target language is used. Instrumental motivation is the motivation that drives English language learning to achieve some gain like a job or entrance into a university. I think understanding our student’s motivation to learn English is very important in our instruction and connecting with our student for their progress.

I also thought the section discussing teacher competence was very interesting as many studies have found a lack of confidence among bilingual English teachers. It was also interesting to think about the effects requiring English may take on instruction as fewer teachers may be prepared and that their overall lack of confidence affects their teaching skills.

The second chapter looked at multilingual countries characterized by diglossia and those characterized by widespread English bilingualism. In those societies with diglossia there is an H status to English language learning which leads individuals to acquitting the language in hopes of social mobility.  English is given the status of an official language and other policies encourage learning English.  Whereas non-diglossic multilingual societies the status of English is seen clearly and other languages are seen to threaten national identity- a society of English-speakers.  There is a push towards monolingualism desire despite diversity within the group of people. This is a very important factor in the debate of bilingual education. Many times people see bilingual education as a means of learning English as quickly as possible which they may assume to mean as putting students in a monolingual classrooms in a “sink or swim” fashion. Many times parents share this idea. Supporters and proponents of bilingual education both challenge the idea of learning English. While this idea that multilingualism threatens our national identity promotes the use of bilingual classrooms, some people develop an irrational fear of bilingual education and believe that English is part of our identity as the United States. Many people have told me how unsuccessful bilingual programs are and how they damage the United States. What they are missing, as the authors point out in this chapter is that there is research that consistently support bilingual programs. Students are successful and often times outperform peers. Personally I have encountered a number of people who have told me that if someone immigrates to the United States they MUST learn English. This idea is damaging towards our view of bilingual students as outsiders threatening our identity and not the diverse and important part of our society. I believe as a pre-service bilingual educator is necessary to not only keep a learner’s first language in tact but use that first language as a resource and tool in learning.  We need to support these students and promote the quality of their education.