Week 5

B. Kumaravadivelu's Cultural Globalization and Language Education

Chapter 4 and 5

In Kumar's chapter 4 the discussion of stereotypes is presented. I think it is important for everyone to know what a stereotype is and who it affects. It is clear that all Asian students should not be categorized in this way, rather we should learn from which country our classmates are from and use this information instead. Also the thought of whether Asian students are thought to be obedient to authority is addressed. Asian students are quiet in class because they have to respect the teacher, or in some cases they may not understand the topic, or feel too shy to participate. I think this is common for all students and it should not be a stereotype of Asians. I myself have felt shy and have not understood topics in the past and have been afraid to share my thoughts and ideas.

The next chapter on culture assimilation is also very interesting. The idea of the "melting pot" in America is explored. Kumar gives the example of the perfect "melting pot", how it was suppose to be. He says that all people who came to America would have melted into "a new race". This idea would erase the race and religion you had before and make you an American. This did not turn out however, and the idea of the "melting pot" never really happened.

In culture assimilation a person can take on all of a culture or just some of its traits. It is a selective process as Kumar points out, a lot depends on how a group or individuals assimilate. Their economic background, social status, and family structures can have an effect on how they assimilate. Ethnic affiliation is another aspect that has slowed cultural assimilation. People participate in America's communities but they still keep their ethnic backgrounds. The community not wanting these immigrants to join them was another thing that held this back. If a community is not willing to take in new members they will not treat them kindly.

I think stereotypes are a terrible thing. I think people should be aware of how they are treating people at all times. I know this is a long stretch, but it would be nice. Also, I agree with the idea that we had no "melting pot". It seems that people are too willing to hold on to their cultures, which I think is a great thing. I like that people should hold their cultures sacred and not let others take them away. These readings were very powerful and I think will make for a great discussion. I'm sure we will all have something important to share.

Week 2

Kumaravadivelu

Upon reading the article "Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy", I found it very informative on why he believes we have moved away from method teaching and need to work out a new open system of teaching. He talks about how "postmethod pedagogy" must be "particular, practical, and possible". Teaching must be focused on the particular group of learners and the particular teacher at the time it is being taught. We cannot just put everyone in a box and teach them the same way, as we do with methods. I agreed with this, because you have to teach in the environment you are teaching in the way that that environment works. Teaching cannot be done the same way in the U.S. as in South Africa, as he points out. The practical idea comes from the thought that teachers should teach based on their own experiences and the theories they derive from them, not on the theories that are handed to them by professionals. In the possible pedagogy the students and teachers must develop their learning from their environments. They must use their environment as a teaching tool because it can never be manufactured in a textbook. After explaining these concepts on "postmethod pedagogy" he goes on the explain the learners role. He says that they must depend on themselves more, help their peers, and understand their social surroundings and draw from these things to progress their learning. He also talks about the teachers role and how they must continually draw from experience and learn for themselves about the subject.

This article was very informative. After reading this I went on to read the first chapter in Kuma's Cultural Globalization and Language Education. This was very helpful in understanding where he is coming from as a "bilingual and bicultural "person, and why he has such intense feelings on these subjects. I agreed greatly that teachers must continue to learn just as the learner does. It is very important to know the times you are teaching in and be able to work through certain cultural road blocks.

Pennycook

The Pennycook article also dealt with these issues on the new approaches to method and postmethod teaching. Pennycook talks about how political views are greatly reflected in teaching habits. The use of method in the early English teaching has not really changed a great deal over the years, but on the other hand have just been reexamined and retuned. There is also the argument that knowledge is constructed by individuals and groups over power. This was kind of hard to grasp, I found some things easy to understand and others seemed to circle around to what the author has already said.

In reading this weeks articles I found some things that I greatly agree with and somethings that are hard to understand. Overall I think it will be good to hear and participate in the discussion and answer the questions that I have.

Week 1

"On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental Concepts in SLA Research"

by Firth and Wagner

At the start of the article the authors lay out their argument that Second Language Acquisition would become more affective if it combined the social and cognitive aspects of the learner, which would open the field. I agree and believe that the environments of the learners do greatly play a large role in their learning experiences. The authors say that they want to "balance" theory and method to explore the social and cognitive environments of the speaker. I found that many times my days spent teaching would be greatly affected by what was happening in the students lives. Their home and social environments follow them and always shine through in their day to day activities, so why not recognize this and use it to help the learning process?

In the different subheadings of the article "Communication Strategies" are discussed. The idea that when we communicate and interact with the students we must praise good and bad outcomes. If we just focus on correcting the bad this could bring down the student and maybe discourage their learning experience. Also, the idea of "Input Modification Studies" is discussed, which are the studies of the ways non native speakers and native speakers understand each other. The discussion of a "normal" way of speaking exists is part of this section. They describe a native speaker as being a perfect speaker to some extent. I think this is a hard idea to digest. This part of the article also describes the ways in which non native speakers talk to native speakers and vice verse. As a native speaker I agree with these conclusions because I did learn to speak slower to my classes and try to make it as easy as possible for them to understand me. But I do wonder if this hinders the learner as they become better at the language? Does it make it more frustrating for a almost perfect non native speaker?

Overall, I do understand the authors arguments. I find what they are saying helpful in ways to expand SLA.