Flint Community Schools Alternative Program for LEP Students

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Flint Community Schools Alternative Program
for LEP Students
English as a Second Language (ESL) Workshop Series
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Workshop 4Language and Culture

• John P. Lesko and Kerry Segel
• Saginaw Valley State University

jplesko_at_svsu.edu ksegel_at_svsu.edu
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Workshop Series Preview
ESL in Flint Community Schools From Standards to
Students
Year 1 Contexts for ESL Learning Year 2 Basic
ESL Methodology Year 3 Advanced ESL
Methodology, Materials, Assessment
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Year 1 Contexts for ESL Learning

• Workshop 1 Introducing the Contexts for
  Learning
• Workshop 2 Explorations in Language Study
• Workshop 3 Language in Society
• Workshop 4 Language and Culture

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Todays Workshop

• Discussing language and culture as it relates
  to ESL and language education.
• Continuing features technology, poster
  sessions, teacher shareware, suggestion box, your
  involvement ! ! !
• Ongoing language exploration

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Todays Workshop Schedule
Session 1 An Intro to Language and
Culture Session 2 Experiencing Language and
Culture Firsthand Session 3 Student Voices
and Classroom Scenarios Session 4 Connecting
Language and Culture Through Technology
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An Intro to Language and Culture

• Session 1

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A poem Beginning Speech from The Space Between
Our Footsteps

• ed. Naomi Shihab Nye

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What is culture?

• Culture ...the ideas, customs, skills, arts etc.
  of a people or group... Websters 3rd edition.
• External and internal manifestations of culture

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How does language relate to culture?

• Language expresses, embodies, and symbolizes
  cultural reality. Language and Culture by Claire
  Kramsch. OUP 1998.
• Speech communities and discourse communities
  social, historical, and imaginative components

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How does language relate to culture? (continued)

• Linguistic relativity and the Sapir- Whorf
  Hypothesis
• Establishing our cultural identity the insiders
  and the outsiders
• Linguistic imperialism
• Literacy and culture

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What is multiculturalism?

• coexistence of people from many different
  backgrounds, including language, and ethnicities
• B. Individuals belonging to many/ several social,
  linguistic, ethnic groups
• C. The process of becoming multicultural

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Language culture, and education Issues for the
21st century

• The global village and the Internet Cultural and
  linguistic power
• Native speakers and native cultures
• Multiple languages and multiple identities
  Hybridity
• Linguistic conflict English Only vs. English
  Plus
• Multiculturalism assimilation to acculturation

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Redefining Multicultural Education Dr. Sonia
Nieto

• antidiscriminatory education
• basic education
• important for all students

• pervasive
• education for social justice
• a process
• critical pedagogy

Summary Implications for teacher and classroom
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Experiencing Language and Culture Firsthand
Session 2 Value, support, and development of
primary language (Cary 21)
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Arabic and Persian

• Learn . . .
• how to write your name in another language.
• how to participate in social interactions with
  basic phrases.
• how to count using true Arabic numerals.
• why the Arabic script from a Semitic language is
  used to write an Indo-European language.

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Resources

• Egyptian Castle--Arabic Language Site
  http//www.egyptiancastle.com/main/culture/languag
  e/numbers.htm
• Aldoukan.com (http//www.aldoukan.com/dkn/webpage.
  cfm?WebPage_ID62DID15)

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Persian

• A lesson in contextual communication
• An Indo-European Language
• Added phonemes and letters

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Student Voices and Classroom Scenarios

• Session 3

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Student Voices and Parental Influence
Parent outreach through classes, interpreters,
school-to-home bilingual communications (Cary 21)
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Parental Involvement

• Issues, Assumptions and Activities

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Toward the Multicultural Classroom

• Principles and Practices Reflection of home
  culture in classroom and school activities (Cary
  21)

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Connecting Language and Culture Through Technology

• Session 4

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Cultural Transmission
(Berlitz cited in Andrews, 1998)
Human/Animal Communication Quote from Humans
and Animals, Similar or Separate. B. Edwards
10 Maxims . . . and Discoveries . . .
Universal Characteristics of Language.
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Words Lexical Cultural Reflections
Baseball metaphors Hard-ball, take a swing at
it, get to first base, hit a homer, up to bat,
big league.
Welcome to the Big Leagues!

• The words we use reflect our culture (Andrews
  106).

Youre using hardball tactics!
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The Sapir-Whorf Model
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The Sapir-Whorf Model

• Linguistic Relativitydifferent cultures
  interpret the world in different ways . . .
  Languages encode these differences.
• Linguistic Determinismour perception of the
  world influences our language . . . The language
  we use profoundly affects how we think (Singh
  24).

Cf. Edwards 1992, Ten Maxims . . . .
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Technology Cultural Bane or Boon?
Banecurse, cause of trouble. Boonadvantage or
blessing.

• Learning Languages
• Educating
• Individual Vs. Community
• Controlling or controlled?
• Pace of change, fast or slow.
• Video The Amish (PBS Documentary)

The Amish Admired for their purity, simplicity,
community-based way of life rooted in religious
belief, the Amish are slow (in some eyes) to
adopt new technology. But as Berger said, who is
to say that the majority are right and groups
such as the Amish wrong? They have their place
within American society, maintaining vibrant
communities independent of modern technological
developments.
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The Amish Generalizations

• Doing rather than saying.
• Adopting technology only when it benefits the
  community. Shunning when it threatens community.
• Educating toward practical/functional ends.
• Bilingual In the World, but not of the World.
  German used in worship/family, English for
  broader interaction in society.

What can we learn from the Amish culture which
would be valuable for our language classrooms ?
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Culture defined

• We speak of cultural adjustment, but in fact it
  is not to culture that we adjust but to behavior.
  Culture, a system of beliefs and values shared
  by a particular group of people, is an
  abstraction which can be appreciated
  intellectually, but it is behavior, the principal
  manifestation and most significant consequence of
  culture, that we actually experience.
• (Storti qtd. In Gebhard 113)

Discussion Question
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Technology defined (in an educational context)

• Applied Science (from Greek systematic
  treatment)
• The use of educational tools (hence applied) in
  the classroom including CDs, software/computer
  applications, Web resources, projectors,
  whiteboard markers (fruity-smelling ones), music,
  email, . . . Any tool which helps get the job
  done.

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Technology and CMC
Global School Net

• Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is
  probably the single computer application to date
  with the greatest impact on language teaching . .
  . For the first time, language learners can
  communication directly with other learners or
  speakers . . . Twenty-four hours a day, from
  school, work, or home (Warshauer qtd in
  Butler-Pascoe and Wiburg).

Multiple-modality learning tools type, read,
paint, print, write, record, draw, receptive,
productive.
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Ideas for Integrated Multicultural Education

• Multimedia web-based projects (about homelands,
  communities, oral histories etc.)
• Targeted software applications (picking a
  program relevant for one or more other cultures
  within a class.
• (Butler-Pascoe and Wiburg 198).

i.e. Ask students. . . to study their homeland
and/ or other culture in designing a project
using technology to literally bring different
cultures into the classroom.
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Ideas continued . . .
Communication Differences OV.

• Write a play
• Create a pantomime or dance to demonstrate a
  topic/concept
• Draw a map
• Write a song
• Engage other students in discussion
• (Butler-Pascoe and Wiburg 198-99).

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Your ideas for Integrated Multicultural Education?

• What are the cultural backgrounds of your
  students?
• What has worked for you in achieving an
  integrated multicultural education?
• Any new ideas or insights to share?

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CultureWatch

• Using video (or TV, the Web, multimedia projects)
  to discuss cultural differences, to communicate
  with and understand people from cultures
  different than their own.

CultureWatch Spike Lees Doing the Right
Thing.
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A Multicultural Technology Integration Model

• Cultural Awareness
• Cultural Relevance
• A Culturally Supportive Environment
• Equitable Access
• Instructional Flexibility
• Instructional Integration
• (Butler-Pascoe and Wiburg 199).

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Summary
The Benefits of Adapting to Another Culture

• Ø     A fuller sense of security
• Ø     The possibility of more success in the
  workplace
• Ø     The possibility of establishing meaningful
  relationships with people from the culture
• Ø     The possibility of gaining fluency in the
  language of the host country/culture
• Ø     A deeper understanding of ones own culture
• Ø     A deeper understanding of oneself
• (adapted from J. Gebhard 117)

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Cultural Concepts

• Cross-cultural communication includes adapting
  behavior.
•  Cross-cultural communication involves
  problem-solving.
• To understand a culture, get to know individuals.
• To understand another culture, study your own.
• (adapted from J. Gebhard 119)

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References

• Andrews, L. Language Exploration and Awareness.
  Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum, 1998.
• Butler-Pascoe, Wiburg. Technology and Teaching
  English Language Learners. Boston Allyn and
  Bacon, 2003.
• Cary, S. Second Language Learners. York, Maine
  Stenhouse Publ, 1997.
• Edwards, B. Discoveries of Modern Linguistics
  Universal Characteristics of Language. Lecture
  Notes. Bowling Green State University, 1992.
• Edwards, B. Ten Maxims for the Study of
  Language and Literacy. Lecture Notes. Bowling
  Green State University, 1992.

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References Continued

• Gebhard, J. Teaching English as a Foreign or
  Second Language. Ann Arbor, MI University of
  MI Press, 1999.
• Singh, I. Language, Throught and
  Representation in Thomas, L. and Wareing, S.
  (eds.) Language, Society and Power. New York
  Routledge, 2001.
• Images Miscellaneous Internet downloads from
  Microsoft and other websites.