I use music in the classrooom to increase listening comprehension.  I give each student a blank piece of paper,  and while they listen to the song they are to record any words they can understand.  During the first listening, that  is sometimes few words.  Then, they listen again and add any additional words they understand.  Next, I give them the lyrics and they listen while looking at the words.  Finally, I ask students to volunteer to read verses of the song.  By the time they do this, their intonation and pronunciation are almost perfect.
This has always been a popular exercise with my students.  Songs I have used include:
 
Candle in the Wind
Sounds of Silence
Bridge Over Troubled Water
You've Got A Friend

Rosemary Dill
ESL Teacher
Capitol Region Education Council, Hartford, CT
---
 
 
 
 On Fri, 7/31/09, englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov <englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov> wrote:


From: englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov <englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov>
Subject: EnglishLanguage Digest, Vol 46, Issue 35
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Date: Friday, July 31, 2009, 4:26 PM


When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of EnglishLanguage digest..."




Today's Topics:

   1. [EnglishLanguage 4718] Re: Music in the classroom (Susan Perez)
   2. [EnglishLanguage 4719] Re: critical thinking (Michael A. Gyori)
   3. [EnglishLanguage 4720] Approaches that are effective in
      second    language (vs. foreign language) instruction (Michael A. Gyori)
   4. [EnglishLanguage 4721] Re: critical thinking (George Demetrion)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:58:06 -0400
From: "Susan Perez" <sperez at martin.fl.us>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4718] Re: Music in the classroom
To: "The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List"
    <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Message-ID:
    <1F09951F0D98A14EB598754B9008D206375B1E at apwp-exch01.martin.fl.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I have used lyrics of a student's favorite singer as a lesson for the
student to read the songs, then we play the song so that he can follow
along with the tune. But, I have never gotten as creative as your
classes!  I would like to incorporate some of your ideas into our
programs.  Thanks for the really innovative ideas to help make learning
interesting and fun!



Books change life for the better-ReadOn!



Susan L. Perez

Early Literacy Specialist

Center for Reading & Literacy

Martin County Library System



Office: 772-221-1401

Cell: 772- 263-0480



The Blake Library

2351 SE Monterey Road

Stuart, FL 34996



From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Glenda Lynn Rose
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 3:20 PM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4714] Music in the classroom



Hello, all.



I'm wondering how many of you use music in the classroom?  I use it
quite a bit and have been approached about putting the ways that it can
be used into a text for teachers.  



Specifically, I was wondering what songs you use and for what purposes?




For example, here are some ways that I use music.  (Keep in mind that at
this time, all of my students are Mexican or Central/South American).



I play selections from Grupo Limite Instrumental (cumbia-sounding dance
music)  during classroom games where I can stop the music to indicate a
change of group or activity.



I play jazz during group discussions.



"Music for Reading" (classical) during silent reading times.



Yahoo Music Videos for cultural comparisons and contrasts (both macro
and micro cultures in the US)



Karaoke for various purposes.... for example (and all purposes stated
can be adjusted depending...most songs can be used for a vareity of
linguistic and sociocultural purposes). 

*    "Deeper than the Holler" (Randy Travis) for comparatives.
*    "Dream" (The Everly Brothers?) for adverbial clauses
*    "Hey Good Lookin" (Hank Williams) for reduction of word-terminal
[t] + word-intial [y] reducing to [ch]
*    "What a Beautiful World" (Satchmo) for colors and simple present
tense with "I"
*    "How You Live" (Point of Grace) for imperatives
*    "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (George Jones) for pronouns
*    "Does He Love You" (Reba McIntire) for questions with "does"



Anyway, these are just a few I use, and how they are presented
varies.....Sometimes I have students just listen and try to get the gist
of the song. Somtimes I show the video (the student reaction to the end
of the "Does He Love You" video is worth it, plus it opens up a dialog
with students about acceptable and unacceptable ways to handle conflicts
(cheating) in marriage).  Sometimes I provide lyrics with key words
deleted and have students listen and fill in.  This summer session, I
did a whole class (4 hours) on the Ballad of Sam Bass (reading, video
from Discovery channel, song, writing) when we were studying about
Austin (there's a road in Round Rock called Sam Bass and one of the
students asked who he was...I had no idea so we found out together.
Yes, my written lesson plan went out the window, but it was worth it.
It turned out to be a group-effort webquest and by the end of the day we
were singing the song.)



I also get requests from students...They surprise me every time with the
songs that they WANT to learn....The BeeGees "How Deep Is Your Love"; "I
Just Called to Say I Love You" (Stevie Wonder) and, my favorite request
of all time, Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much"  - really
non-standard grammar and a great opportunity to talk about appropriate
use of register.



SO ...I'd love to hear what other ways people are using music, and what
songs / kind of songs you may be presenting and the "why and how".



Thanks a lot for your input.



Grace and Peace!
Glenda Lynn Rose, PhD

ESL Instructor

Austin Learning Academy

(512) 841-4777 - classroom

(512) 789-5131 - mobile




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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:45:24 -1000
From: "Michael A. Gyori" <mgyori at mauilanguage.com>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4719] Re: critical thinking
To: "'The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List'"
    <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>, <gdemetrion at msn.com>
Message-ID: <COL117-DS162DA148804E48119E412CB0100 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hello Andres and all,



Andres:  from my perspective, your post below is both clear and apt;
further, I agree with you entirely.  



All teaching is ideological, and by that I mean ?idea-driven? or performed
according to guiding principles.  Non-ideological teaching is actually an
oxymoron and would render the very act of teaching meaningless.



Where I draw the line is as follows (and it is a fine line, indeed): my
first goal in working with learners who have chosen to live in a new and
unfamiliar country is to help them maneuver in it.  This stands in contrast
to what I call ?critical pedagogy? that has as a goal for students to
challenge what ?is,? without giving them the necessary foundation to secure
a livelihood (ideally one they aspire to) first.  To put it differently, I
don?t wish to manipulate human beings who are unaware that they are being
manipulated.  ?Extreme? ideologists are prone to doing just that.



Personally, I don?t believe it is the second language educator?s mission to
foster a critical (in the sense of disapproving) stance vis-?-vis the
society their students have emigrated to.  Such criticality should emerge
from an ?informed? place wherein the learner has sufficient information and
independent thinking skills at his or her disposition to develop, question,
accept, or even outright reject a ?world view? that includes and is directed
at its institutions and ?social systems? (whether religious, political,
economic, educational, etc.).



I realize the distinction I am drawing can lead to obscure territory, and
can border on issues of a philosophical, moral, and ethical nature. 



Michael







From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Muro, Andres
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 5:17 AM
To: gdemetrion at msn.com; The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4707] Re: critical thinking



Let me see if I can help to clarify a little. Or, maybe make things more
obscure J



Definitions of education usually articulate that the purpose is to pass on
existing knowledge, teach norms, rules, etc; prepare people to function in
society, and improve or change things that need to be better. Within these
definitions there is contained all ideological context from extreme
fundamentalism to radical revolution. In one end, there are those that want
to conserve everything exactly as is and those that want to change
absolutely everything, and those who are all along these two extremes. So
education is ultimately ideological. 



Some people would say that there is some pure, neutral, non-political
content and those that divert from such content are trying to do social
engineering. However, unless this content was designed by god and pass
directly to publishers, I don?t know of such content. Content and teaching
that do not question the established order, essentially serve to preserve
it. Content and teaching that question it, serves to challenge it. All
teachers are contained within an ideological paradigm because  teaching is
essentially social engineering. Again, it serves to help people fit in the
current social order, question it or some variety of this. 



Teachers who teach without questioning the content of the materials are
contributing to preserve the ideas of the author, publisher and ideology
behind it. Teachers who teach students to challenge the content are
obviously opposing it. The third alternative is to teach students that
literacy is inherently ideological and ideology permeates all literature.
Without teaching to embrace or reject content  we can teach students to
critically question it and to understand the ideology behind it. That would
essentially be to teach critical thinking skills.



Some teachers embrace this mode. Others prefer to contribute to preserving
what exists while others want to try changing what exists. To accomplish
this, teachers use content that helps fulfill their own perspectives. There
are some teachers that don?t realize that teaching is ideological and simply
teach what the book says thinking that they are being neutral. They are
spreading an ideology w/o knowingly doing so. 



From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of George Demetrion
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:57 PM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4697] Re: critical thinking



Kearney, Michael, others,

Would you include critically evaluating the message of the text, opening up
opportunities for the exploration of divergent perspectives, possible hidden
meanings, providing additional context for understanding a situation, etc?
For example, take the recent Cambridge police-Professor Gates incident on
how one would teach a newspaper article on this topic.  Is one to focus only
on the textual features themselves or can one legitimately bring in
historical background and other contextual factors that gravitate beyond the
text as well as challenging assumptions that are embedded in the text?

George Demetrion


  _____  

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:23:37 -0700
From: kearney_lykins at yahoo.com
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4695] Re: critical thinking

Michael,



I wholly support fostering critical thinking skills in an English or ESOL
classroom as you have defined it, "reading comprehension of subsurface text
features (i.e., implicit vs. explicit) that rely on analyzing, synthesizing,
and inferring from information in it."



Thanks for offering this clear, non-political definition. 



To all: How is "critical thinking" such defined materially different from
"reading strategies"? 



Kearney














Kearney_Lykins at yahoo.com





  _____  

From: Michael A. Gyori <mgyori at mauilanguage.com>
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
<englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 4:35:27 PM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4667] Re: critical thinking

Greetings Alisa, Kearney and all,



I think there is a real misunderstanding in some of today?s posts about the
application of ?critical thinking? in education.   It is a cognitive process
as in, for example, ?critical thinking skills? with reference to measures of
reading comprehension of subsurface text features (i.e., implicit vs.
explicit) that rely on analyzing, synthesizing, and inferring from
information in it. 



Critical thinking as a philosophical construct is something very different
and usually correlates with sociopolitical stances.



It is really important that we all share a similar understanding of the
term; if not, concerns about the imposition of value systems onto our
students really can and does become an issue, as your post below exhibits.



Let?s avoid a semantic breakdown.  I believe Alisa?s post is in line with
what is and should be discussed here. 



Michael







Image removed by sender. world10



Michael A. Gyori, M.A. TESOL

Owner-Teacher

Maui International Language School

Phone 808.205.2101 (U.S.A.)

Fax 808.891.2237 (U.S.A.)

E-mail mgyori at mauilanguage.com

Website www.mauilanguage.com









From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kearney Lykins
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:08 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4657] Re: critical thinking



Alisa,



It seems to me that the formal discipline that most directly engages in the
study of critical thinking is philsophy. 



Like Steve, when I have shared with non-subscribers that most literacy
teachers on this listserve see their role as critical thinking specialists
and agents for social change, they are shocked and yes, appalled.  Would
that English teachers teach English.





Regards,



Kearney






Kearney_Lykins at yahoo.com



C: (614) 787-2202

H: (614) 760-1407





  _____  

From: "Povenmire, Alisa" <apovenmire at necc.mass.edu>
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
<englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:41:23 AM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4647] Re: critical thinking

Perhaps what we do is not teach critical thinking per se, but instead teach
language in such a way as to require students to respond critically and to
use language constructs that reflect their thoughts- rather than just rote
learning.  I encourage my teachers to incorporate critical thinking into
their curricula in order to draw out richer and more thoughtful language
from their students.  When I say ?incorporate critical thinking?, I mean
activity such as persuasive essays, reflective journals, verbal critiques,
debates, etc.  I encourage teachers to push students to use more language by
asking them why? How? Tell me more.  Anyone is qualified to do this.



Is there another, more formal, discipline of ?critical thinking?? 





Alisa Vlahakis Povenmire

ESOL Coordinator/Counselor

Adult Literacy and Transition Programs

Northern Essex Community College, Extension Campus

78 Amesbury Street

Lawrence, MA 01840-1312

apovenmire at necc.mass.edu

978-738-7623





From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Kaufmann
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:41 AM
To: programs at englishcenter.edu; The Adult English Language Learners
Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4638] Re: learnerempowerment



I am fluent and conduct business in a number of languages. This means that I
can read books, newspapers, and listen to radio programs and have business
discussions and all kinds of social interaction. I have never studied
critical thinking. I believe that a majority of people who speak other
languages at this level have had no instruction in critical thinking. I
still would like to know why it is only English teachers who feel that they
are required to, and qualified to, teach critical thinking.

On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:11 AM, Lynne Wilkins <programs at englishcenter.edu>
wrote:

Hello

I'm a list lurker but think that Steve Kaufmann has posed a really
interesting question about 'critical thinking' and different languages. I'm
going to continue to think about this topic but my first response is that if
you're learning a language in order to live and work and perhaps study in
the country that uses that language, then you need as much fluency in that
language as possible and that includes critical thinking. If you're learning
the language for travel and some basic social interactions, then I agree
that there's little reason to learn how to think critically in that second
or third language. 



Thanks for an interesting discussion and exchange of ideas.

Best regards,

Lynne





Lynne Wilkins, Associate Director for Programs
Director, Corporate Training for Industry
The English Center 
66 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607-3734
programs at englishcenter.edu
www.englishcenter.edu

(510) 836-6700, ext. 105



-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Kaufmann
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 8:48 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4628] Re: computers for families
programs+learnerempowerment

I am curious to know why teachers of ESL feel that they should teach
critical thinking. I do not think that teachers of Spanish, French, Chinese
or Russian, for example, feel that this is a part of their task. Is there
something different about learning English?


Steve Kaufmann
www.thelinguist.blogs.com
www.lingq.com
604-922-8514


----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Adult English Language Learners mailing list
EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage
Email delivered to steve at thelinguist.com




-- 
Steve Kaufmann
www.thelinguist.blogs.com
www.lingq.com
604-922-8514





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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:59:36 -1000
From: "Michael A. Gyori" <mgyori at mauilanguage.com>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4720] Approaches that are effective in
    second    language (vs. foreign language) instruction
To: "'The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List'"
    <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Message-ID: <COL117-DS131B8AF2BF453648949078B0100 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello Steve and all,



Steve: I do appreciate that you are divulging more information about your
practices and now perceive a reason to respond but also a need redirect the
direction of this discussion.  Why redirect? Because continuing the
discussion along current lines might create an endless "back and forth"
without establishing a framework first.  We must define the domains within
which we operate first.



Let me put on the hat of the head of a foundation that wishes to donate one
million dollars to help a school that can demonstrate unusual success in
working with a large number of newcomer immigrants (irrespective of the
country they have emigrated to and its dominant language), but is
encountering severe fiscal challenges.  In applying for the grant, I would
include the following questions:



1.      What percent and how many of your learners are newcomer immigrants
who need to learn the dominant language of their adopted country and develop
the associated sociocultural background knowledge to maneuver in it, so that
they can realize the three adult roles as set out in EFF (Equipped for the
Future, go to  <http://eff.cls.utk.edu/> http://eff.cls.utk.edu/ for more
information).  The three adult roles are (click on the ctrl key and click to
go to the respective website): 

  <http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/role_map_worker.htm> Worker Role Map 

<http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/role_map_ccm.htm> Citizen and
Community Member Role Map 

<http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/role_map_family.htm> Parent and Family
Member Role Map 

2.      How do you go about ensuring that instruction is aligned to the
needs of your learners, given that they need to build new lives in new
surroundings?

3.      What specific life outcomes can you attribute to the instruction
that occurs in your classes?  Please provide actual information about what
your students are now doing, providing both quantitative and qualitative
data.  Note: longitudinal tracking of your learners is necessary in order to
provide documentable and verifiable responses.

Perhaps this approach to the current discussion will shed more light on what
works or doesn't work in SL instruction (not FL instruction)!

Finally, my initial response to whether what you do might be effective with
non- or barely literate adult learners (I'm talking about reading and
writing literacy), my answer is likely not.  I totally agree that education
is a process of (self-) discovery, in fact that's exactly what educare
means.  That said, adult non-readers almost always need instruction of a
type that I do not discern you provide from what you have shared so far.

I hope this helps turn the discussion into a more pertinent direction, also
because NIFL is not concerned with visitors, travelers, or pursuers of
intellectual interests,  but with U.S. residents (in the case of the AELL
list, I'd say primarily newcomer immigrants) who need to attain life
outcomes to convince funders that their moneys are well invested.

Maureen:  as List Moderator, would you like to post a response to the last
paragraph to the list? 

Thank you,

Michael



From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Kaufmann
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 3:01 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4700] Re: Second vs. foreign language instruction



Janet, Michael and others,

A few comments on sociolinguistics. Our learners at LingQ come from all over
the world and range from beginners to advanced. All are literate, I admit,
and one of my interests is to see whether our approach could be useful for
low literacy learners. I do not know the answer.

I cannot know the culture of each our learners. I cannot take it into
account. Even in a typical ESL class in Vancouver, there could be 10
different cultures represented. For the teacher to make assumptions about
the culture of each learner and how it might affect their learning, would
strike me as presumptuous, risk and not so useful. I think the teacher would
end up relying on stereotypes.  It is for the learner to explore the culture
of the language he or she is studying.

As a North American and native speaker of English I would not feel
comfortable saying that "we are all free thinkers"  "we are trained to make
our own judgments about things" " You should learn to be more like us". 

Why? Because it is not true of all North Americans. It is a stereotype, like
the French are all rude.

And also because people of other cultures have their own ways of thinking
critically, and if they are adults, this is difficult to change. I worked in
Japan for 9 years. At one point I had 45 Japanese people working for me in
an office. I tried to impose "my superior way". I installed a coffee
machine, for example, so that the "office ladies" would not have to run to
the kitchen every time a male employee felt like having a cup of tea or
coffee. I got away with it because I was in charge and the company was
Canadian. I did not change any attitudes. I did not get people to speak up
in meetings, by and large. To get things done I had to follow their ways,
going around in circles, getting consensus, before confronting anyone with
an important decision.

No one taught me how to do this, although I was warned. I had to experience
it all myself. To me language learning is the same. The language and the
culture have to be discovered, and they are discovered in a number of
indirect ways, by engaging with the language and the people of the language,
and not through deliberate instruction.

As to Dr.Laura, our learners post what they want. This can vary from the
Bible to Karl Marx as far as I am concerned. It is up to the learners to
choose. Dr. Laura is fun because it is real.

As for lobbyists, if a learner is interested in politics the subject may
come up. I might mention that lobbying is, in my view, an integral part of
our democratic system, and everyone gets in on the act. To judge from what I
read earlier on this very listserv, for adult ed teachers to enlist students
to write letters to politicians asking for more funding, is considered by
some here to be not only acceptable but a condition of employment.

I am happy to explain my views on socio-linguistics, critical thinking etc,
and also happy to answer criticisms of LingQ.

Steve


-- 
Steve Kaufmann
www.thelinguist.blogs.com
www.lingq.com
604-922-8514

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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:19:18 -0400
From: George Demetrion <gdemetrion at msn.com>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4721] Re: critical thinking
To: Michael Mgyori <mgyori at mauilanguage.com>,
    <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Message-ID: <SNT106-W110816F8DD9892310BEC15C5100 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"


Thanks Michael,

Thus my essay, A Critical pedagogy of the Mainstream http://library.nald.ca/research/item/78, which was meant as a critical rejoinder to Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

I do agree that ideology is inecapable in that it is hardwired into culture and society even in the mystification that there is no such thing that is nintrinsically present.  To deny this is to reject a great deal of scholarship on political culture, defined both broadly and narrowly and a good deal of ESOL theory that draws heavily on socio-linguistics and other linguistic and non-linguistic disciplines.

Part of the more immediate task in basic language development, whether in ESOL or ABE is to sharply distinguish as well as to draw out some of the pivotal relationships between the various structural components of language development and its varying functional utilizations.

George Demetrion




From: mgyori at mauilanguage.com
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov; gdemetrion at msn.com
Subject: RE: [EnglishLanguage 4707] Re: critical thinking
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:45:24 -1000








Hello Andres and all,

Andres:  from my perspective, your post below is both clear and apt; further, I agree with you entirely.  

All teaching is ideological, and by that I mean ?idea-driven? or performed according to guiding principles.  Non-ideological teaching is actually an oxymoron and would render the very act of teaching meaningless.

Where I draw the line is as follows (and it is a fine line, indeed): my first goal in working with learners who have chosen to live in a new and unfamiliar country is to help them maneuver in it.  This stands in contrast to what I call ?critical pedagogy? that has as a goal for students to challenge what ?is,? without giving them the necessary foundation to secure a livelihood (ideally one they aspire to) first.  To put it differently, I don?t wish to manipulate human beings who are unaware that they are being manipulated.  ?Extreme? ideologists are prone to doing just that.

Personally, I don?t believe it is the second language educator?s mission to foster a critical (in the sense of disapproving) stance vis-?-vis the society their students have emigrated to.  Such criticality should emerge from an ?informed? place wherein the learner has sufficient information and independent thinking skills at his or her disposition to develop, question, accept, or even outright reject a ?world view? that includes and is directed at its institutions and ?social systems? (whether religious, political, economic, educational, etc.).



From: mgyori at mauilanguage.com
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov; gdemetrion at msn.com
Subject: RE: [EnglishLanguage 4707] Re: critical thinking
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:45:24 -1000







Hello Andres and all,

Andres:  from my perspective, your post below is both clear and apt; further, I agree with you entirely.  

All teaching is ideological, and by that I mean ?idea-driven? or performed according to guiding principles.  Non-ideological teaching is actually an oxymoron and would render the very act of teaching meaningless.

Where I draw the line is as follows (and it is a fine line, indeed): my first goal in working with learners who have chosen to live in a new and unfamiliar country is to help them maneuver in it.  This stands in contrast to what I call ?critical pedagogy? that has as a goal for students to challenge what ?is,? without giving them the necessary foundation to secure a livelihood (ideally one they aspire to) first.  To put it differently, I don?t wish to manipulate human beings who are unaware that they are being manipulated.  ?Extreme? ideologists are prone to doing just that.

Personally, I don?t believe it is the second language educator?s mission to foster a critical (in the sense of disapproving) stance vis-?-vis the society their students have emigrated to.  Such criticality should emerge from an ?informed? place wherein the learner has sufficient information and independent thinking skills at his or her disposition to develop, question, accept, or even outright reject a ?world view? that includes and is directed at its institutions and ?social systems? (whether religious, political, economic, educational, etc.).

I realize the distinction I am drawing can lead to obscure territory, and can border on issues of a philosophical, moral, and ethical nature. 

Michael





From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Muro, Andres
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 5:17 AM
To: gdemetrion at msn.com; The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4707] Re: critical thinking

Let me see if I can help to clarify a little. Or, maybe make things more obscure J

Definitions of education usually articulate that the purpose is to pass on existing knowledge, teach norms, rules, etc; prepare people to function in society, and improve or change things that need to be better. Within these definitions there is contained all ideological context from extreme fundamentalism to radical revolution. In one end, there are those that want to conserve everything exactly as is and those that want to change absolutely everything, and those who are all along these two extremes. So education is ultimately ideological. 

Some people would say that there is some pure, neutral, non-political content and those that divert from such content are trying to do social engineering. However, unless this content was designed by god and pass directly to publishers, I don?t know of such content. Content and teaching that do not question the established order, essentially serve to preserve it. Content and teaching that question it, serves to challenge it. All teachers are contained within an ideological paradigm because  teaching is essentially social engineering. Again, it serves to help people fit in the current social order, question it or some variety of this. 

Teachers who teach without questioning the content of the materials are contributing to preserve the ideas of the author, publisher and ideology behind it. Teachers who teach students to challenge the content are obviously opposing it. The third alternative is to teach students that literacy is inherently ideological and ideology permeates all literature. Without teaching to embrace or reject content  we can teach students to critically question it and to understand the ideology behind it. That would essentially be to teach critical thinking skills.

Some teachers embrace this mode. Others prefer to contribute to preserving what exists while others want to try changing what exists. To accomplish this, teachers use content that helps fulfill their own perspectives. There are some teachers that don?t realize that teaching is ideological and simply teach what the book says thinking that they are being neutral. They are spreading an ideology w/o knowingly doing so. 



From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of George Demetrion
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:57 PM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4697] Re: critical thinking

Kearney, Michael, others,

Would you include critically evaluating the message of the text, opening up opportunities for the exploration of divergent perspectives, possible hidden meanings, providing additional context for understanding a situation, etc?  For example, take the recent Cambridge police-Professor Gates incident on how one would teach a newspaper article on this topic.  Is one to focus only on the textual features themselves or can one legitimately bring in historical background and other contextual factors that gravitate beyond the text as well as challenging assumptions that are embedded in the text?

George Demetrion




Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:23:37 -0700
From: kearney_lykins at yahoo.com
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4695] Re: critical thinking


Michael,



I wholly support fostering critical thinking skills in an English or ESOL classroom as you have defined it, "reading comprehension of subsurface text features (i.e., implicit vs. explicit) that rely on analyzing, synthesizing, and inferring from information in it."



Thanks for offering this clear, non-political definition. 



To all: How is "critical thinking" such defined materially different from "reading strategies"? 



Kearney














Kearney_Lykins at yahoo.com








From: Michael A. Gyori <mgyori at mauilanguage.com>
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 4:35:27 PM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4667] Re: critical thinking

Greetings Alisa, Kearney and all,

I think there is a real misunderstanding in some of today?s posts about the application of ?critical thinking? in education.   It is a cognitive process as in, for example, ?critical thinking skills? with reference to measures of reading comprehension of subsurface text features (i.e., implicit vs. explicit) that rely on analyzing, synthesizing, and inferring from information in it. 

Critical thinking as a philosophical construct is something very different and usually correlates with sociopolitical stances.

It is really important that we all share a similar understanding of the term; if not, concerns about the imposition of value systems onto our students really can and does become an issue, as your post below exhibits.

Let?s avoid a semantic breakdown.  I believe Alisa?s post is in line with what is and should be discussed here. 

Michael





Michael A. Gyori, M.A. TESOL
Owner-Teacher
Maui International Language School
Phone 808.205.2101 (U.S.A.)
Fax 808.891.2237 (U.S.A.)
E-mail mgyori at mauilanguage.com
Website www.mauilanguage.com






From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kearney Lykins
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:08 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4657] Re: critical thinking



Alisa,



It seems to me that the formal discipline that most directly engages in the study of critical thinking is philsophy. 



Like Steve, when I have shared with non-subscribers that most literacy teachers on this listserve see their role as critical thinking specialists and agents for social change, they are shocked and yes, appalled.  Would that English teachers teach English.





Regards,



Kearney






Kearney_Lykins at yahoo.com



C: (614) 787-2202

H: (614) 760-1407








From: "Povenmire, Alisa" <apovenmire at necc.mass.edu>
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:41:23 AM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4647] Re: critical thinking

Perhaps what we do is not teach critical thinking per se, but instead teach language in such a way as to require students to respond critically and to use language constructs that reflect their thoughts- rather than just rote learning.  I encourage my teachers to incorporate critical thinking into their curricula in order to draw out richer and more thoughtful language from their students.  When I say ?incorporate critical thinking?, I mean activity such as persuasive essays, reflective journals, verbal critiques, debates, etc.  I encourage teachers to push students to use more language by asking them why? How? Tell me more.  Anyone is qualified to do this.

Is there another, more formal, discipline of ?critical thinking?? 


Alisa Vlahakis Povenmire
ESOL Coordinator/Counselor
Adult Literacy and Transition Programs
Northern Essex Community College, Extension Campus
78 Amesbury Street
Lawrence, MA 01840-1312
apovenmire at necc.mass.edu
978-738-7623



From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Kaufmann
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:41 AM
To: programs at englishcenter.edu; The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4638] Re: learnerempowerment

I am fluent and conduct business in a number of languages. This means that I can read books, newspapers, and listen to radio programs and have business discussions and all kinds of social interaction. I have never studied critical thinking. I believe that a majority of people who speak other languages at this level have had no instruction in critical thinking. I still would like to know why it is only English teachers who feel that they are required to, and qualified to, teach critical thinking.

On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:11 AM, Lynne Wilkins <programs at englishcenter.edu> wrote:


Hello

I'm a list lurker but think that Steve Kaufmann has posed a really interesting question about 'critical thinking' and different languages. I'm going to continue to think about this topic but my first response is that if you're learning a language in order to live and work and perhaps study in the country that uses that language, then you need as much fluency in that language as possible and that includes critical thinking. If you're learning the language for travel and some basic social interactions, then I agree that there's little reason to learn how to think critically in that second or third language. 



Thanks for an interesting discussion and exchange of ideas.

Best regards,

Lynne





Lynne Wilkins, Associate Director for Programs
Director, Corporate Training for Industry
The English Center 
66 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607-3734
programs at englishcenter.edu
www.englishcenter.edu
(510) 836-6700, ext. 105


-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Kaufmann
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 8:48 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 4628] Re: computers for families programs+learnerempowerment
I am curious to know why teachers of ESL feel that they should teach critical thinking. I do not think that teachers of Spanish, French, Chinese or Russian, for example, feel that this is a part of their task. Is there something different about learning English?


Steve Kaufmann
www.thelinguist.blogs.com
www.lingq.com
604-922-8514

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-- 
Steve Kaufmann
www.thelinguist.blogs.com
www.lingq.com
604-922-8514


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