Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i2C2I6I24708; Thu, 11 Mar 2004 21:18:06 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 21:18:06 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <BC7679A0.6554%varshna@grandecom.net> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Varshna Narumanchi-Jackson <varshna@grandecom.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:10019] Re: Fw: Diversity in staffing X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Status: O Content-Length: 4667 Lines: 102 I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly with this observation! If I dig deep enough, I can recall my own struggles with learning English grammar versus the understanding (approaching enlightenment at times) I experienced when I began studying my "foreign" language. The insights, for me, were most often directly related to my ignorance of English grammar. (Forgive me, Mrs. Fadus, for not being a better student then!). On the other hand, I suspect that students' concern is that they may be missing out on the socio-cultural aspects of language development when being instructed by a fluent/near-fluent non-native speaker of English. I can't argue, however, that in a situation where a student is "paying" for the experience of being instructed by a "native" teacher, they shouldn't have their expectations considered. By contrast, in my experiences with community-based programs, students might be re-directed to consider what it means to acculturate by losing one's accent, picking up on slang and other cultural references in language, etc. These adults are living and working in a community that places pressure on them to adapt to its norms. It might be a breath of fresh air to see a professional in the classroom whose English is constructed on conscious choices to maintain an active and healthy bilingualism. Varshna N. Jackson Austin, TX n 3/11/04 7:42 PM, Ken Todd at kentodd@UDel.Edu wrote: > I remember sitting many years ago sitting in a seminar on generative > syntax at a German university. The professor commented that we would > have to be able to mark the category of prepositions for case > assignment, for example 'dative.' he then asked casually what that > particular set of prepositions would be. After a brief pause during > which the German looked around blanky, I volunteered, "aus, ausser, bei, > mit, nach, seit, von and zu." Afer class, the German expressed their > amazement, "How did you KNOW that?" The simple answer was, Because I had > to learn it consciously. There's mmore to a language than accent, and > there are certain aspects of language which a native speaker must make > greater efforts to grasp analytically and pedagogically than does a > non-native speaker who has learned that language. > > ttweeton@comcast.net wrote: >> >> Why then is it so essential to have native speakers of >> English perceived as being the most valid teachers of >> the language? On what grounds >> >> A correct accent is essential in my opinion to teach any language.I have a >> friend who teaches ESOL with a very heavy Spanish accent, She is not clearly >> intelligible in her pronunciation and her emphasis is on the wrong syllable >> many times. I, my self, wouldn't want to learn a language from someone who >> wasn't a native if I had the choice. >> Tanya Tweeton GED and ESOL >> Fort Lauderdale, Florida >>> Maria, >>> >>> Thanks again for another sensitive and well thought >>> out response. I was taught English in India. I grew up >>> speaking English, Hindi and Marathi (and understanding >>> Punjabi, Gujarati and Malvani) almost simultaneously. >>> And as Americans have pointed out, I *DO* have an >>> accent. An Indian accent from western India, and a >>> strong British pronunciation. Everyone has an accent. >>> >>> ESOL for me is similar to the FLE classes my son had >>> to take when he started school last year in France, >>> which is Francais Langue Etrangere, or French as a >>> Foreign Language. What matters is communication. The >>> difference between high school language lessons and >>> ESOL to me is the difference between learning Language >>> as a subject (and thus no real emphasis on speaking or >>> communicating or learning the living spoken language) >>> and learning a spoken living language. ESOL to me, >>> represents the latter. We hear this all the time, "I >>> had five years of Spanish/German/French in school and >>> still can't speak it." That to me is a subject. And >>> more often than not, we are taught this by non-native >>> speakers of the language. >>> >>> Why then is it so essential to have native speakers of >>> English perceived as being the most valid teachers of >>> the language? On what grounds? Seems more of a >>> sociopolitical thing to me, rather than something >>> based on research or inquiry. Should it not be mastery >>> of the language and the ability to teach it well be >>> the reason we hire teachers? >>> >>> regards, >>> Ujwala Samant >>> >>> Director >>> Learning for Life UK >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> __________________________________ >>> Do you Yahoo!? >>> Yahoo! Search - Find what you’re looking for faster >>> http://search.yahoo.com > >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Dec 23 2004 - 09:46:40 EST