Revisiting Canargarajah TESOL at Forty

In the beginning of the semester being a monolingual English speaker participating with many bilingual ESOL students and many who have taught English in other countries other than the United States of America, I truly did not know many of the issues that ESOL students and teachers faced during their everyday lives in the classroom. The only issue that I was faced with was the racism of Americans judging L2 on how they should already know English if they are going to live and have citizenship here etc. It was great to read about the importance of empowerment as many students and teachers can feel disempowered due to the lack of support needed by many branches of the ESL field. Empowerment, to all students, not just ESL can motivate students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers while learning the strategies behind them to better help them participate in the learning communities and society. It is important that all ESOL educators and professionals seek to raise awareness of empowerment for the students of ESOL so they may feel not only better with themselves as language learners but also feel comfortable with first language speakers of English. Educators also need to put a valiant effort into learner’s motivational experiences in coexistence with self empowerment. These two qualities can and will change the flow of the classroom towards a progressive educational experience while promoting the fact to the world that second language learners are not deficient and they are as equal to any learner. After all of the articles this semester and while revisiting this one in particular, I feel more comfortable as an educator knowing the issues that are still being contested with that I may be able to make life changing decisions for my ESOL students so they may feel an equal part of the academic community while living in a foreign country or in a country that speaks primarily English.

Nelson, C.: Sexual Identities in ESL: Queer Theory and Classroom Inquiry

Cynthia Nelson writes about gay (all types) rights in affiliation with teaching. Many issues are addressed that she feels that needed to be publicly addressed as our society grows with more people affiliated with this profession. Cynthia discusses the mindset of homosexual teachers should have and it should be a “queer” one which would allow more open-minded opportunities with teachers, staff, students, administration, families, etc instead of the negative stigma of sexual discrimination. The focus on gay teachers is an important issue that needed to be addressed and Cynthia did at the 26th Annual TESOL Convention by talking about the firing of gay teachers, hate crimes, and little/no civil rights. She acknowledges that gay/lesbian teachers should not hide their true identity as this can affect their overall outcome with peer professionals and personally themselves. Cynthia acknowledges that the sexual preference of a gay/lesbian teacher should not be anyone’s business and should not be up for discussion if the person chooses not to. The author also talks about the realities of teaching students from other countries who do not allow public homosexuality let alone hiring homosexuals for prominent jobs. The fact that these students come from countries where homosexuals have little/no civil rights and quite possibly death is another topic discussed in the article. Regardless she makes it aware that homosexuals live in every country and how students in the past have openly written about them. Rights need to be discussed, Cynthia says, and should not be hidden especially in the professional/college field. As not only gay/lesbian teachers exist but as do the students and their safety and equal education is at stake.

Over the years I have had only 2 educators that were openly gay with their students- 1 in high school and the other in college. The main characteristics that both teachers exuded were their open comfort about who they truly were and regardless of what lifestyle they chose should never conflict with their teaching and overall goal of learning from them. It is nobody’s business, especially a student, to ask me what sexual preference I am let alone is it mine to ask what preference my professor’s is. Nevertheless, I have grown up in a more open society than many students affiliated with this program and I acknowledge this will be an uphill battle for homosexual teachers when dealing with international students. As years pass as the author had written, all gay/lesbian people need more heterosexuals standing up with authority for homosexual rights.

TQ Dialogues The Hidden Curriculum CH1

Survival speech is very apparent in many classrooms around the United States where students depend on these skills to allow them to comfortably get through each day as smooth as possible. Whether it is conversing about what they want for lunch, how they plan on getting home, discussing their emotions about the people they interact with (friends, teachers, strangers, etc), and more. It is a technique that I feel needs to be introduced to an E.S.L. learner from the beginning and then expanded while incorporating more comprehensive and communicative language skills for the future. It is important overall that the student acquires the ability to think critically and to problem solve. As for myself using survival speech while visiting in Mexico, I can relate to students who are permanently living in an English speaking world where bi-lingual settings are few and far between. It is encouraging that we are seeing more bilingual signs in high traffic foreign foot traffic areas: airports, bus and train stations, and directions on food, appliances, etc. Life is very unexpected and you can only prepare as much as you are willing to study. Just like being on stage giving a performance- you can rehearse and rehearse and speak the script to a tee but anything in the environment can change the whole perspective where you need to be ready for plan B.

Chapter 3 Learning to Write Academic Prose in a Second Language: A Literacy Autobiography

I enjoyed Connor's advice for ESL writers. I have always struggled with number 4: learn to share your writing with others. It is something that I have always struggled with due to lack of confidence in my work. Doesn't matter if it is a teacher, friend, family member, etc. When I put all of this time and effort in writing what ever it is that needs extra attention, my biggest fear is does it sound right, do I sound like I know what I'm talking about, is there too much/not enough information, relevance, etc. I feel this is something that many students, both L1 and L2, deal with all of the time and it starts at a young age no matter what language you first learned. The fear of messing up and possibly the harsh reactions of past educators that have haunted you to this present day. This aspect is something I hope to foster in my classrooms as a TESOL. Students can hold back their true potential due to this lack of confidence/fear etc and we should help one another for the better- not just pointing out the worst. No matter what age you are or what level of proficiency you're currently at. We're all learners- yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Chapter 2 From the Periphery to the Center: One Teacher's Journey

I thought it was sad to read about how finding English teaching positions for ESOL students was quite difficult for NNEST. As mentioned on page 22 about how NNEST can contribute their rich multicultural, multilingual experiences to ELT are often barred from ESL classrooms. And then working with mainstream teachers, specialists, and heads of ENG depts with no awareness of ESL politics, are generous and tolerant of our differences and judge NNS's on their merits during the award of financial aid, hiring, and promotion. But the overall goal for any N/NEST is their recognition of their teaching ability and respect for their scholarship, taking active roles and assuming leadership in teacher organizations, initiating research, sharing their ideas through publications, and learning to network with NNS colleagues. I feel bad for these periphery countries who are losing English teachers due to poor salaries, working conditions, etc. It reminds me of some instances here in the US with the N.C.L.B.Act and how students, schools, staff, administrators, etc are suffering due to funding issues (which of course is caused by underlying preexisting issues- low test scores, inadequate materials, etc). Overall it seems no matter who you are, NEST/NNEST there are going to be prejudices against you. But it is up to you to show what you're capable of towards positive ESOL learning and achievement.

A Sociolinguistically Based, Empirically Researched Pronunciation Syllabus for English as an International Language

When speaking with ESOL, the #1 issue I have while listening to what they are saying is their pronunciation of the words. I feel it is very important to keep your own dialect, accent/etc but the clarity of sounds one speaks constitutes comprehensive communication from one to another. I understand from friends of mine who are ESOL say they feel discouraged when others cannot understand them due to their accent. It is not the words and how they use them- it all makes sense. But when words cannot be understood due to the improper pronunciation, it creates negative barriers where people listening will just nod to agree just to hope whatever they hear next will be understood, people may not want to speak to ESOL due to their difficulty to understand what is spoken, and I have even heard people say, just text me instead. I hope that "Americanisation" becomes dimminshed so that ESOL can be more comfortable in their own learning journies and not conform to the disintegration of their own language and accent. This reminds me of the ESL program I worked in Ajo (that I speak so much about) that also focuses on the international phonological intelligibility through the practice of listening to standard spoken English text. It was hoped that the program would help students speak more understandably with the pronunciation dialect, enunciation, pronunciation, etc skills taught within the curriculum. This is why it was very important for students to interact with others after reading the story by retellings, communicating, etc so the practice of social and informational exchange could occur with as few errors as possible. The students could guide eachother towards a more successful manor during the whole process.

Native or Non-native: Who's Worth More?

I liked reading that "foreign language teachers are international-minded people" because not only is it true but anymore, this concept needs to be "pushed" towards traditional (K-12 regular classroom) educators to help them better connect with multiculturalism. Efficient communicators, as Edge points out, is the more nationalistic view that should be used more often regardless as to where you grew up, how long, what was spoken at home, etc. As myself, a "native" speaker, I am always, daily, learning how to speak more correctly as I learn other ways to efficiently communicate. I feel that all learners of English are copying other speakers all of the time. I'm not sure if that's a "native/nn" thing but its understandable why its included. I feel its what examples you use that you want to personally incorporate what will help guide your proficiency, etc. The NEST vs. NNEST in schools should focus on can/do you know how to teach students that are ESOL whether or not you are a N/NNS. It's your competence and teaching skills that will be valued. How hard you have worked to get where you are today. I do agree that ESOL students would connect more with NNEST for obvious reasons that a monolingual NEST. But if the education is acknowledged during the training of the NEST on understanding and connecting with language barriers, difficulties, etc while learning, then this subject would be such an issue.