One of the tasks of this prompt was to describe the linguistic, ethnic, and sociocultural characteristics of the students in the classroom that I am tutoring. Some the students I am tutoring are bilingual. I’ve noticed at times while I was tutoring the students they would be speaking Spanish towards each other. I could also tell that they speak other languages at home because some of the students still have accents that are distinctive. I can tell that the students have picked up on both languages quickly because they are first grade students that have conversations in both languages.
The facts on Infoworks show that the majority of the students are on the poverty level. The students are roughly 40 percent efficient in math and reading and the rest aren’t. The English language learners test scores aren’t great, when it comes to reading 9 percent of them are efficient and the rest aren’t. When it comes to math proficiency 16 percent of them are efficient. Those are very low statistics. It is difficult for someone who is learning English to get high test scores but with the hard work and dedication they should start to improve.
The cultural capital that they bring is great; although they come from non-wealthy backgrounds they have the knowledge to be fluent in two languages. Many middle-class children with opportunities for a better education have difficulty in learning a new language. Although this maybe requires more work for the students and teachers to teach them English it could pay off in the long run. Also when students understand both languages well, they could go on to learn a third language in the middle and high school grade levels if the opportunity is given. This is excellent for the future of these children because knowing more than one language fluently is great to put on job applications and chances are they can get a better job. Many schools and companies need translators when dealing with students or clients that aren’t fluent in English. Having someone who could do help translate will benefit schools and companies.
This will strengthen our society and our democracy. Many people think that Americans are lazy and are incompetent. If a majority of the people living here are bilingual, it shows you that Americans are well-rounded. Students like these; with the right discipline and opportunities can improve the way people view Americans. At times people viewed America as a melting pot that just accepting anyone to live here without having to know the language. With students like these, Americans can have an all new outlook.
I can relate this to Paulo Freire because he was efficient at teaching a new language. He would use his method of pedagogy; this is when people would question the way things are, not just accepting it. If the students followed this path they could learn more languages the way he taught them. He was a very efficient theorist. If students now questioned their work as Freire taught things could possibly be different. He was known for teaching languages rapidly and efficiently.
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The classroom that I am tutoring in is representive of the statistics that Matt refers to in relation the students in his classroom. The amount of bilnguil students is slightly less. I also agree to the fact that these students are learning a second language at a young age and this help them in acquiring a job in the future. Multilinguists are needed in almost every aspect of business, trade, commerce, education, politics and travel and can be the deciding factor over other applicants in the acquision of employment.
ReplyDeleteMatt also talks about the fact that Europeans view Americans as lazy and arrogant due to the fact that most Americans are only able to speek one language. I can verify this statement with an experience that I had while I was visiting a few countries in Europe. The first day that my wife and I arrived, we had to wait for our hotel room to be ready, so we decided to stop at a coffee house for a quick drink. As we watched the waitress, she greeted one custumer in French, then another in Dutch. She came and took our order in English (I guess it obvoious that we were Americans). We talked with her for a couple of minutes and found out that she also speeks German. She was surprised to find out that we were only fluent in Eglish. In Europe, the countries are small enough where transportation into other countries is very common and people pick up other languages out of necessity.
Matt's response to Prompt #2 can also be related to the article "Teaching English Language Learners" by Claude Goldenberg. By teaching the students in Matt's classroom to use their primary language as scaffolding in order to increase their proficiency in standard english, is one of the main points in Goldenberg's article. Goldenberg also talks about the many benefits that people who are fluent in more than one language and the benfits of this in society.