Philosophy Statement

Write a personal philosophy statement that expresses what you believe about bilingual/ESL education based on the knowledge you gained through this course and your personal and professional experiences. Explain how your philosophy will guide how you will teach ELLs.

Language is a communication tool, it empowers people to reach out their relationship and make connections with surroundings. Through language, we learn knowledge and how to love. Though there are more than seven thousand languages in the world, English is selected as the international official language. Thus, learning English has become a more urgent issue in the "Global Village" era.

The value of one's English language training is reflected in the quality of his/her English language articulation. It becomes imperative for ELLs to regularly upgrade their vocabulary in order to enhance the verbal skills as well as grammatical knowledge. The teacher should possess as many expedient ways as to help students to improve their English language skills exponentially. Because the main purpose of the bilingual program is to teach English as soon as possible and integrate the ELLs into the mainstream of education in English speaking countries. Besides, for other than English-speaking countries, English learning paves the way for any civilized and educated individual to get on the board in the digital era. 

In my perspective, the process of language acquisition is the process of social connection-building, during this "ritual", ELLs obtain confidence and local culture at the same time. All teachers need to cooperate in this domain and patiently wait for the fruit. The learning of the second language is different from the acquisition of the first language, but the processes are very similar to some extent. It takes time,  from copying, practicing to applying, learners will perform better in an encouraging and activate environment.  I will address the learning needs of ELL/ESL students and regularly adjust their teaching accordingly to accommodate the different levels of English proficiency. Even in the same scenario, I understand learners will advance at varying rate due to their prior knowledge, socio-economy, and family support.

With respect and understanding, I believe language is one of the powerful weapons in the world.  So when it comes to bilingual education, I recognize it is as important as maintaining the first language. It associates with learners' confidence and identity, let alone connections with family and strength of bilingualism. In my future teaching, I will also try to capitalize diverse cultures to broaden students' view, enable them to appreciate the beauty of multi-culture. 

When I teach Mandarin, I often put aside the textbook. Students' learning goals are always my priority. Based on their prior skills and available schedules, I discuss with them and clarify some misunderstandings simultaneously. Well-designed lesson plans always bring win-win situation. The key elements are authentic hands-on experiences and more interactive activities. Some students are good at visual learning and some are auditory, I will blend what I have learned and apply strategies seamlessly to cater to different students. Regular assessments help me to reflect my teaching as well, it's a practical channel having bilateral communication.   

We Chinese have a saying'" The more humble you are, the more you learn." After this course, I realize how much I should learn. Bilingual education is not a subject area, it an attitude and lifestyle. I would like to put myself into learners' shoes and contribute my passion to this industry.

week 13 Presentation

Here is the presentation of  my case study, https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cblVQV2a5M

week 12 reflection

1. Prospectus

I felt so sorry for the kid, I wrote the poem for him. Hopefully, we can eliminate the sorrow through more respect and understanding.

No one could travel back to the era,
the simple era,
The era now we envy,
the era you suffered.

I put myself in your shoes,
it suffocates my breath,
my mind is treacherous,
like your adobe house.
there's something,
there's something.

Mother's breast is treasure,
goat's milk, and cornmeal as well.
In your eyes was meager,
because your dream was colossal,
because our improvement has been slow.

You couldn't change your color,
I couldn't change your thought.
In my view you're beautiful,
Your playmates were cool.
English was just additional,
Your language was your soul.
It lasted forever,
It lasted forever.

2. No Questions Asked

Back to then, it's very hard to imagine the quality of teaching. I saw many dramas or movies depicting the attributes of teachers, most of them lacked the passion for education, teaching was just a normal career which helped them bring home the bread. In this poem, I could identify the feeling of left-out. He also abandoned him after the teacher gave up him. The children in this situation were marginalized by the society. It even made me angry to think if the teacher ignored their needs. The poem was really a food for thought, it pushed me to become a good teacher, a teacher deserves the position. 

week 11 Reflection of Chapters

Stories about the lives of multilingual children in public #12 schools.  pg 56-63: From the woman Warrior (pp.78-81); Mother Tongue (pp.169-173; My Hawaii pp. (179-183)

     These stories are really realistic and heart-wrenching to me. I remembered last year I saw a movie" Waiting for Superman" (2010) described the scenario in public schools and criticised the corrupt system. It's very important for teachers no matter pre-service or in-service, always understanding the importance of our career in terms of society or students' development. In my culture, there is a saying," Being a one-day teacher, being a life-long father." It doesn't mean you would become a foster parent but refers to the responsibility a teacher assumes and how much influence on students' lives.  

     I  like a quotation,"Education of the mind without education of the heart is no education at all." (-Aristotle) It specifically fits the first story "Wascicula ya he? Do you speak English?". The author compared the government school and convent school and brought up the issue of the Indian reservation. It hammers home that teaching with enthusiasm, even just a singing or allowing kids to be kids, teachers could pour the hope and joy into their lives.

    The second story manifests the ever-existing situation of language acquisition for immigrants-- the awkwardness during the transition. But the problem I concern is who can survive the "silent period" and still form the positive personality, or if the education system fails to have young generation self-identity formality, how much cost this society will pay. To me, every individual is the treasure for this society, policymakers should have this consciousness taking action to prevent more loss later.

   Go to the third story, I feel sorry mourning the Hawaiian. The on-the-wane Hawaiian was rich in metaphor and melodious once. This scenario mirrors the assimilation policy as well. If we couldn't recognize and appreciate the existence of diverse languages historically and geographically, "Aloha" will only be "Aloha" in our memory.

week 10 reflection

Education, Multilingualism and Translanguaging in the 21st Century

Please view the link above which will take you to this week journal review. 

This article feeds me a very practical taste, it points out the discrepancy from rigorous academic context to real-world communities. The challenges teachers face in the modern society "are not to add more languages, but to recognize the multiple language practices that heterogeneous populations increasingly bring and which integrated schooling,"  

Throughout the journal, it discusses the existing situation that nowadays most linguists analyze the bilingual education in a monoglossic lens. The separation rule in bilingual education can't reflect the need of students and against the nature of language development. It even violates the human right, social justice, and social practices. 

In my understanding, translanguing seems to be a must-be element in second language learning after reading this journal because I recognize the fact of "fuzziness of language boundaries and fluidity in language identity". Some bilingual education is implemented in a positive way, for instance, in Luxembourg, but it still lacks well-designed curriculum and only conceives sequential program. Translanguaging is an L1+L2 concept, it includes the cultural strength and develops students' metalinguistic awareness. It allows students in a multilingual classroom acquire other languages without waiting for the assistance form teacher only. 

All in all, even many teachers skirt the translanguaging to comply with academic standards, political concern or personal interest, it is a pragmatic practice in class and provides teacher and students constructive learning pedagogically and cognitively. 

week 9 Chapter Reflection

Chapter 10 discusses several forms of bilingual education programs. In addition on pg 214 Mainstreaming with Pull-Out Classes. What is your opinion in mainstreaming students without pull-out classes?

     To a newcomer with developing language capacity, most of the time, they need to put a lot of efforts to listen. It demands high concentration in listening and easily get lost in the content comprehension. With pull-out, the teachers might simplify the content, use slow speed or "flowed language" to demonstrate the not authentic scenario in real life. Unfortunately, if the school doesn't operate the system well, language learners might have no chance to hear English from native speakers, leave behind the grade-level, be stigmatized by peers and have the negative impact on students' self-esteem and even potentially drop out earlier. So without pull-out classes, maybe teachers/schools can avoid the dark side of this strategy.

    But in my opinion, it might be more challenging to the teachers. They need to....
1. Be trained and functionally create a harmonious learning environment and design more diverse lesson plans including cultural, socioeconomic dimensions. 
2. Be more sensitive to the language needs of the students.
3. Decrease racial or social stereotypes, and provide equal opportunities for ELLs to participate in activities and assist them with appropriate wordings instead.
4. Communicate with ELLs' family/community more to get support and have consensus on learning. 

    Aforementioned are pros and cons of put-out strategy, I believe there is no one-fits-all approach, all teachers need to get ESL training and know their multicultural students more to complements within the system and explore the cures by observation with enthusiasm. 

week 8 Bilingual Education in the Middle East --YiYi

   The bilingual education in the Middle East gets lots of influence from their language Policy. For most researchers, this region hereto couldn't be analyzed owing to the resistance to colonialism and foreign intervention. When it comes to bilingual education, it's not as simple as English-Arabic module, it also involves the models of another minorities languages sets. And when people talk about this issue, it includes Egypt, totally call it the Middle East and North Africa(aka MENA).

   Throughout the time, MENA has a long history of religious conflicts, colonization turmoils, and civil wars. Researchers mark here by economic, religious and linguistic differences. There are three salient aspects of the language policy discuss.

1. Diglossia.

    It means the "two or more varieties of the same language are used by some speakers under different conditions"(Ferguson,1959). Students from lower socioeconomic background usually have difficulties learning the combination of the Arabic script and syntax on top of their native dialect. In reality, the colloquial vernaculars are not always excluded, but some exam, e.g. OECD PISA only tested formal version( Fusha). And it can mislead the students' authentic performance.

2. Arabization.

    It's controversial that the language policy designed to strengthen the status of Arabic. The original attempt was to reverse language shift made by colonialism and modern globalization. There are some brief introductions here.

1) Arab Maghreb Union(AMU). It was colonized by France and French became the main language of education, administration, and media.  When Morocco and Tunisia were independent in 1956 and Algeria in 1962, the union started to adopt a policy of Arabization. It is striving to create a monolingual nation but faces many challenges of promoting multilingualism.

2) Lebanon. It gained independence in 1943 and made Arabic the only one official language then, later on, suffered civil war from 1975 to 1990. The war weakened the public education system and gave away many opportunities for private institutions to teach English or French. Even the authority would like to revive the status of Arabic, English and French are used in schools for mathematics and sciences.

3) Israel. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Jewish national movement successfully revived the Hebrew language but effaced much of the linguistic variety of both Palestinians and the Jewish people. After Israel's independence in 1948, they maintain the Hebrew as the majority language but have the fear of its status.

4) Libya. The locals show the negative attitude toward English learning because of some anti-American feelings. Therefore it's a taboo if people speak English in public.

5) Other MENA countries, the establishment of Arabic language academies in Amman, Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo successfully reinforce Arab identity through Arabization.

3. Minority language, multilingualism and language education

    After independence, many linguistic minorities were often oppressed due to be seen as an obstacle to the uniformity.  There is still some minority right far from being addressed. However, following the situation of unemployment, international education and the internet use, people start to adjust their perception of foreign language and bilingual education. For instance, Berber, the language of almost half of the population was given official status in 2011.

    The research of language education in MENA is pieces due to political instability, for instance, ISIS organization. The result is often difficult to analyze because of different interpretation and evaluation among groups in MENA. Besides, war zone keeps researchers from getting reliable information.

    In my conclusion, the bilingual education history in MENA goes along with their religious, political history. Limited accountable resources impede the understanding of full picture across the whole region, but foreign language learning is gaining foothold slowly but surely.