Forget PB & J: Prosciutto was in My Third Grade Lunch
When we were told that we would be contributing to a blog,
my outside said, “I’ve got this.” My inside, however, said this:
So, here goes…..
We have covered a variety of issue so far in class, and it
is difficult to write about just one, but I was especially intrigued when Delpit (2003) discussed
the value of storytelling (p. 57). Perhaps,
it is because have been documenting my genetic history, and when there is
talk of a relative, it is typically accompanied by a story. As, I stopped at my
mother’s house to ask her a few questions, I listened to her speak to me in
English, switch to Friulan for her best friend who called her, and then finally
in Italian to my sister. It made me acutely aware of my own literacy journey
and how different all of our journeys are. It also made me wish that my mother
was more confident about her speaking skills when she ventured out of the
comfort of her home. To understand my literacy journey, however, it is important to know that of my parents.
I grew up in an Italian and Friulan-speaking household. My
parents are from a small, rural town in Northern Italy located near the base of
the Dolomites where there are farms and wild boars that venture down from the
foothills to feed on obliging crops. The photo above shows the back of their farm. They immigrated to the United States in
the 1950s, and they worked 60-70 hours a week and went to English school at
night. They started businesses and raised three children, despite their
difficulties using English, and yes, I ate prosciutto for lunch, despite the
bullying of my peers.
Succeeding in these endeavors is difficult for most
people; however, my parents faced situations daily that influenced their
confidence in their English-speaking abilities. To this day, at 87, my mother
continues to apologize for her language skills (her pronunciation skills in
particular) and asks me to double check paper work or get on the telephone with
those in charge of business/banking/utility issues to make sure she is
understood. This is a woman who, during WWII, oversaw getting the younger
children in the family up the foothills to escape bombing and the soldiers who
took over her home. It takes a lot to shake the confidence of someone like
that, but those who saw themselves as superior in their language choices
chiseled away that confidence bit by bit. I believe the idea of a learner being
exposed to constant correction is referred to as the “affective filter” on page
50 of “Language Diversity and Learning”, and it applies here. As its author,
Delpit (2003), reveals, it can influence a learner’s attitudes about language
in a variety of ways, and it certainly influenced my mother’s. Yet, despite her
diminished confidence levels, she was, and still is, able to persevere. She would have faced an additional burden had she faced prejudices
for her skin color before she had even opened her mouth.
What was said in class was
incredibly powerful to me: language is power, and the cost of it and the
prejudices are much greater for people of color. So, how do we begin to combat
this? How can we continue the process of embracing the language diversity of
students and continuing to build confidence so that when they turn 87, they are
not apologizing for their pronunciation, or at the age of 30, their language
choices do not cost them in terms of a promotion - or a degree - or even medical
attention? How can we show respect for the cultural identities present in our
classrooms and understand the extent to which our own cultural lens influences
how we approach teaching?
It’s a
daunting task, not to mention that those who teach children under 17 deserve
special merit. However, we also must acknowledge the misconceptions about language and
language learning; the people who have those misconceptions continue to
surprise me and deserve a blog dedicated just to them.
I would like to think that most educators realize that language proficiency has very little
to do with pronunciation. If you were to look at Arnold Schwarzenegger (or one of the many politicians who were not born in the United States,
or even Salma Hayek), for example, it shows that they are proficient in English,
even though their accents and pronunciations of certain words are unlike those
of a native English-speaker. I would also like to think that most of us
understand that encountering a person whose English language abilities are not considered
“standard” does not equate to that person’s lack of intelligence or understanding.
However, not everyone knows this. My mother’s doctor does not know this. How
can I tell? Whenever I walk into the doctor’s office with her, the doctor directs
all his questions to me. My mother is fluent in three languages and proficient
in two others, and she has spoken English to him on previous occasions;
however, she is immediately identified by her accent - by her pronunciation of
certain words, and assumptions about her ability to understand (and ultimately
her intelligence) are made. The same
happens in public places such as grocery stores, and they happened at my
elementary school where those assumptions were passed on to me, just as they
were evident in Purcell-Gates’ reference to Donny in “…As Soon As She Opened
her Mouth: Issues of Language, Literacy, and Power.”
The complicated
connections between language and identity are evident, and I wish I knew the
answers to the questions I have posed in this blog. While I understand that I
have a long way to go in addressing my own prejudices and teaching
inadequacies, something that I can do is share a couple of teaching strategies that
I have learned in my journey teaching both NES and NNES.
"All
we can do is provide students with the exposure to an alternate form,
and allow them the opportunity to practice that form in contexts that
are nonthreatening, have a real purpose,and are intrinsically enjoyable"
(Delpit, 2003, p. 54).
One article that I have found especially relevant is by
Barry McLaughlin. Even though it was written in 1994, it addresses the myths of
second language acquisition that I have recently witnessed in both professional
and social contexts.
The second is introducing a different approach to grammar
pedagogy: corpus linguistics. It is not
a study of dead people. It is the study of authentic
language – language exactly as it is used in a context (of your choice) by
a demographic (of your choice). I have used corpora to teach how grammar is
used, how expressions are used, and how and when certain words are used. The link below will lead you to the Michigan
Corpus of Academic Spoken English, a corpus that I have used in my classes. The image below the link will give you a good idea of what a concordance looks like.
Finally, examining the rhetorical strategies of writers is
one way to expose students to the role and power of language. In my freshman
composition classes, one way I have done this is through the rhetorical analysis of “Letter
from a Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Marin Luther King Jr.
Although these strategies have been employed in college
writing courses, it is my hope they can easily be adapted to K-12 classrooms.
As I have said, I am in the process of reflecting on, questioning, and revising
my own teaching methods. I do not see this as a process that will ever end, and I would love to learn and share ideas that will help me be a better educator. It is in that light that I pose these questions:
- In Delpit’s (2003) “ Language Diversity and Learning”, the author suggests that educators find ways “to celebrate, not merely tolerate, diversity in our classrooms” (p.67) and “delight in their own cultural and linguistic history” (p. 67). How can we apply this idea in our own teaching environments?
- Do you think the idea of using authentic language to teach non-native speakers of English has value in a K-12 setting? If you think so, how do you think you would apply this strategy in your own teaching practices?
- Delpit brings up the issue of evaluation on pages 54-55 in “Language Diversity and Learning”. How can we further develop our own evaluative practices to embrace the cultural diversity of students?
- Is asking students to provide a rhetorical analysis of a text realistic in an elementary or high school classroom, considering the lack of time students already have in adhering to rigorous curriculum requirements?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI would like to start by addressing your last question. I teach High School English and we begin teaching Rhetorical Analysis to the Freshman, slowly building the skills each year. The youngest group I teach is sophomores and we are actually currently in our Rhetorical Analysis Unit.
We went over the Rhetorical Appeals, the Logical Fallacies, types of evidence used, Bias, and analyzing texts using SOAPSTone. We use a variety of different texts- speeches, advertisements, and articles. Using those, they will find what the author is trying to argue/if the argument is valid.
This is a great skill, especially in this era of politics. They can then use those skills when evaluating people in power's arguments.
Additionally, I believe we will continue to see it taught on the high school level, as long as standardized testing is around. Rhetorical Analysis is found on both the AP Lang test and the SAT essay.
Something to consider when teaching this skill is using advertisements- there are great print advertisements to use for a Rhetorical Analysis and they are typically more accessible to struggling readers.
MaryBeth, I love that you use a variety of genres in your Rhetorical Analysis Unit. I agree that political speeches and advertisements make excellent resources for rhetorical analysis.
ReplyDeleteWhen I teach freshman composition, I often ask students to analyze advertisements for the same product that are targeted to different audiences. I have used ads from different countries and asked students to compare them to ads featured in the United States, ads for the same products that target different consumers (i.e., an SUV ad in a parenting magazine vs. an SUV ad in Rolling Stone), and simply single ads for their analyses of the Aristotlean appeals that are present.
I do find, however, that quite a bit of guidance and modeling is needed. The activity of analyzing writing involves the critical thinking skills that are just developing in some students. "What am I supposed to look for?" is the question I get the most often.
What I try to get students to see in "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is how Aritstolean appeals and syntax work together to convey a powerful message. My office mate uses the letter in a different way: she first has students analyze a speech about the Iraq war and then brings in "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", in order to illustrate how the strategies can be used to convey very different messages.
I will try to send my assignment sheet for my Image Analysis assignment in the next comment. The comment boxes will only allow a certain number of characters to be pubished.
Below, please find the beginning of an assignment sheet you might find helpful. I used the Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing as the main text for this project. I would be happy to email anyone any of my assignment sheets!
ReplyDeletePurpose:
Advertising represents one of the most creative and imaginative forms of communication in our culture, and one purpose of this assignment is simply to enjoy the opportunity to describe and analyze some interesting ads. This writing project is also intended to increase your comfort level with the writing process (i.e., invention, planning, and revision strategies) and introduce you to a variety of analytical tools that you can use to examine advertising strategies geared toward specific audiences.
Suggested Readings:
Reading these chapters will help you succeed in writing this paper!
-The advertisements that we will choose as a class
-ABGW, Chapter 4, Rhetoric and Symbolic Action p.75
• The Appeals to Logos, Ethos, and Pathos pp. 78 – 80
• Angle of vision, pp. 80-82 & 84-85
• Thinking Rhetorically about Any Cultural “Text” pp.85-87
• The Rhetoric of Clothing and Other Consumer Items pp. 88-90
-ABGW, Chapter 5, Seeing Rhetorically The Writer as Observer pp. 97-106
• Exploring rhetorical observation and the ways that angle of vision can affect verbal and visual descriptions, pp. 97- 101
• Factors that shape perception, pp. 102-105
• Strategies for creating a persuasive effect, p. 106
-ABGW, Chapter 11, Analyzing Images, pp. 293-325
• How images create rhetorical effects
• Camera techniques, pp. 297-298
• Compositional features of an image, pp. 298-300
• How to analyze an advertisement
• Understanding an advertiser’s goals and strategies, pp. 303-304
• How advertisers target specific audiences, pp. 304-305
• Cultural perspectives on advertisements, pp. 309-312.
-ABGW, Chapter 18, Composing and Revising Closed-Form Prose
Here is my help sheet for selecting an image:
ReplyDeleteHere are some helpful hints to consider while you search for your advertisements:
- READ your assigned pages. You will not be successful with this assignment unless you read the pages that are on your assignment sheet. What is done in class works with what is in your book; it does not repeat or replace the information in your text.
-You are not to use advertisements specifically designed for the internet
-All advertisements must be approved before you can start the paper.
-Keep in mind that to be successful with this assignment, you need to select advertisements that compare similar products. For example, comparing an advertisement for an SUV to an advertisement for a convertible would not be comparing similar things.
-Make sure that you get all the necessary information for your works cited page (See bottom of page).
-Avoid Got Milk advertisements.
-Select ads from magazines that clearly have different audiences. People and Us, for example have very similar audiences, so try to avoid using both of them. Selecting ads from magazines that target different audiences (e.g., Outside and Women’s Daily), however, will help you better analyze the advertisers’ rhetorical strategies.
-Consider the Focusing Question (FQ) when you select your ads.
-If you select an advertisement from a magazine that is provided to you, please do not tear out the advertisement. Copy it, write down the necessary information for the works cited page, and return the magazine to class.
- Always keep the purpose of your project in mind: look for ads that feature similar products that target different audiences.
• One ad for a particular product from a U.S. magazine targeted to a particular audience.
• One ad for a very similar product from a U.S. magazine targeted to a different particular audience.
Focusing Question (FQ): How (what strategies advertisers employ) do advertisers effectively market the same product to different target audiences?
For example, you could show how the advertisements for SUVs in Outside are very different than the advertisements for SUVs in Family Fun.
Finally, here is the beginning of a guide sheet for students. The response box will not let me share it in its entirety, but I would be happy to send it to anyone who is interested.
ReplyDelete1. What are the vested interests/private agendas of the advertisers?
2. Is there suppressed evidence in each ad (i.e., ideas from other perspectives that are purposefully omitted from the ad)?
3. Are there various kinds of bias?
- language:
- images:
PP. 78-80:
4. What appeals to logos do the images make (i.e., are the arguments consistent and logical? Are the supporting reasons and evidence strong or weak? How so?)
5. By what authority do the advertisers make the claim? How credible or trustworthy are the advertisers/company)?
6. What appeals to pathos does each image make (i.e., do the designers rely too much on readers’ imaginations and emotions? What do the designers do to appeal to their readers’ values and interests?)?
PP. 84-85 & 104-106:
Certain rhetorical effects can be used to create an angle of vision (pp. 105-106). On p. 106 (and pp. 84-85), there are five specific strategies authors can use to create an angle of vision (or persuasive effect). To examine the angle of vision of your ads, ask yourself questions about the ways that your ads use each of the five strategies.
7. Strategy 1: What meanings/intentions are stated directly?
8. Strategy 2: What details are included/excluded to convey the intended effect or message? For example, advertisements often send a message that women’s work is often exhausting.
9. Strategy 3: What kinds of words are used to communicate connotations that relate to the author’s (advertiser’s) intended message(s)? For example, words such as trudging, heavy, are often linked to certain advertisements while words such as new, or exclaim can give an audience a completely different connotation.
10. Strategy 4: What kind of figurative language (i.e., metaphors, similes, and analogies) is used to convey the author’s message (e.g., ‘my boss roars like a lion’ conveys a negative message about my boss)?
11. Strategy 5: How is sentence structure used to emphasize/de-emphasize ideas (e.g., “Although Riddle had problems relating to other students in my class, he is a brilliant thinker” emphasizes the student’s thinking abilities, whereas “Although Riddle is a brilliant thinker, he had problems relating to other students in my class” emphasizes the student’s “poor people skills” p. 85).
If anyone has any particular assignments or ideas - or even references to particular essays or speeches, I would love to see them!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to say thank you for sharing your personal stories of your parents journey in language in literacy as immigrants from Italy and I also love the fact that you address and acknowledge that while your Italian parents face many struggles still to this day in America Black and Brown students have an added struggle to their lives because of their skin color.
ReplyDeleteI would like to address your first question. While I am not yet a teacher as I am a junior in the Elem Ed program right now that question made me think of classroom community. We talk constantly about ways to build classroom community in the block program and it is really one of the most important things we can do as teachers. When Delpit says“to celebrate, not merely tolerate, diversity in our classrooms” (p.67) I think we as teachers as a first step can allow students to speak their home languages in the classroom and if we don't understand what our students are saying and feel uncomfortable find out ourselves and do some digging of our own its their cultures and languages. And “delight in their own cultural and linguistic history” (p. 67) to me means that we should bring our culture and our home language into the classroom also. This can show students that they can feel comfortable and that we all celebrate each other and who we are. I think showing our culture and home language can also help teach students the different purposes of language when we live it every day in the classroom. Overall this would just be more authentic in my eyes.
Lastly, I have a question for you, as a college professor how do you think you can, or how do you create an environment where diversity is seen as an asset and not a deficit?
Alexis,
DeleteI am in the same boat as you! I don't have any teaching experience of my own. However, I loved the ideas that you came up with because I think they can easily be incorporated into any classroom. Making sure that students feel comfortable, safe, and included needs to be a priority.
Alexis, I agree! It would be more authentic. Had my elementary school teachers embraced my linguistic history and allowed me to share my culture, I think I would be a very different person. I certainly would have been more confident both socially and academically.
ReplyDeleteI am working on creating an environment where diversity is seen as an asset, and I do not think I will ever be done tweaking it. I helped develop and I piloted IUPUI's first writing class that combines NNES with NES, and it was successful, so I taught a second one last fall. I believe seven countries were represented in the first class and there were five in the second. The critical thinking skills and life experiences of our international students are incredible, and I have learned that many American students seek diverse learning environments that will provide them with global perspectives. However, with that are many issues I am struggling with. Quality peer reviews from both NES and NNES are difficult to obtain. Often, NNES know more about English grammar than NES, but in my classes, the NNES have been reluctant to have someone other than their friends look at their work. There are also questions of how to assess essays from both groups fairly and equally. At what point do we focus on grammar? Only when it makes a difference in the meaning or intent of a sentence? When it causes confusion? What about language use? I have thousands of questions.
I won a grant that will allow me to work with Dr. Charles Calahan, the Assistant Director for Global Diversity Faculty Development, and I am hoping to address some of these struggles. I would love ideas that would help me get students to engage with each other, particularly during peer review.
To answer your last question, I think I will start asking students to write a Narrative for their first assignment. Perhaps, they could write about their experiences with language, literacy, or school, and how it influenced them. I used to ask students to write such an essay, but I have lately focused on having students develop thesis-driven work. Another strategy might be (I am thinking out loud while on the screen here) allowing students to select their own topics. Would you have any suggestions? I would love to try some new things!
Unfortunately, however, I do not teach W131 or freshman composition often. I typically teach W231, Professional Writing, or W331, Business Writing. The Business Writing class is completely online. For both W231 and W331, students need to follow formulas and communicate to specific audiences in clear, concise ways. I need help in creating an environment where diversity is seen as an asset and not a deficit in these classes. Do you have any suggestions?
That's great that you're constantly in pursuit of finding new ways to engage your international students. I think too often teachers find one thing that works "good enough" to get them by and get comfortable with what they know and aren't open to new ideas. I love the idea of bringing back the narrative assignment I think it would be a great start to the semester as a way to learn more about your students, their cultures and I think you could also kind of write a narrative of your own and share with your students, so they can hear about your culture as well. I think that would make everyone feel more comfortable with sharing with others who don't look like them during peer review times.
DeleteYour question about how to asses your students is a tough one. I think that if from the beginning of the semester you focused on the idea that language has many purposes and outline the purposes for each writing your students will have it may make it easier to asses.
Alexis, I do share my narrative when their are NNES in the class, and it seems to make them more comfortable. I like your suggestion about defining the purpose and audience for a particular assignment. *I'm thinking on line here* What if I were to ask students to write about the same topic using rhetorical strategies that target different audiences and then have them examine and explain the decisions they made in their essays.... I am going to play around with this idea. Thank you!
DeleteFirst, I would like to express my appreciation for your willingness to share the experiences of your family. I really enjoyed hearing about your mother’s language background. This information not only told us more about you, but showed us a real life situation of language diversity in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI would like to discuss your first question. I, like ALexis, am a junior in a Block cohort group at an IPS school. We often converse and go in depth about how to make the classroom more culturally relevant to our students. I believe that one of the most effective methods to bring the culture of your students into the classroom, especially concerning language, is through literacy. Reading books is a popular activity in schooling, right? So why not slip in a few culturally expressive texts that children and young adults can read and enjoy. This will only broaden their understanding of different cultural backgrounds and languages that are different from their own, making the classroom community more culturally rich and open-minded.
In my future classroom, I plan to incorporate a lot of different reading activities to go along with the books I choose to share with my students. Doing this will keep the students engaged and will hopefully embed into their cognitive thinking in more than one way.
Casey, we have an already-selected list of non-fiction books we are allowed to use; however, that is not to say that the list cannot be expanded. Expanding the list by finding materials that represent cultural diversity is a wonderful idea and something the department would welcome.
DeleteEven for my Professional Writing and Business Writing sections, I could include a lesson on creating publications that promote inclusivity and civility and examining how existing publications are/are not successful in doing so.
Thank you for your feedback, Casey. I appreciate it!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi MaryBeth. I appreciate the story about your mother because it is powerful. At the age of 87 for her to feel that way speaks volumes to how impactful educators can be, both positive and negative. Our reading for this week talked about educators needing to understand the cultural aspects of all learners but like your post highlighted, it is clear that is not always happening. To your question, I definitely think teaching learners through their authentic language is valuable. The video for this week was right on because it said that theory seems counterintuitive which is how I felt at first, but the more we continue to learn it becomes clearer that it truly does make a difference. I thought it was interesting to read about the ways in which society and policies influence what is taught and how it is taught. I honestly don't know how we can really influence change on all the levels necessary, but I really like some of the comments from our classmates because it seems like there are small things that can be done to make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post was incredible! I feel like I know you so much better after reading this. Also, I am so happy that you shared your family’s story. It was very insightful!
ReplyDeleteI have not had any teaching experience yet because I am only a sophomore. However, I will answer this question to the best of my ability. Also, I want to teach either kindergarten or second grade so I am going to base my answer around that grade level.
To answer your first question, I think there are a variety of ways to celebrate culture in the classroom! For example, I think it is important to choose books that are multicultural and represent more than one ethnicity. This way all of my students feel represented in the classroom. I think it is also important to not tokenize cultures. This doesn’t celebrate cultures it just recognizes a small part of them for a short period of time. However, I think the biggest aspect of celebrating culture goes hand in hand with building a safe community in the classroom. I want to make sure that everyone feels empowered to share their knowledge about their culture. I want to learn something from all of my students! Also, I think a community board could be a really fun activity for my students. Each week, the students could post pictures and write about what they have done for the week with their families and friends.
Thank you, Kayla. I also like the comments from classmates & am already working to include information from a Diversity workshop in a project for my online class, as a result of all of this great feedback!
DeleteThanks, Taylor! I love your idea of a community board. My son did something similar when he was in Kindergarten, and I remember how proud he was to share it with his classmates. I definitely think your ideas will help little ones feel comfortable and safe.
DeleteMAC, I think it is great that you are able to use your mother's experiences to bring to the discussion. I couldn't imagine being able to speak fluidly in two languages, not to mention three, as your mother can. Also, her experiences about protecting her family in WWII speak volumes about her character. She sounds like a fascinating individual!
ReplyDeleteI would like to address your question about using authentic language for non-native speakers in a k-12 setting. Firstly, I do think there is true value in using authentic language in the classroom. As a high school economics teacher, I see true value in authentic language for students. Perhaps, if students are able to understand certain phrases that are associated with job applications, tax forms, and other everyday legal documents they can find the language as tool rather than a chore. If we are going over a unit on taxes I think it could be useful to go over certain words that we don't see too often in other facets of education: itemize, deductions, adjusted gross income, etc. In my estimation, highlighting these forms of authentic language in my class could be extremely useful for students rather than focusing solely on academic standard language that students may or may not experience down the road.
I see your point, jptaft. Assessing a student’s needs and exposing them to language would be a necessity in an economics class. The terminology in some of the forms you mentioned is difficult enough for a native speaker of English.
DeleteHey there!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post! I think your question of how can we further develop our own evaluative practices to embrace the cultural diversity of students is a really good question. We hear all the time that it takes building relationships with your students in order to really understand who they are and what they like. But when I was first becoming a teacher, no one really told me how do I build those relationships.
Relationship building is one that is probably my favorite thing about teaching. Towards the beginning of the year, I like to feel my students out and get a feel for what they like/dislike. In the weeks leading up to fall break, I have a lunch club with each student in the class. They bring their lunch to the classroom and that one student and I talk about any and everything they think about school and home. Because of this, I really got a chance to understand the culture and home environment of the student. For example, although I have 6 Latinx students, not all of them speak Spanish. Also, only 1 of them have visited the country in which their parents came from. So it opened my eyes to know that just because they are a different culture, doesn't mean they know about their culture.
Because of this, I have pictures and photos of Black and Latinx people in the classroom. I try to read books and assign books from Black and Latinx authors. Students should be exposed to a variety of ethnic backgrounds of authors and books. Representation definitely matters especially when the majority of the students you serve may look different than you.
I love your idea of a lunch club. I bet the kids feel incredibly special. You make a great point about students not always knowing about their own cultures, yet
Deletethey have to deal with the assumptions that others are making about them. I had never really thought about that!
An amazing way to apply the "delight in their own cultural and linguistic history" inside our own teaching environments is to always include personal cultural history as well as always welcoming the cultural backgrounds all. Also, in order to remain open minded to the many different cultural backgrounds of students and teachers. A way to embrace the cultural diversity of students is to always remain open to the fact that they live lives that are quite different from the lives of others with whom they interact with on a daily basis.
ReplyDelete