Week 7: Culture and Spoken Discourse

After reading the assigned material, I feel like I have a different understanding of both the English language and also the differences between subcultures that appear to be very similar.  To begin with, I was primarily interested with the methods that the experimenters conducted for the Marra article.  I had never seen a study that was controlled by the volunteers that participated, this ensured that the results were unbiased and not strictly opinion based like many studies that are run by interviews and surveys. I like the method that they chose because it seemed most appropriate for determining “effective workplace talk”. Since the groups they were studying were so different there was bound to be various differences, one for example was the fact that they were expected to be modest in social circumstances.  Most people would agree on this commonality but it is especially stressed in their culture.

A quote that caught my attention from Marra’s article was when he mentioned how the minority group communication was being viewed through a mainstream lens, which I would have to agree is not beneficial for either party.  For those of us looking through a mainstream lens, the group will be seen as an almost pitied culture because of its numerous differences.  Also if the minority group was to look outward through a mainstream lens, they would see a swarm of misconstrued stereotypes that are often far from reality.

Through the Baker article, I found it completely eye opening to consider the English language as a lingua franca.  I had never dissected this word in depth prior to this reading and I realized the idea in general was very fascinating.  Once I considered the vast number of people who speak English across the globe it really hit me how much of an impact it has made in communication. The article also touched on the idea that when referring to the ELF that cultures should be considered liminal, which is somewhat upsetting since this whole class we have been stressing the importance of sharing and embracing cultures. 

Although this information was all interesting, the most trivial point in all of the readings that I found was the section referring to how English was no longer viewed as being connected to the cultures of English dominant countries.  This was somewhat upsetting to me because of how much our country and others that speak English primarily lose all sense of a prominent culture just because our language is spoken worldwide. When I was in Spain I was enthralled in all the beauty that made up their culture and wanted to share my new knowledge with everyone I knew, the thought that tourists who visit our country may not have the same experience is somewhat tragic.

Thoughts on the week 6 video

It was interesting for me to see the first woman who spoke how she felt uncomfortable criticizing how the government prepared food service because in her country she would have been punished for speaking against the government, for me that is so unthinkable because of the freedom we are given in the United States.

I enjoyed learning about how to accomodate these students, some ideas included giving take home writing projects so that they will be able to show the full potential of their efforts. Also they mentioned to avoid marking the entire paper that you return to a student and to sit down and individually discuss how they would prefer to be corrected.

Although I saw a lot of interesting points in this video, I don’t quite understand how this video is not contradicting everything that we have learned because it stated that this is how one group works and this is how another group of people write like. I feel that I make a point of making my writing different from others especially for creative writing purposes that this video does not necessarily apply to everyone.

Week 6 Blog

Before even getting to the second page of Kubotas article on “Unfinished Knowledge: the story of Barbara”, it really impacted me on how much criticism and debate have come from teaching English as a second or foreign language because in the end there is always a common goal: to achieve an understanding of another tongue.  I think that if instead of debating about how to teach it or which method or ultimate goal is most effective, and instead focusing on how to come together as one unite of teachers and share our passion for instructing others more would get done as one.  Continuing reading this article I appreciated that Kubota respected the idea of making various culture prevalent while teaching a foreign language so that it is understood that every individual and their customs are important without trying to conform to the ideas of the language they try to learn.

Although I feel like after simply eating a chicken teriyaki and hearing what a colleague deems important wouldn’t drastically change my life, I can see how Barbara finally came around with her students.  This interaction she had with Carol was really important because it opened her mind and allowed her to express “that students need not abandon their own culture-they simply need to acquire new cultural conventions in order to succeed in the academic community”.  I really love this statement because I think it expresses perfectly what we regularly discuss in the classroom and puts it in a manner that is easy to understand and applicable to more than just the language acquisition subject.

I thought that the way that David compared culture with the idea of feminism was really interesting because I had never looked at the two in a similar light prior to reading this article.  Although I can understand this thought process it also made me wonder how two ideas describing a woman could be fully explained when it seemed like it still left out so much? Can manlihood be described in the same two ideas of essentialist and constructionalism? And if not, then how can the two genders be so different that they cannot be subgrouped into the same categories?

When reflecting upon the articles I noticed that a common theme was present, how do you teach the important aspects of a culture without broadcasting a stereotypical light on each said culture? After spinning this thought through my head a number of times I think that there is no set way that can help avoid this misunderstanding because every person can take an idea and interpret it differently.  Some points that can help avoid this miscommunication can be explaining the differences between each culture but also explaining how cultures are also similar in that they all mean something unique to the person who exhibits them.  Also if you help a student understand that although a group of people from a certain region may be prone to following a certain culture, it does not mean that they have to or don’t like aspects from other cultures as well.

Week 5: Power and discourse; otherization, cultural assimilation, cultural stereotyping

When I began reading section A2.1 I found my viewpoints and explanations to be very similar to those of John’s.  If I had seen Mr. Smith listening to the radio in the car, or even having a car for that matter, I would automatically presume that he was not 100% dedicated or that he only behaved that way because he was alone and none of his family could see his actions.  I even noticed that I myself had a predetermined stereotype about a girl in one of my classes who regularly wears floor length skirts, covers her hair with a cloth and wears no makeup; whenever my teacher would ask a religion related question to the class I automatically looked to her to give a response.  Although I have never asked this fellow student’s background, I am embarrassed to have these ideas implanted in my head from the beginning because of the examples I have seen in movies and television.

Continuing with my reading of the Smith family, I did not understand how Mr. Smith could consider himself fully Amish if he indulged in some of the luxuries the outside world has until the book compared Mrs. Smith’s culture to being a woman and if she were to behave outside of this parameter that she would lose her femininity. Being only human, of course I occasionally burp out loud or spit on the sidewalk, both being unlady-like characteristics but that does not mean I must leave my subculture of being a woman.  That section slapped me right across the face and finally gave me the understanding that I needed to relate this to my own life and that although people may claim to be a part of one or numerous cultures, when behaving in some manners that don’t necessarily match the standard does not mean you must leave the group.

I think the idea of Othering is an extremely harmful behavior that most see as harmless or don’t even realize when they are doing it.  Although every person is capable of being categorized or categorizing others as well, it is an act we should all make a conscious effort to avoid in order for others to catch on and avoid it as well.

Week 4: identity and language learning; discourse, culture and identity.

In Norton’s article about social identity and language learning, I found the section featuring Eva’s language acquisition to be particularly eye opening.  I thought it was interesting that just because Eva was unfamiliar with Bart Simpson that she would might be portrayed as a “poor language learner who has not developed sociolinguistic competence”.  I know plenty of people who don’t watch television, or chose to avoid such unappetizing shows like The Simpsons who are completely fluent in English and have been raised in America all their life.  It then made me wonder how much of another culture must be known in order to call yourself “literate” or identify yourself with another language.  Also it made me wonder why it should be more important in a social environment to be familiar with a cartoon character while being knowledgeable about politics and discussing important topics is often considered taboo?

I feel this ties in nicely with how Hall describes his theory on the second layer of group membership because when associating oneself among certain social institutions it sets in place how one decides to cope with their given first layer.  Perhaps if Eva had been in a different environment she would not have been judged so harshly for not knowing the reference but it was clear that Norton still felt she may continue to struggle when interacting with members of her target language.  I think that it is difficult to identify oneself in their own first language thus making it even more challenging when trying to find the appropriate place with members of a separate culture. 

When Hall touches on the idea of socialization and our expectations as interlocutors going into a conversation it made me stop to reflect how often this idea repeats itself on a day to day basis.  What do I look for in a conversation and what makes one conversation with someone of a certain identity more appealing and likely for repetition? It’s clear that the friends I surround myself with have similar discourse expectations or else I would find myself dreading the idea of sharing my experiences, but at what point do you realize a similar identity? This whole idea was very interesting for me and it made me wonder how my conversations were received when I was in Spain and using a completely different language.  Since I rely heavily on sarcasm when trying to have a light hearted conversation, I had to evaluate my conversations after I had them to make sure that nothing I said was taken in the wrong way or misunderstood.

I thought that Norton’s study of the immigrant women was a great example of his quote “learning cannot proceed without exposure and practice.” I am a fond believer of this idea because without using the language and being surrounded by an environment that encourages its use, it will be increasingly difficult to get a substantial grasp on all levels of the language acquisition.  This universal idea can be applied to all content areas really because without exposure and practice of whatever skill that is in the process of being developed its unlikely to thrive to its maximum potential.  I had never felt more confident in my Spanish then when I was surrounded by others who spoke the language in Spain, and was pushed everyday to try something new and foreign.

All in all, I feel that the reading materials about identity and language once again made me reevaluate my own beliefs and thoughts and reflect on how I am using these ideas on a day to day basis without really even noticing it.

Week 3 Reading; Self and other: Language and identity

In the early section of this reading, Holliday explains Parisa, the Iranian woman, and how she is forced to deal with the “us versus them” attitude.  Analyzing this idea more, it really troubled me when I noticed how I would have behaved in the same manner that her colleagues had.  In the limited films or literature I have seen regarding this particular group of women were always portrayed as soft spoken, near powerless because of how the media had stereotyped them.  I can’t imagine being in Parisa’s position because she truly does struggle to make herself known while still trying to avoid being placed in the “us” or “them” categories.

When immersed in the Spanish culture, I often felt that my Spanish teachers were also guilty of placing their American students into a stereotype as well.  It seemed they saw us as a spoiled group of people who spent much time worrying about possessions instead of family and values.  Especially during the month of December, I noticed that one teacher in particular felt the need to criticize our culture’s emphasis on Santa instead of the birth of Christ. Coming from a religious family this was offensive to me and reflecting on this experience helps remind me to avoid stereotyping my own future students.

“I am who I can make myself and make others accept me to be”. This opening quote for the Identity Card section caught my attention right away because I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about this sentence until I reread it a couple of times.  The word that made me question the validity of the quote was the use of “make”.  I think a person is defined by something much deeper then what they “make themselves and make others accept me to be”. If you need to be made into another person, then how true can you really be to yourself?  Also, if I feel comfortable with my own traits while a peer does not accept me to be the type of person I predetermined I was, then does that change who I am? These questions remained lingering in my mind throughout this section and its example regarding the school girls and their use of “identity”.

Bauman posed an eye-turning thought when he stated on page 66, that “Asians born raised and educated in Britain were thought to be precariously suspended between two cultures” all the while he migrated there and because he was white no one had thought anything of it.  Again I regret to also upholding this troublesome stereotype because of my assumptions.  Although it may seem like a harmless mistake, I know that I would also be offended if I fell into this stereotype so since it has been pointed out to me I feel like I can make a conscious effort to limit this occurrence.

At this point, I feel like I have been given multiple definitions of different researchers’ thoughts of culture but I still think that there is no set definition that perfectly sums up the main idea of the word.  In some ways, the process of defining culture is similar to the idea of culture in that there is no one defined person (or word definition) because we are always changing and evolving.     

Readings for Week 2; Culture: Concepts and Definitions

After really analyzing the information that was presented in the readings, I was able to reflect personally on my experiences as a language learner and the culture I was surrounded by during my studies in Spain.  Of course being immersed in their language was helpful but I still felt like I was missing a key element until classes started and I was able to take courses to give me a better understanding of their lifestyles.  Two classes in particular were the most beneficial to me, one of which was history of Spanish culture and the other was an oral production class.  The first one helped me immensely in terms of understanding the Spanish pride and way of life and gave me a better look at why some traditions were important.  I would love to bring this type of learning environment to my classroom but it is difficult to define where the English language originated and what location to base my information on since English is spoken worldwide.  The second class I was enrolled was excellent for me because it served as almost a survival guide with current information about pop culture, slang terms and even common expressions and attitudes.  Although having a good knowledge of the language itself, this class was probably the most helpful because in all my years of Spanish classes there was still much material that I had never been exposed to.

A solid combination of culture and language is the perfect way to get a better understanding about a group of people as long as the idea that every person is an individual and perfectly unique in their own way is stressed strongly.  Without this point being made clear, stereotypes are often made and applied to the masses.  It was interesting reading Hannerz’s point of view because it made me realize how many negative aspects have come from this broad understanding of culture.  His comments about ideas like “culture wars” and “culture clash” made me want to further dissect the origins of these terms since as an educator I plan on doing all that I can to avoid fostering an environment in which these things would be acceptable. 

Another point I found particularly thought provoking was Holliday’s interpretation on the essentialist vs. non-essentialist.  Although I feel that everyone is guilty of behaving like more of an essentialist, I think that if more people were exposed to this information they would be more conscious of its negative consequences and want to learn more about becoming a non-essentialist.  Seeing culture as an unbounded and dynamic life force would improve public relations and reduce the amount of stereotypes among individuals.