Sunday, September 29, 2013 Talking Point #2

Aria by Richard Rodriguez

Hyperlinks:


While reading Aria by Richard Rodriguez, I was immediately reminded of a research paper I wrote for my Writing 100 class freshmen year of college. In this paper I discussed the importance and reasoning as to why elementary school children should begin to learn a second language. I chose one of my references from this paper to use as a hyperlink to this article because I believe illustrates the issue of foreign and secondary languages within the education environment the best.


    http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-importance-and-benefits-of-second-language-study-552971.html

 

Within this article, the author, Arthur Turner, discusses the importance as well as benefits of teaching children a secondary language. Some key points that Turner makes is that as English speakers, we must come to the realization that English is not the only language spoken in our world. There is diversity throughout our world that allows there to be a wide variety of languages that are spoken. Turner emphasizes on the aspect of communication and that by only knowing one language we are limiting ourselves as well as depriving ourselves from communicating with those around the world.
In Rodriguez's article, he discusses the uncomfortableness he feels as a child in school. By not teaching about other cultures and languages in the education atmosphere, we are not only teaching children to be ignorant of the diverse world around them, but we are depriving those who do speak a second language from being able to use their voice in their native tongues and allow them to learn more about their own culture.

Rodriguez states within his article that, "Today I hear bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of individuality' by becoming assimilated into public society. (Bilingual schooling was popularized in the seventies, that decade when middle-class ethnics began to resist the process of assimilation-the American melting pot.) But the bilingualists simplistically scorn the value and necessity of assimilation. They do not seem to realize that there are two ways a person is individualized. So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality." I completely agree with Rodriguez's opinion that we find assimilation to be essential within our society and by forcing those who are bilingual to assimilate themselves into the dominate speaking language we are taking away their identity. The fact that the individual can speak more than one language becomes forgotten for they are forced to use the public speaking language which in a way degrades and deprives them from their culture.

Points to share in class...

I am a strong supporter of teaching children a secondary language throughout their education career as well as the benefits that occur from knowing more than one language. My concern is that should we have special accommodations for children who speak a different language  when English has been our primary language within schools across America for so long?

P.S.
If anyone wants to read the paper I wrote that I was referring to feel free to e-mail me! I worked really hard on this paper and believe strongly in this topic so I would love to share it!
Here is my e-mail Lovemelaurenxo@gmail.com
 

Service Learning Project

Good Luck to everyone starting their Service Learning Project this week! I start mine today and I know I'm nervous!!!

About Me

About Me

Sorry guys I forgot to do this as my first post!!!

Hello Everyone!

My name is Lauren Demers and I am a sophomore here at Rhode Island College. I am a full time student as well as work a full time job. I am taking this class because it is in my highest hopes to be an elementary school teacher someday. I wish to teach second grade because as a child I remember learning how to write in cursive, do long division and address a letter while in second grade. While in high school I observed that many students did not know how to do any of these things an as a teacher I believe it is my job to make sure all students know how to do these common tasks! I am very excited to take this course as well as meet all new people! :)

Amazing Grace By Jonathan Kozol FNED346 Assignment Talking Point 1

Amazing Grace By Jonathan Kozol

Reflection:

When reading Jonathan Kozol's article, Amazing Grace, I began to realize how much we all, including myself, take our lives for granted. Growing up as a child I attended Catholic school all my life so I was very sheltered from the problems of the "outside world." In my mind I believed that all children had parents, went to school every day and ate dinner every night. I was not aware of people, especially children, who were homeless and did not have the things that I had. When reading about the emotional and mental problems that children develop while living in The South Bronx, it reminded me of the class discussion we had about teaching in schools that have diverse students. What we often do not take into consideration when dealing with a conflict whether it be a friend, co-worker, teacher, or student, is that the problems and situations that they live and deal with outside of the environment you encounter them in. When meeting someone new we do not know the struggles and hardships they encounter each and every day that effect their attitude, performance, character and view points.

For teachers, this is something that one must take into consideration. Teachers deal with 25-30 children each day who all come from different backgrounds, social classes, atmospheres and other aspects that differentiate one from the other. These aspects greatly impact a child more than one realizes. Reading about the anxiety, depression and breathing problems the children from The Bronx developed made me realize that we as teachers need to be aware and educated in how to properly teach those who suffer from such hardships. I am a big fan of The No Child Left Behind Program because I believe each child is entitled to a proper education regardless of their financial hardships, disabilities or ethnic background. I believe as teachers, we should never give up on a child and do everything in our power to help them move forward within their learning. It is unfortunate that children have to undergo the hardships discussed in Jonathan Kozol's article, however as teachers we can help educate these students and encourage them to learn. By getting a good education these children are able to get well paying jobs and improve their lives but this can not occure if we as teachers do not try our hardest to properly educate them and never give up on them.