Reflection #1
Danica Finlay (200402114)
Faculty of Education University of Regina
ELNG 200-010
Professor: Dr. Rubina Khanam
Due Date: January 24th, 2021
The following is a link to this reflection in a google doc. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BctiZklAanpSX_HjV-Sb7iTF73E2CZkx2blXCI9PdXc/edit?usp=sharing
When reflecting the past two weeks of our course, I was quick to come to the realization that I have a lot to learn within this class. I am from a little farming community with the population of around 150 people. The students at my school knew just one language, English and were of European decent. During my time here at university my goal is to learn and obtain as much information as possible about cultural diversity and language awareness, as this was not something I was exposed to as a child.
During this past week (week two) of classes we were provided with a resource titled Critical Multilingual Language Awareness and Teacher Education by Ofelia Garcia, 2017. One of the first things to catch my attention was how Eric Hawkins proposed that the following six things should be included within the curriculum for all teachers and not just language teachers: 1.Human language and signals, signs, and symbols 2.Spoken and written language 3.How language works 4.Using language 5.Languages of the UK, Europe, and the world 6.How do we learn languages (Garcia, 2017, p. 265).
Teachers need to be taught how to include the six things that Hawkins proposed so teachers and students can understand each and every person in their class including students who come from non-English speaking homes. As teachers it is our job to include all of our students. During our lecture on January 20th, we talked about how when we think of Canada, we only think of two languages. I believe this is true, all we think about is English and French, but as I learned in the text book titled Language and Learning in Multilingual Classrooms, this should not be the way we think. The Text book states, “Today, most immigrants to Canada are from countries in Asia, Aftrica, and Latin America, and have neither English nor French as their first language” (Coelho, 2012). Because most immigrants do not speak English as a first language it is unfair and non-inclusive to ignore and be unaware of their cultures and languages. A quote from our professor Rubina Khanam, “As a teacher, when you learn the history of a language you can develop multicultural awareness.” I believe it is critical for everyone to understand how we learn languages, how they work, and the history in order to build a multicultural awareness. In one of our lectures during a break out session, my group discussed how if people do not understand how languages work some are quick to judge people with strong accents deeming them as not intelligent. These thoughts are due to lack of knowledge and understanding for language awareness.
The reason for needing to learn about language awareness is so that we can understand our students better as well as make a connection between languages and cultures. One thing that really got my attention was when our professor Rubina Khanam discussed how some people think that if you are in Canada you should only speak English. I have heard people say this line before and as we discussed in class this thinking is wrong because Canada is a diverse country and all languages are welcome. I believe that the more we learn, the more we can do better. There is always room for more knowledge and as teachers we need to take the opportunity to research and obtain new information. To learn more, I attended a workshop this past weekend learning about growth in cultural competence by Dr. Andrew Campbell. One of the first things that was discussed was how empathy, compassion and love are great requirements for teaching. This is important because students need to feel like they belong and teachers need to listen deeply to those around them. As teachers we need to be deliberate about inclusion.
Work Cited
Coelho, D.E. (2012). Language and Learning in Multilingual Classrooms. [Vitalsource
bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781847697226/
Garcia, O. (2017). Critical Multilingual Language Awareness and Teacher Education. 268-272.
Doi:10.1007/978-3-319-02240-6_30