So far I have found the first two weeks of the class very interesting and have learned alot about multiculturalism in the classroom. Last week’s discussions when Rubina Khanam brought up the question of language awareness, and what our language awareness is, was something that I have never thought about before. Since Canada is such a multicultural country, I feel that hearing different languages around myself has become second nature. Since i find myself surrounded by many cultures I tend not to think about language awareness. Which is something I need to work on. I need to be able to be more aware of the languages around me so I can appreciate the knowledge of other languages along with celebrating them. By being more aware of languages around me I feel that once I become a teacher this will help me become a better teacher.
In the Ofelia Garcia reading “Critical Multilingual Language Awareness and Teacher Education”, Garcia states that a teacher must have “(1) an awareness of plurilingualism and appreciation of linguistic tolerance, and its merits for democratic citizenship and (2) an awareness of the histories of colonial and imperialistic oppression that has produced the plurilingualism in society” (p. 268). This statement goes back to myself becoming a better future teacher. By becoming more aware of language awareness and by becoming aware of the different languages around you develop an appreciation of the culture that is behind those languages. With a stronger understanding of the cultures of the students within a classroom makes the teacher more approachable and more welcoming. Another quote that really stuck with me from Garcia was “teaching in bilingual programs needs, in addition, knowledge of both languages, not just awareness of the students’ dynamic language practices”(270). I think this is a very important quote that teachers should follow. Awareness is important of multilingual students, however it is not enough. If no knowledge is known about both languages then how would one be able to teach one from another language? That’s why knowledge is just as important as language.
In the textbook reading chapter one, the reading talked about the different types of immergaints along with the struggles they are faced everyday. While reading this chapter I learned about how hard it is for children to move to different countries. I, myself could never imagine the struggles that they face at such a young age. This shows how strong immigrant children are. To think to be moved away from your friends, family, and life that you only knew, to be thrown into a new life with a different culture and language that you do not know, is just insane to think about. This is why as educators, it is so important to provide these children with the resources that they need to succeed. Without giving students these resources this is a way of showing that one does not care about the children’s education and they are not giving them an equal chance. Which all children should be giving an equal fighting chance to their education.
language awareness is a tool that is very important. From these two last weeks of this class I have learned that this tool is one that I need to spend more time on, and developing my knowledge on language awareness. This class has already opened my eyes a lot, and I am excited to learn more in the ongoing weeks.