Sunday, January 29, 2012

learning log #2


The reading by Pavlenko grabbed my attention right away. The different immigrant stories towards the beginning of the readings made me realize that everyone that is in this country now has a different story of how they came to America whether or not they were the first in their family to travel here or not everyone should try to trace their roots back to how they got here. As a future elementary educator I would like my student to know about and be accepting of all the different cultures their classmates could be because all their cultures mixed together is what made America what it is today. The section in the reading where Pavlenko explained that back when European immigrants were coming to America in great numbers and were not being accepted into "mainstream" America really surprised me because I had never really thought that they were widely discriminated against. Another part that was surprising to me was that when Asians first starting migrating to America they thought that the they could not contribute to the American culture and that it did not belong to them so they kept to themselves. That saddens me because I think that every different culture that has come to America has contributed something great that makes our country what it is today. I feel that learning another culture's language is one of the best ways to learn more about that certain culture and their customs or traditions they have. I know that teaching English to people who have not been exposed to it before is going to be challenging at times but opening up a whole new culture to someone is going to be very rewarding. 
While I would love to think that our country is past the prejudice of new immigrants in know that there are still some people out there who think that America is not a melting pot and that they are the only ones who deserve to experience the benefits this country has to offer. One of the first ways people may criticize others is when they hear the language someone is speaking. If someone doesn't speak English it might be more difficult for them to get a job than for someone who know the language well. A communication barrier like that can be overcome and it also opens up a lot of new doors. in the reading I learned that in 1906 the government switched the policy of becoming a US citizen and made it a requirement for the immigrant to be able to speak English. I think that learning a nation's language is a plus for immigrants but I do not think that they should sacrifice their first language to learn English so they can have all the benefits of knowing two languages and not losing their cultural identity.  National identity is a big part of how a person sees themselves and the way they form opinions. To me culture is a big part of how people for friendships and how they view others, all of these immigrant stories were eye opening and it made me realize that being a new person in a foreign country has its difficulties. 

Learning Log #1


In the Kumaravedivelu article, I found a lot of interesting thoughts and points about culture that i had never really thought about before. The opening of the article where Kumaravedivelu states that a 30 year difference in age can also mean that the cultures of the 2 people are different really made me think because i am going to be a bilingual elementary teacher so the way my students and i view culture is going to be different and i need to learn how to prepare for that.  All the different views and ideas of culture need to be taken seriously, just because one person doesn't see eye to eye with someone else about a certain culture, it does not mean that one person is wrong and these readings really made me realize that. Language and culture have always gone hand in hand because when an individual is learning a new language, they are also picking up parts of the culture where that language is spoken and learning the traditions and customs of that culture as well. As a TESOL minor I want to be able to tie culture in with my teachings and lessons, i know that it will be important to understand my students culture as well, i would like to learn more about how to tie everything together and have it make sense to the student while they are learning the new language. When Kumaravedivelu brought up the fact that people with different languages pay attention to different aspects of reality it made me wonder why that is and why a persons language can have such a big impact on their culture. I can relate to having to accommodate to two different cultures. I come from a small town in northern Illinois that is predominately white, and my family has very strong Mexican roots. I grew up having two different cultures, and having to be able to distinguish some of the differences between them was hard when i was younger, but now I am glad that I have both cultures in my life and I know that it will help me in my teaching career.
The chart in the Holliday et al book made me realize that people can have very different ideas of what the word "culture" actually means to them and they can both make sense, it just depends on how an individual wants to view it. That made me realize that people need to let each other know what they think culture is before they strike up a conversation about it. I feel like I fall more into the category of a non-essentialist when it comes to my view on culture. I believe that people can have more than one culture throughout their lives and that they can greatly benefit from having multiple cultures. I feel that cultures can blend together and have incorporate other cultures to create one. I think that the American culture is a good example of multiple cultures coming together to form one because this country was founded by immigrants and it is full of people from different countries with different cultures. 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Intro post

I am very excited to take this class. I have always been interested in culture and the way people view it around the world. As a TESOL minor I know that learning about other people's cultures will be an integral part of my profession and I am really looking forward to it. I hope to gain new perspectives from this class and I am very interested in hearing other people's thoughts on different cultures and what they have experienced since all of us come from different backgrounds.