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.