Talk about mayhem. I heard a few people say "it reminds me of New York or Japan".
All I can say is it was a remarkable experience...
I think the best part about the weekend was my new found hobby of people watching and listening to people speak in their native languages. I thought it was absolutely fascinating to hear all of the conversations occuring and be totally oblivious to whether or not they were talking about me. I can't imagine what a student that does not speak English as their first language would feel in a classroom full of first language English speaking peers.
Have you ever experienced this yourself? Whether it be a classroom or multicultural event.
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That's a good question Ashley. My best friend is actually a Chinese exchange student. He does now speak fluent english but he told me it was hard when he first came to Canada. He said he mostly hung out with others exchange students. I think that's what students in our class would do. You would usually have two in your class and I would imagine they would stick together. We would need to encourage them to interact with the other students while making sure they are comfortable. I suppose it would also depend on how good their english is but having the social interaction would help that. They would probaly feel very nervous or uncomfortable as my friend said he felt. Imagine being around conversations where you have no idea what's being said.
First of all I always chuckle when one of our first reactions/thoughts when we hear someone speaking in another language is that we have no clue "if they're talking about us"...we all do it and I just wonder whether it's a Western thing or if other individuals from other cultures feel the same way in a crowd that is speaking a different language.
My second thought was about exchange students in the classroom. I have a class with two ESL exchange students (one male and one female) and I've noticed that they really have little to do with one another. One (male) has really developed strong relationships with the other students while the other remains fairly secluded from the group. It is also interesting because although they both have about the same English ability, the one who is more involved with other students is more likely to try and explain and talk in the class while the other tends to rely on their language barrier as a way to not get involved in the class. I don't know if it's a gender, cultural, or personality thing.
I have had a similar experience with a couple of students in my classes. Some are very vocal and are willing to take risks, while others are very reluctant to share, even if it is basic. I have had the opportunity to travel a lot, and to be honest, the language barrier has not been an issue. There are so many different ways to communicate other than verbal. The Gary Anaka quote, "students learn more from who you are rather than what you teach" I feel still holds strong. Who you are as a teacher will be critical when teaching ESL students. If you show that you care and take the time for them, then they are going to be more willing to take risks in your classroom.
It is interesting how something like the Olympics has us all thinking about diversity in the classroom! I have about 5 exchange students in one of my classes. It took me a while to locate them all at the start of the semester. None of them sit together, but have found 'buddies' to help them work. This has made my job a lot easier! However, I took some of my girls to the Olympics, and we discouvered through this trip that the games were not really meant to be shared with individuals with physical disabilities. Some of the locations, such as the Olympic Superstore, had no wheel chair access for the line or the sky train had no wheel chair access in terms of transport safety guidelines. Curb let downs were often blocked so crossing the street became impossible. Considering the importance of these games and that they were supposed to be accessible to all Canadians, what sort of research do we as teachers need to do before we book a field trip?
I think what Erica stated is well said about " who you are asa teacher will be critical when teaching ESL students, becuase if you show them that you care and take time for them, they are going to be willing to take risks in your classroom" I feel learning is all about taking risks, and that making students comfortable and being self is so critical. Students will see through you if you are fake and trying to be someone you are not when working with them. Being your true self is vital, and being genuine will go along way too. I think that having a sense of humour means wonders in the world of your learners and as Gary Ananka says we should never leave home without it, and weather these students be First Nation students, ESL students, any kind of student is still a student who needs you to respect them and educate them through care. I take time every day to sit and make connections with the First Nation students in my classroom and my reluctant learners... I made a conenction with them and they tell me things and feel comnfotable with me... it helps tremendously! we don't wear our stoires and life expereinces on our sleeves we need to take time to hear these and understand these things together with our students a classroom should be an environment where we are a community that supports each other, respects each other and learns from one another. We can foster this by opening up conversations of diversity to provoke interest in areas that allow us to learn things about each other.
As most of you know, I have previously travelled to many locations throughout Europe. And in each and every location I have had the experience of not knowing the language and having everyone else around me speak and not knowing to who or about who they are speaking!
When I was living in Wales, I was in charge of leading a group of children every week in various activities. A few of the children could speak English, as well as Welsh,but the majority couldn't or very little. I was at the disadvantage of not knowing what the children were saying at times, as well as not being able to fully communicate with them. It was an amazing experience for me, and by studying a person through actions and observations, it is amazing what you can tell from them and do. The children and I really got used to each other and in the end the language barrier really didn't matter... I was able to teach them words in English, and they taught me... It was quite nice to work with children in almost silence.
My other experiences with language barriers have been while I was only within the area for short times. The most memorable was traveling through eastern Poland. In this area, there are no individuals who can speak english, and no tourist information or signs in english. Trying to communicate with locals to find our way to places, buy food, rent bikes, etc. was very challenging. There were also times, when your walking through a crowd and sure that other people are taking about you.. but you have no idea why. It really makes you learn how to ignore some things, and gives a bit of confidence to continue without knowing what is being said about you.
These experiences are great to have for all people I think, and though in a classroom we may not be able to give this experience to our students, we should definitely attempt to provide experiences through video, field trips or guests in anyway possible. Simple things that we can help our students to understand about different cultures or the confusion that comes with not speaking the language, can really help them to work with foreign students when they happen to have one in their class.
First off, I love listening to other people speak different languages and am very jealous that I cannot speak a second language. I am in the same situation as Erica as we are in the same practicum school. I also have some students whose first language is not English that are reluctant to say anything at all. Speaking in front of people is hard enough, but not being comfortable with the language as well as speaking in front of people must be extremely difficult. In situations where speaking in front of a group are necessary I think it would be up to us as the teachers to modify the task for ESL students to make them feel comfortable doing their part. Whether it is, and I believe we talked about this during one of our classes, memorizing a sentence, explaining a picture, etc etc, something that allows the student(s) to not get too flustered with the language barrier.
Great question Ashley! I must say that I am pretty embarrassed to admit this but when I went travelling in Belize last spring I ran into a Belizean man. To my surprise I quickly found out that you are not suppose to have a conversation with them…or even acknowledge them as I was proposed to and stalked a few times through my travels. As my travels came closer to an end I spoke to a few people Belizeans. Through each of the conversations I learned that numerous people believe that living in America would give them a better life and the easiest way to get to America is to marry an American. Once I found out why these men were proposing I began to wonder how bad could it actually be to want to marry a complete stranger.
How was the quality of living?
What is the crime rate like?
How is the education system?
Were there any jobs?
Was there any health care?
Was the government corrupt?
And then I stopped thinking about how bad or good it could be because as a tourist I would never be able to actually understand a country for what it truly was.
I love all of your comments/stories and questions. I had a few good laughs. Thanks for responding!
This could be a little off subject, but when I worked at the First Nations Treatment Centre majority of the time I was the only white person there, and everyone else was First Nations. At the beginning it used to make me feel uncomfortable, because I look so clearly white. A lot of these people have been hurt by white people and I looked like the white oppressor. I could actually trigger people, because of the way I look on the outside. But, the thing that use to interest me was when I left the doors from the centre I was back in the white world. First Nations people have to live as a minority group and a lot of white people have clear racism to these people. So, when I walk into the centre and sometime I feel uncomfortable I think that these people live this everyday. Sometimes, it is helpful to think of life in someone’s else’s shoes, because this way we can recognize what it must be like being a minority group living in Canada. If more people did this maybe there would be less racism in the world. Maybe a little deep!!!
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