Language Diversity

           The power of language, and the power of the teacher; Are they mutually exclusive? Who has more power the language that one holds or the teacher that shows us how to use it, silence it, control it or change it. We all have language as pointed out in Baggs’ video so clearly regardless of the sound that it makes, the way that it gets communicated or the way it looks and feels. We investigated the myth of the primitive language and discovered there is no primitive language, “and that all languages and dialects are vastly complex structural systems” (Stubbs, 71). We all obtain an equal and fair voice, but what happens to that voice is a different story depending on the socioeconomic and cultural context in which you are born into and brought up around. Do you hide your true voice, did someone squash it, is it unacceptable by societies standards, which taught you your voice, and does it reflect you or has it been manipulated to suit other interest? It all depends on the life you have walked and the people that have helped and hurt along the way.

         In Chapter five, The Skin that We Speak, Chael Stubbs brings to light the devastating effects of deeming a students language as “wrong”. As I read through this entire chapter I was rushed back in time and remembered the pain of being a student who was deemed a bad writer, and often criticized for improper word usage by many teachers and adults in my life. I was constantly corrected by everyone- at least it felt like it. To the point that I withdrew from reading and writing and stopped believing in my dream of writing and illustrating my own children’s book one day.  I still have small scars from those days that are often re-opened when my co-worker (an English teacher) comes in my room and often corrects something on my white board in away that belittles me and makes me feel as though I have no knowledge or right to be a teacher. With that being said I can only imagine the devastating effects and the magnitude in which these attitudes hurt the self-esteem of a minority student or ELL learner going through the same educational system. I have been scared, and I am a middle class white American student- so imagine the consequences on or ethnically and economically “disadvantaged” student (I use this term with frustration of referring to students of color disadvantaged as if something is wrong with them). Hence, the cartoon Stubbs reference’s by the famous cartoonist Jules Feiffer (79) Stubbs speaks about that what is often deemed as, “educational failure is actually linguistically failure”, and asks the question can one be “linguistically inadequate” Does that make sense”(65)? When we use the word deficient shouldn’t we be just referring to different? It is amazing what a subtle sounding difference between two words can have such profound effects. Stubbs leaves us with a powerful statement, “is the disadvantage in the child’s language or is it from people’s attitudes to language differences” (79)?

Stubbs sets the stage for how critical our awareness of the power structures that exist within our classroom are, and that implementing many of the other concepts covered this week, such as trilingualism, bi-culturalism, and multiple literacies practices within in your classroom is crucial to the success of all students. We can choose to empower or silence our students.

Baker’s concept of trilingualism about investigating the different languages that we use in our lives, and using this concept to empower students to further there understanding of language is modern and can easily be implemented into any classroom setting. Haneda’s speaks of multiple literacy’s and connecting community and school literacy practices. She stresses the importance for ELL’s to have a, “wide range of literacy practices- across context, in different languages, and for various purpose”(338) as an essential understanding for the success of ELL’s. She asks educators to change their views of literacy and to question their classroom practices that are often misevaluate students lack of decoding skills or poor vocabulary and grammar skills with their ability to be critical thinkers. And, in Lomawaima and McCarty’s research they discover how important it is to have a bilingual/bicultural education in a classroom with native speakers in which both English and the Native language is used to educate the Native speaker. As well as respect and preserve there culture and use it as an educational tool that all students can learn from, versus creating immersion programs that often alginate students and leave them in the dust to “sink or swim”. They researched numerous accounts showing the use of the Native language along with English to help students make leaps and bounds in both languages. Lomawaima and McCarty speak of changing school and community that, “ historically are agents of Anglo American oppression, to become and instrument of community empowerment”(128) through bi-cultural education.

All three of these literacy concepts, trilingualism, bi-culturalism, and multiple literacies, are different from one another and should be used in different learning environments and circumstances. Although, what is the same is that they all fight to change the notion of a right and wrong way of communicating. And to fight to change the notion that there is only room for “formal” English in today’s educational system. Our current educational system is set up to blame the victims! The silencing of a certain cultures brings tears to my eyes. We still continue to do this in our classroom but we justify it through institutional practices and standards that have been implemented that help us justify our practices because we believe them to be in the best interest of the students.

Again, I find myself asking whose interest is it really in?

“….if you believe that linguistic disadvantages arise largely from people intolerance and prejudice towards language differences, then you will probably try to change people’s attitude to language”(Stubbs,79).

Take the challenge, change perceptions!!