TESOL Workshop Student Teaching Study Abroad Presented by Jessica Tillman

Cultural Identity Activity With a colleague or in a small group, discuss the following questions:  What is your cultural identity? Describe it.  Do you remember a time when you felt a connection with someone who shared your cultural background? Describe that feeling.  What made you feel connected to that person?  What kinds of issues related to cultural identity (either your own or your students’) have come up for you as a teacher? Let’s Talk!

What is Cultural Identity? Cultural identity is your own sense of your culture. Especially in America, which is truly a melting pot of ethnicity and cultures, it can become difficult to maintain your knowledge of your heritage. Our own culture is often hidden from us… sometimes we describe it as “the way things are.” Fish Parable Question: Did you have a hard time defining your cultural identity?

A young fish asks an elder fish to define the nature of the sea. The young one complains that although everyone talks constantly about the sea, he can’t see it and he can’t really get a clear understanding of what it is. The wise elder notes that the sea is all around the young one; it is where he was born and where he will die; it is a sort of envelope, and he can’t see it because he is part of it. Like the fish who has trouble understanding the very sea surrounding him, we have trouble identifying the influence of our culture because we are immersed in it and are part of it: it is the lens through which we view the world. Fish Parable

When you are in an environment that is outside the culture you identify with, you may feel awkward or alone. So, to extend the parable, you might say that when you travel abroad, you are a fish out of water… Culture Shock! What is it? Have you experienced it? What was it for you personally?

Stages of Acculturation

Stage 1 Honeymoon Phase Everything is new and exciting about being in a new culture… New sights, sounds, smells and tastes! Differences are intriguing

Stage 2 Frustration Phase Differences between home and new culture become more obvious Differences are no longer intriguing, but annoying (you may see these differences as “problems”) Home culture becomes idealized

Stage 3 Minimization Phase You start to cope with identified differences or “problems.” You begin to identify similarities.

Stage 4 Acceptance Phase Begin to experience the new culture in context Differences are put into perspective through understanding why the differences exist

Stage 5 Adaptation Phase Not only acceptance of differences, but appreciation for them

Stage 6 Integration Phase You become comfortable with the host culture and country and feel less like a foreigner. You accept positives and negatives of both host and home country.

Culture Shock happens!  Everyone’s experience is different  Some will stay in the Honeymoon Phase the entire time and others, for only a day  Culture Shock will disappear and reappear all the time  Some stages might be repeated and some may be skipped

Ways to Cope…  Get to know the community  Ask questions  Interact! Put yourself out there…  Blog or Journal  Get Involved…  Share your feelings; but remember, no one likes to hear constant negativity

From Culture to Classroom Making it Work…

Classroom  Even though your students will be in a strong English environment during schools hours, they live within their home culture, not US culture  You will be a teacher of content as well as language  Oral language is the basis of literacy

Oral Language for ELLs BICS  Basic Intercultural Communication Skills  Social language  Language of the playground 1-3 years CALPS  Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills  Academic language  Words used in the content areas  Examples: compare and contrast in science or integer in math 5-9 years Teachers need to teach students both in order for them to succeed in school.

ESOL vs. EFL ESOL English to Speakers of Other Languages  Non-native speakers learning English in an English speaking community.  Learning English for social and academic purposes.  Learning English to function in the society.  Belize  Non-native speakers learning English in a non-English environment.  Focus is on grammar and social interaction skills.  School environment might be English focused but the home life is different.  Costa Rica  Ecuador  Korea EFL English as a Foreign Language

What do you know about English?  Phonemes – sounds of a language  Morphemes – smallest unit of meaning in a language  Semantics – word or phrase meaning  Syntax – word order  Pragmatics – how language is used within a culture or context

Phonemes  sounds of a language  Teach phonemic awareness, i.e., how to differentiate sounds  Awareness  Simple level: rhymes  More abstract level: hearing sounds, e.g., “fog” as “f-0-g”  Phonemic Inventory  Example: /sh/ not present in Spanish; may be confused with /ch/

Morphemes  Smallest unit of meaning in a language  Words (e.g., beauty or connect) or the small pieces added to words (e.g., -ful or dis-)  Roots  Prefixes  Suffixes Examples pre- re- dis- un- in- disconnect unbelievable -ed -ing -er -s -able Jessica’s worked Application Teach your students: how morphemes may be combined how morphemes change meaning pronunciation and spelling changes

Semantics  Word or phrase meanings  For example, English learners who only know that fault means blame will have difficulty reading a physical science text about faults in rocks.  Vocabulary! Vocabulary! Vocabulary!  Synonyms  Antonyms Note: teach vocabulary in context, not lists…

Syntax English The children went to school. SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT Spanish Se fueron los chicos a la escuela. VERB + SUBJECT + OBJECT Word order, or how sentences are formed in a language * transfer- using knowledge of first language and applying it to second language Students need you to teach English syntax explicitly while pointing out the differences in their first language and English.

Pragmatics  How language is used within a culture (e.g., some languages have a formal tense) Pragmatics involve three major communication skills:  Using language for different purposes, such as  greeting (e.g., hello, goodbye)  informing (e.g., I'm going to get a cookie)  demanding (e.g., Give me a cookie)  promising (e.g., I'm going to get you a cookie)  requesting (e.g., I would like a cookie, please)  Changing language according to the needs of a listener or situation, such as  talking differently to a baby than to an adult  giving background information to an unfamiliar listener  speaking differently in a classroom than on a playground  Following rules for conversations and storytelling, such as  taking turns in conversation  introducing topics of conversation  staying on topic  rephrasing when misunderstood  how to use verbal and nonverbal signals  how close to stand to someone when speaking  how to use facial expressions and eye contact The big one?

Main Points: Be cognizant of your students’ prior knowledge… it’s not the same as your students’ here in the US Maya children Incorporate your students’ backgrounds and cultures into your lessons… make connections in your classrooms to your students’ cultures Teach vocabulary! This increases students’ oral language and comprehension. HAVE FUN!

WIDA Can Do Descriptors