Language is important in every culture. It enables people to understand each other and to trace their roots. However, we live in the world where almost everything is uniting into a shared understanding of each other. It would then be possible to relate with each other. That is why a common language like English is crucial. Although at some point it causes other people to feel that their tradition and values are not essential.
Teaching Standard English in schools is a daunting task. It even becomes more difficult especially when the students are not from native English speaking countries. Some may have been born in those countries but have their native languages.
Reading and writing is one way of ensuring that the skill of communication is necessary to the students. Linda Christensen is one teacher who regrets why the English teacher, Mrs. Delaney, made her look inferior just because she could not pronounce certain words correctly.
She feels that educators should not force certain pronunciations on students because their mother tongue affects them. Instead, they should try to help students use substitutes for some words. She discovered that at least there were substitutes for every English word.
It is important also to note that language defines and classifies an individual. The social norms dictate where someone belongs when they speak and how they pronounce the words. People have come to understand that English is the language of the dominant people. As long as one can speak well and be able to use the words carefully they become recognized in the society irrespective of their origin.
Other people believe that it is not good to discard one’s traditional beliefs about foreign values. The Spanish-speaking people and the African Americans are among those who think that it is wrong to judge them by how they speak the English language. In fact, the African Americans want their Ebonics to receive accolades as much as the English language does.
Another aspect of teaching is that it has dwelt so much on the readings without examining the social and historical framework. It is important to include critical literacy that explores the same. It is a state of asking questions to find the reasons as to why, how, when, and what makes them. The students need to look at themselves as they compare with the larger society. Learning is a process that must always include the learner.
Gilbert’s letter brings to mind great learning from multiple writers. For instance, Multiple Roads to Literacy broadens the means and ways of learning. It builds on the fact that there is no one way of gaining literacy. People can make mistakes and still get it right at the end of the day. One must understand the learner and be creative about ensuring that he or she gains from the teaching.
The artifact and the writings have something in common. They help to give some history of the English language and why it is important to learn it. They also provide avenues for mistakes. It is not important to judge the students and intimidate them because they could not pronounce a particular word correctly. They give a sober appeal to all learners to appreciate themselves by learning the language.
The students also need to relate to their individual environments when trying to write and speak the language. It helps them to find the real meaning of their lessons. When they write about their mistakes, they find easier ways of solving some of them and even learning from each other.
In some instances as they read aloud, they make others also become part of their story. At one point, some students cried in class when they heard how their colleague was struggling to survive in a difficult situation.
There is also the tendency of using the paramount persons in the society as good examples in the impartation of knowledge. The people are mostly from high social classes and or might have served in the public sector. It is up to the teacher to remind the students that even in their small world there are heroes to celebrate, including their improvements. Such things help learners to acknowledge the process and believe in themselves.
The writings are crucial. They have made me have a different perspective on learning. It is important to understand the students one has in class. It is also reasonable to relate with them so that all of us can go through the learning process with fewer difficulties. When teaching, I have learned that history is part of the learning.
In as much as the lessons may be very particular and strict about the syllabus, one needs to focus on the surroundings as well. When people talk about themselves, and what they are going through, they open up to others to find solutions. It also brings people closer.
The students who felt lonely because they had no one to talk to would soon find partners in the same problem. The readings and discussions help to solve particular problems.
Classes must not just become rigid curricular regulations. They are also social places where people can share, analyze and become part of a solution. Students must learn to deal with their fears because it interferes with their learning. It is also important to discover that there are standards in the education. Those standards must also resonate with the learners.
Critical writing would be crucial for my anticipated future. They would guide and shape my new understanding of things. I would become less judgmental and more accommodative to my students. The students under my care would turn out to be the best students who would learn appreciative skills from me.
I would use this for community and team building for students who could not relate well to each other to find new ways of association. I would also become more confident about my work as a teacher. It should be all about making positive progress.
The readings have opened up my inner understanding. I would have just remained the way I was before my readings. I would also have imparted the same knowledge and skills that my teacher and society taught me. But I have now known that history is part of my students and my work.
I always have to feel the urge to keep making others believe in themselves. I have learned through mistakes and would not like others to go through the same mistakes.
I would instill discipline in my students because they would carry it on to the future. I would use the children’s mistakes to mold new behavior in them through encouraging them and motivating them. The most important thing is to ensure that they release deep-seated anger about their past.
I would then group the students depending on their abilities. The groups would keep changing members until if possible all the students can feel happy being with each in class and outside. The stories they share would become confidential within the boundaries of the class until and unless the students want to share with their parents.