28 to 1

Twenty-eight pages. That is how long my final project was last year for ENG 344. Somehow, Cary managed to present the exact same points I made in my paper in less than a paragraph! I could not get enough of his article, "How do I support a students' first language when I don't speak the language?". The writing style of this was what first caught my attention, but after that I was amazed and inspired by the classroom and teaching techniques described. I wanted to be there, wanted to be part of the learning that was so obviously taking place.

In my paper last semester, I wrote about identity, investment, and language. Cary wrote about many of the same things in his article. He explained that in Dolores' classroom, students' first languages were validated, their identities were valued, and learning took place at the students' pace. The following paragraph especially stood out to me:

"As a student language teacher, Nguyet saw her home language sanctioned and thus honored. Because Vietnamese was honored and because Nguyet and all of us have so much of our identity tied to what we speak and how we speak it, honoring Vietnamese honored and validated Nguyet, boosting her feelings of self-worth and empowering her to succeed academically. Carving out class time for learning phrase sets in languages other than English helped Dolores "institutionalize" bilingualism and multilingualism in the classroom. All languages and dialects were found worthy and merited the official seal of approval - at least in Room 2 at Armstrong School. Getting a similar seal of approval from the district, the state of California, and beyond would take a little more time" (Cary, 138).

Dolores' classroom is all about student-centered learning. With their best interests in mind, she teaches, includes volunteers, and uses her resources to help her help the students. This is a very important environment to create, because learning that is not student-centered is hardly learning at all.

In chapter 20 of the Anthology, Green, Christopher, and Lam talk about discussion skills in the ESL classroom. They explain that these skills are often underdeveloped in this setting. However, they admit that unless students have 'learner autonomy' and free choice of topic to be discussed, it may seem to them as though they have no reason to engage in class discussion (225). They will not see it as valuable to their education. In a classroom like Dolores', however, students guide the curriculum, and when one topic becomes worn out, Dolores uses the students' interests to help her select another. Students are investigating, looking for answers to questions, and above all, LEARNING. (Have I already mentioned how inspired I was by that article?!) Perhaps if every ESL classroom were like Dolores', other languages would be more valued.

I felt that chapter 18 of the Anthology was somewhat unrelated to the other two. However, I found it very informative. I see myself likely teaching English as a Foreign Language, and many of these were things I had never considered before. It presented the four competencies, which we have discussed at length in other classes, but also explicitly laid out how adult EFL learners are unique. It was so helpful! Of course, there is a need to focus on use of language, as in any EFL classroom. However, the authors also explained that "EFL learners need explicit instruction in speaking, which, like any language skill, generally has to be learned and practiced" (204). Of course, because they cannot hear the language around them, they would need to practice this skill more extensively, as they cannot develop it by imitation. However, I had never before thought of it that way. The book further emphasized the importance of speaking with a discussion on speaking interactions. Interaction is key, according to the book, as "the functions of spoken language are interactional and transactional. The primary intention of the former is to maintain social relationships, whereas that of the latter is to convey information and ideas" (208). On second glimpse, I think that this does relate to the other two readings in that it is also about the students. When developing adult EFL learner's speaking abilities, we need to focus on the interpersonal and the needs. Speakers want to be able to relate to others, to get around, and to make their voice heard. This results in a need for small talk and interactive activities in the adult EFL classroom.

In summary, who are students are guides what we do in the classroom. I think my post right before this was about almost the exact same thing, but it is still true! In chapter 18, I think the following quote really summarizes language learning as a whole,

"Language proficiency is not a unidimensional construct, but a multifaceted modality, consisting of various levels of abilities and domains" (206). In my own words, I would say that we as teachers need to remember the complex components that make up language. We need to remember that because it is impossible to convey all of them to students at the exact same level, we need to focus on their needs. And while we are doing that, we need to remember their underlying thoughts, feelings, ideas, and backgrounds. We need to remember and emphasize that their learning of English doesn't make their first language any less important. And above all, we need to make sure that they know that.