Week 6 - Cultural Writing

I found the readings of Hinkel, Kubota, and Silvia to be very eye opening and filled with useful information as pre-service ESL teachers. I believe that writing is such a crucial part of the learning process and it can really demonstrate the students' understanding of certain content or their ability to formulate their own ideas. Since this is such an important aspect of literacy, I think it may be a frightening and overwhelming process for ESL students. With the help of these articles, such as Silvia's, I have been able to collect some ideas on how to teach appropriate writing skills and ones that are culturally representative. It seemed a little disheartening that ESL writing skills are significantly lower than NES abilities, but I think that is due to the language barrier. America has such a structured process for composing writing, but what makes this the correct form? For example, Silvia explained the tendency for Japanese-speaking students to form persuasive essays by incorporating mixed arguments (arguing for and against) and argument alterations (between arguing for and against.) If an American student were to use this structure while trying to form an argument, they would probably be given a low grade because you are taught to only pick one side and then stick with it completely. I really thought this was interesting because it is up to the ESL teacher to instruct how to compose culturally appropriate writing and I'm sure this would be a very difficult habit for anyone to break. I almost feel uncomfortable teaching these types of strategies because maybe it could cause the ESL students to feel unworthy and it does not seem very open to cultural differences.

With that said, I can relate to the difficulty that ESL students may faced when they are given the task to write. Throughout college, I have written numerous lengthy essays in Spanish, but each time I feel as though I can not reach my peak performance level. I am able to say everything I want to say, but sometimes I feel like the sentence structure is limited or I have to talk around what I am not able to articulate. Sometimes I feel like this is hard enough and now I have to write it in a foreign language! I hope to remember this feeling so I can relate to my students and encourage them to do their best, no matter how difficult it may seem.

These readings helped me to realize that we need to be aware of how culture is represented in writing, whether it be through content or actual structure. Chapter 6 by Hinkel demonstrated how sometimes ESL teachers can enforce their students to take on cultural stereotypes, so writing prompts need to be selected carefully. I will work to think of ways that this can be done, possibly by giving total freedom to the students to write about their own definition of culture and identity, instead of enforcing the "we" versus "you" thought process.

Korean Immigrants in America

Questions for Dr. Kang:

How do you recommend that we encourage parents to be involved in their student’s bilingualism?

Do you have any personal experience similar to the research in your study that would help us further expand on the significance of parental involvement?

I found this study to be eye opening because sometimes I forget about the importance of parental involvement in bilingualism. For example, I am a bilingual tutor to a 6-year-old boy and I have not really thought about what his use of language is like at home because I have not been able to interact with his family. I have only worked with him for a short time, but this will undoubtedly affect how I direct my teaching for him. I wonder what language is prominent in his home and how much his parents are invested in his bilingualism? I realized that I have caught myself assuming that he is easily developing Spanish with his family, but that may not be the case! This is yet another reminder that assumptions can be detrimental to teaching and I should always consider all aspects that may factor into a student’s language acquisition.

However, regarding this family language policy, how will I be able to figure this out for students? It may be difficult to know how language is acted upon at home and it could easily vary for every child. In this study by Dr. Kang, these policies were clear because they were elicited from the research, but I will not have this specific information as a teacher.

On a side note, it is nice to know that English can be acquired even if the children’s parents do not speak it. It makes me feel like we are making a difference as teachers and we can provide a support system for children to practice their English if they cannot at home. But at the same time, it also saddened me to realize that the languages of the immigrants, such as Korean, could be lost without parental involvement or use. I believe holding onto and appreciating the different components of your culture is so important and it would be sad for a child to miss out on that.

Moving onto “A Step Away From Heaven,” I really enjoyed this book and it gave me insight into Korean immigrant culture. The story did a great job of displaying the struggle of transitioning and assimilating into America.  As we saw earlier with identity narratives, many of them focused on the success of their immigration, but there are many sad realities that they face. It can be an extremely complicated experience to acquire a second language, maintain the native language, and figure out your cultural identity throughout this process. As Dr. Kang’s article explained, the support of parents for their children’s bilingualism is extremely important, and it was clear that Young Ju was lacking this support. This may be an impacting factor of why she could not read or write in Korean because she was much more surrounded by English. When Young Ju initially began school, she had difficulty understanding and communicating with her peers in English, but she also struggled with cultural issues and how they affected her family life. I found some of these quotes to be interesting representations of her difficulties between her American and Korean identity: (**I read this on my Kindle, so I do not have access to the page numbers.)

-“I inch away from Uhmma, pretend I am not that woman’s daughter. Not a poor Oriental who saves pennies like gold.”

-“You, Apa shouts and hits the side of my head with his knuckles, will never question me.”

-“Your life can be different, Young Ju. Study and be strong. In America, women have choices.”

-“I pick up several boxes near the front door with Korean words scribbled on the sides and take them to Uhmma for deciphering. A few of the characters look familiar, but I never learned to read or write Korean.” (This connects with the fact that children of immigrants may not achieve proficiency in their parent’s language, especially in reading or writing.)

-“I do not understand why I have to speak Korean at home so I will not forget where I come from.”

-“You are becoming too American. That girl is worthless, Apa says.” (Apa’s disapproval and resistance of assimilating into the American culture.)

I found both of these texts to be extremely interesting and applicable to my future as a teacher!