In the dawn of the 21st century, English Language Teaching (ELT) and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) are central for individual progress and participation in an increasingly globalized culture and economy. As a discourse and process, globalization encapsulates the emergence of the network society (Erling & Seargeant, 2013) characterized by complex, disjunctive, contradictory, and sometimes unpredictable power relations (Appadurai, 1996). In this context, discourses about the role of English language and its contribution to the creation of just and democratic societies have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the last twenty years. Of course, these discourses have grown hand in hand with socio-cultural, economic, and political transformations. These transformations have had dramatic influence not only for language education policies and English teaching practices, but have also shaped conceptualizations of language, identity, culture, and attitudes about the role of English learning in the context of globalization. These developments have led to contradictory and conflicting claims about the ownership of English. According to some language scholars (e.g., Barlett, 2013), English language is no longer the exclusive property of the native speakers and advocate for recognition of emerging local varieties of English (Bamgbose, 1998; Kachru, 1996; Mirhosseini, 2008). Yet, in postcolonial spaces inherited colonial education systems are still struggling in their emancipatory upheavals for democracy and social justice in Africa. The language question and English language education, to be sure, is central to these struggles.
Based on a priori assumptions and existing research, I argue that in post-colonial spaces and elsewhere (Canagar...
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...possibility to promote hybrid and multifarious identities that emerge in the context of English language learning in multilingual contexts. This section presents theoretical insights for building pedagogy of possibility through the incorporation of pedagogical perspective that would promote voice, and agency in multilingual context and especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main purpose of this section is to highlight the relevance for paradigm shift in English language learning that is, deconstructing the dominant perspective in order to open up ideological spaces leading to recognition of local knowledge and local variants of English. Before presenting the main arguments of this paper I would like to map the different ways in which the terms globalization, appropriation, and multivoicedness are used within language education and applied linguistics literature.
“Standard English was imposed on children of immigrant parents, then the children were separated from native English speakers, then the children were labeled “inferior” and “ignorant” (Hughes 70) because they could not speak Standard English. In addition to feeling inferior about their second language skills, these students also felt inadequate in regard to speaking their own mother tongues” (qtd in Kanae)
There are two forms of languages; public and private. The "private" language only spoken with family and close intimate relationships. The "public" language used in society, work, and school. Both of these help form two identities, that help us connect and communicate with one another. In the essay “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan and also in the article “Speech Communities” by Paul Roberts ,we will see how both private and public language demonstrate how we view, and grow from each language.
Hooks, Bell. "Language: Teaching New Worlds/New Words." Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge, 1994. 167-75. Print.
From an article notifying of the current situations of Guinea, one individual transmits a message through those reading to be enlightened by these events and persuade those who wish to keep languages intact and structure secured by informing of educational aid through technology. Through Tina Rosenberg, she will brief the readers over the conflicts in Africa as well as bring up the language system of N’Ko that is benefiting the education system throughout the land. Within the article, “Everyone Speaks Text Message,” by Tina Rosenberg, the author conveys a formal method in her writing to establish a connection of new education through the usage of proving expert opinions, allowing blunt perspectives through maxims, toying with sarcasm through satire, and finally viewing an oxymoron in the piece, we see a collection of devices used to aid African borders and its communication as well as help those who wish to preserve languages.
In the last few decades, New Zealand has seen a remarkable shift in demographic, resulting in an increasingly diverse social, cultural and linguistic composition. Where before New Zealanders may have only rarely come into contact with people of other cultures, or people who spoke other languages, this is no longer the case. The global world we inhabit demands more of us; it is no longer an option to be culturally naïve, nor is it an option to be absolutely monolingual. This bibliography aims to identify a number of key texts concerning the field of teaching world languages, while also investigating the relationship between the teaching of world languages, culture, identity and how educators can work to consolidate all three in their practice and instruction.
Ngugi tells of his boyhood in Kenya, of how he was taught in his native Gikuyu language at school when suddenly in 1952 the British authorities forced schools to teach in English instead. Proof that Europe forced its languages on Africa.
Language is a means of communication and it varies from one community to another. Everyone has a mother tongue which depended on the family’s upbringing. A second language can be learned along the way. There are also instances where a person is born in a community that speaks two languages and therefore, had to learn both languages. The quality of the languages learned will be affected by how well the community speaks both languages. This can later develop into a new form of language. The essay describes the frustration of the author who felt rejected by different groups for speaking a different form of language. Her essay aims to gain sympathy from readers by seeing the issue from her point of view. Anzaldua attempts to achieve this in her essay by raising issues on identity and discrimination. She wanted to highlight that language is not determined by a country’s physical borders.
Language is an important part of who we are. It influences the way we think and behave on a great scale. However, sometimes it is forced upon us to go in different directions just so we can physically and mentally feel as if we belong to the society in which we live in. Just as we see in Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s “A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, both authors faced some challenges along the way by coping with two different languages, while still trying to achieve the social position which they desired.
In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, an excerpt from her book Borderlands/La Fronter in 1987, she demonstrates that identity can be asserted through language. You can tell a lot about a person by their language. Language is your way of representing who you are as a person, and most importantly, your culture. Culture defines the most about a person. Anzaldúa shares her aggravation of not being able to speak her language, “until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself" (Anzaldúa 378). Being seen as an individual of English as Second Language (ESL), Anzaldúa does not appreciate how she has to assist in translating to English or Spanish, where she would rather speak Spanglish. “[A]s long as I have to accommodate the English speaker rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate” (Anzaldúa 378). Talking bad about her language severely impacts her identity, “I am my language” (Anzaldúa 378). A person’s identity should not be seen less because of the language they speak. Anzaldúa states that she will have her voice, though she cannot express her passion for her language with the restraint of no freedom act to embrace it, she will. Her audiences that she is reaching to are those who share the same struggle of their identities just like her, and also speaking out to people who do look down upon people like her because of where she is form and what language she speaks.
In “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan aims to reveal the cultural bias on types of language by appealing to her reader throughout the argument. Throughout the essay, she states that all forms of English are valid, proves that people with so-called broken English are treated poorly, and uses both personal experience as well as broad examples to prove her point, all the while utilizing both ethos and logos to appeal to her audience.
Post-colonialism is a discourse draped in history. In one point in time or another, European colonialism dominated most non-European lands since the end of the Renaissance. Naturally, colonialists depicted the cultures of non-Europeans incorrectly and inferior. Traditionally, the canon has misappropriated and misrepresented these cultures, but also the Western academia has yet to teach us the valuable and basic lessons that allow true representations to develop. Partly in response, Post-colonialism arose. Though this term is a broad one, Post-colonialists generally agree on certain key principles. They understand that colonialism exploits the dominated people or country in one way or another, evoking inequalities. Examples of past inequalities include “genocide, economic exploitation, cultural decimation and political exclusion…” (Loomba 9-10). They abhor traditional colonialism but also believe that every people, through the context of their own cultures, have something to contribute to our understanding of human nature (Loomba 1-20). This is the theme that Lewis prescribes in his, self described, “satirical fantasy”, Out of the Silent Planet (Of Other 77).
—. Language: Readings in Language and Culture. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1998. Print.
In “The African Writer and the English Language,” Chinua Achebe writes: “The price a world language must be prepared to pay is submission to many different kinds of use.” Would you agree with this claim? Respond on the basis of our discussion of the texts in class so far, paying special attention to Riders to the Sea, A Small Place, and You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town.
Swarbrick, A. (2013) Aspects of Teaching Secondary Modern Foreign Languages: Perspectives on Practice. London: Routledge Falmer.
A decree issued by the Bantu Education in 1976 caused major upset amongst black South African students, leading to their opposition and ultimate protest of marching against this decree which imposed Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in half the subjects in both primary and middle schools. Not only that, but members at the time of the ruling National Party spoke Afrikaans which angered the students further as they saw it as the “language of the oppressor”. Both African teachers and students experienced the negative implications of this decree as neither had a grasp of the language. The frustration felt among students (and teachers) can be seen based on this example from an article from ‘The World’ newspaper, 18th May 1976 which basically reported students who “threatened to beat up their headmaster” because of the alleged sacking of the school board’s head for protesting against Afrikaans. Although other factors are considered, it was ultimately the introduction of Afrikaans as well as English by the Bantu Education system that was the im...