My Experiences With Language And Education

Growing up in Chicago, I attended a neighborhood school from preschool through first grade. Although it was an exceptional school for elementary kids, the education for middle school and high school students was not as adequate. Seeking a better place to raise their children, my parents were faced with a tough choice. When I was in 2nd grade, our family made the decision to move to the suburbs. On July 3rd, we all packed into our Honda minivan and drove 45 minutes to a new home in the town of Winnetka. Within my first year at Crow Island, my new school, I learned so many new things. I started playing the violin and speaking Spanish, neither of which were offered at my old school. I met my best friends that I'm still close with now. Over the

I am an 18-year-old student currently residing in Indiana. I’ve been living here with my family for the past eleven or so years, ever since we moved in 2004 from California, my birthplace. My parents both originate from Central America. My mother is from El Salvador and my father is from Mexico, so I’m a mix of Salvadorian, Mexican, and American. I was homeschooled by my parents for most of my adolescent life, mainly by my mother during my infant years. As I grew up my father took charge of my education from kindergarten to middle school. When it came time for highschool, I decided to attend a public school. My first endeavour in the public education system was with an online school known as INCA(Indiana Connection Academy). I eventually found

I am a U.S. born citizen. My parents moved to the United States in 1984 without knowing anything about this country. Looking for a fresh start and new opportunities, my parents settled in Houston. With hardly knowing any English, my parents knew this was the place to make dreams become a reality. Luckily, I had older siblings to look up to whenever I needed help. Like Lahiri, I was trapped in between two different cultures while I was growing up. At home, I only spoke Spanish, but in school it was English. My habits and customs were different than others. Life as an immigrant’s offspring can be very difficult. As I grew older, I allowed myself to open my eyes and see the beauty of being an American from Hispanic descent.

My high school years, unlike the past years of steady achievements, felt much more like a sine graph with ups and downs. To begin with, I conquered my freshman year in a breeze. My easily achievable classes not only earned myself confidence, but also admiration and respect from my classmates and teachers. As a result, I comfortably acclimated myself to the status of a star student.

Being a latino in the U.S had been and still is the reason for suffering discrimination against one's aspirations and goals in life. Not only that but as an ESL life was far from being the American Dream most people come to this country looking for. The truth is that for those that had not escape from the category of ESL, prejudice will be a stigma that would follow them through high school and life. From these tumultuous waters I rose. Expectations were low and many assume that I was either stupid or incapable to compete with my classmates. My attitude and determination were the floating devices for my sicking life.

Starting middle school was a mixture of anxiety and excitement. There was a brand new campus to explore, but we were also nervously anticipating the academic program that was about to begin. Most of my grade had been together since the age of four and by this time there were clear social divides. There were the girls who were seen as popular, and then there was everybody else. You could say that I was part of the popular crowd, though at the time I didn’t notice myself standing apart from the others. As a group of friends we got on well, we’d hang out, go to the cinema, have sleepovers, all the usual things friends do. Then things gradually started to change.

In the book Exploring Language & Literacy chapter Preschool talks about diverse school, a diverse school is where there is different backgrounds and cultures for an example mexican, black, asian etc. In the book it says “The teachers were interested in learning how to better meet the needs of all the learners.” I think what the teachers do is admiring, to go out of there way to learn about the students cultures and backgrounds to better understand them. It so impressive, by doing this they have a better connection with the children. In their social skills they improve in indicating their needs and understanding else's emotions.

The next aspect that we are going to talk about is race. Growing up race wasn’t something that was around. While in grade school there were one or two Hispanic students but other than that there weren’t any racial differences in my school. When I went to high school the number of Hispanic students increased but otherwise that was it. We didn’t treat any of these students any different just because of their race. Around town there were Hispanics as well but there was never anything that caused problems. When I was very young I always found it interesting to try and listen to the Hispanic people talk to see if I could pick up any words that they said since I was learning Spanish in school. When I went to Central Community College this is when race was really shown to me.

In July of 2007, I migrated to Planada, California from a rural town in the mountains of Durango, Mexico. This event was the beginning of my educational journey, my liminal identity and has fundamentally shaped the person that I am today. I was born and raised in a tiny rural village call El Palmito, in the Mexican state of Durango. El Palmito lacks many resources and opportunities for women: I remember that our school consisted of only one room, with only one poorly trained teacher to teach grades zero through nine. When I was thirteen years old I immigrated to California with my parents, however my parents were not able to adjust to the lifestyle here and decided to go back to Durango. Wanting the best for me and my education, they allowed

In fifth grade, the year after I finally left elementary school, I was placed into a class in which I was not acquainted with anybody. That resulted in myself concluding that my 2013-2014 year in the Spring-Ford 5-6 Grade Center would be disheartening. Additionally, I was timid, which emanated in difficulty forming friendships, resulting in myself becoming lonesome. However, one day my cherishing, marvelous mother, amazed me and my siblings by bringing a four-month-old, Labrador retriever-beagle mix dog home and named him Rocky. Rocky made me contented and confident, which eventually aided me in making new friends, converting 5th grade into a prodigious year!

First day of sixth grade is a very big and exciting day for everyone. But, for me it was a day that I was not ready for . Over the summer of 2013 I moved from Orlando and I knew that I would be miserable. The next three years of my life would create the foundation I would have for the rest of years to come. Going to a new school, with new people, in a new town is something that nobody looks forward to. But what I was most afraid of were the “cliques”.

When I think about an event that sticks out in my mind as one that was very important in my life, I think about changing schools in the seventh grade. About halfway through my middle school career, I became very unhappy at my school and with life in general. Upon discussing with my parents, we made the decision that I would switch schools and embark on a new journey in hopes to appease my unhappy soul. At first, I felt as if a new school would not help; little did I know what a profound change it would have on my life.

For me, learning a language is a complicated process. It is different from learning other subjects. It involves a lot of practices and follow up. When I talk about my personal experience, I would say that I have a rich experience in learning English as a second language. English was taught to me for ten years starting from grade seven till graduation from university. After graduation, I felt that I should improve my language skills. Therefore, I did a lot of efforts personally to increase my fluency. Until now I still learn the language. Indeed, learning a language takes a lifetime.

Throughout my education, I had so many challenges I had to overcome. Dealing with school, personal life, and sports. Dealing with all of these problems has shaped me up as a person. I know now how to work for what I want, nothing is handed to me in life. That is something everyone needs to know, and now I know.

* In the educational field, the teaching learning cycle is a model used in contemporary teaching in both school and adult educational settings. Rothery (1996 in Derewianka & Jones 2012, pg 43) who originally developed the model used this to aim at disadvantaged children for teaching literacy and writing in the KLA (Key learning areas) who were from socially disadvantaged areas. Over time the model has been phased across other areas of the English language such as listening, speaking, reading as well as writing. The key involvement of the teacher also known as ‘expert other’ in the teaching learning cycle is guiding the learner to understand key concepts in academic literacy through use of scaffolding strategies to transform students