Speed Theorizing: Should English Teachers Be Language Cops In The Classroom?

The passage, Text-Speak Can Help Students, informs the reader how language shortcuts can be a good thing for student. “One reason that texting is not harming writing skills is that students who test are able to do what researchers call ‘code switch.’ Students distinguish between the informal language they use for friendly conversations and more formal language used for academic writing.” (Text-Speak Can Help

The debate over target language (TL) really became apparent in schools with the introduction of GCSE’s in 1988, which separated the study of modern foreign languages (MFL) into four skill areas, (speaking, listening, writing and reading) with a key emphasis on practical communication (Meiring, Norman, 2002). The latest subject specific Ofsted report for MFL highlights the ineffective use of TL in the classroom as a key feature in weak teaching. The report indicates that only using the TL for ‘organisational matters and for praise’ and resorting to ‘immediate English translations’, and not providing the opportunity for ‘spontaneous use’ of the TL is judged to be graded as requires improvement. The use of TL in the classroom is not

Recently, as the schools in the United States become more diverse in cultures, the needs for new English learners to learn the basic of English and grow in fluency has expanded. Nevertheless, a major of English learners receive insufficient education and have low achievement at school. Therefore, the approach of the schools for English learners might not be sufficient for them to unchain themselves from the boundary of differences in language and culture. As a result, the article “What It Takes for English Learners to Succeed” from Jana Echevarria, Nancy Frey, and Doug Fisher provides a guideline for teachers to help their English learners by using the four practices of “Access, Climate, Expectation, and Language Instruction.” The four practices can be divided into two categories. Access, climate, and expectations focus on educational settings, while language instruction focuses on teaching contents.

The primary goal of any school district’s English Language Learner policy should be to ensure that all students receive equitable access to the curriculum. The Office of Civil Rights memorandum (May 25, 1970) requires school districts to take affirmative steps to provide equal access to instructional program for students with limited English proficiency. The Illinois Constitution guarantees every child from kindergarten through grade 12, access to a free public education; which means, regardless of a child’s home language, he/she deserves a free and appropriate education (Illinois State Board of Education, 1998).

The reader disagrees with Rodriguez’s idea that other languages besides the primary language of a society cannot be used in the classroom. Rodriguez says that “it is not possible

“They are your kids, not mine!” The typical excuse content area teachers will say to the ESOL teachers when any issue arises regarding the education of the emerging bilingual students. The truth is that everyone in the school building, including content area teachers, office personnel, and administrators, should be involved in educating the emerging bilingual students, not only the ESOL teacher. Content area teachers need to be aware that if the students are not proficient in the new language, they will have challenges in all the content classes. Even in the Common Core Standards, the expectation is for teachers to develop not only their content area, but at the same time improve the academic language. One reason is that since the Common

Allowing students to speak dialects they chose when communicating with peers is acceptable outside of the classroom and in informal class discussions because there are no requirements that are necessary to reach within casual communication. If people were not able to speak the dialect they prefer, we would be rejecting them of their own lifestyles because we would not be allowing the freedom which the United States promises.

When it comes to students that have not officially mastered the English Language, schools should give students the opportunity to learn it. Schools are supposed to arrange services for students who are not familiar with the English Language. All students should be treated with the same respect and all students should receive some type of education no matter what their background comes from. English is a language that is very popular today in this world. When it comes to legal obligations for students that are English language learners, every student is supposed to have equal access to their education. It was mentioned that in the year of 1970 the Federal Office for Civil Rights, distributed a letter to all school’s districts mentioning that

I think that with the proper understanding of your student’s cultures and diversity could really help with their classroom behavior. I believe our situation we discussed was not handled correctly. Especially if this escalated into a lawsuit. It is our job as teachers to handle our issues in the classroom. She could have talked with the ELL student and found the root of the problem herself. My future implications in the classroom are to find out the entire story, but I believe we should take from these situations that understanding and background knowledge could go a long way for you as an educator. If I run into an issue like this, I now know that different cultures pronounce words differently, and in the English alphabet all letters do not sound all the same with other cultures. Not only is it our jobs as teachers to accommodate our ELL students with a proper education. It is written by law in the Florida Consent Decree that all students have rights to the best education we can give

The author, Melinda D. Anderson, sheds light on a growing problem in America. Today, thousands of students are experiencing difficulties when trying to earn an education because of the language barriers that prohibit them. Additionally, educators are ignoring this dilemma and making matters worse by enforcing English-only policies. The author believes that educators should discover a way to intertwine languages in order to help struggling students to overcome their language barriers.

The term cash English means using the type of English that will help get students jobs in the future and will help with their education later on, this helped Grace’s students understand that there is a way to talk at home or to their peers, then there is a way to talk to professionals or future employers. Grace’s understanding helped her to teach her students the proper way to talk and write but also encouraged her to refer to the different native languages and different dialects of her students to help them learn in the best way.

By the time a student reaches the second grade, he or she is required to speak the English language at all times while school is in session. Those who get caught speaking the Mother Tongue, are disciplined.

As a world language teacher, it is key to follow the Core Curriculum Standards for World Languages. Teachers are invited to integrate the World language Standards in their teaching to provide students with

As a bilingual, speaking English requires a lot of sacrifices because in order to speak the language correctly you are going to have to erase your accent. Erasing your accent requires you to forget about your roots, but isn’t bettering someone’s accent by erasing his roots an act of war or a violation of the first amendment? Should people be able to use the dialect they choose? Three articles have their own answer for these questions. The article “The Students’ Right to their Own Language” by the Conference on College Composition talks about how the CCC affirms that the student should have the right to their own language. This article also argues that many English teachers are not prepared to be language teachers and are unwilling and unready

This is due to the fact that it is the official language used in dominant mainstream culture and without it, students from different racial background may fail to become successful. Once such students mastered the Standard English, I believe that they can grapple with the aforementioned topics and can also incorporate their own dialect in class and in writing, but I also urge the need for the professor to keep certain limits of some topics. That is, certain topics may get taken too far, and the professor is in class to keep such extremes under control, not like what Hairston suggested; total disarmament of the professor's responsibilities towards students' dealing of social topics