english and social responsibility: building that bridge
TRANSCRIPT
Agenda
• Background
– Define English
– Who owns English
• Students’ Perceptions on Race, Language, & Culture
• Implications & Suggestions
Inspiration
• “My customer yelled at me that I should learn English or go back to where I came from. Then my manager told me the customer is always right.”– Ethiopian female
• “I’m unlucky because I was born speaking Chinese and not English.”– Chinese female
What is “English”?
• What is “English”?
• Who owns English?
• What is “good” English?
• What is “bad” English?
• Whose English is “correct”?
True or False?
• English is the official language of the United States.
• There is an official council in the U.S. which regulates the rules of English.
• Standard English is a distinct dialect of English, required to succeed in school and business.
• What are we involved in when we teach English?
Teaching English as Something Other Than Language
English
Culture
Power
Economy
Ownership
Politics
Othering
• What are we involved in when we teach English?
Teaching English as Something Other Than Language
English
Culture
Power
Economy
Ownership
Politics
Othering
• Native Speaker vsNon-native Speaker
– Often racialized
OtheringKen asked Tom for help with his English homework.
Who is Ken?Who is Tom?
• What are we involved in when we teach English?
Teaching English as Something Other Than Language
English
Culture
Power
Economy
Ownership
Politics
Othering
How many people speak English?
25%
75%
2.5 billion people
Native English Speaker
"Non-native" Englishspeaker
What is “English”?
• What is “English”?
• Who owns English?
• What is “good” English?
• What is “bad” English?
• Whose English is “correct”?
• American Heritage Dictionary:
– People who invoke the term Standard English rarely make clear what they have in mind by it, and tend to slur over the inconvenient ambiguities that are inherent in the term.
– “is highly elastic and variable, since what counts as Standard English will depend on both the locality and the particular varieties that Standard English is being contrasted with. A form that is considered standard in one region may be nonstandard in another...”
Challenging the “Standard”
• Why is English “sacred”?
• Why are some changes more acceptable?
– Furnitures or Informations versus Coffees or Accomodations
• Why insist on close adherence to NS models when it causes problems?
– Should Italians spend time on “th” if they’re speaking to Russians who also can’t pronounce “th”?
Language Changes Over Time
Rethink “English”
• International Lingua Franca, not “owned” by native speakers
– English is LOCAL and what is IN PRACTICE
True or False?
• I don’t speak with an accent.
• To sound like a “native” English speaker is a definable and achievable goal for “non-native” English speakers.
• If you speak with an accent, it’s your responsibility to make yourself more comprehensible & intelligible.
• ACCENT ≠ COMPREHENSIBILITY (listener effort)
• ACCENT ≠ INTELLIGIBILITY (how much listener understands)
• Ethical?
– AZ Law removes teachers with “accents”
• /b/ vs /v/…/t/ vs /θ/ - low functional load
– 12+ states remove ITA’s with “accents”
• Study: weak teaching skills > accent
– Accent reduction programs
Accent and Ethics
• Study 1: P’s listened to clips of people speaking, accompanied by a picture, then answered:
– whether the person spoke with an accent
– how comprehensible the person was
• Study 2: P’s spent time with NNS ITA’s for just one hour with a pre and post survey on
– comprehensibility
– competency as instructors
Listener Bias
2013 Study
• 56 participants
• 24 males, 32 females
• Ages 17-30+
• African, Asian, Middle Eastern, European, Central & South American, Caribbean
• International students at a southern university
• 18 Bachelor’s, 17 Master’s, and 21 Ph.D. students
• 40 different majors: arts, sciences, business, etc.
• Studied in the US for 1 – 11 years (exc. 21 years)
Primary Questions
BEFORE COMING TO THE U.S.• What perceptions of racism and America did
students have?WHILE STUDYING IN THE U.S.• What types of differential treatment (positive or
negative) do students encounter because of racial, linguistic, and/or cultural differences?
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE• What can we learn from these encounters to
improve students’ experiences?
THEMES
1• Significant change in students’ perceptions of
Americans’ knowledge and opinions of their countries
2• Students’ lack of accurate knowledge and awareness of
discrimination
3• Challenges to students’ acceptance & intelligence
4• On campus discrimination: Jobs, Students, Professors
“I thought that they feel contempt to people from my country. It made feel fear, because I would have
to study with them.” (Mexican Male)
“I thought that they think Arabs are terrorist and very conservative. I was afraid that I not gonna be
accepted by [this] culture.” (Saudi female)
1
66% of students believed that Americans had a negative view of their country, language, and/or
culture
How did their perceptions change?
BEFORE STUDYING IN THE U.S.Howmany?
No Change
MindChanged
How did it change?
0 - + +/- ?
Americans know nothing/little about my country
6 0 6 3 2 1
Americans have a negative view 37 10 27 7 8 9 3
Americans have a positive view 7 2 5 4 1
Americans have positive & negative views
2 1 1 1
Other/unclear 4 1 3 1 2
TOTAL 56 14 42 8 1 13 15 5
75% of participants changed their views on
Americans’ knowledge of their country, language, and culture once they
began studying in America
21 (50%) added a positive view
7 (17%) added a negative view
8 (19%) now think
Americans know nothing or very little
1
19%
30%26%
16%
9%
International students…
Knew nothing/little ofracism
Knew some, didn't affect
Knew some, affected
Thought racism no longerexists
Other/Unclear
2
Students’ lack of accurate knowledge and awareness of discrimination
2
35% of students had no/little knowledge of discrimination before studying abroad or
believed it to be a thing of the past.
“I didn't know anything about racism in America. I was too young and naive.”
(Mexican male)
“It was before in the 19th Century but it has been removed after 1960. Eradication of racism makes
comfortable for us to study in peace environment.” (Nepalese male)
“I didn't know what level it could reach and most of all,i didn't know it was still present.”
(Italian female)
“[acts of discrimination are] often invisible to the casual
observer, and they are sometimes not even
articulated as forms of oppression” (Eriksen, 1992)
Those who reported not experiencing discrimination were unaware of racism or
knew little and did not worry about it prior to studying
abroad.
“One can be oppressed unknowingly but offense requires (logically or conceptually) the
awareness and acknowledgment of its victim” (Gay, 1998)
2
Students’ lack of accurate knowledge and awareness of discrimination
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
White(n=8)
Black(n=6)
Asian(n=30)
Latino(n=7)
Middle East(n=4)
West Indian(n=1)
% Reported Discrimination by Race
Racial Linguistic Cultural Any
Looking at the Numbers3
Non-white students were less accepted and faced more racial and overall discrimination3
“I have heard and witnessed many situations, which relate or somehow relate with the
racism matter. Most of them are about the black people, Hispanic, and Asians. But most
of cases are black people.” (Vietnamese female)
“Luckily for me I'm white (not meant in a racist way, but I think it makes life easier here), so people don't
really see I'm foreign and even when they know they don't really mind… Even though it's convenient for me I think it's bad for people I'm friends with.”
(Dutch male)
I attended a university in Mississippi and I believe that I wasn't given an assistantship because of my nationality.
(Cameroonian female)
In my English class we formed small groups to work… my group pretty much ignored me and any
comments I had to make. I could see they thought my input was valueless. (Mexican female)
Professors like those who talk fluently.... and they easily pass viva exams just because of that... But though we are good in subject... we fail... This is not fair (Indian male)
On Campus Discrimination: Jobs, Ss, Profs4
True or False?
• It’s our responsibility as educators to incorporate social issues into the curriculum to increase critical thinking, social responsibility, and global citizenship of our students.
So What? Is it our Responsibility?
• Educator
• Teacher
• Advisor
• Counselor
• Cheerleader
• Referee
• Confidant
• Problem-solver
• English
– Formal
– Informal
• Culture
– Academic culture & expectations
– Cultural norms and mores
– Intercultural communication
– Social issues?????
Acculturative Stress
“Sources of acculturative stress often include • English language difficulties, • academic struggles, • cultural adaptation, • problematic perfectionism, • lack of social supports, • homesickness, • and perceived discrimination”
(Tung, 2011)
“Perceived discrimination is a unique source of stress that is different from general stress”
(Harrell, 2000; Meyer, 2003; as cited in Wei et
al., 2008)
Student Retention
• “The most important influence leading a student to recommend the host university to others was the perception of receiving fair and equal treatment.” (Lee, 2010)
“Compared with U.S. counterparts, international students are at greater risk of perceiving or
experiencing discrimination” (Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007)
“Applied” Diversity
• Campus-organized diversity discussions, interact with… diverse cultural backgrounds, take courses with materials on race and ethnicity = greater levels of learning and development (Glass, 2012)
• Implement anti-racist pedagogy. Changes in attitudes, behaviors and achievement occur only when the entire school environment changes to demonstrate a multicultural atmosphere (Curran, 2003)
More than a topic?
• Hometown
• Shopping
• Money
• School
• Jobs
• Travel
• Music
• Hobbies
• Family/Friends
• Work
• Stories/Novels
• Poetry
• Movies
• Sports
• Food
• Clothes
Macrolevel
• Topic Choice
– Students’ background knowledge
– Engaging
– Contextually relevant
• Invisible ideology
• Change in teaching & students’ questioning
– Engaging
– Add complexity to language use
Cultural “Tourism”?
• Proposed Stages
– Acknowledge differences
– Question/Learn about differences
– Respect differences
– Celebrate differences
– Recognize similarities
More than a Topic
• Applied Diversity
– Impact
• need a tangible outcome
• Task-based (TBLT)
– Two-way street
• Not just ESL students
• Also NES students
• And faculty & staff
• And the local community
Worth it?
Either [Americans] have to adapt to it or I have to
adapt to their likings, after all, this is not my country. I
understand a lot of international students
have trouble of surviving in America because they are
reluctant to change.
I tried to read books about US culture
before coming here, but to be honest, I
couldn't understand it until I experienced it. I wish I just didn't take a
lot of things too personal.
I wish I had applied for scholarships before coming here. But the
experiences made me grow up, hardened my heart a little, and gave me
more confidence in myself and to be proud of my country. I do not regret
coming here. It was a hard and lonely road for 8 years.
Thank you!
Elisabeth L. Chan
[email protected]; [email protected]
TESOL Diversity & Inclusion Committee
TESOL Social Responsibility IS Co-Chair
(References handout available at)http://www.slideshare.net/ElisabethChan