NatM.
In her article titled Who’s in and Who’s Out? Language and the Integration of New Immigrant Youth in Quebec, Allen (2006) stresses the word “isolation” when describing the accueil groups in her study. In fact, it is used eight times (along with “alienation”) throughout the text to portray how these groups of students are taught: in isolation from the mainstream students and teachers. Steinbach (2009) used the term “sergregation”. A group of accueil students always remain together, despite their educational background, age or native language, while studying French, math and physical education.
Even as we integrated into the mainstream groups, we had a label stuck to our forehead. After being “sheltered” from the rest of the school for nearly two years, I had too hard a time connecting with the students in the regular classes and was too ashamed to speak French. In fact, I did everything in my power to refrain from participating—even if it meant faking an illness to stay at home.
Like the participants in the Allen (2006) study, I saw the French language as the enemy. A foreign language being shoved down my throat three out of four periods a day.
Je suis, tu es, il est, elle est…
I missed out on the required secondary three biology class which all students in regular classes had to take. Also, the French taught in accueil classes tends to be the “standard” version and spoken at a much slower pace so it was a shock to sit in a regular class and not understand what the teacher was saying or the jokes that everyone was laughing at.
I failed the secondary four history class and had to redo it the following year.
I also barely passed my low-level math class.
All of these things made me seriously consider dropping out of school.
I felt like a failure and an alien.
This is my experience in the accueil program. And outside of it.
I was one of the lucky ones who was young enough when I entered the accueil program; my teacher identified me as strong and I went into regular classes and I obtained my high school diploma two years later. My stepbrothers were not as lucky. They were 17 and 18 when we moved to Montreal from Toronto, and they ended up dropping out and going into the workforce. As did many other students.
As an immigrant student to Toronto, I was sent directly into the regular grade four class alongside other immigrants and locals. There was no segregation and I had extra ESL classes during the week where I was pulled out of class, discreetly. I wonder why, then, Quebec feels the need to instill such a harsh program which perpetuates labels and stigma that go beyond the classroom walls and have a potential debilitating effect on students?
As a grown woman and mother of two, I know that in spite of having a very hard high school experience, I was able to learn the language that I speak quite fluently today. However, I strongly believe that immigrant children should not be segregated from the rest of the school and treated like outsiders, forbidden to speak their language and not given the opportunity to take classes alongside their mainstream peers in an attempt to integrate (or…assimilate?) them.
What do you think?
References:
Allen, D. (2006). Who’s in and who’s out? Language and the integration of new immigrant youth in Quebec. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10(2-3), 251–263.
Steinbach, M. (2010). Quand je sors d’accueil: linguistic integration of immigrant adolescents in Quebec secondary schools. Language Culture and Curriculum, 23(2), 95–108.
Month: October 2020
Repeat “No, I cannot speak in the library.”
Cynthia Desjardins
I have been working as an online ESL teacher for the past six months. I teach students that live mainly in Asia in a one-on-one format with the curriculum developed by the company. As a busy full-time M.A. student, I appreciate not having to develop classes and am happy to teach what they provide. However, as a trained ESL specialist, I find myself questioning the curriculum’s efficacy.
The classes usually have similar formats, especially within the same ‘level’. There is vocabulary introduction, grammar conjugation, sentence structures, reading, drilled phonics and math. I did not include writing, since it is extremely minimal. This morning I found myself teaching a young learner of approximately 6-7 years old at a beginner level, where they cannot read independently yet. Following the curriculum, our class proceeds as usual with the repetition of the vocabulary, conjugating the verb ‘to speak’ and repeating the main sentence structure for this class: “No, I cannot speak in the library.’’ This phrase may not seem daunting to produce by fluent speakers of English, but for a beginner ESL student the yes or no answer+ verb+ adverb structure can be difficult to memorize and requires a lot of repetition.
This led me to question the usefulness of teaching long, pre-established phrases, repeating verb conjugations and drilled phonics. How often will they realistically need to use these in their lives? Will they even remember such a long and complicated phrase after class, never mind in a year from now?
Reflecting upon it, this very structured, formatted approach reminds me of behaviourism, a teaching approach that was very popular in the 1940’s-1960’s. Essentially, this theory states that language learning is the result of imitation, practice, positive feedback and developing habits (Lightbown & Spada, 2013). This simple yet very explicative YouTube video further explains this theory. Watching it helped me realize that a lot of the curriculum is indeed repetition, habit formation and positive reinforcement. We are expected to explicitly correct grammar and pronunciation mistakes.
This theory was replaced over the decades by numerous ones and by the time I completed my B.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language, we were taught that a communicative approach in more suited for ESL classes. The contextualization of classes is expected to naturally elicit the student’s vocabulary. This approach also focuses on learning by doing and fluency over accuracy, as mistakes are seen as an integral part of language learning. This inductive way of learning is learner centered and the teacher seem as a guide and facilitator (Shastri, 2009). Essentially, what I was taught for four years in my B.A. and the drill -focused, repetitive curriculum I am currently teaching differ greatly. This begs the following question: Would a communicative approach to the curriculum be more appropriate?
Is it noteworthy that the vast majority of the students that are currently taking classes are young beginners. This could make it very difficult to elicit language in a communicative manner. I can understand the rationalization behind the more repetitive, drilled structure of the classes, but I still feel doubt over its efficacy. My parting questions are these:
- How can ESL classes be made more communicative with beginner level students who do not necessarily have the vocabulary and grammar to express themselves?
- Are drills and repetitions the only way to give them a basis in English?
References
Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. M. (2013). How languages are learned (Fourth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Payne, M. & Sitler, S. [Sharon]. (2014, March 22). Behaviorist Theory of Second Language Acquisition [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvOIbDI2fro
Shastri, P. D. (2009). Communicative approach to the teaching of English as a second language. Global Media. Retrieved from https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=3011323
Wikihow (n.d). Encourage students to speak only English in the classroom. [Image]. Retrieved October 5th, 2020 from https://www.wikihow.com/Teach-English-As-a-Second-Language-to-Beginners#/Image:Teach-English-As-a-Second-Language-to-Beginners-Step-8.jpg
Could Chinglish be a new variety of English?
Qingling Chen
According to Kachru’s three-circle model (1985), China is in the expanding circle and the learning of English in China has always been based on the native speaker model (Bolton, 2018). This leads to the fact that when Chinese students begin to learn and speak English, they often hear comments from teachers and classmates such as:
“Your accent is so Chinese.”
“Your sentence is too Chinese, correct it.”
“You’re speaking Pidgin English!”
In Chinese opinion, Chinglish is at bottom of the contempt chain for English accents. Not only would the teacher not give high marks for non-idiomatic Chinese grammar and pronunciation, other students would also laugh at it, which make us feel shamed.
However, Chinglish actually means that Chinese speakers are using Chinese grammar and logical thinking to speak English with Chinese features. In Chinglish, many English sentences are strictly translated word by word according to Chinese language structure, so it’s not easy to be understood by native English speakers. I think it’s a variant of a language that is influenced by the culture of the mother tongue and produced by the second language learners and speakers.
In recent years, with the aim of regulating language and reducing misunderstandings, there have been a number of “clear Chinglish” campaigns in China, and a large number of public signs in cities have been replaced. Despite the efforts of the government and schools to correct Chinglish, it’s still popular among Chinese. What’s more, many Chinglish phrases have been accepted by native English speakers, such as “long time no see” and “lose face”. It’s in this situation that many teachers and users of English have begun to reconsider their attitude towards Chinglish, as well as English language in China.
Actually, most Chinese people use English as a tool to communicate, rather than to become Englishmen or Americans. They use English mainly to express the ideology, the emotions and the cultural basis of themselves rather than that of native English speakers.
Nowadays, English learners in many countries care about their linguistic identity, and most of them don’t want to separate from their cultural or national identity (Lester, 1978). Thus, if we consider the English as the possession of the world instead of the possession of the inner circle countries, could Chinglish can be accepted by the world? or could it be recognized as a variety of the English language?
References:
Bolton, K. (2018). World Englishes and Second Language Acquisition. World Englishes, 37(1), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12299
Lester, M. (1978). Elt Documents. English as an International Language. British Council.
Tomeito or Tomahto－Is the Accent Vital for English Learners?
Kathy
The first experience of ordering an omelet in an American cafeteria a few years ago still remains fresh in my memory. I said to the staff “Hi! I’d like to get an omelet with two eggs, some spinach, onions, and tomatoes, please.” The staff added all the ingredients in turn, except for tomatoes. I thought he might not hear me clearly, so I repeated again, “and some tomatoes, please.” He reacted for a while, and then “corrected” me, saying that “oh, you mean tomato (təˈmeɪtəʊ). It’s not tomato (təˈmɑːtəʊ).” I was a little embarrassed at that moment, and truly experienced the influence of accent in actual communication.
Looking back on the English education I have received in China, it is actually a mixture of British English and American English, which is reflected in English textbooks, English accents spoken by teachers, and English assessments. Which accent students are more inclined to imitate and learn mainly depends on our personal preferences and external influences (such as movies and TV dramas) we are exposed to. But there is no doubt that in China, compared to other accents of English, “British accent” and “American accent” are the most standard, most worthy of learning, and the most respected accents in the public mind. Mainstream social platforms, news media, teaching materials, and educational institutions all imprint this concept into the hearts of English learners and their parents. This status quo also echoes the idea that the prestige of a language is generally associated with a particular social or regional group. It is only as that group rises in power or status that its language acquires a glow of respectability, or correctness (Van Herk, 2018, p.52).
Accents can be sorted into two different categories, those are native accents and non-native accents (Magalhães,2019). Is it crucial to master a standard/native-like accent for non-native English learners? In my opinion, the answer to this question is not absolute, and I would like to analyze it from multiple and dialectical perspectives.
First, the accent is less important than intelligibility and comprehensibility. The rubrics for language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and CEFR has shifted from having “as a native speaker” to words like “fluently and precisely.” Therefore, in ensuring that their accents do not affect normal communication and comprehension, students should spend more time on improving the content, coherence, and fluency of their oral expression. Besides, being caught in a whirlpool of worrying too much about whether their English accents meet the standard may drive students to feel self-abased, producing resistance to participating in English communication.
More importantly, excessive emphasis on the British accent or the American accent as the standard accents that learners should learn will deepen people’s discrimination, stereotype, and prejudice against different accents, which is a problematic issue happening more frequently to people with other L1 accents. Besides, another controversial point about “native-like accent” is that even within the United States or Britain, the accent of each region is pretty diverse.
On the other hand, increasing second language learners acceptance of their accent as a representation of their identity and a window to show their cultures is a good thing. From a certain point of view, such a statement can be reasonable, but it can also be seen as a way of self-comfort and self-evasion. Because it is difficult or even impossible for many English learners to master the so-called native-like or standard accents without going through a “hellish process”. Based on the concept of neuroplasticity, the critical period hypothesis proposed that phonology is most affected by sensitive periods (Ortega, 2009), explaining why children will pick up the native-like pronunciation of a second language more easily than adult learners (Magalhães,2019). Even though both native and foreign accents can change even during adulthood, a native accent is easier to change whereas most researchers agree that acquiring a native-like accent of a second language as an adult is nearly impossible (Magalhães,2019). As foreign accents may arise “not because one has lost the ability to learn to pronounce, but because one has learned to pronounce the L1 so well (Ortega,2009, p.22).”
Correspondingly, it is understandable that most English learners have an accent and have to accept it. But in my opinion, having an authentic accent is the icing on the cake for English learning. At least it is something that English teachers should try to improve through continuous practices of input and output, considering the huge student population we are facing or will face in the future.
1. How to define and differentiate between “accent” and “pronunciation”; “accent problem” and “pronunciation errors”? (As it is mentioned by Van Herk (2018, p.15) that accent is a word that linguists reserve to describe pronunciation.)
2. As an ESL or EFL teacher, how would you respond when a student asks how to pronounce a more authentic/native-like accent? How would you teach students’ pronunciation or give students what kind of advice? For example, if you notice that students confuse the sound /th/ and /s/ in their pronunciation, will you point it out and help them “correct such problems”?
3. How do you perceive accent-based discrimination and its effects on the society? (eg. work arena and classroom) What are the social responsibilities English teachers have to erase this prejudice?
More related information and opinions can be found in the following websites: https://unbabel.com/blog/language-foreign-accents-discrimination/
https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-accent-and-vs-pronunciation/
References
Magalhães, R. (2019, June 25). Accent discrimination: let’s call the whole thing off. Understanding with Unbabel. https://unbabel.com/blog/language-foreign-accents-discrimination/
Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding second language acquisition (Ser. Understanding language series). Hodder Education.
Van Herk, G. (2018). What is sociolinguistics? (Second, Ser. Linguistics in the world). John Wiley & Sons.
Is that Really my Accent?
By Daniele Iannarone
I’d like to take you all to Vietnam. More specifically the beautiful tropical island of Phu Quoc, in the south of the country, where I spent my last week of a backpacking trip throughout Southeast Asia. As per usual, I was getting to know other travellers, and we were all talking about where we were from. “Britain;” answered one girl. “Australia;” “Netherlands;” “Korea.”
“Canada!” I told them.
“Canada, no way!” People were shocked. One girl’s jaw even dropped. “There’s no way you’re a native English speaker, you sound like a European who just learned English very well.”
Throughout all of my travels, this conversation was something I’d become accustomed to. While English is my predominant language, the language I use for school, work and the majority of social interactions with friends and family, apparently my particular accent still makes it appear as though I am not a native speaker.
Perhaps this is due to my particular upbringing. Being raised in an Italian family in Montreal, I certainly picked up some traits of the Italian-Montreal accent that had been discussed in class on Sept. 25th by myself and Conner, as well as presented by Dr. Riches via the video “Talking Canadian,” a CBC Documentary, although my Italian-Montreal accent is certainly more subtle compared to others here in the city.
Yet my accent is probably even more diverse than that. I spoke only Italian until around the age of 5, at which point I attended an English elementary school, but a French immersion program until the end of grade 3. I was perfectly trilingual at the time in terms of fluency.
Later in life, I started learning Spanish. I was fascinated by this language, as I have family living in Mexico. I studied languages in CEGEP at Dawson College, specializing in oral and written Italian and Spanish, and later applied to spend a year studying abroad in Spain while in university. My Spanish fluency quickly matched that of Italian and French, and I was able to use all three languages socially and academically, however with English still presiding as predominant.
So how does my accent sound? Do I sound like a native speaker? Does this really matter? And do I want to change it to sound less “foreign” and more “neutral”?
Here’s the thing. I don’t, really. The way I speak is a reflection of who I am and the various experiences that have shaped my current identity. I am a proud Montrealer, from an Italian background, with a clear fascination and interest in various cultures, particularly Latin-based ones in Southern Europe and Latin America (I am even trying to learn Portuguese!). If someone makes a comment about my accent, for me it is nothing less than a conversation starter.
I would like to take a moment to relate this to one of our most recent lessons about accents, and more specifically to the text by Eckert entitled “The Three Waves of Social Mobility” (2012). In this text, Eckert discusses that, for certain individuals language variation not only marks social categories, but also builds a speaker’s identity when the speaker accepts or rejects different types of linguistic variation. Interestingly, my unique way of speaking is a reflection of my experiences, yet is not something I can actively control. I am accepting the fact that I may not be seen as a native speaker by many people, yet I will move forward recognizing my proficiency and ability to communicate with a variety of people from around the world.
Of course, with all of this being said, I do try and speak as “neutrally” as possible when teaching ESL, however I have never been told by any of my students that they don’t understand what I say.
I’d be curious to hear about the way you speak. Do you speak with a “standard” accent in your native language? What have people told you, and how has this caused you to try and “mask” your accent at times – if you even mask it?
For those of you who have heard me speaking English, do you think I sound like a native speaker, or do you agree with my fellow travellers that I sound like a speaker of another language who has just learned English very well?
References:
Eckert, P. (2012). Three waves of variation study: The emergence of meaning in the study of sociolinguistic variation. Annual Review of Anthropology, 41(June), 87–100. https://www-annualreviews-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/doi/pdf/10.1146%2Fannurev-anthro-092611-145828
Online Teaching and Learning: Closer or Further?
Bingtong Liu
In the past few decades, the implementation of technology in language education has become a topic of growing interest. If there is one thing that almost all teachers have realized in the past six months of COVID 19, it is that they have to learn how to use technology better.
Van Herk points out that “A change in a social situation will lead to changes in the sociolinguistic situation” (2018, p. 5). During this special period, we build social networks with the world and other people through technology. In order to avoid close contact and protect people, teaching and learning are undertaken remotely and on digital platforms in many countries.
Just at that time, I took a summer courses and had the chance to learn and teach online. As an ESL learner, I found there were some changes in the online class compared with a traditional in-person class. This online learning form brought us plenty of new Internet words and it only made sense for people who had an online class with zoom. For example, instead of using “office hour”, we usually say we have a “zoom meeting”. Moreover, instead of saying “I have a class today”, we are more likely to say “I have a zoom today”. Obviously, “Zoom” has become synonymous with “class”. Without this online learning experiences, I might not understand what people are talking about or use these words in my own repertoire. In addition, I might not be aware of the changes in people’s language and use of words.
As an ESL teacher, my co-worker and I prepared our class together and tried to come up with many forms of interesting ice-breaker activities that could be used online in the virtual classroom. We also learned and explored some new functions of Zoom, like annotation, whiteboard, chatroom, breakout rooms. Under the circumstance, we tried to find more possibilities to build a good affective climate since we could not meet each other in the real classroom. One thing is very interesting that apart from text, our students liked to use the emoji and expressions in the chatroom to communicate with us and others, which was a quite vivid way to interact and express themselves. This illustrates that the current social situation has led to word variation, the use of emojis and expressions, and changes in teaching and learning. Undoubtedly, in this case, I have changed the way I socialize and communicate with people sub-consciously.
After the course, my co-worker said to me, “It was a little bit weird that we took the courses together and taught together, but we never met each other in person. Hhhhh 🙂 ”. But I truly felt that everyone hoped and tried to build a social connection with each other through all kinds of language during this period compared with the in-person class. Actually, language builds a bridge for communication between the real world and the virtual world and makes us closer!
I was wondering whether you think it could bring us closer or further. How can we further make a connection with each other through online courses?
Reference
Herk, G. V. (2018). What is sociolinguistics? Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
#Identity construction of young immigrants in a school context
Spicylover992
Recently, I have been watching a TV series called Fresh Off the Boat. It is a drama talking about a Chinese immigrant family who moved from Washington, D.C. to Orlando during the 90s.
In this family, we find that all the children speak quite good and “appropriate” English since they were born and raised in America, and they consider themselves to be native speakers. However, culture shock happens everyday and the whole family is trying their best to solve troubles and making a better life in the melting pot.
There is an episode talking about “identity” and it impressed me a lot. It is about the oldest children in this family, Eddie, refusing to take the lunch made by his mother to school since it was typical Chinese food. He really wanted western food in order to integrate into the school, where the dominant students are western/white students. So he dumped his home lunch secretly and took a pizza instead to the canteen. He greeted other students, very proudly this time, “Hey, what’s your lunch?” “Chips and coke? Good. I got a pizza.” At that time, Eddie felt so comfortable that he was the same as others. However, all his efforts were in vain: he was bullied in the end, because he was still the different in school.
Eddie felt so sad and also confused after fighting with other students. He asked his mother why he is different and why he cannot be the same as others?
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I think the sorrows of poor Eddie are also shared by many other young immigrants. Maybe we can address this later after we make clear what happens to these young immigrants.
As we know, when stepping into a new country, the first difficulty for young immigrants is the language barrier. And they will quickly realize that a single linguistic choice can mark them as a member of a particular community. This kind of awareness is also reflected in this drama, where Eddie and other children in his family are resistant to speak Chinese in public areas.
When they communicate with native-speakers, they keep an eye on the association among race, nation, culture and community. In a word, they want to “behave” like native-speakers, because they don’t want to be the different one, or they just want to protect themselves from discrimination, etc. However, these young immigrants might also be surprised to find that their diverse cultural background has a far-reaching impact on them, stronger than they imagine. Gradually, their performance becomes aligned with their cultural background, like their accent and tiny habits, and people can easily tell that they are different. Allen (2006) also mentioned in her article that “many of the discourses from outside the school may be reinforced within the school, some may clash.” (p. 253)
With this struggle between family and school, these immigrants might be extremely conscious of their identity: Who am I and what kind of role should I play in this society?
Back to the show. Eddie asked the same question to his mum. His mother told him patiently that he is both Chinese and American, and he should not be ashamed for being different. She believes these conflicts could make her son stronger in the future. I was moved by those words at last and also gratified that Eddie has such a wise and considerate mother.
It reminds me of my own class, where my classmates and I have discussed many times how important being “native-like” is, when super diversity can been seen everywhere in this globalizing world. And our answers are “not really” . But Eddie is not us. He is still a young, sensitive teenage boy, and he needs help.
In this case, not only family members, but also the school should take the responsibility to help immigrant students with their identity construction, to pay attention to the interaction that takes place between peers. And I am reminded that our teachers are all encouraging us to share our cultural background, culture shock experiences and interesting phenomenon with other classmates. (Our teachers talked about their experiences too.) Sadly, school administrators in Eddie’s school just showed a negative example.
I believe, that every culture should be equally valued and respected, and school, family and community are obliged to help young immigrants shape their identities and help them to be free of discrimination and anxiety.
No more poor Eddie.
References:
Allen, D. (2006). Who’s in and who’s out? Language and the integration of new immigrant youth in Quebec. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10(2-3), 251–263
Bolton, K. (2018). World Englishes and Second Language Acquisition. World Englishes, 37, 5–18. https://onlinelibrary-wiley com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/weng.12299
Li, W. (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), 9–30.
Van Herk, G.(2018). What is sociolinguistics? (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
Is language and social class mismatch really problematic?
Chaoyang Zhang
One millionaire couple who had suddenly risen to a higher economic status but have not gained social acceptance of others in that class were attending a banquet. During the socializing, the wife was asked if she knew Beethoven. “Of course! I know him. I was with him on the bus route 9 to the beach yesterday.” When they got back home that night, the husband told the wife that she embarrassed him and she shouldn’t have spoken that much. As the wife wondered why, the husband replied:” Everyone knows the route 9 doesn’t go to the beach!”
Parvenus of any country or region that are previously associated with long-term lower working class seem to grab others’ attention in a dramatic way, especially when they have to make direct contact with those who have gained steady position in the upper class. The dramatic way here is not necessarily humorous. Basil Bernstein argued in his work (1961, 1972) that upper-class and lower working class communities are so different from each other that their language varieties help their speakers construct different views of the world. The former tends to practice what Bernstein called elaborated code, which involves accurate (standard) syntax, complex sentences, a wide range of adverbs and adjectives and qualifying language. The latter is associated with restricted code, which features poor (non-standard) grammatical constructions that are short and simple.
Social groups are given different values in our society. This process of assigning unequal value is called social stratification, where the upper class usually represent power and desired characteristics and lower class shares the opposite. Because of the nature of these features and the norms of the society, this leads the lower class to feel inferior and the upper class to feel superior. Therefore, prejudice, discrimination and oppression take place. Just as all people have prejudice, all people discriminate (Ozlem Sensoy 2002). While we can’t avoid prejudice, we can work to recognize our prejudices and gain new information and ways of thinking that will inform more just actions.
- Have you ever felt that your interlocutor lost interest continuing talking to you because of your ways of constructing language?
- Have you ever lost interest in continuing talking to your interlocutor because of her/his ways of constructing language?
- If you have experienced any (or both) of the above situation(s), how did you feel?
Lost and Found Connection: The Benefits of Vlogs in the Classroom
Tia Goodhand
The Covid-19 pandemic presents many changes that target all facets of society, one of the heaviest hitters being the sector of education. While the profession of teaching already requires educators to possess professional skills including flexibility, adaptability and resilience, the pandemic has required implementation of these qualities tenfold.
The newly integrated protocols drastically affect the strategies I use to support and connect with my students. As teachers shift their traditional models of instruction, interaction, and classroom environment, we are tasked with resolving new challenges that arise. The first issue I have encountered is the lack of comprehension cues caused by wearing a protective face mask. As second language learners often refer to facial expressions and gesturing to support their second language comprehension, lacking these features has presented difficulties. Secondly, I have also experienced concern regarding the limited face-to face interactions that are now a reality in the classroom, as well as the resulting possibility of students feeling of lonely or isolated due to the removal of engaging conversation activities.
Examining new modes of interaction, the implemented regulations also present feelings of loneliness among students. Reflecting on the findings within the article: Teaching During Covid-19: Teacher and Students’ Experience, researchers provide the perspectives of both students and teachers when asked about Covid-19. In the recent qualitative study conducted by Murhter and Chowdhary (2020), a small sample size is analyzed through interviews. One student shares, “The hustle and bustle of classroom learning are absent- mainly, our interactions are absent. Learning from home can be lonely for our peers. We do feel strongly isolated” (p. 32).
In order to compensative for the removal of traditional methods of connection in the classroom, I have integrated digital story telling through the use of vlogs (video logs). Vlogs are an excellent way to connect with classmates, as students find commonalities within their weekly submissions of a documented “Day in my Life” video diary. The videos act a personal journal that must include a list of specific details. While not all learning conditions permit this method of connection, the students partaking in this project are provided with borrowed I-Pads from the school. After the weekly vlogs are presented, the students are then asked to respond to 2-3 classmates in the comments section. This project allows students to share their realities daily realities with peers, while also safely following social distancing protocols. Considering the text, More Eyes on COVID-19: Perspectives from Linguistics: Pay attention to how people are talking about the pandemic in different languages, “It is the use of eye contact, gesture, facial cues, bodily posture and immediate feedback that makes our communication human” (Mesthrie, p.1, 2020). While vlogs are not presented in real time, the media form does restore many features that wearing a mask removes, such as facial cues and gesturing.
Two questions I have for readers:
1) How do you compensate for body language and physical cues that are not possible when wearing a protective face mask?
Have you used any media tools that foster learner connection?
I look forward to responding to your responses in the comments section!
References:
Mesthrie, R. (2020). More Eyes on Covid-19: Perspectives from Linguistics: Pay Attention to How People are Talking about the Pandemic in Different Languages. 7(8), 1.https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/8497
Mukhter, I., & Chowdry, R. (2020). Teaching During Covid-19: Teacher and Student’s Experience. South African Journal of Science,8(2) 25-35. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/8497
Additional Information:
What is a Vlog?
What is a dialect exactly?
Kevin Anderson
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “dialect” means a “regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language”. It also includes the definition “a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (such as social class)”. The first definition includes three items. Must all three factors be present to determine one dialect from another? In today’s digital world, can dialects form across geographical boundaries?
In some literature, dialect is put into broad and general regions and puts Canada into basically one major dialect area from Montreal to Vancouver Island, and then another for the East Coast. I wonder how different one’s grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation need to be to be considered a regional dialect variety? With internet communication, boundaries are blurred and people’s language is influenced by other dialect varieties around the world. Also, there are long histories of homogenous and heterogenous communities who contribute to the variety of English dialects at more local levels.
Taken from: Van Herk, Gerard (2018). What is sociolinguistics? 2e Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell
This site was made by a linguistics hobbyist that focuses on regional dialects, some confined to very small geographical areas. However, Aschmann focuses mostly on accents to make his claims about dialects. Is accent alone enough to determine one’s dialect? Are there not other factors that influence one’s dialect. For example, someone from New Jersey spends four years studying in Montreal, but has also taught overseas for six years with colleagues from several other countries and regions. With internet communication on top of that, will people’s pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary shift into a more standard variety in the future?
https://aschmann.net/AmEng/
The second definition mentions dialect as the result of other factors including social class. What are these other factors that influence dialect? Can a dialect be temporary depending on who we are talking to or where we are? Even within the city of Montreal, there are different ways of speaking. This article from the Montreal Gazette discusses the way Montrealers speak. You may agree or disagree. What do you think?
Growing up in Montreal, I could sometimes tell from which neighbourhood someone is from, but it is not black and white. It also depends on cultural background, social influence, education and history. I noticed, however, how people spoke differently in my neighbourhood from below the tracks compared to those from above the tracks. I can tell where someone is from, but then again I do not want to generalize.
Is there one way that people speak all the time to everyone they are speaking to? Probably not. If you are hanging out in your neighbourhood, you may change the way you speak compared to when you are in a different neighbourhood. At school and at work you will speak differently as well. But that depends with whom you are speaking with.
As a teacher, I believe it is important for my students to be aware of the different dialects that exist in their neighbourhood, between regions and around the world. They should also be made aware of social justice issues related to dialects that are traditionally less desired at the workplace or in educational institutions. Students should be proud of their own dialects and this should not limit what they are capable of at school or at the workplace in the future.
