The answer to this question is very obvious for me. Culture is for me the cornerstone of any civilization. I want to treasure my own culture and teach it to my children in the future. At the same time I want to learn more about other nationalities and their culture. It´s not only about their food, the way they dress or their favourite sport; it is much more about the way other people think, interact and show respect for themselves and for others.
It is critical in my opinion, that schools promote those same ideas. Students must be exposed to an environment where many different cultures are present in some form. If you have a school with a big cultural diversity, it is the task of the school to ensure that respect to all cultures is shown. Not only must they acknowledge different cultures, they should enable children to interact with foreign cultures in a respectful manner and learn from each other.
If students of one school don´t represent many different cultural backgrounds, the school still must make sure that they learn about other cultures. They could for example invite personalities from other countries to school and let them talk to the students and interact with them. Another possibility is to take the students out to an activity like a Pow-Wow, where they can see how Native Americans for example celebrate and have fun together.
If mutual respect for other cultures besides your own is not promoted in school many students can show negative effects very soon. Racism and Xenophobia are only two of them. I think that if you are able to raise your students interest in foreign cultures this will also enable them to learn more about their own culture. The point here is not to emphasize how much your own culture differs from others, but what they have in common.
It is not only the responsibility of school to teach their students in math, biology and so on, but to raise them to be sincere, respectful and open- minded.
Sonntag, 9. August 2009
Donnerstag, 30. Juli 2009
How has my own family experience been impacted by responses to minority language and cultures?
The Experiences I have made growing up, belonging to a minority group , are not the same many newcomers in Germany are having now. Things have changed and the German government is trying to respond to the steady influx of immigrants coming Germany.
When I grew up not a lot of services for minorites were provided. I was lucky, because I learned German at home, my mom could speak it and my German grandmother always gave us private coaching in writing and grammar. Other foreign children that didn´t have the same opportunites that I had were often underachieving in German language classes. One good thing the government was able to help us with, was pay for Arabic classes that I took twice or sometimes three times a week with my brother. The grades I got there would also be listed on my school certificate so my teachers were kept up to date about my process. My family was very happy about that fact. I know about one school that had special classes for children with a migration background. They would get special support in German but also would have math, science and other classes in English or other languages. This school is only of very few in Germany. Nowadays you can find more of those schools. My little brother for example attended a school with a Portuguese focus, because many portuguese- speaking children attend this school.
Another point my family was not happy about was religious education in school. In elementary school my parents had a long argument about me not attending catholic or evangelic classes, because islamic classes were not offerd. As a matter of fact the were´nt offered in any school district in the whole state, to my knowledge nowhere in Germany. Teachers wanted to force me to be a part of religious education, but in the end I didn´t have to. That has changed in secondary school, there we were at least offered to opt out of all religious classes and be part of ethics classes instead. Now actually there are schools, even though not many, that offer islam classes, because the Muslim community in Germany is growing pretty fast. This generation can benefit from those changes.
The situation outside of school was different. The area I grew up was very multicultural. Many foreign associations and clubs provided cultural and religious activities for their members. Those institutions were not supported by the government. Now what the German government requires from people who want to immigrate into Germany is to obtain a German language certificate before they can enter the country. That makes it harder to immigrate into Germany when your not a refugee.
When I grew up not a lot of services for minorites were provided. I was lucky, because I learned German at home, my mom could speak it and my German grandmother always gave us private coaching in writing and grammar. Other foreign children that didn´t have the same opportunites that I had were often underachieving in German language classes. One good thing the government was able to help us with, was pay for Arabic classes that I took twice or sometimes three times a week with my brother. The grades I got there would also be listed on my school certificate so my teachers were kept up to date about my process. My family was very happy about that fact. I know about one school that had special classes for children with a migration background. They would get special support in German but also would have math, science and other classes in English or other languages. This school is only of very few in Germany. Nowadays you can find more of those schools. My little brother for example attended a school with a Portuguese focus, because many portuguese- speaking children attend this school.
Another point my family was not happy about was religious education in school. In elementary school my parents had a long argument about me not attending catholic or evangelic classes, because islamic classes were not offerd. As a matter of fact the were´nt offered in any school district in the whole state, to my knowledge nowhere in Germany. Teachers wanted to force me to be a part of religious education, but in the end I didn´t have to. That has changed in secondary school, there we were at least offered to opt out of all religious classes and be part of ethics classes instead. Now actually there are schools, even though not many, that offer islam classes, because the Muslim community in Germany is growing pretty fast. This generation can benefit from those changes.
The situation outside of school was different. The area I grew up was very multicultural. Many foreign associations and clubs provided cultural and religious activities for their members. Those institutions were not supported by the government. Now what the German government requires from people who want to immigrate into Germany is to obtain a German language certificate before they can enter the country. That makes it harder to immigrate into Germany when your not a refugee.
Dienstag, 28. Juli 2009
How can we create an environment where students want to write?
The first aspect of creating an environment where students themselves have the desire to write is to show them the pleasure writing can give you. It´s the teachers job to show his students why writing can be fun and useful. In order to do that students can be given the choice on what topic they want to write about. I think if students can share whatever story they like or write about a topic that really interests them, they are much more motivated and can actually enjoy sharing their thoughts.
The second aspect that should be considered is the media that is used. The teacher has many choices to make here. Students can surely write on paper or in a book, but if possible students should also have the opportunity to write online in blogs or create wikispaces. Other communication- platforms like facebook or myspace can also be considered.
Not only the media is an important point but also in which form to write. Here again the teacher can offer various options. The students can write some kind of journal if they like. They could also write a diary, recording their experiences or try out the art of writing poetry. Whatever media or form they choose, the teacher has to make sure that students are not afraid of writing. The teacher can for example tell the students that he is not going to have the students read their writings out aloud, because not all maybe want to share their rather private writings.
Another possibility of creating a writer- friendly environment is to have students compete against each other, for example having a essay competition. The essays don´t get graded by the teacher, but the students themselves choose which essey was the most interesting one and pick their winner. Once the teacher has drawn the students interst in writing, they may also come up with more ideas and suggestions on how to improve their writing.
The second aspect that should be considered is the media that is used. The teacher has many choices to make here. Students can surely write on paper or in a book, but if possible students should also have the opportunity to write online in blogs or create wikispaces. Other communication- platforms like facebook or myspace can also be considered.
Not only the media is an important point but also in which form to write. Here again the teacher can offer various options. The students can write some kind of journal if they like. They could also write a diary, recording their experiences or try out the art of writing poetry. Whatever media or form they choose, the teacher has to make sure that students are not afraid of writing. The teacher can for example tell the students that he is not going to have the students read their writings out aloud, because not all maybe want to share their rather private writings.
Another possibility of creating a writer- friendly environment is to have students compete against each other, for example having a essay competition. The essays don´t get graded by the teacher, but the students themselves choose which essey was the most interesting one and pick their winner. Once the teacher has drawn the students interst in writing, they may also come up with more ideas and suggestions on how to improve their writing.
Donnerstag, 23. Juli 2009
BICS & CALP
Describe your own language learning experience and knowledge using the terms BICS and CALP
As a child I grew up learning Arabic and German at the same time. In Sudan, my home country English is the major language besides Arabic, so I was also already surrounded by the English language at an early age. I started learning English when I was in 5th grade but my parents would teach me some English even before that. That English surely would be BICS-English
In Sudan we usually watched movies in English and thats when my interest in the English language really started because I enjoy the original language of the movies much more than an arabic or german translation. What further deepend my enthusiasm for the English language was my passion for Music. 95% of the Music that I listen to is English. I learned a lot of expressions and slang language from American music artists. So basically the English I have learned was exclusivelly BICS-English.
I would say that in 12th grade, when I was able to choose English as an intensive course, my CALP English strated to improve dramatically. Since enrolling in University and studying English my CALP Level enhances steadily. At the same time my BICS-English is also improving continuosly because I talk a lot to friends in the United States on the phone or by mail and through that I grasp the one or other saying. What I also got used to in the last 2 years is reading news online in Enlglish. I particularly enjoy reading a lot of sports news. The language used on these sites help me better both my BICS and CALP-English at the same time.
As a child I grew up learning Arabic and German at the same time. In Sudan, my home country English is the major language besides Arabic, so I was also already surrounded by the English language at an early age. I started learning English when I was in 5th grade but my parents would teach me some English even before that. That English surely would be BICS-English
In Sudan we usually watched movies in English and thats when my interest in the English language really started because I enjoy the original language of the movies much more than an arabic or german translation. What further deepend my enthusiasm for the English language was my passion for Music. 95% of the Music that I listen to is English. I learned a lot of expressions and slang language from American music artists. So basically the English I have learned was exclusivelly BICS-English.
I would say that in 12th grade, when I was able to choose English as an intensive course, my CALP English strated to improve dramatically. Since enrolling in University and studying English my CALP Level enhances steadily. At the same time my BICS-English is also improving continuosly because I talk a lot to friends in the United States on the phone or by mail and through that I grasp the one or other saying. What I also got used to in the last 2 years is reading news online in Enlglish. I particularly enjoy reading a lot of sports news. The language used on these sites help me better both my BICS and CALP-English at the same time.
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