Learning in a Foreign Discourse - Essay Example

Dis reflection Dis reflection A dis can be described as a cultural orientation attributed to a certain group of people. This is seen as a dominant way of speaking and performing the day to day activities within that group. It`s a way of thinking which is expressed through language. Discourse can also be explained in terms of social boundaries: discourse provides what is to be said in the context of the affected group and how it should be said. One is born within a given discourse and gets assimilated to the discourse, not by choice. Therefore, it is difficult for one to dissociate themselves from a given discourse they acquired by birth. Discourse orientation is likely to affect the learning ability of students; for instance, students learning in another discourse, dissimilar to theirs, are likely to get it hard fitting in the new learning discourse. On the other hand, students learning within their native discourse are most likely to perform well in their academic work. Study has revealed that this is because of a number of factor; most of which are contextual and psychological. When a student in a foreign country tries to learn in the foreign discourse, they are likely to feel out of place when they are asked to speak in class. This is because of the way they might speak the foreign language is not the way it is supposed to be spoken. This is likely to make them feel burdened with learning and some may give easily (Bashir-Ali, 2006). Students may resist learning in a foreign discourse due to peer and social influence. As established, foreign students form a minority social group in many public schools. Since they will want to conform to a given dominant social group, they will be forced to assimilate the dominant group’s discourse. This has been established to be the course of resistance to the school accepted discourse such as language. As a teacher, one should ensure they understand the social backgrounds of such students. This will help teacher in ascertaining the most correct approach tin motivating this learners to accept the in-class and school accepted language. Teacher should not point out mistakes in such students when it comes to language use, if they do so, they should be cautious as this is likely to demoralize the students (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). I come from Korea, where we speak the Korean language as the official language. I grew up partly in Korean and partly in America, resulting in my acquisition of the English language. In Korea where I was born, the Korean language is the official educational language. I was assimilated into the Korean culture; which exhibits conservatism in traditions and religion. Moving to America, I also found a dissimilar discourse. Here the culture practiced was different from my own. The Americans are secular and there are no traditions to be kept; except for small social groups that prefer to keep their cultures. I therefore have an orientation into two conflicting discourses. In America, I experienced difficulties in learning owing to my primary discourse. However, coming back home, I felt advantageous over my students since I had the foreign language mastery from its primary discourse. In America, I felt inferior at first since I was unable to speak fluent English. Back in Korea, I felt superior because we all spoke Korean but I had an advantage of English with some little American cultural influence, a factor that is considered superior. All my students are Korean learning English as a foreign language. They have been brought up in the conservative Korean culture and learn Korean language as their first and official language. As expressed by linguists, learning a second language is quite challenging to students. They have to struggle with pronunciation and language mastery. They are in a Korean setting hence they lack a motivating environment outside class to help they learn English further. Their learning and use of English has been constrained to the classroom a factor that is slowing down their learning. I learnt English in a setting where English was used both in class and outside class, all other subjects were taught in English; hence I was able to learn faster. On the other hand, my Korean students are learning the language as their second and foreign language. As observed earlier, some discourses may be advantageous over other for a number of reasons. First, a given discourse may belong to a dominant social class making it desirable in the social setting. In this context, the English language, to whose discourse I am a member is advantageous over the Korean language in the class. Since the students will be learning English as a foreign language, they will be forced to abandon their native language and start adapting English in their daily conversations. As explained by social scientists, one will always give up their discourse for a superior one. Being a member of the discourse to which English language belongs gives me an upper hand over my student since I leant the language from its natives and therefore I can speak it perfectly well (Bashir-Ali, 2006). The Korean students in my class come from an economically poor social background. They were born and raised in poor Korean families. Unlike me, they have undergone economic hardships making their life experiences harder than mine. For instance, they lack an opportunity to learn English in America like the one I had. I have interacted with very many English speakers, making me a better speaker in the language. I have worked in various capacities making me more empowered economically than them. We are from the same primary discourse but my exposure and economic empowerment gives me an upper hand over my students (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). As explained early, all my students were brought up in a Korean culture that conserves traditions and religion. Since I am also of the Korean origin, I understand how the important the cultural norms and values are important to the natives. Any culture that does not value traditions and religion is undesirable to the Korean. The western culture, the native speakers of English has been depicted as a secular culture. According to the Koreans, English language is associated with morals and values which are conflicting to their culture. This is the first incidence where resistance arises from. Students that practice conservatism in the Korean culture are likely to resist learning the English language due to the bad morals associated with its native speakers. Since English is taught in a Korean setting, resistance is also likely to arise from dominance of the Korean culture. English is learned as a foreign language. Those learning it are likely to be associated with the white people, most likely a minority group in the school. Since none of the students could like to be dissociated from the dominant Korean culture, they are likely to resist speaking the English language both in class and out of class. As explained early, learning a second language for academic purposes may be quite tasking. It requires proper pronunciation and grammar usage (Gee, 2007). These are issues where students experience difficulties. Students my resist speaking for the fear of making wrong pronunciations or using inappropriate grammar; discouraging them from learning. Constant errors in pronunciation and grammar use may result in resistance from the students. Motivating the learner to learn English as a foreign language with little or no resistance requires a multidimensional approach from the instructor’s side (Gee, 2007). First, the students have negative perception towards the English culture. The instructor should ensure that the bad cultural traits associated with the English culture are not revealed in the class. Encouraging the students to speak on, even if they make errors in pronunciations will motivate their learning. The teacher should restrain from pointing out mistakes each time a student speaks or writes in English; if they feel necessary to do so, it should be in a polite manner that does not discourage the student. When teaching English language as a foreign language, it ought to be done such that it does not go against the Korean cultural practices. All aspects of the primary discourse should be incorporated into the lessons. This will make the students comfortable in learning the foreign language. Lesson activities can help overcome issues in discourse conflict; like in grouping the students during discussions and class activities, the teacher should ensure the group composition is done according to cultural requirements. Some cultures discourage close association between boys and girls in their teen ages (Liddicoat, 2009). Gender stratification in group formation will help out the full potential of both genders in class participation. The teacher should ensure that he observes the gender regulations stipulated by the Korean culture. To ensure discourse issues are addressed effectively, in-class discussions inform of debates will be used. A debate, like the one in the appendix will be used; students will role play based on the different discourse so that they can understand how those from other cultural backgrounds think and act (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). Conclusion It has been observed that a discourse may exhibit superiority over another in various circumstances. Some discourses may be discouraged as a result making learning in the inferior discourse quite hard. The role of an instructor is critical in harmonization of the various discourses present in the classroom. The instructor should act as a mediator to these discourses while promoting the class accepted discourse. The instructor should be caution not to generate a discourse conflict as it affects learning outcome in the class (Bashir-Ali, 2006). Conflicting ideologies between the Korean and English language should be approached with caution if the instructor wants little or no resistance from students in class. References Bashir-Ali, K. ( 2006, Sep). Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL). TESOL Quarterly, pp. 628-639. Gee, J. P. (2007). Social Linguistics And Literacies: Ideology In Discourses. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). Ensuring social relevance. In Macrostrategies for language learning (pp. 239-266). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Liddicoat, A. J. (2009, June 23). Sexual Identity as Linguistic Failure: Trajectories of Interaction in the Heteronormative Language Classroom. Retrieved from Journal of Language, Identity & Education : http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hlie20 Appendix The following is an intercept of a dialog that took place in the classroom. The students were role playing in “United Nations summit” The students are seated in a round panel with every student playing a role of a country representative. K is the Korean representative, X is the American representative, Y is the Kenyan representative, N is the British representative, H is the UAE representative and W is the Chinese representative. X: what should be done to the Syrian crisis? (There is silence as none of the other students is willing to answer) H: we should think of a conflict resolution approach? N: y should we not take military action? W: the civilians are likely to be most affected? (There is murmuring and signs of disagreement) K: why should we engage in internal affairs of an independent country? X: we should be responsible partners, people in Syria are suffering. Y: yes, if we don’t intervene, the Syrians are going to die from the war. (There is silence as the conversation seems to lack continuity) K: in intervention of the Syrian crisis, we should ensure that we do not interfere with their internal affairs. Some members here like to take advantage of the prevailing war conditions to exploit the subjects (there is a lot of argument between X and K) Read More