Ethnocentricity and Bilingualism in the English Classroom by Moore - Essay Example

Critical Assessment of a published qualitative research article Affiliation Critical Assessment of a published qualitative research article Summary “Ethnocentricity and Bilingualism in the English Classroom” by A. Moore (1993) is a qualitative research article that gives the reader an insight into how different teachers have different approaches when it comes to teaching bilingualism in the English classroom. The article begins by introducing a composition written by Morgan, an English student, on realities that happen in his life. When the student writes that a man fell from a banana truck and his head was bleeding, the teacher does not believe something like that could happen, but to Morgan, it is a reality that he had to live with every day at St Lucina. The realities in Morgan’s stories are uncommon because what he writes is also common for students who have little or no English background with the English language. The only difference is the style through, which they approach their realities. In the case study, it is clear that the teachers are in denial to accept the validity of the student’s realities and experiences and existence of previous learning experiences, whether home based or school based. To understand the concept of the teacher’s refusal to accept the student’s reality, the author explores the English learning experience of two Bangladeshi children who attend mainstream English lessons. The study was conducted at an inner city school because it was public and had multicultural policy settings. The first study indicated that the teachers’ approach to Abdul made him weak, in that, instead of bilingualism being beneficial to him; it became a challenge because his teacher made it difficult to accept his realities. The first study was supported by the Cummins’ theory of Common Underlying Proficiency. The second study showed that the teacher can make the student learn better if they understand and accept their realities. “It was noticed that in subsequent work an= number of changes occurred to the student’s writing” (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 187). In the case of Mashud, he learnt bilingualism fast, because his teacher was willing to accept his reality and help him correct grammar and make the relevant changes in his composition. The study concludes with the reflections of Ms. Montgomery, where it is seen that although she does not understand the cultural diversity of the student, it does not hinder her from dealing with the realities of his student. “These doubts led Ms Montgomery to think carefully on broad issues related to cultural reproduction” (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 188). By so doing, she achieves to hasten a good educational climate where ethnocentricity of the school curricula becomes the focus of a concerted, genuine and intelligent challenge. Research method The research method used in the study is appropriate to the nature of the questions asked because it creates the relationship between the researcher and the study (Atkinson, Coffey & Delamont, 2003). The use of ethnography in the research helps the researcher relate with the different cultures of the students in the case study. Additionally, they allow the researcher to form a predisposition where he has a strong and weak interpretation of English bilingualism in the classroom. A weak interpretation in this case study refers to the time the author gives an account of Abdul’s case scenario. In that, Mr. Geddes sees the world through his own understanding, which is the same understanding of his community and that of his student (Hammersley & Woods, 2014). A strong interpretation of the predisposition, on the other hand, is in instance where a condition is added. In that, a person understands that his understanding is superior and for that reason, he or she expects their self-understanding of other people to meet with their own. Mr. Geddes further illustrates this whereby he keeps on questioning the realities of Abdul and instead of making corrections on his work; he interprets the cultural diversities in his own perspective. As stated in the text “Mr Geddes ran the risk of interpreting generic inappropriateness” (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 177) As a result, the research method used in the study correctly describes the questions asked because first it investigates in detail just two case studies giving different account on diversity in English bilingualism. Secondly, the data being used in the study is unconstructed because it has not been coded before, and the study deals with exploring a social phenomenon with no actual testing of hypothesis. Additionally, the research method is appropriate in the sense that the author interprets the functions and actions of the teachers, meaning that the data analysis involves verbal interpretations, which the author has accomplished accurately. The research method helps in answering the questions because the author engages in the fieldwork where he assesses the students with the teacher one on one; hence, a having a clear interpretation of the data collected. Hence, it is correct to say that ethnography, as a qualitative research method is appropriate to the nature of the research questions as the author relates to the group in person. Does the research support any existing theories? The author does not put much attention to the existing theory or literature in the study. Whereby the researcher uses the Common Underlying Proficiency theory to explain a point about the way Mr. Geddes approached his student. “It is not my intention to examine Cummin’s theories… the point is not the theory… but to understand how the theory has been used” (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 176). This is to say that although his actions may be seen to be misconceived to him he was following the theory of Cummins where the theory indicated that bilingualism was beneficial to the student rather than a handicap. The research uses the existing theories to explain the relevance of English as second language to the students, as well as, how fit it may be used for the benefit of the students. The Common Underlying Proficiency theory indicates that the knowledge and ability to study another language is stored in the brain. This model supports bilingual English language where the model states that rather than two different areas for diverse languages, the two languages are kept together, and the knowledge is then linked and can interact. This is to say that the two languages are kept separately only on the surface level where a person can use them to speak, write, read and so on (Hammersley & Woods, 2014). This shows that a child may acquire a set of implicit metalinguistic knowledge and skills that can be drawn upon when they are working in another language. For this reason, students learn new concepts when they are learning their first language where these concepts are then transferred to the second language. For example, in the case of Abdul it was hard for him to transfer the first concept he learned in Bengali because the teacher was discouraging, and also he could not live in the reality that he was in; hence, making it had to transfer that knowledge and skills into English. However, in the case of Mashud his teacher was encouraging making it easier for him to transfer the knowledge learned in Bengali and other experiences into English language. According to Cummins, (1984) “The fact that there is little relationship between amount of instructional time through the majority language and academic achievement in that language suggest that L1 and L2 academic skills are interdependent.” Units of the research The Unit of research in the study is precise because the author only focuses on two students to illustrate different teaching skills and understanding of the teacher and student. Additionally, the study shows how the relationship between the teacher and the student can influence the study into understanding the English language. For example, when one observe the conversation between the Mr. Geddes and Abdul, the reader can see that the response of Abdul to the teacher is not positive because when asked a question he shrugs, as we get to see many occasions when Abdul is just “silent” despite being questioned (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 171). This is because although he wants the teacher to understand his love story the teacher chooses his reality over that of his student; hence, creating a conflict of interest. Therefore, one can say the unit of research forming the focus of the article is precise as it is between Abdul and Mashud Bangladeshi students (Atkinson, Coffey & Delamont, 2003). Does the author give account of unit selection? The account that is given for the selection of the unit of study was that although students have different backgrounds their realities and conventions are the same for English-speaking students and those who have a little background or no English. However, the only difference between such students is that they style in which they put their realities. The second reason given for choosing these units is that there is often a rejection by the teachers to acknowledge the validity of the students experiences and the validity of the existence of previous learning experiences. Thirdly, the author wanted to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the mainstream support teaching against those given to small-group withdrawal lessons. The two units study not only illustrated that appropriateness in pedagogy of teaching students, but it also indicated that in some cases the situation was bad that the students do not appreciate the English language. Therefore, the relationship between the teacher and the student is important in order to allow them to incorporate thoughts for the benefit of the student because the whole aspect of bilingual English is to become beneficial and not a handicap. “Development in other languages can be supported by continued development of a child’s first language which enhances their possibilitiesto develop the second language” (Hammersley & Woods, 2014, 175) Data collection and Analysis The picture is clear on how the data was collected and analysed. Because the first the author begins by having sitting in the bilingual English classes where he collects data on the teaching methods of the teacher. Secondly, he gets a personal relationship with the students and the teacher were when the teacher is making corrections on the student’s paper the author sits and listen in on the conversation to establish which teacher is using the appropriate pedagogy to teach the students. The author gets first-hand information from the units of study where he makes a close observation of the teachings and interaction between the teachers. Additionally, the picture of data analysis is clear because there is a verbal interpretation of the data. In the sense that, the author analyses the data that was collected using his own account indicating his thoughts on the issue (Hammersley & Woods, 2014). Moreover, he uses the theory of Common Underlying Proficiency to help the reader understand the reason Mr. Geddes decided to use his mode of teaching. This indicates that there is a clear picture on how data is collected and analysed. Is there support evidence in the study? The evidence that the author uses to support his arguments includes the Cummins theory that is the Common Underlying Proficiency. In this theory, Cummins argues that rather than restricting children development in other languages, continued development of the first language enhances the possibilities of the development of the second language. I agree with this theory because there are common experiences for children and for that reason, the students can use such experiences or transfer them into the second language. Hence, making the learning of the second language much easier. Other evidences used in the study is books and other studies that have been conducted on the same subject in support of the bilingual education. The evidence is convincing because it gives a different account of what has already been offered by the author; thus, allowing the reader to refer to the sources giving more insight on the topic. Furthermore, being an ethnographic research the evidence given is appropriate for most of the time the author was making observation. For that reason, the evidence is used to support the findings. What steps does the author with research data that goes against the author’s central arguments? The research data that goes against the authors central arguments is not emphasized in the research. This is because in case the data is used then it would mean that the author is contradicting himself. In additional, such data is not that profound in the research meaning that one cannot quickly establish that such data exists in the research. This means that the researcher has done all he can in order to ensure that the reader does not get to see the data that goes against his argument. For example, when trying to elaborate on the theory of Cummins the research see that it will contradict his arguments and indicates that his focus was not on the theory. By so doing, it does not give the reader the opportunity to give it so much thought. This hence, shows that the author is quick to dismiss any data that would go against his central arguments. Limitation in the research The limitation in this article is the language barrier because the units of research are from Bangladeshi meaning that their English is not good. For that reason, communicating with them would have been a challenge for the author. Additionally, when the author was noting down the information or the experiences they had so many grammar and spelling mistakes meaning that the teacher and the researcher had to take time to understand what the author was passing crossing. For that reason, the research required a lot of patience for the researcher. The research is time-consuming in the sense that, the researcher needs to have full access to the student and the teacher in order to have a full account and data for the research. Being an observer and not contributing would also be tiring for the researcher because one has to concentrate so that the individual cannot miss any important information. In the research, the researcher does not seem to be aware of the limitations presented by the study as he has given so much attention to the work in order to get results. Ethics and politics in the research The researcher does not seem to have paid so much thought or any attention to matters of ethics and politics in the research. This is because it has not been indicated anywhere in the research that the researcher asked for any consent from the students to conduct studies on them or even the school. Therefore, it is clear that the research poorly handled the issue of ethics and politics in the research as most of their attention was on gathering information rather than giving some thought on issues of ethics and politics. Conclusion The research conducted on the bilingual language was imperative because it allowed the reader to have a clear understanding of the challenges that both the teacher and the student face. However, the qualitative research on the issue provides evidence on various strategies the teachers can go about the issue. The use of ethnography as a research method makes the research authentic because the research collected first-hand information from the students and the teacher. Therefore, the information provided is useful for future references when it comes to dealing with teaching bilingual in the English classroom. References Atkinson, P., Coffey, A., & Delamont, S. (2003). Key themes in qualitative research: Continuities and changes. Walnut Creek, Calif: AltaMira Press. Cummins, J (1984)”Bilingualism and Special education; Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy.” Multilingual Matter, 1(3) (pp. 33-56). Hammersley, M., & Woods, P. (1993). Genre, Ethnocentricity and bilingualism in the English classroom. In Gender and Ethnicity in Schools: Ethnographic Accounts (pp. 166-190). Hoboken, London: Taylor and Francis. Read More