Module 1: Discussion: Reading Reflection
So much of the week’s reading material struck me, and I find myself trying to wrap my arms around the common thread. To begin with, I agreed with Ofelia Garcia that, “Placing bilingualism at the heart of TESOL will yield many benefits” (Garcia, 2008, p. 325). I want to expand on that but first, I’m curious about the same author’s unsubstantiated claim that understanding how to educate ELL students is “particularly” an issue in the United States (p. 322). It very well could be true, but there was no reference cited and I’d love more information. Given the global nature of communication and technology, I hypothesize if there was a clear methodology for new language instruction, everyone would jump to implement it.
That question aside, the quote that struck me hardest was that “The U.S. teaching force is not well equipped to help these [ELL/EB] children and those who speak vernacular dialects of English adjust to school and learn joyfully” (Fillmore & Snow, 2000, p. 3). That is shameful. Every child should be guaranteed an education and joy as far as I’m concerned.
Ever so slightly pivoting from that point (it’ll come back around, I promise), it was suggested that non-native-English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) have or are experiencing discrimination in hiring (Maum, 2002). This was a full two decades ago, and I’d be interested in learning if our society has progressed since that time. Especially because, in the state where I live, the following human capital issues pose an immediate concern:
References
Dietrich, S., & Hernandez, E. (2022, December 6). Nearly 68 Million People Spoke a Language Other Than English at Home in 2019. Census.gov; United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/12/languages-we-speak-in-united-states.htmlLinks to an external site.
García, O. (2009). Emergent bilinguals and TESOL: What's in a name? Download Emergent bilinguals and TESOL: What's in a name?. Tesol Quarterly, 43(2), 322-326.
Maum, R. (2002). Nonnative-English-speaking teachers in the English teaching profession. JCPS Adult And Continuing Education
The Teacher Shortage. (n.d.). Www.nysut.org. https://www.nysut.org/resources/special-resources-sites/look-at-teaching/why-teach/teacher-shortage
Reply Eric Wolford
In regards to your question about NNESTs: while I do think that in the past they have faced considerable discrimination, I think the stigma has lessened over here. In the case of Alaska, its mainly due to practicality. Right now, Alaska is facing a massive teacher shortage - in part because there is an overall teaching shortage, but in particular because of lack of funding in our schools and a terrible retirement program that replaced the pension system we had 15 years ago. To make things worse, our governor has expressed no interest in raising school funding so that it is proportional to inflation, and instead is promoting charter schooling - which is effectively useless in most remote Alaskan communities where you have to fly in order to get there. (I would go on, but this response would sound like an NEA meeting rather than a response to a post in a TESOL class).
Anyways, as a means of trying to reduce the damage caused by the teacher shortage, many school districts in Alaska have prioritized recruiting internationally - primarily in the Philippines. As of this year, we have two teachers who immigrated from the Philippines - one who is our Middle School Science teacher and one who teaches High School English. Both have been embraced by our school community (which does happen to have a lot of Filipino students), and particularly I am intrigued by how effective the English teacher has been in the first year. In hindsight, it seems like it would be an obvious decision for a school with a large Filipino population to have an English teacher who is both knowledgeable in both languages, as she can better hone in on what concepts students might be missing when learning the language. If anything, coupled with the community's attempts to embrace the large Filipino population we have like with the community library's Tagalog-spoken Story Time, there is some hope that her approach as it comes to her students will prioritize bilingualism rather than replacing their native language with English. At the very least, as a fellow English teacher, at least I have someone I can consult when I have questions with a student who might be struggling in class because of the language barrier.
Reply Michelle Johansen
I was also interested in NNESTs and more current research and data. I found this article (https://sfleducation.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40862-020-00081-3Links to an external site.) about native and non-native English-speaking teachers in South Korea from 2020 super interesting. The authors found thats student with a greater number of interactions with NESTs had some advantages, but there were also different advantages to high interactions with NNESTs.
I agree that incorporating family members into bilingual education. Mississippi is also in a dire teacher shortage, so we need to utilize all available folks to help students, families, and communities. Thank you so much for the article and also your insight to Mississippi's teacher shortage. It's slightly off-topic but Montana just passed a bill allowing for alternative routes to teacher certification which I think is very interesting and will be a learning curve with various constituent groups (such as academia and unions, etc.) but I know several other states are considering it as well. Here in Ithaca, NY, I attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting yesterday on various policy issues and we got into a side-bar discussion on whether or not it would be a good use of taxpayer funding to fully cover tuition for critical jobs (where there are major shortages) like teaching and nursing. Very interesting to think about as I watch our deficit climb and many stages come in over budget but also consider reallocation.
Reply Julia Isbell
Hi Melinda, I also would like to know about the ‘particular’ need for ELL-informed educators in the U.S. In my (limited) experience, it seems that the U.S. has a lot of native language diversity in school children compared to other countries, and since our only official language is English it is essential that everyone residing here learns enough to get through the education system and get by in life. Comparing this to experiences of my cousins who grew up in Norway and some of my peers who are international students, it sounds like English gets taught as a subject itself or via immersion sessions from very early on while other curriculum is taught in the home language. It also seems that in these regions, all the students come from a similar language background that makes instruction more universal, and the use of multiple designated official languages ensures that everyone can operate in their societies. This is just from what I have seen and heard about, but it would be nice for the authors to expand more on this point so that we can better understand the urgency and importance of their arguments.
That question aside, the quote that struck me hardest was that “The U.S. teaching force is not well equipped to help these [ELL/EB] children and those who speak vernacular dialects of English adjust to school and learn joyfully” (Fillmore & Snow, 2000, p. 3). That is shameful. Every child should be guaranteed an education and joy as far as I’m concerned.
Ever so slightly pivoting from that point (it’ll come back around, I promise), it was suggested that non-native-English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) have or are experiencing discrimination in hiring (Maum, 2002). This was a full two decades ago, and I’d be interested in learning if our society has progressed since that time. Especially because, in the state where I live, the following human capital issues pose an immediate concern:
- Enrollment in New York State’s teacher education programs has declined by 53 percent since 2009.
- NYS Teacher Retirement System projects that 1/3 of New York teachers could retire in the next five years.
- S. Department of Education has identified 18 teacher shortage areas throughout New York State. A decade ago, there were only two.
(New York State United Teachers Website)
References
Dietrich, S., & Hernandez, E. (2022, December 6). Nearly 68 Million People Spoke a Language Other Than English at Home in 2019. Census.gov; United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/12/languages-we-speak-in-united-states.htmlLinks to an external site.
García, O. (2009). Emergent bilinguals and TESOL: What's in a name? Download Emergent bilinguals and TESOL: What's in a name?. Tesol Quarterly, 43(2), 322-326.
Maum, R. (2002). Nonnative-English-speaking teachers in the English teaching profession. JCPS Adult And Continuing Education
The Teacher Shortage. (n.d.). Www.nysut.org. https://www.nysut.org/resources/special-resources-sites/look-at-teaching/why-teach/teacher-shortage
Reply Eric Wolford
In regards to your question about NNESTs: while I do think that in the past they have faced considerable discrimination, I think the stigma has lessened over here. In the case of Alaska, its mainly due to practicality. Right now, Alaska is facing a massive teacher shortage - in part because there is an overall teaching shortage, but in particular because of lack of funding in our schools and a terrible retirement program that replaced the pension system we had 15 years ago. To make things worse, our governor has expressed no interest in raising school funding so that it is proportional to inflation, and instead is promoting charter schooling - which is effectively useless in most remote Alaskan communities where you have to fly in order to get there. (I would go on, but this response would sound like an NEA meeting rather than a response to a post in a TESOL class).
Anyways, as a means of trying to reduce the damage caused by the teacher shortage, many school districts in Alaska have prioritized recruiting internationally - primarily in the Philippines. As of this year, we have two teachers who immigrated from the Philippines - one who is our Middle School Science teacher and one who teaches High School English. Both have been embraced by our school community (which does happen to have a lot of Filipino students), and particularly I am intrigued by how effective the English teacher has been in the first year. In hindsight, it seems like it would be an obvious decision for a school with a large Filipino population to have an English teacher who is both knowledgeable in both languages, as she can better hone in on what concepts students might be missing when learning the language. If anything, coupled with the community's attempts to embrace the large Filipino population we have like with the community library's Tagalog-spoken Story Time, there is some hope that her approach as it comes to her students will prioritize bilingualism rather than replacing their native language with English. At the very least, as a fellow English teacher, at least I have someone I can consult when I have questions with a student who might be struggling in class because of the language barrier.
Reply Michelle Johansen
I was also interested in NNESTs and more current research and data. I found this article (https://sfleducation.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40862-020-00081-3Links to an external site.) about native and non-native English-speaking teachers in South Korea from 2020 super interesting. The authors found thats student with a greater number of interactions with NESTs had some advantages, but there were also different advantages to high interactions with NNESTs.
I agree that incorporating family members into bilingual education. Mississippi is also in a dire teacher shortage, so we need to utilize all available folks to help students, families, and communities. Thank you so much for the article and also your insight to Mississippi's teacher shortage. It's slightly off-topic but Montana just passed a bill allowing for alternative routes to teacher certification which I think is very interesting and will be a learning curve with various constituent groups (such as academia and unions, etc.) but I know several other states are considering it as well. Here in Ithaca, NY, I attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting yesterday on various policy issues and we got into a side-bar discussion on whether or not it would be a good use of taxpayer funding to fully cover tuition for critical jobs (where there are major shortages) like teaching and nursing. Very interesting to think about as I watch our deficit climb and many stages come in over budget but also consider reallocation.
Reply Julia Isbell
Hi Melinda, I also would like to know about the ‘particular’ need for ELL-informed educators in the U.S. In my (limited) experience, it seems that the U.S. has a lot of native language diversity in school children compared to other countries, and since our only official language is English it is essential that everyone residing here learns enough to get through the education system and get by in life. Comparing this to experiences of my cousins who grew up in Norway and some of my peers who are international students, it sounds like English gets taught as a subject itself or via immersion sessions from very early on while other curriculum is taught in the home language. It also seems that in these regions, all the students come from a similar language background that makes instruction more universal, and the use of multiple designated official languages ensures that everyone can operate in their societies. This is just from what I have seen and heard about, but it would be nice for the authors to expand more on this point so that we can better understand the urgency and importance of their arguments.