Prompt 2 (Goldenberg)

As Chris said his sight word out loud, spelt it, and then used it in a sentence, it became very clear that English was not his fist language. I encouraged him to keep trying as his cheeks became flushed and a look of embarrassment came over him as the other students were staring. As a freshman in college tutoring this student, it was difficult to determine what exactly the best plan of action was to help him be able to effectively communicate what he was trying to say. However, as an aspiring culturally competent teacher, these are the kinds of things that need to be given the most attention to when teaching. In the kindergarten classroom that I am volunteering in, there is not a single white student. All of the students are Hispanic, Asian or African American. Yet none of them have been labeled as ELL. I used the term “labeled” because after some observation and time spent with the students there seems to be students that may be having difficulty learning in English. Info Works shows the breakdown of race in this school to be 62% Hispanic, 17% Asian, 12 % African American and 8% White. It is hard to believe that in a school made up of 62% Hispanic students, not a single one of them is an English Language Learner. This is hard to believe because I noticed it right away just as a casual viewer of the classroom. As I said before in prompt one, I am extremely impressed by the teacher I am working with and believe she gives her students equal opportunity to come to the culture of power. However, when the state gives her 25 Hispanic students and tells her that none of them are ELL’s, when clearly some of them are it creates an unfair situation for everyone in the classroom.

My experience tutoring Chris and observing other students in the classroom can be related to Goldenberg’s article on ELL. As stated before, the difference in linguistic, ethnic and sociocultural characteristics in the classroom (although great for diversity in education) can create an unfair situation if it is not handled correctly. It is unfair for the ELL student that has not been labeled as such because he or she is not being given the proper tools to fully achieve their potential as a student. It is also unfair to the teacher because even if they recognize students as ELL, they may not be qualified to teach them in the most effective way. Like Goldenberg says, these students would benefit most from having a Spanish speaking teacher who could help them learn English while teaching them other important concepts in Spanish at the same time to aid their development. It seems to me that some students in the school and classroom that I am volunteering in need to be evaluated as an ELL and could thrive in a classroom setting with a teacher who speaks Spanish.

Although I have discussed some of the negatives that can go along with a multi linguistic classroom, there truly are many positives as well. These students are experiencing their first taste of society and democracy. They are working together as an effective unit to help one another. Being in a classroom of students of ethnic diversity creates an atmosphere that can’t be taught. Tolerance and understanding come about and are characteristics that these students are developing that can truly strengthen our society.