Post
by revel » Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:40 am
Good morning all, hope there are Happy Holidays waiting for everyone.
I'm not sure I totally understand the original question. What is meant by supporting the student's native language?
As most of you already know, I teach ESL in Spain, both in an academy and in a parochial grade school. Since I consider teaching a vocation over the subject I teach, I certainly "support" Spanish as the student's native language. If a student forgets to peg on an "h" or an accent, I certainly correct this error in his/her Spanish. Though my main objectives concern the learning of English, I will not overlook general educational values such as the native language, or correct classroom behavior, or cultural concepts usually found in Social Studies. Though I have no doubts about the value of inmersion in ESL, my reality is not one of inmersion and faking such inmersion through an English Only attitude in the classroom is not to the advantage of my students. The contact time is just not long enough, two hours a week will never be inmersion.
What prompted me to add my two cents has been Roger's comments on thinking differently. Why, just yesterday I told a group of adults that it is not so much that they need to think in English as it is think as an Englishman would, or even as an American. Language is, at least for me, the external manifestation of internal thought processes. Although we are giving the same information when asked a factual question, such as "How old are you?", that is, a number that represents the number of years that have gone by since our emergence into the world from the womb, the way that question is asked and the way the answer is given differs from language to language. In English we are this or that age, while in Spanish they have that or this age. If I am not mistaken, there are even cultures that include the nine or so months in mum's belly as part of the total that makes up their age. These different ways of seeing or experiencing reality abound among different languages. So, where a Spanish person might simply say "change the cat box", an American person might be offended at not having heard "Would you please change the cat box?" This American might also be abashed at the Spaniard who insists on chatting in the elevator when that Spaniard ought to be looking at the upper left corner of the rising box in silence, pretending that he/she is totally alone. The Spaniard who always enjoys sunny weather doesn't always understand the use of weather talk often employed by the English, who always seem to have more weather than anyone else in the world.
I've been asked what I miss of my own culture. Hmmm, I think, well, I miss seeing good theatre frequently. Besides that, I never ask for anyone to bring me anything from the States. I make my shopping list in Spanish. I celebrate holidays in a Spanish fashion, eating Spanish food (I don't insist on turkey and pumpkin pie, but rather have sea-food and turrón), Thanksgiving is a past experience for me that I don't even bother to explain to Spaniards beyond its cultural significance and consequent vocabulary, or as an example, another one, of how important "Please, and thank-you, you're welcome" is to English speaking people. I was finally granted residency in Spain because I was able to demonstrate that not only had I been living here since before 1998, but that I have put down roots (the special program under which I was granted my residency is called araigo, which means just that, being rooted). Even getting my driver's license last summer was more a question of thinking like a Spanish driver than my own 27 years of driving experience.
Well, as usual, I've gone on and on, perhaps not answering the question, but well, since no one seems to mind, I thank you for the opportunity!
peace,
revel.
