Within the United States the student population comprise of immigrants whose first language is not English. Because of this language difference, the way in which teachers are teaching their subject area is changing.
“When these students maintain a strong identification with their culture and native language, they are more likely to succeed academically and there is a positive outlook about their ability to learn” (Banks 2001; Diaz 2001; Garcia 2002). The schools instead of viewing this difference in a positive way has view these students as deficit. As the text has stated “an illness that needs to be cured” (Diaz 2001, p.159).
Each and every one of us who speaks the English Language is in fact speaking a dialect of English this is influence by factors such as age, gender, socio economic, where we are from and where we grew up. These factors influence the diversity of the language that is spoken by individuals. The way that dialect is viewed in the classroom depends on the teacher’s perception and the value that they placed on the language. According to Roberts (1985) these language differences are not good or bad as perceived but people’s perception of this language is more about their judgment and less on clarity and precision. Delpit (1988) argues “that as teachers we all need to respect and admire the strengths of our diverse learners.
That is so true Jill and I am sure that we can scaffold the learning to incorporate the diversity within the instruction. From what we have learnt so far, the internet and the networked classroom can facilitate this. We can create e/photo books that are culturally relevant and ask students to do the same as part of assessment and to teach their peers about their unique backgrounds and cultures. But at the heart of the matter is respect. Some years ago, statistics showed that most teachers came from the middle class and this affected their interactions with students from lower strata. We really need to make a concerted effort to respect and celebrate the diversity. Remember SIOP?
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