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Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Stephen Krashen: Children need food, health care, and books. Not new standards and tests.
Stephen Krashen: Children need food, health care, and books. Not new standards and tests.
By Anthony Cody on May 10, 2010 10:36 AM | 8 Comments | No TrackBacks
Dr. Stephen Krashen is a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California. He has written numerous books on his research into literacy and language acquisition. In recent years he has emerged as a persistent voice pointing towards the basic steps we should take to build literacy and strong academic skills for our students. He also points out the flaws in many of the premises of the "school reform" movement. This week, I asked him to share some thoughts with us on where things are headed. He offers us his views in this guest post.
Read full article here,
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2010/05/stephen_krashen_fix_poverty_an.html
By Anthony Cody on May 10, 2010 10:36 AM | 8 Comments | No TrackBacks
Dr. Stephen Krashen is a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California. He has written numerous books on his research into literacy and language acquisition. In recent years he has emerged as a persistent voice pointing towards the basic steps we should take to build literacy and strong academic skills for our students. He also points out the flaws in many of the premises of the "school reform" movement. This week, I asked him to share some thoughts with us on where things are headed. He offers us his views in this guest post.
Read full article here,
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2010/05/stephen_krashen_fix_poverty_an.html
Arizona Education Loses The Accent Of America
NPR: Andrei Codrescu wonders what America would be like if public figures with accents, like Albert Einstein, had their contributions eliminated from the American landscape.
From the PD list:
TESOL released a joint statement with its AZ affiliate, AZ-TESOL, today regarding the initiative by the AZ Department of Education mandating teachers with accents be removed from classes with English language learners. The statement is below.
Joint Statement on the Teacher English Fluency Initiative in Arizona
May 2010
According to recent media reports, the Arizona Department of Education has mandated that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English. It is reported the intent of this initiative is to ensure that students with limited English have teachers who speak the language flawlessly.
For decades the field of English language teaching has suffered from the myth that one only needs to be a native English speaker in order to teach the English language. The myth further implicates that native English speakers make better English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers than nonnative English speakers because native English speakers are perceived to speak “unaccented” English and understand and use idiomatic expressions fluently. The distinction between native and nonnative speakers of English presents an oversimplified, either/or classification system that is not only misleading, but also ignores the formal education, linguistic expertise, teaching experience, and professional preparation of educators in the field of English language teaching.
TESOL has long opposed discrimination against nonnative English speakers in the field of English language teaching. All English language educators should be proficient in English regardless of their native languages, but English language proficiency should be viewed as only one criterion in evaluating a teacher’s qualifications. English language proficiency, teaching experience, and professionalism should be assessed along a continuum of professional preparation; pedagogical skills, teaching experience, and professional preparation should be given as much weight as language proficiency.
TESOL and its Arizona affiliate AZ-TESOL have great concerns about this teacher English fluency evaluation initiative and its impact upon English language learners. Nonnative English-speaking educators should not be singled out because of their native language, nor evaluated based on arbitrary standards of language fluency. All educators should be evaluated in a transparent manner along the same criteria based on clearly articulated and valid standards. The TESOL-NCATE Standards for P–12 Teacher Preparation Programs, which provide standards and rubrics designed to help teacher education programs identify evidence of teacher performance, can be useful resources for institutions.
With the recent state legislation targeting undocumented immigrants in Arizona (SB 1070) and other legislation banning ethnic studies in Arizona (HB 2281), TESOL and AZ-TESOL are deeply troubled by what appears to be an environment of fear and xenophobia being fostered by lawmakers in the state without consideration of the consequences upon student learning and achievement. This impacts all educators and students, including U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who speak a language other than English. The right of undocumented students to a K–12 public education has long been protected under U.S. law. TESOL and Arizona TESOL strongly urge lawmakers and education officials in Arizona to ensure that the education of all Arizona schoolchildren is not harmed by these developments, and that the right of all educators to be treated fairly and equally is protected.
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Color, Race and English Language Teaching: Shades of Meaning - edited by Andy Curtis and Mary Romney, exploring the intricacies of being a TESOL professional of color. Whose language? Whose authority?
http://books.google.com/books?id=D0IAov9RElsC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=%22color+race+and+english+language+teaching%22&source=web&ots=B5knevT-EX&sig=EEHNDuxwCH9xs33FbI_MRDPsHBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
From the PD list:
TESOL released a joint statement with its AZ affiliate, AZ-TESOL, today regarding the initiative by the AZ Department of Education mandating teachers with accents be removed from classes with English language learners. The statement is below.
Joint Statement on the Teacher English Fluency Initiative in Arizona
May 2010
According to recent media reports, the Arizona Department of Education has mandated that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English. It is reported the intent of this initiative is to ensure that students with limited English have teachers who speak the language flawlessly.
For decades the field of English language teaching has suffered from the myth that one only needs to be a native English speaker in order to teach the English language. The myth further implicates that native English speakers make better English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers than nonnative English speakers because native English speakers are perceived to speak “unaccented” English and understand and use idiomatic expressions fluently. The distinction between native and nonnative speakers of English presents an oversimplified, either/or classification system that is not only misleading, but also ignores the formal education, linguistic expertise, teaching experience, and professional preparation of educators in the field of English language teaching.
TESOL has long opposed discrimination against nonnative English speakers in the field of English language teaching. All English language educators should be proficient in English regardless of their native languages, but English language proficiency should be viewed as only one criterion in evaluating a teacher’s qualifications. English language proficiency, teaching experience, and professionalism should be assessed along a continuum of professional preparation; pedagogical skills, teaching experience, and professional preparation should be given as much weight as language proficiency.
TESOL and its Arizona affiliate AZ-TESOL have great concerns about this teacher English fluency evaluation initiative and its impact upon English language learners. Nonnative English-speaking educators should not be singled out because of their native language, nor evaluated based on arbitrary standards of language fluency. All educators should be evaluated in a transparent manner along the same criteria based on clearly articulated and valid standards. The TESOL-NCATE Standards for P–12 Teacher Preparation Programs, which provide standards and rubrics designed to help teacher education programs identify evidence of teacher performance, can be useful resources for institutions.
With the recent state legislation targeting undocumented immigrants in Arizona (SB 1070) and other legislation banning ethnic studies in Arizona (HB 2281), TESOL and AZ-TESOL are deeply troubled by what appears to be an environment of fear and xenophobia being fostered by lawmakers in the state without consideration of the consequences upon student learning and achievement. This impacts all educators and students, including U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who speak a language other than English. The right of undocumented students to a K–12 public education has long been protected under U.S. law. TESOL and Arizona TESOL strongly urge lawmakers and education officials in Arizona to ensure that the education of all Arizona schoolchildren is not harmed by these developments, and that the right of all educators to be treated fairly and equally is protected.
#####
Color, Race and English Language Teaching: Shades of Meaning - edited by Andy Curtis and Mary Romney, exploring the intricacies of being a TESOL professional of color. Whose language? Whose authority?
http://books.google.com/books?id=D0IAov9RElsC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=%22color+race+and+english+language+teaching%22&source=web&ots=B5knevT-EX&sig=EEHNDuxwCH9xs33FbI_MRDPsHBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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