ESOL 4020IA/6020IA: Cultural Perspectives for ESOL Teachers

Summer II 2008
June 11-July 29
WEB ONLY
3 semester hours

Dr. Lee Campbell
Department of English
College of Arts and Sciences
Valdosta State University
Valdosta GA 31698-0025

Email: jlcampbe@valdosta.edu
Web: http://www.valdosta.edu/~jlcampbe

Read this syllabus especially carefully:
 this is a course designed for candidates seeking the ESOL endorsement;
as such, candidates must meet the ESOL program standards in order to pass the course.

1. DESCRIPTION: Culture and the relationships between culture, language, and education.  Prospective ESOL teachers will investigate theories related to the nature and role of culture and cultural groups in the construction of learning environments that support linguistically diverse learners.  The course will address developmental aspects of language and literacy with emphasis upon specific ways in which cultural identities affect language learning and school achievement.  This course is designed for ESOL endorsement candidates.

2. TESOL STANDARDS: This course is one of three courses required for teachers or prospective teachers who want to add the English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement to their teaching certificates.

ESOL 4020/6020 addresses the following standards for PK-12 teaching education in ESOL established by TESOL and Georgia's Professional Standards Commission:

• DOMAIN 1: LANGUAGE - Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, theories, and research related to the nature and acquisition of language to construct learning environments that support ESOL students' language and literacy development and content area achievement.
• DOMAIN 2: CULTURE - Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, theories, and research related to the nature and structure of culture to construct learning environments that support ESOL students' language and literacy development and content area achievement.
• STANDARD 2A NATURE AND ROLE OF CULTURE - Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to the nature and role of culture in language development and academic achievement that support individual students' learning.
• STANDARD 2B CULTURAL GROUPS AND IDENTITY - Candidates know, understand, and use knowledge of how cultural groups and students' cultural identities affect language learning and school achievement.

3. CONCEPTUAL STANDARDS: ESOL 4020/6020 is taught in accordance with the College of Education's conceptual framework standards (CFS):

• I.  CONTENT AND CURRICULUM:  Teachers demonstrate a strong content knowledge of content area(s) that are appropriate for their certification levels.

• II. KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS AND THEIR LEARNING:  Teachers support the intellectual, social, physical, and personal development of all students.

• III. LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: Teachers create learning environments that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

• IV. ASSESSMENT: Teachers understand and use a range of formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous development of all learners.

• V. PLANNING AND INSTRUCTION: Teachers design and create instructional experiences based on their knowledge of content and curriculum, students, learning environments, and assessment.

• VI. PROFESSIONALISM: Teachers recognize, participate in, and contribute to teaching as a profession.

4. PRINCIPLES: ESOL 4020/6020 is taught in accordance with the following guiding principles of Georgia teacher education programs:

• Dispositions Principle:  Productive dispositions positively affect learners, professional growth, and the learning environment.

• Equity Principle:  All learners deserve high expectations and support.

• Process Principle:  Learning is a lifelong process of development and growth.

• Ownership Principle:  Professionals are committed to, and assume responsibility for, the future of their disciplines.

• Support Principle:  Successful engagement in the process of learning requires collaboration among multiple partners.

• Impact Principle:  Effective practice yields evidence of learning.

• Technology Principle:  Technology facilitates teaching, learning, community-building, and resource acquisition

• Standards Principle:  Evidence-based standards systematically guide professional preparation and development.  

The study of linguistics and applied linguistics--and especially the study of language diversity--has historically been highly sensitive to the role of teacher disposition in language learning.  Linguistics strongly advocates an objective approach to language free from preconceptions and prejudice.

5. OUTCOMES: Students in ESOL 4020/6020 will meet the following target outcomes:

• 1. Demonstrate an understanding of ways in which cultural groups and students' cultural identities affect language learning and school achievement (CFS II, III, IV, V).
• 2. Demonstrate an understanding of ways in which role expectations and other social variables such as age, gender, social class, religion, ethnicity, and place of residence affect the way people speak and behave (CFS I, II, III, IV, V). 
• 3. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between culturally conditioned interaction patterns and effective communication and teaching (CFS I, II)
• 4. Demonstrate an understanding of of the relationship between situational variables and convention and human behavior (CFS I, II, III)
• 5. Apply strategies for identifying, analyzing, and comparing cultures (CFS I, II, IV).
• 6. Demonstrate an understanding of ways to cultivate curiosity about other cultures (CFS I, II, III, V, VI).
• 7. Collaborate with local teachers, students, and parents involved in ESOL programs (CFS VI).
• 8. Demonstrate an ability to develop and utilize activities that promote understanding of L1 and L2 cultures (CFS II, III, IV, V, VI).

6. TEXTS, ONLINE CONTEXT: Three textbooks are required:

• Language, Culture, and Communication: The Meaning of Messages, 5/e, by Nancy Bonvillain (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008: ISBN 0-13-513568-0)--abbreviated here by B
• Not for ESOL Teachers: What Every Classroom Teacher Needs to Know about the Linguistically, Culturally, and Ethnically Diverse Student, by Eileen N. Whelan Ariza (Pearson, 2006: ISBN 0-205-38690-3)--abbreviated here by A
• Con Respeto: Bridging the Distances Between Culturally Diverse Families and Schools, 1/e, by Guadalupe Valdes (Teachers College Press, 1996: ISBN 0-8077-3526-4)--abbreviated here by V

In addition, students will be asked to read three articles from the Bilingual Research Journal in order to familiarize themselves with qualitative--case study--research.

• Students will need the computing requisites to handle WebCT Vista.  Check the FAQ at the log in page if you are having typical problems posting material, maintaining a connection, and so forth.  The instructor gets by on a shoestring of knowledge with respect to technology: he is not the one to contact concerning technical problems.  Get help through the online help forms or call the help desk.
• Students will need an email account to communicate with the instructor outside WebCT.  The instructor is teaching from home this summer, so don't call the Department of English at VSU or mail anything to the instructor's office at VSU.  For email, use the instructor's regular Blazenet email listed at the top of this syllabus: don't use the WebCT mail, which I often forget to check.
• If a student needs to communicate with the instructor via the spoken word, ask for the instructor's home phone number and a call will be scheduled.
• The instructor will establish an open discussion area for problems, questions, announcements, discoveries, hallelujahs, and so on.  Help each other out and keep an eye out for announcements.
• There are at least two challenges for students enrolled in Summer II 4020/6020: this is an online course and it last seven weeks.  Students will need to police themselves carefully to keep up with the fast-moving schedule. 
• Remember that the syllabus is posted on the World Wide Web; to check something on it or follow links, you don't have to log into WebCT.
• Here's a tip that can save you heartache: when you write anything for this class, type it up on some word processing program and save it often to a disk or wherever.  Don't type anything directly onto WebCT, which then may be lost if the power goes out or your computer freezes.  Use your favorite word processing program and then copy and paste your writings or attach them. The instructor will undoubtedly ignore this advice at times and regret it.

7. ASSIGNMENTS: Because of the short seven-week summer term, this course will focus on the application of major concepts language and culture to a written project--a case study--developed by each student.  Students will

1. write a proposal for their case study (10 points)
2. write a progress report for their case study (5 points)
3. write a final report of their case study (50 points: see rubric below): case study assignments address outcomes 1-8.
4. lead one focused discussion of one chapter from A or V (5 points): addresses outcome 6
5. participate in at least 10 focused discussions of chapters from A or V (10 points): addresses outcomes 6, 8
6. complete reading quizzes on B (8 quizzes at 2.5 points each: 20 points total): addresses outcomes 1-5

Students must complete assignments 1, 2, and 3 to earn at least a C in the course.

8. GRADING:  Grades will be figured according to a 5-point GPA-like system in which 5=A+, 4.5=A-, 4=B, 3.5=B-, 3=C, 2.5=C-, 2=D, 1.5=D-, 1=F, and 0=not attempted.

Thus, for an assignment worth 10 points, 10=A+, 9=A-, 8=B, and so on.  For assignment worth 50 points, 50=A+, 45=A-, 40=B, 35=B-, etc., and for an assignment worth 15 points, 15=A+, 13.5=A-, 12=B, 10.5=B-, 9=C, and so forth. There are 100 possible points in the class.  Final grades will be determined by the following scale:

• 100/100 = A+
• approximately 90 = A-
• 80/100 = B
• 70/100 = B-
• 60/100 = C
• 50/100 = C-
• 40/100 = D
• below 40 = F

In terms of final grades, then, members wanting an A need about 90 points (the instructor will go a little below 90). To earn a B, a member needs 70; a C, 50.

9. GRADUATE STUDENTS: Graduate students

• must write a final report of their case study that is at the long end of the suggested page range (or over),
• incorporate references to all three textbooks,
• and cite at least three other relevant secondary sources.

10. SPECIAL SERVICES: Class members requiring accommodations or modifications because of a documented disability should discuss this need with the instructor at the beginning of the term. Class members who require assistance but who are not registered with the Special Services Program should contact VSU's Access Office.

11. APPLIED LINGUISTICS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AND GALILEO: The WWW offers a number of useful resources for students of linguistics and English language teaching. The instructor's homepage lists some potentially helpful links that have come to his attention.  Galileo, of course, is the place to go for academic articles on applied linguistics.  Start with an easy full-text search in JSTOR, for example.  The very useful Bilingual Research Journal is available on the regular WWW at <http://brj.asu.edu/>.

12. THE THINKING THIS COURSE ASKS YOU TO DO: And now for the actual content of this course, which is a particular kind of thinking it asks you to do.  In brief, this course asks you to engage in sociolinguistic thinking, which concerns relating situational, social, and cultural variables (see Bonvillain 1) to linguistic behavior.  I'd also add relevant psychological variables, so that's why my shorthand is psycho-sociocultural variables.  Specifically, the course asks you to relate these variables to the linguistic behavior of an English language learner (ELL).

For example, silence and hesitant, halting speech (linguistic variables) are not necessarily sure indicators of low English proficiency:

• a wide range of psycho-sociocultural variables might cause such speech, such as depression (the immigrant experience is often stressful and depressing for many reasons)
• the perceived speech situation in which the silence or hesitancy is exhibited can inhibit expression, including the relationship of the speakers, the subject matter, or the genre (the instructor is no joke teller, so he's silent when people start trading jokes)
• culturally conditioned interpretations of the situation may reinforce silence (i.e., silence and lowered eyes might be the culturally appropriate response for a given speaker).

This is the cognitive goal of the course: train students to think about the relationship between linguistic variables and psycho-sociocultural variables.

13. CASE STUDY, PROPOSAL, PROGRESS REPORT: Students will demonstrate the thinking described in the previous section when they write their case study of an ELL.  In general terms, a case study is a kind of qualitative (as opposed to quantitative) descriptive (as opposed to experimental) research. A researcher chooses a human subject (an English language learner, for this course) and describes that person in terms of a number of variables that the researcher has reason to suspect are crucial. Click here for a guide to the case study assignment.

Candidates for the ESOL endorsement must choose a PK-12 English language learner. The proposal for the case study won't be approved if a candidate does not satisfy this requirement. Evidence for endorsement candidates' appropriate field experience must be provided to accrediting agencies.

Candidates must also supply the instructor with an electronic version of the case study (posted to WebCT), which will be assessed in LiveText.  Because the instructor can't assess a hard copy in LiveText, he must have an electronic copy.  This requirement shouldn't be problem in this online section.

So the first step in the case study is to get access to an ELL.  Begin the search for a subject immediately.  Contact elementary, middle, or high schools in your area in order to tutor a student or just engage in conversational English.  Local migrant programs are also a possibility.  Your contact with a PK-12 ELL does not have to take place in an educational setting as long as the subject is of the appropriate age.

The second step is to define why you are interested in the subject.  Imagine, for example, that you're a teacher at an elementary school who had a new migrant child assigned to your class late this last spring. You noticed after the first few days how socially isolated the child was, perhaps because the child speaks Kanjobal, not Spanish, perhaps because of very limited formal schooling, or none at all, perhaps because she's a girl and has stayed home with her mother most of her life. The teacher interested in doing a case study on the child might hypothesize something about the relationship of social isolation and lack of prior formal schooling to initial English language development and gather data on the child through a variety of means (written work--if the child is literate, drawings, observations, conversations, interviews, etc.) over a period of a few weeks at one of the migrant education summer programs. How does the child become less socially isolated (or why does she fail to), how does the lessening social isolation or its maintenance affect English language development, and what are the peculiar challenges for the speaker of a minority Mexican language? Those are the kinds of questions a case study attempts to investigate.  Members will write up a proposal for the case study summarizing their interests in a subject.

In outline form,

• students will produce case studies that account a wide range of linguistic variables in language use and acquisition, such as
  •  accent, lexicon, register, style, conversational strategies, paralanguage, bilingualism and code-switching, and standard and nonstandard varieties.  When appropriate, for example, students will
    • recognize and analyze socially significant linguistic variables/markers and their role in group identification/solidarity
    • interpret the significance of register and style choices as they are influenced by culturally conditioned perceptions of situations
    • analyze conversation turns and parts and interpret with reference to politeness strategies and face
    • demonstrate an awareness of paralinguistic features and the significance of these in cross-cultural communication
    • recognize the value of L1 use and code-switching and integral and inevitable parts of L2 acquisition, particularly when literacy is not established in the L1
    • demonstrate an understanding of additive versus subtractive bilingualism
• students will produce case studies take into account a wide range of situational and psycho-sociocultural variables in language use and acquisition, such as
  • place of origin, situation, socioeconomic class and exposure to formal education and First World expectations concerning education, literacy in L1, learning strategies and styles, ethnicity and culture, family history, age, gender, movement between Third and First Worlds, kind of immigrant experience (voluntary or involuntary), quality of L1 and L2 language communities, teachers and classrooms, and sociopolitical variables as they affect the classroom, school, and community.  When appropriate, students will
    • recognize and analyze psycho-sociocultural variables related to linguistic variables and interpret them in terms of solidarity, accommodation, prestige, power, and so on
    • take into account different cognitive demands of conversational versus academic language
    • analyze differences in exposure to formal schooling and expectations about it without blaming children or parents for different perceptions or attributing differences to a "deficit"
    • recognize and support individual learning strategies and styles
    • recognize and affirm manifestations of ethnicity and culture
    • demonstrate an understanding of different age- and gender-related linguistic behaviors
    • demonstrate an understanding of English language learning within the context of  the immigrant experience, which includes
      • cultures in contact
      • changing cultural identities through the generations
      • individuals' negotiation of their cultural identities
      • prejudice
      • changing language policies
• students will develop ways in which openness toward, curiosity about, and an understanding of the ELL's culture might be encouraged in the classroom

14. LEADING AND PARTICIPATING IN FOCUSED DISCUSSIONS: Outcomes I, III, V, VI, and VIII all explicitly concern teaching ELLs.  The instructor wants the online discussions of A and V to concentrate on pedagogical implications of those books.  Leading a focused discussion means selecting an issue or topic or two from a chapter and framing questions about them for discussion.  The leader starts the discussion with a question or two and then responds several times to contributions, keeping the discussion on track and developing further relevant threads.

To lead a discussion, simply create the first message and post it.  The first person to post leads the discussion.  Everyone needs to lead one discussion.  There should be 27 chapters from A and V to choose from.  The instructor will lead for A 1 and V Preface and Introduction.  Everyone needs to participate in at least 10 discussions besides the one led.  Participating in a discussion means posting at least one substantive message or reply of some length.  Participate in at least one discussion during the eight modules covering A and V and then participate in two a couple of times.

Please spread the participation around: check discussions and contribute to the one that needs some contributions.  Don't everyone pile on one. 

Also, please watch your electronic etiquette.  Try not to let your emotions get the best of you.

15. SCHEDULE OF MODULES: The course is organized as a series of ten modules that involve readings, quizzes, discussions, and written assignments. Modules must be done in order and on time.  Again, the Bonvillain text is abbreviated B, the Ariza book A, and the Valdes book V.

• Module 1
  • Read syllabus
  • Ask questions about the course
  • Post an introduction of yourself
  • Read "Code- Switching, Bilingualism, and Biliteracy: A Case Study"
  • Read "The Functions of Spanish in the School Lives of Mexicano Bilingual Children"
  • Read "Aqui No Se Habla Espanol: Stories of Linguistic Repression in Southwest Schools"
  • Participate in focused discussion of three articles led by instructor
  • Complete by June 16
• Module 2
  • Read B 1-2
  • Read A 1-5
  • Read V Preface and Introduction
  • Take quiz on B 1-2
  • Lead a discussion of A 2, 3, 4, or 5
  • Participate in a discussion of A 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (instructor will lead discussion of A 1) or V Preface and Introduction (instructor will lead that discussion)
  • Post initial questions or ideas about case study
  • Complete by June 23
• Module 3
  • Read B 3
  • Read A 6-10
  • Read V 1
  • Take quiz on B 3
  • Lead a discussion of A 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 or V 1
  • Participate in a discussion of A 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 or V 1
  • Post proposal for case study
  • Complete by June 30
• Module 4
  • Read B 4-5
  • Read A 11-12
  • Read V 2-3
  • Take a quiz on B 4-5
  • Lead a discussion of A 11 or 12 or V 2 or 3
  • Participate in a discussion of A 11 or 12 or V 2 or 3
  • Complete by July 7
• Module 5
  • Read B 6
  • Read A 13-14
  • Read V 4-5
  • Take quiz on B 6
  • Lead a discussion of A 13 or 14 or V 4 or 5
  • Participate in a discussion of A 13 or 14 or V 4 or 5
  • Complete by July 11
• Module 6
  • Read B 7-8
  • Read A 15-16
  • Read V 6
  • Take a quiz on B 7-8
  • Lead a discussion of A 15 or 16 or V 6
  • Participate in a discussion of A 15 or 16 or V 6
  • Complete by July 16
• Module 7
  • Read B 9
  • Read A 17-19
  • Read V 7
  • Take a quiz on B 9
  • Lead a discussion of A 17, 18, or 19 or V 7
  • Participate in a discussion of A 17, 18, or 19 or V 7
  • Post progress report on case study
  • Complete by July 21
• Module 8
  • Read B 10-11
  • Read V 8
  • Take a quiz on B 10-11
  • Lead a discussion of V 8
  • Participate in a discussion of V 8
  • Complete by July 25
• Module 9
  • Read B 12-13
  • Read V 9
  • Take a quiz on B 12-13
  • Lead a discussion of V 9
  • Participate in a discussion of V 9
  • Complete by July 29
• Module 10
  • Submit electronic copy of final case study report to WebCT
  • Complete by August 1

16. The instructor will use the following rubric to score the final draft of the case study (10 criteria at 5 points each, 50 points total).

17. INSTRUCTOR: The instructor was born to Canadian parents in Peoria, Illinois, May, 1960. Born in 1925, his parents told him stories of Manitoba during the Depression.  The instructor listened to monophonic Beatles records on a portable turntable; watched the Vietnam War on the nightly news and his three older brothers’ reactions to it; played hockey on frozen ponds; saw the first Ali vs. Frazier fight live on European television; delivered papers spreading the news of Watergate (are there any paperboys left?); kept score in bowling with a pencil; learned to drive with a stick in a VW Bug and a three-on-the-tree Dodge; attended his first rock concert at Soldier Field in Chicago (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer; Foghat; J. Giles, Climax Blues Band) and saw his last a couple of years ago (Dylan and Haggard); typed college papers on a manual typewriter; bought his first computer at the age of 30—after completing his dissertation; and ran off his first class handouts with a ditto machine.  Besides Peoria, the instructor has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia; Bogotá, Colombia; Geneva, Switzerland; Normal, Illinois; West Lafayette, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Arkadelphia and Hot Springs, Arkansas; Valdosta, Georgia; and Riverview, Florida, where he currently makes a home with his wife and three children born in 1995, 1998, and 2000, as well as two dogs and four cats. There used to be guinea pigs, but mercifully they died.

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