Blog Pos 13 April 24

I agree with the Matsuda article in the sense that “English has become a dominant language around the world.” English has become a lingua franca through the years and can be known as World English. The context of the use of English can have a large effect on how it is used, whether it’s for reading, writing or speaking. “The use of English among shopkeepers at the market in Singapore is quite different from how Singaporean scientists use English at an international conference in Berlin. The sociolinguistic context of an urban metropolis like Tokyo is unlike the situation in farming communities in Hokkaido, where the number of English users may be small or nonexistent.” Giving students the right information about English can help them make informed decisions. As students learn English as a second language they might not know that you can’t speak in the same way to your teachers as you do when you are casually around your peers. In classrooms, language feedback is a must for native and non-native speakers. Non-native speakers may need more guidance in the classroom, but as a teacher, you have to understand that it will take extra effort in order for them to continue to succeed. What are some methods that can be used in the classroom to provide constructive feedback for native and/or non-native learners? Should the same feedback be used for both or do they need to be different?

The Kubota McKay article did a good job introducing he topic by having an excerpt of someone speaking English in front of people in Tokyo. The thing that stood out the most was when it said (Big Applause) after she was finished. I don’t know if this is completely true, but I feel like it is a big deal to be able to speak a different language that is not your native language, whether you live in the United States or not. It is so strange to me to see the words “foreign language” describing English because it is my language. It is what I have been passionate about for four years of my college career and it doesn’t seem foreign to me at all. To read that three quarters of the world population do not speak English astounds me. I really thought that English was used as a lingua franca. For my cultural report for this class, I interviewed a friend from Russia whose parents don’t speak English. Her dad has told her that the day he speaks English is the day that everyone starts speaking Russian. Let’s be real, we all know that is not going to happen. But people who are native speakers of English are at fault as well. They won’t learn our language and we don’t want to learn theirs. Why does everyone have to learn English? It is obviously an important language to me because I plan on teaching it for the rest of my life but others don’t seem to think learning a new language is important. I am learning Spanish for the sole reason that I know that not everyone knows or wants to know the English language. I have heard friends tell me that people need to learn English if they are going to live here in the United States. Although I agree with them, there is a part of me that is wondering if they don’t have access to learning it or they really just don’t want to learn the language everyone else speaks.