Blog Post 10 April 3

Something that was interesting about the chapters was the comparison from the English in the United States to the English in England. It is very interesting because a lot of the slang used in America is not used in Britain. Americans might not be able to understand what British people are trying to say because what they say may be used in a different context. After my best friends studied abroad in England, they had their British friends come visit Illinois State University for a week and show them American life. They had never even heard of a turkey sandwich before which I had made with bread, mayonnaise, turkey, lettuce and pickles. They were fascinated by this combination that they had never thought of. They could barely pronounce the ingredients. When we had first met, it was hard to understand their accent and I had to carefully listen to make sure I comprehended what they were saying. Of course, when I am speaking I do not think that I have an accent because I am from the Midwest, but they still say that I have the typical Chicagoan accent.

It said that the British policies were different than in the United States, mainstreaming immigrants immediately and not separating by ability. It argued that the withdrawal classes “establish and confirm social and racial barriers between groups” (32). If students are segregated or separated by ability, students would be able to see which group they belonged to and this might make them discouraged as to where they are placed. It is interesting to see how two different countries who speak the same language go about things so different in the classroom. Of course the ideas of student motivation and teacher competence are both important factors that were also addressed in this section. The idea is that if the students are not separated by ability then the students will lack behind because they are not being adequately taught by their teachers and are not learning the correct rules for the English language. If students can see they are put in the “dumb” section in the classroom or have a room of just lower learners, they might be less likely to want to put forth effort because they feel like their answers will be rejected by their teacher and/or peers. To conclude, if students were to be segregated then that would highlight the differences between the students and may cause more problems among the groups of students.