Abstract: Project 2 (Beyond Awareness - Tackling Social Stigma)
By: Gloria Alafe
In my essay I use Suhanthie Motha's Introduction Motha, Suhanthie Race, Empire, and English Language Teaching: Creating Responsible and Ethical Anti-racist Practice as my primary text; while using the works of Motoko Kainose, Elaine Richardson, and Clemintana Nyarko's interview as supplemental texts/videos for my argument. My argument talked about how ESL teachers having awareness towards their student is not enough and how school systems in place now need a new way of teaching. I argue that though teachers need awareness, however there needs to be a way for solving the stigma surrounding ESL/ESOL students. I propose that integrating ESL classes and non-ESL classes would help combat systematic racism and promote cultural awareness. After examining Kainose's reflection, Richardsone's text, and Nyarko's interview I forward Motha's need to bridge the gap between native speaking individuals and non-native speaking individuals, however I suggest that having co-teaching between ESL and non-ESL teachers would help funnel an all encompassing education for all students in their educational system. Furthermore, I state that there is not just a gap between students but also a gap between educators of different profession, such as ESL teachers and non-ESL teachers. I conclude by proposing that there should be a school system or class that models these ideas to see if these changes will in fact relieve social stigma on ESL students, and enrich non-ESL students in education of other cultures. Overall, I state that to fully establish a educational system united in culture and understanding there should not be a promotion of dominant languages, such as the English Only policy; and awareness in thought is not enough to combat racial and language stigma.
Work Cited
Kainose, Motoko. Motoko’s Reflections on Learning Across the Curriculum. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004. 111-125. Print.
Motha, Suhanthie. Introduction. Race, Empire, and English Language Teaching: Creating Responsible and Ethical Anti-racist Practice. New York: Teachers College, 2014. 1-19. Print.
Nyarko, Clementina. Interview with Clementina Nyarko. YouTube. 17 March 2015. Web. 1 April 2015.
Richardson, Elaine. “English Only,” African American Contributions to Standardized Communication Structures, and the Potential for Social Transformation. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2010. 97-109. Project Muse. Print.
Motha, Suhanthie. Introduction. Race, Empire, and English Language Teaching: Creating Responsible and Ethical Anti-racist Practice. New York: Teachers College, 2014. 1-19. Print.
Nyarko, Clementina. Interview with Clementina Nyarko. YouTube. 17 March 2015. Web. 1 April 2015.
Richardson, Elaine. “English Only,” African American Contributions to Standardized Communication Structures, and the Potential for Social Transformation. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2010. 97-109. Project Muse. Print.
The Allure of Multilingualism by http://multilingualismgloralafe.weebly.com/ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.