Final Blog

Final Blog

1.      The first five things that I think should be done about education are as follows:  

a)      One of the first things that I believe needs to be done about education is change the way we use and view test score data. Policy makers have come to blindly accept test scores as they are without any hesitation or questioning. Test score data have become the final say and all educational reform decisions are being made based on tests score data. However, when all of our trust is placed in an inherently flawed set of data, true reform cannot occur. Test scores become meaningless when they fail to measure the greater goals of education. They become useless when schools manipulate the scores by excluding certain students (traditionally low-performing students) from even taking the tests. They become a faulty form of measurement when the standards are lowered and test questions are dumbed down. And they become insignificant when data becomes the sole form of student and teacher assessment. As Ravitch states, we need to become “data-informed rather than data-driven” (p. 228). Test score data are driving all major reform decisions in education, when we should be using test scores as a means to an end.

b)      The second thing that I think needs to change about education in America is the amount of money being spent of public schools. Despite what many politicians and educational reformers may think, money is important. Resources are vital for both teacher and student success. Money gives schools the opportunity to provide students with small classes, good teachers, and a broad liberal arts education including arts and sports programs. All of these things are essential in allowing our students to become well-rounded and well-educated citizens of the world. Money, when used wisely, enables student success. All schools—wealthy and poor—should be able to provide students with these basic services. Additionally, using test scores as a way of deciding how much money a school receives will only make the problem worse, as schools with low-test scores are often the ones who need the most help.

c)      The third thing that I believe needs to change in education is the amount of emphasis the nation tends to place on the core subjects of Math and Science. Math and Science are important, but testing students’ skills in math and science will not produce a responsible and functional citizen in the world. A well-rounded education that includes history, foreign language, and the arts is important in order for students to fully participate in our culturally diverse society. Without a broad liberal arts education, students will not be prepared to be responsible citizens in the real world, as our world is not made up of jobs requiring only mathematicians and scientists. By stressing the importance of knowledge in all subjects, students will better be able to make connections across curriculums and will be better equipped to find and succeed at what they love.

d)      The fourth thing that we must do as a nation in order to change the current state of American education is to change our expectations. We have lowered our standards for students and for teachers to the point of uselessness. By lowering standards on tests and in the classroom, we are communicating two very important messages to students that significantly affect student learning. One is that students have learned that the bare minimum is acceptable in education. Passing a class with a D is perfectly okay with some students, and low-standards are “average” now. The bare minimum in society, however, is unacceptable and is not tolerated. How will students learn to strive for achievement if the expectation is just to “get through it?” The second message—and even more detrimental—that we are communicating to students by lowering standards is that we don’t have faith in them. Low standards tell students that we don’t believe in their abilities and that they will never succeed if the standards are higher. Thus, students see no point in going beyond what is asked of them. They are not motivated to use their knowledge in meaningful ways, or even gain the knowledge they will need in the first place. Knowledge in school is becoming simply information in a textbook, and students will not learn to apply their knowledge in productive or positive ways in the world to benefit themselves and society.

e)      Finally, the fifth aspect of the American education system that must be addressed is using testing as our only method of accountability. Tests can only measure what they are designed to measure. This means that if a math test is designed to measure a 4^th grader’s knowledge of specific math concepts and rules, it cannot measure other ways students may have learned those concepts, or how students apply those concepts and rules to solve different problems. It cannot measure how effective the teacher was in teaching the material because there are so many other variables in test-taking and student learning. Most importantly, tests cannot measure what is most important in education. As Ravitch makes clear, “The goal of education is not to produce high test scores but to educate children to become responsible people with well-developed minds and good character” (p. 228).  

2.      What has been most meaningful about Reading Ravitch for me is learning more about the current political issues surrounding education in America. Reading about the history of reform in America’s education system has also helped me to see the patterns of reform that have not been successful and define my own views on what would improve education in America. Ravitch’s book had allowed me to better understand my own teaching philosophy and how I can improve my teaching practices to promote a well-rounded, applicable education in student learning. Ravitch has allowed me to emphasize my teaching practice more toward the more important goals of education, like creating well-educated and well-rounded citizens of the world.

3.      Based on the current state of American education, as a citizen I believe a lot can be done through simply becoming more aware of the current issues in education and using that awareness and knowledge to vote for what should be happening in education, rather than accepting what is. I believe that citizens who are truly interested in changing the education system in America need to become as knowledgeable as possible by gaining information from everyone involved—teachers, administrators, and politicians.

As a teacher, it is hard to see what can be done on the larger scale to change American education for the better. I feel as though we are a community of teachers with little power over wealthy politicians. We are at the mercy of the decisions being made above us, and there is a constant power struggle between teachers and politicians. In the classroom, however, I believe there are several things that we can do as teachers to prepare students for what they need to know in the real world. As teachers, we have the opportunity to shape our students’ thinking, attitudes, and feelings about the learning and education. Although I do think requirements in the American education system like standardized testing limit teachers in certain ways, I also believe that teachers can learn to be creative “within the lines.” By creating meaningful and engaging lessons that will allow students to use their knowledge and authentic contexts, we can teach to the standards and make sure that what students are learning if applicable to real life. More importantly, as teachers it is our responsibility to interest our students in learning and inspire them to think beyond the test and text. Despite limitations, teachers maintain the ability to change education from inside the classroom.

4.      The two subject area associations I chose to look at were the CFLP (The California Foreign Language Project) and the CLTA (The California Language Teachers’ Association).

The CFLP is an organization that was developed by Stanford University. The organization is dedicated to challenging language professionals to improve and expand language programs in California. It involves teachers in professional community. On the main page of the website, there are various links to foreign language resources, events and discussions, and standards in frameworks. There website also has information about the 23^rd annual summer seminar for language teachers (“Standards-based Instruction in the Context of 21^st Century Skills’). In additions, the CFLP offers student workshops on language teaching for prospective world language and culture teachers.

The CLTA is an organization with various links to resources for foreign language teachers. Links include advocacy, affiliates, awards, job opportunity links, membership information, and conference information. The CLTA sponsors the largest world language conference in California, which location changes between Northern and Southern California every other year. This website is a valuable resource for California foreign language teachers.

5.      Over the next few years, there are several world language resources that I would love to see in the Bay Area and in all of California.

One experiential resources I would love to visit is Chicano Park in San Diego, CA. I visited Chicano Park on an immersion trip in high school, but I didn’t know a lot about Chicano history and culture when I visited. After studying Chicano culture, history, and art in college, I would love to visit this culturally significant sight again and find a way to incorporate the murals in the park into my classroom. Another experiential resource I would like to explore more is La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, CA. La Peña uses the arts, education, and social action to promote peace and cultural understanding. They organize over 200 events a year and offer classes in Latin-American music, dance and other art forms.

There are several books in my subject are that I would like to research further. I would love to research the genre of Chicano youth literature and find a ways to incorporate some of the books in the genre in my curriculum. Some of these include books by Francisco Jimenez, Sandra Cisneros, and Rudolfo Anaya, and more. I’d like to explore the possibility of using excerpts for these books in Spanish to explore cross-cultural issues existing among Mexican-American’s in the U.S. today. Using books from the Chicano genre also opens up an opportunity for interdisciplinary teaching and learning.

Two academic journals in my subject area that I would like to investigate further are Studies in Second Language Acquisition and the Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching. Studies in Second Language Acquisition is a journal devoted to the scientific research of acquisition of any second or foreign language. The Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching is dedicated to research which makes connections between linguistics and the implications linguistics has on language teaching.

Finally, there are still several sights in the world I would like to see and experience connected to my subject area. Participating in the Día de los Muertos events in Mexico is at the top of my list. I also hope to spend some time traveling through Central and South America (top countries: Perú, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, and Costa Rica) learning more about the Spanish-American cultures, history and traditions. I am particularly interested in researching dialectal/linguistic variation in Latin and South America. 

Technology

Technology

1. One of the most relevant parts of Dr. Robert’s presentation for me was the statistical information about media exposure. I was shocked that the average child between the ages of 8-18 is spending about 10 hours and 45 minutes per day on media exposure. Even more interesting to me was the definition of media exposure and its relation to media multitasking. The idea of media multitasking is fascinating to me, and what media multitasking is for kids today is completely different than what it was for me as a child, and even for me now. In fact, I am doing it right now—listening to music while writing this blog entry.

For many kids though, media multitasking has turned into multitasking in the truest sense of the word. Kids may be switching back and forth between six, seven, eight or more activities all at one time. Even my younger brother, who is an undergraduate student who loves computers, will be working on one or two homework assignments on the computer while playing a computer game, playing a PS3 game, listening to music, and watching a t.v. show online.

I am curious about the implications that multitasking has on students’ ability to retain information and produce quality work. What affect does it have on memory and recall, if any? Does media multitasking affect the amount of time it takes students to complete a high quality assignment?

Dr. Robert also talked about the amount of time kids spend on the computer is increasing while things like t.v. use is decreasing, and how mobile devices are contributing to the decrease in uses of individually functioning products such as iPods, cd players, dvds, radio and t.v. If our students are sending and receiving most of their information via computers, cell phones, ipads, how does this affect their ability to communicate face-to-face in and outside of the classroom? Are students able to think for themselves, form their own opinions, interpret information analytically and orally, and use the information they are receiving in effective communicative ways? Are students losing touch with “the real world” without newspapers, books, radio, and live television?

2. The implications of online classes for education and my own teaching would be tremendous, and, in my opinion, mostly negative. Online courses take away the opportunity to interact, discuss, communicate, and debate with others face-to-face—skills which I believe will always be valuable in any profession. No matter how technology oriented our society become, it is important for students to know will still need to know how to do things like think critically, ask intelligent and thought-provoking questions, and be openly curious about “the facts.” Yes, students may be able to think critically in an online class, but how will they express their thoughts and ideas? If critical thinking is expressed in writing, how will they receive feedback from other students and from the teacher? I believe that oral feedback—discussion and conversations—are important. An important point that the article brings up is that it is extremely easy for students to cheat in online courses. How can we accurately test what students learn in an online course?

In regards to my own teaching, I feel as though teaching my subject (Spanish) online would be a huge disservice to all of my students and ultimately fail in teaching them effectively communicate in the language. Foreign language teaching and learning is interactive by nature—it involves movement, production and reception of the language in an authentic environment, learning through culture and context. Students in the foreign language classroom are often learning at the kindergarten or first grade level. Would anyone expect first graders to learn how to read in an online class?

In a foreign language class, the opportunity for students to actively participate in conversation with the teacher and peers needs to exist. Teachers must be able to respond immediately to students in the target language, modeling correct grammar and pronunciation, and correcting student errors. Authentic materials are also a vital part of learning a foreign language—Spanish music, movies, newspapers, magazines, and artifacts—things that could not possibly be used effectively through online teaching.

    3. The first link I looked at from the “Technology Resources for the Teacher” document was the Cool Timer site. Although I have seen this used by several teachers, I never knew about the website and where to download the timer. This is a great tool for classroom management use in any classroom. I would use the timer in two ways—to help me stay on track with my lesson plan, and for timing student activities. I change activities frequently, so this will be a useful future tool.

The second link I explored was the Slide Rocket site. This is a valuable resource for both students and teachers, and a good alternative to PowerPoint. Not only is it useful for creating engaging presentations, but could also be used as a way to communicate with students before or after the presentation. You are able to see who has viewed the slides as well as start a conversation while viewing the slides. This could be used as a frontloading tool for the next lesson, and it could also help students review the material presented in class.

The third site I looked at was the Animoto website, which allows you to create videos with text, photos, and video included. I would use this site extensively in my classroom when I teach new songs every few weeks. Having the lyrics on-screen to specific pictures and the song playing the background would help both visual and audio learners better retain the information in the song.

The last website I looked into was Quizlet.com—a website that allows teachers to create online flashcards for students and input vocabulary words which generate online games for students to play, like crosswords, hangman, etc. What I love about Quizlet is the subject-specific option on the site. In the language section, there are links to topic-specific games depending on what you want your students to focus on.  

Interdisciplinary Teaching--Dia de los Muertos

In any Spanish class I teach, one of my favorite topics to teach is holidays celebrated in the different Spanish-speaking countries. One of my favorite cultural celebrations to teach is Día de los Muertos. I normally spend about one week prior to Día de los Muertos (November 1^st and 2^nd) teaching students about the history and traditions of Day of the Dead. We explore Day of the Dead through art, music, video clips, and food.

At the end of the week, we make a class altar with ofrendas (offerings) to honor and celebrate loved ones students have lost. Students are asked to bring a picture of someone that has passed away in their family (if not family, than a friend or a pet), and one object that represents that person. I start the class by explaining the picture and object I brought to represent someone I have lost, and students then share their pictures with the class. After sharing, all pictures and objects are placed on the class altar, which is decorated with orange and purples candles, cempasúchiles (orange merigolds—the traditional flower of Day of the Dead), and papel picado and calaveras (sugar skulls) made by students during the week. On Friday of that week, we have a Día de los Muertos party. Students bring in traditional Mexican food (homemade or bought) that is traditionally eaten on Day of the Dead in Mexico, and I make a pan de muertos for the class to share.

The end result of the combination of lessons and the class altar is a very powerful lesson for students, and often sparks further interest into other cultural holidays. Day of the Dead is one of the most (if not the most) important holidays in Mexico and is often misunderstood by non-Mexican’s. By the end of the week, students have a clearer understanding of both how and why people celebrate Day of the Dead, and actively participate in a sacred tradition of Día de los Muertos—the ofrenda.  

Throughout the series of lessons I teach on Dia de los Muertos, there are several resources I use in order to enrich students’ understanding of the traditions, meaning, and importance of the holiday. One resources I have used in the past is the Smithsonian Latino Center’s website (http://latino.si.edu/dayofthedead/) on Day of the Dead to do a web quest. To introduce the holiday, I break students up into groups. Each group is given a set of questions that they must answer using the information on the website (under the “About Day of the Dead” and “Glossary” links at the top). They must then report back to the class what they found. The questions for each group are divided into categories (history, important vocabulary, traditions, meaning, and how it is celebrated in Mexico). I have found that this is a great way to get students involved in learning about the history of Día de los Muertos and how it is celebrated today.

Another resource I use during the week to teach students about Day of the Dead is a virtual, online picture book (http://www.miscositas.com/miabuela.html) called Mi Abuela Ya No Está. The short story is about a young girl who has lost her grandmother, and learns to celebrate her life through the Day of the Dead festivities. Although the story is somewhat complicated (grammar, vocab. etc.), we spend time as a class and in partners telling the story through the pictures first, scaffolding vocabulary, and deciphering the meaning together. Depending on the level of the class (Spanish 1, 2, 3, or 4), I use the story book to different extents.

I also use video clips to show students what Day of the Dead celebrations look like in Mexico, and to help students better understand the history and traditions of Día de los muertos. This link is a video a series of photos and video of Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico to the Café Tacuba song “Dame la Muerte Chiquita.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fTySU0FxNA&feature=fvsr. I show the clip in class to help students see what the different aspects of the celebration look like (the altars, skulls, etc.). We also spend time looking at the lyrics of the song, what they mean, and how they relate to Día de los Muertos. Another clip I like to show is a video of a Day of the Dead mass in a cemetery in Mexico on Day of the Dead followed by video and images of the celebration that precedes the mass. There is also a short interview with someone honoring a loved one. This video is great for showing students what actually occurs on Day of the Dead in Mexico, and the importance it holds in the Mexican culture. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QXY2TI5jrs

One of my favorite reference sites for Day of the Dead crafts and project ideas/examples is http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/. 


Interdisciplinary teaching is valuable in ways to both students and teachers that we  yet to even know for ourselves. It allows students to make higher-learning connections and gives students an opportunity to see the "bigger picture" of education. It also deepens understand of a subject matter. In foreign language, bringing things like art, music, stories, realia, etc. to help teach vocabulary, grammar, and culture forces students to use the language they learn in authentic and practical contexts, and to see the real-life value in what they are learning. 

*See my responses to colleagues:

Yadira Zapata

Mind the Gap: Session 2

    1.  “The new reforms had everything to do with structural changes and accountability, and nothing at all to do with the substance of learning. Accountability makes no sense when it undermines the larger goals of education” (16).

In this statement, Ravitch claims that the reforms taking place under No Child Left Behind were not, in fact, at all about improving students’ education and furthering their learning. Instead, the reform was about measurement and accountability. Accountability, as Ravitch expresses, means nothing when what teachers are being held accountable for is not related to the ultimate goal of education. Teachers are being held accountable for things that simply are not central to learning and education—raising test scores. Raising scores has become the end goal, and this goal completely overlooks the purpose of education. Accountability, then, is not a valuable measurement of neither teachers’ performance nor student progress.

“These recommendations were sound in 1983. They are sound today” (30).

In this quote, Ravitch is referring to the recommendations made by A Nation at Risk—that we needed to reform and strengthen our curriculum, produce higher-quality textbooks, implement voluntary national standards, create clear high school graduation requirements that would prepare students for post-high school education, raise student expectations, require more of new teaching recruits, and raise teacher salaries.

I find Ravitch’s above statement completely maddening, and yet also motivating. How is it that in reading A Nation at Risk—a report written almost thirty years ago—we are still struggling with the same issues in the education system? Even more frustrating, why do we continue to implement strategies and bills like No Child Left Behind that we know are ineffective? Ravitch’s statement brings to light the difficult truth that everyone in the education world should address: we have not yet solved the problem, and in fact, we seem to have been unwilling to attend to the true nature of the problem for 29 years now.

2.   I believe that a well-educated person not only has a solid foundation of core subjects learned in school (English, writing, reading, math, science, and history), but, more importantly, can transform this knowledge and apply it to their everyday lives. A well-educated person should be able to think critically and creatively, problem-solve, and use their knowledge to achieve a set goal to better themselves and society. A person who is well-educated is able to take what he or she has learned and use it in a productive, meaningful way that contributes to others.

In my opinion, a well-educated person is also culturally knowledgeable and respectful of all religions, races, genders, ethnicities, and cultural traditions, regardless of his or her own beliefs and understanding.

 3. In our class discussion of the first two chapters of Ravitch’s book, what stood out to me the most was our debate on teacher evaluation. What is the best way to evaluate teachers other than examining test scores, and how might we establish a new evaluation system in our schools today? These are difficult questions to answer. One student in class mentioned a system developed at his school for evaluating teachers than involved observations, teacher-created and presented portfolios, and a sort of “academic review” of each teacher by a board of 5 different administrators and other teachers.

As much as an evaluation system like this seems considerably superior to that of using standardized test scores, at the same time it is not practical for all schools. Larger public schools and low-income schools would likely have a hard time establishing such an extensive and in-depth evaluation process. As we discussed in class, too, many teachers would probably object to such a thorough evaluation. These are the teachers who almost certainly need to refine their teaching practice, though, because if they are concerned about observations or presenting colleagues with a portfolio representative of what has been happening in their classroom, then they are doing something wrong.  The conclusion we came to as a class seemed to be that although we agree that test scores are not effective in evaluating teacher performance, we do not know how a different and better process could practically and realistically be put in place nation-wide, or even state-wide.

What I didn’t get a chance to say during this discussion was that I believe at least of portion of teacher evaluation needs to be observation (by both administrators and peers in the same and different content areas), and observations done over a significant period of time. I know this is not practical and would be extremely difficult to implement, but I feel that a teacher cannot be judged as “good” or “bad” based on how his or her students score on tests—tests that don’t even follow the curriculum the teacher is teaching. We spend 10 months every year with our students, carefully observing their behavior, taking note of their efforts and improvements on tests, homework, in-class work, group work, and outside the classroom in order to accurately evaluate their progress. So why, then, are teachers evaluated solely on a few numbers on a piece of paper?

    4. One of the main gaps in my subject area is my knowledge of both Spanish and Latin American literature. Although I took both upper-division Spanish courses in college while studying in Spain, my Spanish at the time was not good enough to truly grasp the historical and cultural contexts of the novels I read. I do not have a deep knowledge of either topic, and have found a few resources to be helpful in filling this gap.

The website I found most helpful in researching this gap is donquijote.org. This is a website offering general resources for both learners and teachers of Spanish alike, and the company offers Spanish courses abroad with accommodation in Spain and in Latin America. There are a wide variety of topics outlined, including Spanish and Latin American literature. The literature page (www.donquijote.org/spanishlanguage/literature/) has an extensive overview of the major periods and movements of both Spanish and Latin American literature ranging from the first texts written in Spanish to present-day literature. The links to each literature period/movement include historical context, cultural relevance, and the major author’s representative of that time period, as well as their most notable works. This website was extremely helpful for me in “brushing up” on my knowledge of the literature in both Spain and Latin America, and could easily be used as a student resource also.

The book I found that would help fill my gap in knowledge of Hispanic literature is entitled Aproximaciones al Estudio de la Literatura Hispánica. It is a textbook from one of my Spanish literature classes in college that features excerpts by various Hispanic authors from several Spanish-speaking countries. The books is organized by genre of literature, and analyzes la narrative (narrative), la poesía (poetry), lectura (reading selections), el drama (drama/theater), and el ensayo (essays).

  

    5.   After beginning my research on the relationship between music and second language acquisition, I decided to shift my focus to linguistics and phonetics of the Spanish language in Spain. I will now be researching the phonological and sociolinguistic variation of the regional dialects and minority languages in Spain. Although research has been difficult to find thus far (a problem I hope will resolve itself when my topic is more refined), I found two articles that are particularly useful to my research topic.

The first article, “Present Day Seseo and Ceceo in Southern Spain” by John B. Dalbor, offers a detailed description of the seseo/ceceo presence in “modern day” Spain. He defines seseo and ceceo and contrasts each term with what is typical in traditional Castellano (Castilian) speakers. He goes into more detail about other characteristics that distinguish Castellano from the Spanish in other Spanish-speaking countries. He then explains how the seseo/ceceo is recognized, and gives a phonological explanation of the different allophones (different speech sounds representing the same phoneme) that represent the phoneme /s/ heard in Spain. After conducting a one-week study of the seseo/ceceo in Sevilla and Granada (Southern Spain), he presents the results which analyze where seseo/ceceo is most common, among which social class, and how it presents differently in Sevilla and Granada.

Although this article was written in 1980, the Andaluz dialect of Spanish has not changed significantly over the past few decades, and Dalbor’s article is extremely valuable in the research of regional phonological variation in Spain today. One thing the article explained that I did not previously know is how seemingly random and varied ceceo and seseo speakers are in Andalucía. Previously, it had been my experience (as the stereotype claims) that most ceceo-speakers were uneducated peasants or famers. However, from Dalbor’s study, there is strong evidence against this view—that many highly educated Sevillanos and Granadinos, in fact, are ceceo-speakers or have frequent “slips” where distinction is not made. Even more contrary to the stereotype is that Dalbor interviewed several lower-class Andaluzes who were seseo-speakers (as opposed to ceceo). I also become more knowledgeable on the differences in how recognizable the ceceo/seseo distinction is between Sevilla and Granada. In Granada, it is significantly more difficult to identify someone as a definitive ceceo-speaker because two of the allophones sound very similar (both sounding like ceceo).

After reading this article, I have more questions about the seseo/ceceo variations found in Andalucía. I would like to research more about how this phonological variation contributes to the sociolinguistic identity of the Andaluz region. This writer was very convincing and I plan to look for other articles written by him.

The second article I found useful in looking for research on my topic is entitled “Spain’s linguistic Normalization Laws: The Catalan Controversy” by Earl L. Rees. Like the article mentioned above, this article was published in the journal Hispania and was published in 1996.  The article first explains the roots of Catalan—that it is a full romance language. Rees explains that the controversy began after Spain’s unification in 1469 when Ferdinand and Isabel made Castilian the official language for all administrative and ecclesiastical matters. Thus, two languages (Castilian and Catalan) needed to exist together. When King Philip V came into power in 1700, he wanted to modernize Spain and imposed strict laws that restricted the regional independence that Cataluña wanted. Castilian was used in all official matters, but Catalan remained the everyday language of the locals.

During Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975), he reinstated Castilian as the only official language of Spain in hopes of creating a definitive national identity. However, after his death in 75’, King Juan Carlos withdrew the one-language policy and in 1983, Spain’s 17 autonomous regions were created. Each region had its own parliament and administration. The Barcelona government enacted the Linguistic Normalization Law that same year, the goal of which was to reestablish and widen the presence of Catalan in public administration, education, and the media. Catalan is spoken by 8 million people in the Cataluña region, bordering areas, and in Valencia.

In 1994, the Supreme Court acknowledged Catalan as an official language in Cataluña in addition to Castilian. Catalan became the primary language of instruction in schools and administration. A conflict arose with Spanish-speaking immigrants in Cataluña, since most could not communicate in Catalan. Mono-lingual Spanish-speakers were looked down upon in the Catalan community. Making Catalan an official language—and defining what that means and will mean in the future—also created a long-lasting political conflict between the Catalan Socialist Party and the Popular Party.

Rees also asserts the importance of Catalan and identity among the people of Cataluña. The majority of Catalans do not consider themselves “Spanish.” People from Barcelona identify themselves as Catalan instead.

Finally, the article compares Catalan to the other two minority languages in Spain: Gallego (Galician) and Euskera (Basque). Rees describes the two languages and the role they play in their respective communities. Gallego, he explains, is a Romance language like Catalan. Basque, however, has unknown roots and is completely different than any other language in Spain. The major difference between Catalan and the other minority languages in Spain, Rees stresses, is that Catalan is a recognized, conscious part of the culture and identity of Cataluña. Basque is not emphasized or promoted in the same way in the Basque community, and Gallego is also limited in the Galician community.

Near the end of the article, Rees poses a question that I am now also curious about --is Catalan isolating Barcelona culturally from the rest of Spain? After reading this article, I also want to know more about the structure of the Catalan language, as well as its roots.

Before reading the article, I did not know much about minority language in Spain other than Catalan, and I find it interesting to be able to compare all three languages. It only shows how deeply rooted Catalan is in Barcelona’s culture and identity.

*See my responses to colleagues:

Yadira Zapata

Alana Scott

Blog Reflection 2 (MAIT 402)

Blog Reflection: Session 1

1. My outside-school experiences relating to my content area (Spanish) have had a profound effect on both my content knowledge and the way in which I teach it. In Foreign Language, it is especially important to have a variety of culturally and linguistically diverse experience outside of formal schooling. There are so many opportunities (study abroad, travel, cultural events, art exhibits, concerts, etc.) for foreign language teachers to expand their knowledge beyond the classroom, and I have tried to take full advantage of these opportunities.

My love for all things Spanish began one summer in high school when I went on an immersion trip to a small village in El Salvador, and on a service trip to Tijuana, México that same summer. Both trips allowed me to discover two very different cultures, and I fell in love with both. When I came back, all I wanted to do was study about different Spanish-speaking countries—their culture, their food, their art, and their music.

These trips led me to eventually study abroad for one year in college—6 months in Cuernavaca, Mexico and 6 months in Madrid, Spain. Study abroad completely changed my perspective on and definition of “Spanish.” Learning Spanish in high school, I viewed the language as “whole,” static—without much variation. After studying abroad in both Spain and Mexico—two countries in which the language is hardly the same—I became fascinated with the linguistic differences and similarities among different Spanish-speaking countries. I started to study cultural phrases, idioms, phonetics, and morphology of the Spanish spoken within and among Spanish speaking countries. Study abroad hugely contributed to both my linguistic and cultural knowledge of Spanish, and enabled me to better understand the connection between language and culture.  

Study abroad also influenced my decision to teach English abroad in Granada, Spain after receiving my credential. This outside-school experience was by the most influential in deepening my knowledge of both the Spanish language and culture. Because I was fluent in the language and had taught for one year, I actively participated in and researched experiences that I could use in the classroom in some way upon returning to the U.S.  I spent the year “researching” the Andalucían language, culture, and food, collecting newspapers, magazines, music, and other authentic materials along the way. ­­­My outside-school experiences have shaped, defined, and refined my knowledge of Spanish. 

2.   After the seminar on Ball’s “The Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers,” I felt a little frustrated. I was not frustrated with the discussion, though. Rather, I was frustrated with the apparent lack of solution by Ball.

In class, many of us expressed our doubts about the idea of having to be “experts” in our content in order to be good teachers. This is a question that I had not considered before our in-class discussion. How deeply do teachers need to know the content to be effective in teaching it? I believe that over time (as we all discussed in class), you gain knowledge about your content through the experience of teaching it. It would be nearly impossible, I think, to learn the amount and depth of content you needed to know for teaching before actually doing it, even if your teaching assignments were given to you in advance. I also recognize the importance of continuing to expand our knowledge outside of the classroom.

Another issue brought up in our discussion relating to the above topic was the problematic expectations placed upon teachers to be well-versed in both content area and pedagogy with-in the first few years of teaching. Is this truly practical though with the current emphasis of our credential programs (pedagogy)? Is it fair for legislators, administrators, and parents to expect us to learn more knowledgeable in our content areas and use that knowledge in the classroom when the focus currently seems to be on standardized testing?

I feel as though we as a nation much decide what we really want our students to know. Do want them to know how to memorize and perform certain broad skills, or do we want them to become curious learners, learning to think critically, analyze, question, and explain? While standardized testing is in effect, the expectation the nation is imposing on our students is that they need only know the basics, and that knowing the basics is enough to be successful in this world. Standardized testing has become the end goal of “knowledge” in and of itself, but testing does not allow for true content knowledge to be taught or learned.

3. For the moment, my inquiry question is as follows: What is the relationship between music and second language acquisition? How does music affect the phonological acquisition of a foreign language, specifically Spanish? Does music affect the acquisition of the semantic and syntactic aspects of the foreign language? I am also considering studying how we learn second languages and how does the idea of “language transfer” effect second language acquisition. What are some of the specific aspects of psycholinguistics (oral production of certain sounds, orthography, semantics, syntax, etc.) that are especially difficult for English learners of Spain?

I am not yet satisfied with my topic because I know it needs to be much more specific. I am also having trouble deciding which topic I want to explore more. There is an abundance of research on both topics, although there is more research available on the later topic. I have several ideas for experiential learning sources. One of the ideas that I am most looking forward to is attending the Día de los Muertos festivities in Oakland and in San Jose. I also plan on going to SF MOMA in the next week or so to see the Photography in Mexico exhibit. 

4. Here are a few of my favorite quotes that have inspired my studies and travels. There is a link, also, to some pictures from my experiences abroad. 

"Cuando hay gente unida que cree en algo firmamente, ya religion, politica, o sindicato, aglo sucede." -Cesar Chavez (“When there is a united people who believe firmly in something, whether it be religion, politics, or unions, something happens.”) 

“Poco a poco…” –This is something that the Spanish say in times of hardship to get them through. It means “little by little” and it’s a part of Spain’s cultural expression through language.

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." –- Miriam Beard. I love this quote. It expresses it means to travel, learn a language, and step outside ourselves and into the worlds and cultures of those around us.

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." –- Henry Miller. This Henry Miller quote captures the essence of why we learn foreign languages.

“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.”—Paulo Coelho. A great quote from one of my favorite authors.

http://lifeinspanish.shutterfly.com/pictures

*See my responses to colleagues:
Yadira Zapata
Alana Scott

Final Project Guiding Questions

1. How has the Spanish language evolved in Spain from it's Latin roots until now? In what ways do the different dialects vary?

2. How do we learn foreign languages? What parts of the brain are involved in the different functions (speaking, listening, reading, writing) of languages? How, neurologically and psychologically) does one become fluent in a second language?

3. How has "Spanglish" developed as a new language in the U.S. border states overs the past two decades? What influence has it had on the Spanish and English languages?

4. How is Chicano culture/history represented and film and literature? How can students of Mexican heritage identify with Chicano culture and history in California/the U.S.?

5. How does music effect memory and phonetics in second language acquisition? Is it effective in teaching some of the more difficult functions of a language, like accent and comprehension?

6. What are the effects of language transfer on second language acquisition? How does it effect the ability to learn semantics, syntax, lexicon, phonetics, phonology, morphology, and pragmatics in the foreign language?

7. What are some of the specific difficulties of second language learners of Spain (production of certain allophones, syntax, pragmatics, etc.)? What causes these difficulties, and how can students be helped in becoming more fluent in these aspects of the language?