The Primary changes I made to my essay was correcting my transitions, so it flows smoothly and makes sense with the essay. I corrected my citations and clarified the authors of the articles and journals I’m using to support my thesis. As well as cleaning up my conclusion and keeping it clear and straight to the point. As well as clarifying what my thesis is in my introduction.
First Synthesis Essay Draft:
Language in Class
In the United States of America, students are required to attend schools in order to attain a proper education to ensure a successful future. It is implemented that without a degree students will struggle to achieve what they desire to have. In English classes students are taught basic literacy and linguistic skills that will be of help in their futures. Although most students in the south might feel discouraged to speak a regional dialect within the classroom, due to being perceived as less intelligent, students rather speak only English which later on impacts the pride in their culture. Teachers as well who do not see the value these students have despite their linguistic differences also contribute to the decline of students willing to continue their education. Ultimately, the English classrooms should allow more linguistic and cultural diversity within the classroom, which will increase the attendance of immigrant students in schools across America.
American schools have become a learning environment where students can socialize and acquire knowledge. Students from diverse backgrounds are more challenged in English classrooms where speaking one language is mandatory. The language barriers build up insecurities where students then separate themselves from their cultural identity to assimilate themselves to the American identity. Lucila D. EK, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, in her journal article “It’s Different Lives,” approaches how Amalia prior to starting high school called herself a ‘Guatemalan Girl’ but the influence of high school Americanized her identity by defaulting in calling herself Hispanic. (“It’s Different Lives : A Guatemalan American Adolescent’s Construction of Ethnic and Gender Identities across Educational Contexts” 6) Furthermore, throughout the article Amalia realizes English has started to appear more outside of her classroom and into her personal life, where she wishes to still hold on to her native language in fear she’ll lose the last thing of her culture.
Similarly in “Terms of Inclusion: Has Multiculturalism Redefined Equality in American Education?”, observes how “ Transitional bilingual education divides children from language minority communities according to individual communicative competence, thus reinforcing the individualistic premises of American social structure, and perhaps fragments and erodes group identity and solidarity.” (Onleck 6) Crucially, students are being excluded from social groups in schools because of language barriers that later on impacts their lives negatively. Over all Schools have stripped away the confidence of where cultural students come from and have isolated them because of their linguistic difference. Ways schools can make students of diversity feel included is by taking the time of celebrating their cultures by using Spanish Heritage month and allowing them to embrace where they come from through their food and language. Teachers can allow students to write creatively at an academic level through their own language and style .
As a daughter of immigrants, my parents felt it was best to shelter me from the embarrassment they faced when speaking English with an accent, so they decided to place me in English only classes where I learned to speak English and my Spanish was erased. Similarly, Journalist Melissia Hung wrote in her article, “Towards ChinaTown,” how her parents placed her in an English only class and said, “My Cantonese Freezes in Time.” while English began to dominate. Reflecting how sometimes when parents rather protect their children from being left out from society results in losing their identity which is interlinked with their mother tongue. This also applies to students feeling a sense of belonging find it better learning in an environment that feels they can express themselves for who they are and where they come from, rather than filtering their identities to societal expectations of speaking good English. David Bowers, author and professor at the University of Texas, where he teaches educators of the future, also argues “You’re not going to be able to center the voices and identities of students in your classroom if you don’t see those voices and those identities as precious and important to you.” (“Heritage Language in Schools: A story of identity, Belonging and Loss.” 1) Bowers speaks to Teachers by implying that if you want your students to find their voices and express themselves through their work, you need to give them the freedom and importance in embracing who they are. Bowers also speaks on using students’ “home language as a primary vehicle” in an academic setting in order to preserve their heritage and identity.
Language Ideologies also play an important role in students’ experiences academically. Language Standardization is defined as a process of having a “correct” version of a language evaluating the grammar, spelling and vocabulary by establishing it to be used within the educational environment and outside of them. In “The Impact of Language Ideologies in Schools,” Alerts educators not to assume that students are unintelligent or unqualified because they don’t speak standard English, but are still capable of succeeding and completing their work because fluency in their own language allows them to think critically. (Fine, Strong & Palmer, 2019) Angulism is the next ideology that is formed afterwards, known as not being fluent in any language. To say that a student doesn’t speak any language is incorrect because their view on language is solely based on standard English rather than it being their cultural language. This then threatens the students’ ability of progression in a classroom, which also damages students by thinking stereotypically of them.“(for example, “those [Chinese] girls are always quiet”), to understanding how their own teaching practices either created or limited space for students to interact meaningfully within the classroom (Rumenapp, 2016).” Thinking such a way hinders students ability to succeed in an environment where they are labeled as such.
I am confident that students who can incorporate their own language into their writings perform better rather than students having to use academic language, which creates a gap between the student and their writing. In the poem “Finna” by Nate Marshall, discusses how the word “finna” has been a part of his life both at school and outside of, and the perspective of the use of the word “finna”. “So this one time i was finna say finna in a academic context & a voice in my head said shouldn’t you be worried about using a word that ain’t a word & i was like word. & for a long time that was how i let my life happen, i let my mind tell me a million no’s that the world had implanted in me before I even formed questions. I let my power be dulled by my fear of fitting.” (Stanza 1 and 2) Marshall once believed that using the word “Finna” was inappropriate in the academic setting which then made him feel hesitant of the words he uses in his writings. But once he found the courage to write in his language using slang words like finna, he reached out to a broader audience that can relate and understand what he’s been through or where he came from. Marshall speaks of how his “finna” is who he is and it’s connected to his southern culture and by removing the use of slang, removes the “finna” that is alive and learning to be a real word used in an academic setting. The same Marshall’s teacher also believed in his ability to write in the movie “Freedom Writers” the students teacher Ms. Gruwell also believed her students had a voice despite where they live and cultural background. How the students proved to the principal that they too belong in this school and can meet the requirements of passing if they had someone who believed in them and could accommodate their teaching to how they learn.
The Board of Education should review students who are immigrants, come from immigrant families and diverse cultures should be accepting of students’ cultural identity and the use of language in an academic setting specifically, in an English classroom. Although, you might see how students are being helped to speak English more confidently in classrooms, that still doesn’t bring the cultural awareness that diverse students need to feel in a classroom because they are labeled as being less intelligent, when knowing more than one language is a skill regardless of how well it is spoken. Also, some might say that although there might be inclusion in readings professors present to students in classrooms but if they aren’t given the freedom to be able to fully express themselves with their language what good does reading books do for them, if they can not put into practice the knowledge they receive in their own way. Overall, students can still find ways to use professionalism in their writings if it stays consistent with who they are instead of conforming to what’s expected or enforced to be done but rather having an original voice that goes hand and hand with the academic requirements and identity.
Last Synthesis Essay draft:
Language in The Classroom
In the United States of America, students are required to attend schools in order to attain a proper education to ensure a successful future. In English classes students are taught basic
literacy and linguistic skills that will be of help in their futures. Many students feel discouraged to speak a regional dialect within the classroom, due to being perceived as less intelligent. Many teachers do not see the value of linguistic diversity, ultimately contributing to the decline of students motivated to continue their education. I argue that schools should encourage more
linguistic and cultural diversity within the English classroom, which will increase the confidence of diverse students in schools.
American schools have become a learning environment where students can socialize and acquire knowledge. Students from diverse backgrounds are more challenged in English classrooms where speaking one language is mandatory. The language barrier builds up insecurities where students then separate themselves from their cultural identity to assimilate
themselves to the American identity. Lucila D. EK, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, in her journal article “It’s Different Lives,” approaches how Amalia, who Professor
Lucila researched on about the socialization of students of color and the working-class. Prior to Amalia starting high school, she called herself a ‘Guatemalan Girl’ but the influence of high
school Americanized her identity by defaulting in calling herself Hispanic (6). Throughout the article, Amalia realizes English has started to appear more outside of her classroom and into her
personal life, where she wishes to still hold on to her native language in fear she’ll lose part of her culture.
In the same way Amalia assimilated her identity in school, English classrooms also separated students into English-only classrooms prioritizing solidarity over cultural identity and
speaking their native language that binds their community together. (Onleck 6 ) Being excluded from social groups in schools because of language barriers later on impacts students’ self esteem
and strips away the confidence of where cultural students come from and has isolated them because of their linguistic difference. Teachers can allow students to write creatively at an academic level through their own language and style . By celebrating culture this can make students of diversity feel included by taking the time of celebrating their cultures by using Spanish Heritage month and allowing them to embrace where they come from through their food and language.
Embracing my culture especially as a daughter of immigrants, my parents felt it was best to shelter me from the embarrassment they faced when speaking English with an accent, so they decided to place me in English only classes where I learned to speak English and my Spanish was erased. Similarly, in Journalist Melissia Hung “Towards ChinaTown,” Hung explains how her parents placed her in an English-only classroom saying— “My Cantonese Freezes in Time.” putting her native tongue on pause and having to develop the English language. When parents protect their children from being left out from society they do not recognize the loss in their identity which is their mother tongue. Students feeling a sense of belonging find it better learning in an environment that feels they can express themselves for who they are and where they come from, rather than filtering their identities to societal expectations of speaking good English.
David Bowers, author and professor at the University of Texas, where he teaches educators of the future, also argues “You’re not going to be able to center the voices and identities of students in your classroom if you don’t see those voices and those identities as precious and important to you.”(Bowers 1) Bowers speaks to teachers by implying that if you want your students to find their voices and express themselves through their work, you need to give them the freedom and importance in embracing who they are. Bowers also speaks on using students’ “home language as a primary vehicle” in an academic setting in order to preserve their heritage and identity. Language ideologies also play an important role in students’ experiences academically. Language Standardization is defined as a process of having a “correct” version of a language evaluating the grammar, spelling and vocabulary by establishing it to be used within the educational environment and outside of them. In “The Impact of Language Ideologies in Schools,” by Catlin Fine, Kimberly Strong and Deborah Palmer, alerts educators not to assume that students are unintelligent or unqualified because they don’t speak standard English, but are still capable of succeeding and completing their work because fluency in their own language allows them to think critically (2019). Angulism is the next ideology that is formed afterwards, known as not being fluent in any language. To say that a student doesn’t speak any language is incorrect because their view on language is solely based on standard English rather than it being their cultural language. This then threatens the students’ ability of progression in a classroom, which also damages students by thinking stereotypically of them.“(for example, “those [Chinese] girls are always quiet”), to understanding how their own teaching practices either created or limited space for students to interact meaningfully within the classroom (Rumenapp, 2016).” Thinking such a way hinders students ability to succeed in an environment where they are labeled as such.
I am confident that students who can incorporate their own language into their writings perform better rather than students having to use academic language, which creates a gap between the student and their writing. In the poem “Finna” by Nate Marshall, discusses how the word “finna” has been a part of his life both in school and outside of school, and the perspective of the use of the word “finna”. “So this one time i was finna say finna in a academic context & a voice in my head said shouldn’t you be worried about using a word that ain’t a word & i was like word. & for a long time that was how i let my life happen, i let my mind tell me a million no’s that the world had implanted in me before I even formed questions. I let my power be dulled by my fear of fitting.” Marshall once believed that using the word “Finna” was inappropriate in the academic setting which then made him feel hesitant of the words he uses in his writings. But once he found the courage to write in his language using slang words like finna, he reached out to a broader audience that can relate and understand what he’s been through or where he came from. Marshall speaks of how his “finna” is who he is and it’s connected to his southern culture and by removing the use of slang, removes the “finna” that is alive and learning to be a real word used in an academic setting. The same way Marshalls’ teacher also believed in his ability to write, in the novel “The Freedom Writers Diary” by Erin Gruwell, Gruwell wrote about her students’ stories and experiences in life showing how much they deserved to be heard despite their cultural identity. How the students proved to themselves and everyone in the school that they too belong and can meet the requirements of passing if they had someone who believed in them and could accommodate their teaching to how they learn.
English classrooms should be accepting of students’ cultural identity and the use of language in an academic setting. Although, you might see how students are being helped to speak English more confidently in classrooms, that still doesn’t bring the cultural awareness that diverse students need to feel in a classroom, because they are labeled as being less intelligent, when knowing more than one language is a skill regardless of how well it is spoken. Also, some might say that although there might be inclusion in readings professors present to students in classrooms but if they aren’t given the freedom to be able to fully express themselves with their language what good does reading books do for them, if they cannot put into practice the knowledge they receive in their own way. Students should be able to use professionalism in their writings by having the liberty to voice their identity and culture in their work.
