All right, this is my annotated bibliography for the multi-genre project. I really think that all the sources have already contributed to my thoughts about the project and as I get into it more these sources will all be even more valuable to me. I would certainly recommend that you look up these articles and books if you would like to find more information on second language literacy in general or specifically look at the problems with cultural knowledge and trying to read in the second language.
See ya later!
Hyland, K. (2004). Genre and second language writing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
This book mostly deals with the structure of writing and how one from a different culture can learn to figure out what kind of genre is being dealt with and, therefore, read it effectively based on their prior knowledge and the type of genre or writing being presented. The book does touch on culture and schema a little bit and I believe it to be a good source for this project.
Johnson, P. (1981). Effects on reading comprehension of language complexity and cultural background of a text. TESL Quarterly, 15, 169-181. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
This study involves Americans and Iranian ESL students reading texts that contain both stories from American folklore and Iranian folklore. The study found that the Iranians comprehended their folklore to a greater degree than the American folklore and the same was true for the American students. The study clearly shows the cultural differences and problems with reading in the L2 and only give a few broad strategies for how learners can overcome these problems.
Kucer, S. (2001). Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and writing in school settings. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
This is a wonderful book that deals with the teaching of reading and writing across cultures. It also has a lot of good information on the structure of our writing system and deals with the sociocultural dimensions f literacy in great detail.
Pritchard, R. (1990). The effects of cultural schemata on reading processing strategies. Reading Research Quarterly, 25, 273-295. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
In this article the author examines participants’ reading comprehension using texts that are written in their native language, but are about culturally different funerals. It reinforces the fact that readers that can relate to the material culturally will comprehend more than if they cannot. This article also lists the different strategies used by readers when dealing with materials that are from a different culture.
Singhal, M. (1998). A comparison of L1 and L2 reading: Cultural differences and schema. The Internet TESL Journal, 4. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from www.iteslj.org
This paper offers a very good overview on the role of culture in L2 reading and offers very good strategies that L2 readers can employ to discover the meaning of a text. This paper also quotes several case studies that specifically study culture’s role in L2 reading.
Sinclair Bell, J. (1995). The relationship between L1 and L2 literacy: Some complicated factors. TESL Quarterly 29, 687-704. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from JESTER database.
This article addresses the preconceived cultural notions one brings into learning to read in a different language. This article does not give insight into the cultural differences in meaning or how an ESL learner can use certain strategies to find cultural meaning, but it does give insight into the emotional state of our ELLs and what they may go through in learning to read in the L2.
Steffensen, M.O., Joag-Dev, C., & Anderson, R. (1979). A cross-cultural perspective on reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 15, 10-29. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
This is a very detailed article that lends to the theory that cultural background does indeed affect reading comprehension in a variety of different ways. The article doe not talk about reading strategies, but does discuss some of the most difficult problems in cross-cultural reading and makes the claim that this could be a reason why so many minority students in the U.S. struggle with reading comprehension.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Multi-genre beginnings
So far I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'm suppose to be doing. I will write down what I'm thinking in this post and maybe it will all make a little more sense to me.
First, here is my initial question, "What are the cultural problems in learning to read in a second language?" I also have a couple of related questions:
1. When learning to read English, what are the most difficult cultural problems that most ELLs experience?
2. What are the strategies that ELLs can use to navigate through material that is culturally different?
TENATIVE POINT
Learning to read in a different language is very difficult in and of itself, but to add in the cultural meanings behind the words and contexts makes it all the more difficult for ELLs. I will seek to show the difficulties of learning to read in a L2 and the ways that ELLs can navigate through material that is culturally different by using an assortment of different written materials.
Second, I will choose different genres to address this topic, but as of now, I still need to complete my research in order to fully understand what I would like to convey through the various genres.
Until then....
First, here is my initial question, "What are the cultural problems in learning to read in a second language?" I also have a couple of related questions:
1. When learning to read English, what are the most difficult cultural problems that most ELLs experience?
2. What are the strategies that ELLs can use to navigate through material that is culturally different?
TENATIVE POINT
Learning to read in a different language is very difficult in and of itself, but to add in the cultural meanings behind the words and contexts makes it all the more difficult for ELLs. I will seek to show the difficulties of learning to read in a L2 and the ways that ELLs can navigate through material that is culturally different by using an assortment of different written materials.
Second, I will choose different genres to address this topic, but as of now, I still need to complete my research in order to fully understand what I would like to convey through the various genres.
Until then....
Teaching Post 9/25-9/27
Well... This week of teaching was fairly uneventful. On Tuesday we did peer evaluation on the students' rough drafts. They need to turn in their final copy of the compare/contrast essay by next Tuesday - I really think that these essays as a whole will be a lot better than the last ones. I was fairly impressed with the last set of essays, I mean from seeing the students' writing the first time we went through evaluations and then assessing them a couple of more times in class, I was kind of worried about some of them, but overall I was very happy. We also started reading some example essays and I had the students look at them for mistakes and content. It was a very good exercise and I believe the students learned a lot of stuff that they already knew through the experience.
Thursday was a great day! I broke the students up into groups of two and evaluate the example essays I gave them on Tuesdays. They again, were to pick out the construction features and mistakes in the essays. The students then had to present the essays to the class and high light its features. It was a great exercise and I think we all learned from it.
Upon reading the chapters in Brown for this week. I have learned a couple of things. First, I really don't need to give extrinsic motivation to the extent that I have been giving it. For some reason I always feel I need to give the students some kind of initial reward for their work. I do give a lot of verbal praise, and a lot of times I feel that it's not authentic - I think I need to tone it down a little and be real with my verbal rewards. On the other hand, I feel like I'm doing a lot of things right. I think that our classroom is very open and that students feel comfortable and motivated (intrinsicly). When I create classroom activities I try to make them authentic and I really try to make things student centered - sometimes I feel like I accomplish this and sometimes I feel like I don't. I know that all of the students will be suffering from some form of culture shock within the next couple of months and I want them to know that their ESL teacher knows how they feel and that they have a comfortable place to go in their ESL classroom :-)
Thursday was a great day! I broke the students up into groups of two and evaluate the example essays I gave them on Tuesdays. They again, were to pick out the construction features and mistakes in the essays. The students then had to present the essays to the class and high light its features. It was a great exercise and I think we all learned from it.
Upon reading the chapters in Brown for this week. I have learned a couple of things. First, I really don't need to give extrinsic motivation to the extent that I have been giving it. For some reason I always feel I need to give the students some kind of initial reward for their work. I do give a lot of verbal praise, and a lot of times I feel that it's not authentic - I think I need to tone it down a little and be real with my verbal rewards. On the other hand, I feel like I'm doing a lot of things right. I think that our classroom is very open and that students feel comfortable and motivated (intrinsicly). When I create classroom activities I try to make them authentic and I really try to make things student centered - sometimes I feel like I accomplish this and sometimes I feel like I don't. I know that all of the students will be suffering from some form of culture shock within the next couple of months and I want them to know that their ESL teacher knows how they feel and that they have a comfortable place to go in their ESL classroom :-)
Friday, September 21, 2007
Teaching Post 9/18-9/20
Well.... Tuesdays class was great! We have moved into compare/contrast essays and I decided to work on a fluency/brainstorming exercise that includes drawing two rings that overlap slightly in the middle. You name the rings according to what you are comparing/contrasting and then in the middle were the rings overlap you list items or characteristics about the topics that are the same and on the outside, but still within the rings, you list the things that are different.
I started off by modeling the exercise to my students and we compared American cars to European cars. It was great fun! I really appreciate how some of the students get into it. I then broke the class up into groups of two and made sure that they we all seperated from their normal partners or people from their own countries. For instance, I wanted those from South Korea, Japan and Indonesia to be pared up with those from Saudia Arabia, Belarus, Morocco and Finland. I just wanted it to be as diverse as possible. I then had them compare/contrast their countries with their partner's country.
It was great! I couldn't believe how "into it" they got. They all learned a lot from each other and some of them wanted more time. It was very interesting for all. I enjoyed walking around and listening to their discussions. I will certainly remember this exercise for next semester.
Thursday's class on the other hand was not so good. We basically took the information from the compare/contrast rings that we did on Tuesday and plugged that into our essay outlines. I really try to make it as interesting as possible, but when comes right down to it, it's still a writing class and we have to write :-( We will be doing some peer-editing on Tuesday next week and then I have to think of something fun to do on Thursday that also goes over the structure of the compare/contrast essay one more time.
As far as applying reading to the class, it's very difficult because we are still just reading about theories, but while I was teaching the class on Tuesday and listening to the students converse with each other I certainly thought about the interactionist position on SLA. The students at times would have trouble understanding each other and would really interact a lot during their discussions to find meaning. It was very interesting to observe after reading the chapters on SLA.
I hope you all have a great weekend!
I started off by modeling the exercise to my students and we compared American cars to European cars. It was great fun! I really appreciate how some of the students get into it. I then broke the class up into groups of two and made sure that they we all seperated from their normal partners or people from their own countries. For instance, I wanted those from South Korea, Japan and Indonesia to be pared up with those from Saudia Arabia, Belarus, Morocco and Finland. I just wanted it to be as diverse as possible. I then had them compare/contrast their countries with their partner's country.
It was great! I couldn't believe how "into it" they got. They all learned a lot from each other and some of them wanted more time. It was very interesting for all. I enjoyed walking around and listening to their discussions. I will certainly remember this exercise for next semester.
Thursday's class on the other hand was not so good. We basically took the information from the compare/contrast rings that we did on Tuesday and plugged that into our essay outlines. I really try to make it as interesting as possible, but when comes right down to it, it's still a writing class and we have to write :-( We will be doing some peer-editing on Tuesday next week and then I have to think of something fun to do on Thursday that also goes over the structure of the compare/contrast essay one more time.
As far as applying reading to the class, it's very difficult because we are still just reading about theories, but while I was teaching the class on Tuesday and listening to the students converse with each other I certainly thought about the interactionist position on SLA. The students at times would have trouble understanding each other and would really interact a lot during their discussions to find meaning. It was very interesting to observe after reading the chapters on SLA.
I hope you all have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Teaching Post 9/11-9/13
This week's teaching went really well. On tuesday we did peer reviews in class, so the students read each other's Process Essays and offered constructive feedback (I hope). After that we did some preposition activities. Upon reflection of the Tuesday lesson I believe that I should create my own "peer review" sheet based on the one that is offered with the course materials. The peer review sheet they have isn't too bad, but I think that more could be accomplished with a little tweaking. If I have enough time before the next essay is due I will see if I can make some changes. Time is a big factor though.
The preposition activities basically included identifying prepositional phrases and also an informational gap activity that includes a word bank. I chose preposition activities because it seems like it is a big problem for all of the students in my class, however, I was speaking with one of the professors and he/she believed that I shouldn't spend very much time on preposition work, but rather focus more on things that obscure the meaning of my student's written text. Anyway, I think I agree with he/she, but I also know that a few of my students need help in certain areas like prepositions and welcome the activities.
On Thursday (today) I tried something a little different. We continued to talk about the Process Essay (an essay that basically tells how to do something, fix an appliance, bake a cake, etc. or informs one on the process of how something has happened). I wanted to reemphasize the key features so I decided to bring in a bunch of food and "recipes." The recipes were not really recipes they were just lists of instructions on how to perform a task with food, such as the following:
Raisin Peanut Butter Apples
1. Rinse all of the apples
2. Cut each apple into 8 pieces, be sure to cut out the seeds
3. Spread the peanut butter over the top of the apples
4. Place the raisins in the peanut butter on top of the apples
5. Serve on a plate to your guests
I then split the students into groups of two or three and had them turn the instructions into a body paragraph. After completing the paragraph the students switched recipes with each other and proceeded to perform the tasks. This provided a great deal of interaction and I felt like we were able to get away from the - "just sit in your desks and write" style of a traditional writing class. After completing the tasks we were all able to socialize during break by eating the snacks and drinking hot chocolate - perfect for international students! In the second half of the class we completed an introductory paragraph together, read and corrected the body paragraphs that the groups did and completed a conclusion paragraph.
Upon reflection I think I will emphasize and model the body paragraph to the students - there were only a couple of groups that didn't include a topic sentence with their body paragraphs, but I felt like I didn't emphasize that enough and modeling always helps.
I felt like I was using a Communicative Teaching Approach in class. I thought that through the activities we were doing, including the exchanges between students that a majority of language components were being used as well as the real-life situation of following a recipe. The students did work on accuracy by writing a paragraph for someone else to use, but fluency was emphasized while everyone was eating and talking. I believe the students not only grasped the structure of their essays, but also were able to enjoy it and build on a lot of other functions as well.
I will continually pray for new ideas and ways to apply the materials in my courses.
The preposition activities basically included identifying prepositional phrases and also an informational gap activity that includes a word bank. I chose preposition activities because it seems like it is a big problem for all of the students in my class, however, I was speaking with one of the professors and he/she believed that I shouldn't spend very much time on preposition work, but rather focus more on things that obscure the meaning of my student's written text. Anyway, I think I agree with he/she, but I also know that a few of my students need help in certain areas like prepositions and welcome the activities.
On Thursday (today) I tried something a little different. We continued to talk about the Process Essay (an essay that basically tells how to do something, fix an appliance, bake a cake, etc. or informs one on the process of how something has happened). I wanted to reemphasize the key features so I decided to bring in a bunch of food and "recipes." The recipes were not really recipes they were just lists of instructions on how to perform a task with food, such as the following:
Raisin Peanut Butter Apples
1. Rinse all of the apples
2. Cut each apple into 8 pieces, be sure to cut out the seeds
3. Spread the peanut butter over the top of the apples
4. Place the raisins in the peanut butter on top of the apples
5. Serve on a plate to your guests
I then split the students into groups of two or three and had them turn the instructions into a body paragraph. After completing the paragraph the students switched recipes with each other and proceeded to perform the tasks. This provided a great deal of interaction and I felt like we were able to get away from the - "just sit in your desks and write" style of a traditional writing class. After completing the tasks we were all able to socialize during break by eating the snacks and drinking hot chocolate - perfect for international students! In the second half of the class we completed an introductory paragraph together, read and corrected the body paragraphs that the groups did and completed a conclusion paragraph.
Upon reflection I think I will emphasize and model the body paragraph to the students - there were only a couple of groups that didn't include a topic sentence with their body paragraphs, but I felt like I didn't emphasize that enough and modeling always helps.
I felt like I was using a Communicative Teaching Approach in class. I thought that through the activities we were doing, including the exchanges between students that a majority of language components were being used as well as the real-life situation of following a recipe. The students did work on accuracy by writing a paragraph for someone else to use, but fluency was emphasized while everyone was eating and talking. I believe the students not only grasped the structure of their essays, but also were able to enjoy it and build on a lot of other functions as well.
I will continually pray for new ideas and ways to apply the materials in my courses.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Teaching Post 9/2-9/8
Well, I am now done with my first official first week of teaching at MSU. Last week we continued with more English assesments, so I didn't get my full class time in. Anyway, I would have to say that everything went well, but I felt rushed on Thursday and I don't feel that I presented our subject matter as well as I should have. I think I spent too much time on essay basics, even though we didn't even get to finish what we had initially started in class and because of that I didn't have time on Thursday to get through the material I needed to for the homework assignment. Thankfully it's just a rough draft of an essay that's due for Tuesday so we will go through a "peer review" process and I should have an opportunity to explain the structure again to the class.
So far I don't think I can apply much directly from the reading, because I'm just teaching writing, but I do try to give the students a sense of ownership of their learning by working together on some activities and helping each other with editing. We also did an activity that required the students to move around and find different sentences to make up a paragraph. It was kind of a writing exercise without writing - just focused on structure. I believe that exercise would probably fall under TPR in a way.
I need to get some sleep so I can get up tomorrow and work on more homework.
Talk to you all later!
So far I don't think I can apply much directly from the reading, because I'm just teaching writing, but I do try to give the students a sense of ownership of their learning by working together on some activities and helping each other with editing. We also did an activity that required the students to move around and find different sentences to make up a paragraph. It was kind of a writing exercise without writing - just focused on structure. I believe that exercise would probably fall under TPR in a way.
I need to get some sleep so I can get up tomorrow and work on more homework.
Talk to you all later!
Initial Sources to be Used for My Project
Here are the first 5 sources that I have found for my multi-genre project.
Johnson, P. (1981). Effects on reading comprehension of language complexity and cultural background of a text. TESOL Quarterly, 15, 169-181. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
Kucer, S. (2001). Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and writing in school settings. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Pritchard, R. (1990). The effects of cultural schemata on reading processing strategies. Reading Research Quarterly, 25, 273-295. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
Singhai, M. (1998). A comparison of L1 and L2 reading: Cultural differences and schema. The Internet TESL Journal, 4. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from www.iteslj.org
Steffensen, M.S., Joag-Dev, C., & Anderson, R. (1979). A cross-cultural perspective on reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 15, 10-29. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
Johnson, P. (1981). Effects on reading comprehension of language complexity and cultural background of a text. TESOL Quarterly, 15, 169-181. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
Kucer, S. (2001). Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and writing in school settings. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Pritchard, R. (1990). The effects of cultural schemata on reading processing strategies. Reading Research Quarterly, 25, 273-295. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
Singhai, M. (1998). A comparison of L1 and L2 reading: Cultural differences and schema. The Internet TESL Journal, 4. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from www.iteslj.org
Steffensen, M.S., Joag-Dev, C., & Anderson, R. (1979). A cross-cultural perspective on reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 15, 10-29. Retrieved September 8, 2007, from JSTOR database.
Cultural Problems in Learning to Read in the Second Language
For my multi-genre project I have elected to do "Differences Between Learning to Read in First and Second Languages." I have narrowed this down to "Cultural Problems in Learning to Read in the Second Language." If you believe I should narrow it down even more I can pick a specific people group (ex. Japanese Cultural Problems in Learning to Read English).
I am facinated by how our culture effects everything that we do and especially the way we perceive things. Reading in a different language then the native language is very difficult, especially if one does not know the background or have the cultural knowledge required to understand the text properly. A good example of this includes social studies in our U.S. schools. Social studies is one of the most difficult subjects to teach ELLs because of all the background and cultural knowledge that one must already know to even understand basic historical concepts. Our literature is also full of passages that require one to understand the culture before they can even begin to make sense of the passage. I will greatly enjoy researching the cultural problems associated with reading in a second language.
Questions:
1. When learning to read English, what are the most difficult cultural problems that most ELLs experience?
2. What are the strategies that ELLs can use to navigate through material that is culturally different?
I am facinated by how our culture effects everything that we do and especially the way we perceive things. Reading in a different language then the native language is very difficult, especially if one does not know the background or have the cultural knowledge required to understand the text properly. A good example of this includes social studies in our U.S. schools. Social studies is one of the most difficult subjects to teach ELLs because of all the background and cultural knowledge that one must already know to even understand basic historical concepts. Our literature is also full of passages that require one to understand the culture before they can even begin to make sense of the passage. I will greatly enjoy researching the cultural problems associated with reading in a second language.
Questions:
1. When learning to read English, what are the most difficult cultural problems that most ELLs experience?
2. What are the strategies that ELLs can use to navigate through material that is culturally different?
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