Assignment 6.

Assignment 6.

In this blog post I going to write about the importance about multiculturalism and how we can help pupils create positive attitudes towards different cultures and languages in a multicultural classroom. I will also give an example of what you as a teacher can try in the classroom to create tolerance towards different cultures.

So what is multiculturalism?

“Multiculturalism advocates policies which seek to accommodate the different identities, values, and practices of both dominant and non-dominant cultural groups in culturally diverse society” (Murphy, 2012:6).

Murphy’s definition about multiculturalism above is one of many, but I think this one fits the assignment. It is very important that the pupils develop a positive attitude towards different cultures. The world is changing as I write and society is getting more and more multicultural by the minute. If we as a society are going to thrive and grow, we need to be able to work, live together and include different cultures, and it all starts in the classroom where the pupils gets educated In multiculturalism. Norway has been historically a very monocultural society, the only other culture in Norway is the Sami culture, and that can create a challenge. I have myself experienced how prejudice young pupils can be towards other cultures and especially immigrants.

J. Banks, (2009) have developed 4 different levels to approach teaching multiculturalism in the classroom.

Level 1 is the contributions approach, in this level the focus is on heroes, holidays, and discrete cultural elements. Level 2 is the additive approach. This approach focuses on content, concepts, themes, and perspectives. Level 3 is the transformative approach. Pupils need to see concepts, issues, events, and themes from the perspectives of diverse ethnic and cultural groups. Level 4 focuses on the social approach. Pupils make decisions on important social issues and take actions to help solve them. J. Banks,(2009) For example immigrants and asylum seekers, it’s important for the pupils to discuss the severity of these situations. J. Banks,(2009)

These levels are supposed to be a gradual evolution from kindergarten through 5. Grade, which is probably equivalent to 1.-7. Grade in Noway.  The idea is that the pupils start at level 1 in grade 1, and as they get older, you as a teacher add on a new level for each year or when the pupils are ready. This might be difficult to do if the pupils changes teacher from year grade 1-2 and grade 3-4.

If there is different cultures in the classroom represented by the pupils, then this is an excellent place to start when you are going to teach about multiculturalism in the classroom. A concrete example is to celebrate the different cultures by making different stands for each culture/nation/continent. These stands can include national suits, national food, pictures and stories. This is an excellent arena to get the parents involves so they can get to know each other and the different cultures in their children’s classroom. Parents is arguably the most influential role models in a child’s life and if they are prejudice against different cultures, your job as a teacher might get more difficult than it has to be. So getting parents involved is important.   

Varieties in the English language.

According to Jenkins, J. (2009) there are four ways of categorizing English users. Those who use English as a native language or mother tongue (ENL), a second language (ESL), a foreign language (EFL) and lingua franca (EFL). Those who use ENL are often born and raised in in one of the countries where English historically is the first language, like UK, USA and Canada. There is about 350 million people that are ENL speakers. English as a second language is often spoken in countries that were once colonized by the English, The ESL users are mainly in territories such as India, Bangladesh and Singapore. There is also about 350 million people who are ESL speakers. The users of English as a foreign language are those who have no use of the language in their own country. Historically they have learned English to be able to communicate with EFL users. There is about 1 billion that are EFL users. According to this definition, Norwegian learners belong to the category of EFL. Because there are no formal needs for the English language in Norway, other than what is taught in school. And I think the language has mainly been thought so our learners can communicate with ENL users.

When we look at the numbers of the different English speakers in the world, most of them are English foreign speakers, and that’s where the last category comes in to play. The definition of Lingua franca or ELF is: “A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.” (oxforddictionaries.com) And in my opinion this is our main use of the English language I.e. During our practice period in South Africa we used English to communicate with students from other countries as the Germany and Holland. This is an example of English being used as a Lingua Franca. And when we look at the numbers there are also higher statistical chance that our future pupils have to communicate with other non-native speakers of the language.

The status of how we use the English language today should in my opinion be oriented towards EFL and there are many reasons why. In todays society we have a big increase in immigrants and asylum seekers, to be able to communicate with these groups of people we need a common language. The world is becoming more and more multicultural also in the form of work immigrants because the wealth in the world is spread unevenly. And in the near future there will be climate refugees arriving from different affected parts of the world.  

Lingua franca has historically been used as a common trading language and with today’s globalization, to have a common language is very relevant.

According to these facts and predictions, the way we teach English should be organized in a way that focuses on communicative skills, both written and oral. We can also use English to teach pupils about multiculturalism, and teach the pupils to respect people from different cultures, and it’s easier to respect someone if you share a common language I believe.

Stian Strand.

Sources:

Jenkins, J. (2009): World Englishes: A resource book for students. 2^nd edition. London: Routledge.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/lingua-franca (20.03.2016)

J. Banks, (2009) Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies, 8, p. 19. Allyn & Bacon

Murphy, M. (2012) In defense of multiculturalism. In Multiculturalism A critical Introduction. Canada: Routledge Tylor and Francis Group.