The pivotal role played in global market and mass internet communication creates English learning an indispensable issue, especially in the educational organization of many non-English speaking countries. For the English dominance in the world, Jung and Norton pointed out, “English is an optional subject at the elementary level in over 50 countries, 25 of which have made it a mandatory school subject” (Jung & Norton, 2002, p. 254). As the globalization and internationalism keep rising, linguistic challenges have surfaced in various levels in the world. Yoo described those challenges in different layers in the article, elaborating, “at a national level, in some Western multilingual countries, such as United States and Canada, linguistic justice has become a focal point of debate among English-only and bilingualism, and in the multilingual third counties, such as India and many former colonies from Africa, struggle to create linguistic identities, and at a global level, the unprecedented and phenomenal spread of English has become a controversial issue among many political and academic leaders: some concerned its spread as a major threat to their ethnic language, and others consider it facilitation of international communications” (Yoo, 2005, p. 1). Therefore, bilingual education is no longer a situation found in only a few countries but has become a world problem, and it has become a focus of interest for linguists, psychologists, socialists, anthropologists and neuroscientists.
According to Yoo (2005), South Korea has recently encountered remnant proposals for English as an ‘Official Language’ (EOL) as a language standard in order to meet much demanded globalization and mass communication, and in response, another opposing power, nationalism, has powerfully emerged to refute these proposals. In response to the public outcry of nationalism, Byung Jung, president of the Korean Newspaper Association ( KNA), commented, “Throughout history, Korea has been a country with a lack of information, and diplomacy, and this has much to do with the pain that foreign-language-insensitive countries are likely to suffer…we need to learn from Singaporean bilingualism” (Yoo, 2005, p. 8). Yoo asserted that not only his remarks upset South Koreans, but there was also another element that intensified the arguments. In March 2004, Yoo continued, the Seoul metropolitan government announced the “Daily use of English in Seoul” project. Therefore, arguments and counter-arguments have flooded the media on each move (Yoo, 2005, p.8). In order to address these heated debates surrounding the issues of bilingualism in South Korea, this paper will attempt to focus mainly on three essential factors of bilingual education: need for bilingual education, positive effect of bilingual education, and benefit of bilingual education on brain development.
Definition of Maintenance Bilingual Education
Bilingual education entails teaching and learning to be proficient in the articulation of two languages simultaneously. For the types of different bilingual education, Spring (2009) mentioned in his book that there are several specific types of a bilingual education, including maintenance bilingual, transitional bilingual, and two-way bilingual. Concerning with the maintenance bilingual education, Kim (2005), an ardent proponent for it, claimed that the early reviews of bilingual education effectiveness were published in the late 1970s, and the researchers concluded that bilingual education in the U.S. effectively promoted bilingualism with language minority children and was preferable to monolingual English program, and with bilingualism, language minority students achieved high skills in both the majority and minority language. Kim favored a maintenance bilingual program to others because it is designed to safeguard and increase a student’s native language while the student acquires a second language.
For this matter, Spring, an activist for American bilingual education, also agreed with Kim by strongly supporting on maintenance bilingual education because it is designed to maintain the ability to read and write in the student’s native language while learning English. One of the prominent characteristics for a maintenance bilingual education, Spring added, is “students are better able to learn English if they know how to read and write in their native language” (Spring, 2009, p. 138).
In concurrence with Spring in all these elements, Kim recommended the maintenance bilingual education for three reasons: first, minority students may benefit from the model because it focuses on sociocultural aspects of language learning; second, students may develop their cognitive-academic language proficiency; third, students receive significant language support in their native language, thus, they may ease into second language learning without too much pressure (Kim, 2005). With this program, Kim continued, “students with a strong background in their home language are likely to develop high levels of proficiency in English and while home language instruction helps English acquisition, the maintenance model emphasizes fluency in both languages in school including the biliteracy and academic excellence, and maintenance programs have been shown to be additive, which allows students to fully engage and participate in the instruction than merely exposed to it” (Kim, 2005, p. 161). Kim summed it up, therefore, maintenance bilingual education targets to improve the child’s native language, escalating the child’s sense of cultural identity in order to confirm the rights of an ethnic minority group in a nation.
Linguistic Background and Current Language Situation in South Korea
For the history of linguistic surroundings in Korea, Poonoosamy explained, “The Korean language is at least 5000 years old and is spoken by about 67 million people in both South Korea and North Korean and was first used by people of the ancient kingdom of Chosen, but records of the written alphabet can be traced back to 1443” (Poonoosamy, 2009, n. p.). Emphasizing on the strong nationalism that closely connects historical background to linguistic standards of Korean, Yoo explained, “In Korea, ethnocultural nationalism was kindled and maintained through resistance against Chinese influence and Japanese imperialism during nation building, and language has played a crucial role in this endeavor” (Yoo, 2005, p. 5). For the present language situation in South Korea, Yoo described, “Is a monolingual society that enjoys a very high degree of congruity of speech community, however, the influence of English in South Korea has become salient because of strong dependency on the U. S. for international politics and economy” (Yoo, 2005, p. 6).
For the current status of English in Korea, Yoo asserted, “Korea is an ‘Expanding Circle’ country along with Chine and Japan, in which English is learned as a foreign language and had no official role, and it does not belong to the group of counties that give special statues to English” (Yoo, 2005, p. 6). However, Jung and Norton had different perspectives on the current linguistic situation in Korea by reputing Yoo’s claims, “Although English has been taught as an extracurricular subject in elementary schools since 1982, the government initiative marked the first mandatory implementation in the public elementary school of a regular English class with a national English curriculum and textbook” (Jung & Norton, 2002, p. 247). Jung and Norton asserted in their article that the government has been trying to devise the curriculum that reflects practicality and reality, explaining, “The purpose for the national curricular is for students to learn English from grade 3 to 6 for two periods, a total of 90 minutes per week, and the intention for it is to motivate a student’s interest in English and to develop basic communicative competence” (Jung & Norton, 2002, p. 247).
In regarding to South Korean’s bilingual education, Poonoosamy showed enthusiastic outcomes of it, however, Poonoosamy speculated that challenge is enormous, saying, “For South Korea’s main purpose is to preserve its linguistic and cultural heritage while implementing effective bilingual education in order to adjust to the trends of globalization and internationalism, and bilingual education as a challenge full of paradoxes and contradictions, yet one that South Korea must face to survive and thrive economically” (Poonoosamy, 2009, n.p.).
Need for Bilingual Education in South Korea
In one hand, Poonoosamy (2009) was confident, claiming that South Korea can achieve the challenge of the globalization through wise educational and language policies under the current linguistic geo-political conditions, but on the other hand, Poonoosamy was apprehensive since powerful competing forces are on the rise in the name of nationalism. In response to Poonoosamy’s apprehension, Yoo explained that Bok, a passionate and unyielding pioneer for bilingualism, consistently and sternly has argued, “Globalization as ‘homogenization’ and ‘standardization’ is real and even if it is US-initiated, accommodation to this phenomenon is a minimum survival skill and others proponents equate globalization with ‘cosmopolitanism’ and reject nationalism as inherently ‘closed’” (Yoo, 2005, p. 9). Responding to these claims, nationalist opponents of bilingual education criticized the widespread discourses, “of ‘neo-liberal globalization’ and highlight the positive effects of nationalism in Korea” (Yoo, 2005, p. 9). Therefore, opinions are polarized to the extreme opposites, a globalization against nationalism.
In order to demonstrate these extremely polarized opinions, Yoo cited The Chosun Ilbo, a prominent newspaper, to show the current popular issues of globalization and bilingual education that are poignantly reflected in media, and the following reputed issues are published in The Chosun Ilbo: (Yoo, 2005, p. 17).
• “Want growth? Speak English!”
• “English raises your salary”
• “Faltering English often spoils business transitions”
• “The low English proficiency of Korean elites leads to huge loss in national interests”
There are also counter-discourses to bilingualism, and Yoo listed them by providing opposite side of standpoints published in the various academia and media (Yoo, 2005, p. 21).
• “Take off a white mask, blind reverence for the West”
• “English imperialism in the Internet era”
• “Making Seoul a republic of English?”
• “Communication skills determine English proficiency”
Yoo claimed that these articles generated confrontational responses from every corner of South Korea and left one to ponder, “Just how the pressures of global communications within the process of globalization are so powerful as to threaten an already established national language even in a monolingual society” (Yoo, 2005, p. 1). Concerning about these issues, Yoo further elaborated about the article appeared in a daily newspaper in April 2002, explaining, “The government announced the ‘South Korea as the Business Center of Northeast Asia’ project with ‘Special economic zones’, where English will be used as an official language, and in March 2004, the Seoul metropolitan government announced the ‘Daily use of English in Seoul’ Project” (Yoo, 2005, p. 8).
Aiming at these chaos, there are prevailing opinions that the South Korean government has been a mere speculator to these dire issues. However, Poonoosamy had a different view about the South Korean government’s stance in aiming at fierce contentions between bilingualism and nationalism, arguing, “The government has sided with proponents of bilingualism by actively participating in implementation of the bilingual education, for it realized that English has now become the language of trade, international communication and the internet, and since then, South Korean government with affiliated national educational agencies has been endeavoring from the 1990s till today to put in place sustainable language policies that would match Korea’s ambition to have an authoritative voice in the global and interconnected world” (Poonoosamy, 2009, n.p.) In addressing globalization and bilingualism, Poonoosamy further explained, “The textbooks were changed and new language learning approaches were envisaged, but more importantly, the focus has changed; an integrated curriculum was implemented with the concerted efforts and participation of the ministries of education, technology, arts and foreign affairs” (Poonoosamy, 2009, n.p.).
Positive Effect of Bilingual Education
There are consensuses among bilingual proponents that bilingual children perform better than monolinguals linguistically, socially, and psychologically. In an article, The Myth of Static Maintenance in Bilingual Education, Otheguy and Otto explained, “bilingual program reveals at least certain age groups under certain circumstances, intensive development of one language does not compete with development of the other, which is rather pulled along and develops in parallel fashion, and with respect to reading, ability in particular, there is strong evidence of the positive transfer of skills from one language to another” (Otheguy & Otto, 1980, p. 351).
In response to Otheguy and Otto’s claim, Willig agreed with them by asserting, “a meta-analysis of selected studies on the efficacy of bilingual education was conducted and when the results were compared with a traditional review of the same literature, bilingual education programs consistently produced small to moderate differences favoring bilingual education for tests of reading, language skills, mathematics, and total achievement” (Willig, 1985, p. 272). Zelasko also agreed with Willig by further elaborating, “bilingual children performed better than monolinguals in series of cognitive tests when sex, age, and socioeconomic status were appropriately controlled, and a number of studies show the advantages of bilingualism in measures of conceptual development, creativity, metalingustic awareness, semantic development, and analytical skills” (Zelasko, 1991, n.p.). Casanova (1995) also reported that children with higher levels of bilingual proficiency perform at a higher level than their peers on measures of analogical reasoning and tests of spatial relations.
Throughout his life, Cummins vigorously rebutted with many opponents of bilingual education by arguing that frequent findings of bilingual children achieved inadequately on the verbal parts of competent tests as well as on academic tasks are not rational and also disagreed with several investigators’ claims that bilingualism itself was a cause of “mental confusion” and “language handicaps” (Cummins, 1979, p. 223). Cummins continued asserting with the notion that perhaps the most rational theoretical statement in this genre was "balance effect" hypothesis which proposed that a bilingual child paid for his L2 skills by a decrease in LI skills (Cummins, 1979 p. 223). By rejecting the inadequacy of both the "linguistic mismatch" hypothesis and the hypothesis that bilingualism itself is a source of academic and cognitive retardation, Cummins emphasized the fact that a great number of recent studies suggest that instead of being a cause of cognitive misunderstanding, bilingualism can optimistically influence both cognitive and linguistic development (Cummins, 1979, p. 223).
In a research article, Ryu, a Korean bilingual teacher and a doctoral student in education, examined three children’s social and emotional adjustments to a school in considering their academic development and their attitudes towards languages, English and Korean. Three Korean bilingual children were closely observed in the natural classroom setting for this study. The primary commonalities shared by these children are that they speak both Korean and English, and they are high achievers. Even though the children manifest different levels of English proficiency based on their experiences in America and the American school system, qualitative and quantitative findings showed that being bilingual has many positive effects, such as high cognitive development, high creativity scores, and a higher level of divergent thinking than monolingual children (Ryn, 2004, pp. 166-170).
Using the various researches, Cummins kept emphasizing on how bilingual has positive effects on children’s linguistic and educational development by claiming, “more than 150 research studies conducted during the past 35 years suggested that when children continue to develop their abilities in two or more language through their elementary or primary school years, they gain deeper understanding of language, especially when they develop literacy in both, and they are able to compare and contrast the ways in which their two language organized reality” (Cummins, 2003, pp. 61-62). He also claimed that the research also suggests that bilingual children may also acquire more plasticity in the thinking as an outcome of processing information through two different languages.
Benefits of Bilingual Education on Brain Development
There is another side of benefits in learning another language. According to von Goethe, structural brain imaging shows, “being bilingual produces changes in the anatomy of the brain: people who speak two languages have more grey matter in the language region of the brain and the earlier they learned the language, the larger the grey area” (von Goethe, 2009, p. 651). Bilingual children, Goethe continued, “possess a 1-year advantage over monolinguals for tasks that demand the inhibition of attention to irrelevant information, and bilingual children are constantly sorting out extra perceptual information, and for every object and action, they have numerous words from which to choose” (von Goethe, 2009, p. 654).
Using Bialystok and Martin’s research, von Goethe (2009) showed how bilingual children have better inhibitory control for disregarding perceptual information, which improves their ability to have concentration on more proper information and restrain from other information, an ability of great value in other educational tasks as well because students who master two languages have more linguistic space to search in memory. Also using Kormi-Nouri, Moniri, and Nilsson’s research, which compared 60 bilingual children and 60 monolingual children in three age groups on episodic memory and semantic memory tasks, von Goethe stated that they found positive effects of bilingualism on both forms of memory at all age levels, and therefore, these findings suggested that bilingual children are better at incorporating and systematizing the information of two languages spontaneously, which theory leads to learning another language produces positive effects on in terms of cognitive abilities (von Goethe, 2009, p. 655).
Not only a learning another language is beneficial to cognitive and neurological development on children, Summers (2000) argued that in order to maximize its gains, it is crucial to acquire it earlier in age, for a research indicates that the aptitude to learn another language diminishes with age, which theory was made by Lenneberg who researched the biological foundations of language. By citing Lenneberg’s research, Summers claimed, “If the right time is missed, learning may not occur, or it will be defective, and language acquisition would be biologically restricted to early childhood up to puberty, and the brain’s ability to acquire language would close down at puberty with brain lateralization, called critical period” (Summers, 2000, p. 651). In regarding to critical period, Summers continued, studies from national surveys, as well as census data with immigrants, suggest a strong negative correlation between the age of their arrival and their ability to judge grammaticality, and moreover, brain research explained why children can develop two or three languages with native proficiency whereas it is more difficult for adults. Thus, Summers concluded, the response to the question “What is the best age to learn another language?” is “as early as possible” because at such early age, the language aptitude is the highest, for studies suggest that the child’s brain, as compared to that of the older child or the adult, has more synapses and greater plasticity and is better suited to learning world languages (Summers, 2000, p. 653). Therefore, concerning with all these factors, there are logical explanations for implementing bilingual education very early age in order to make the most of benefits of it.
Conclusion
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, proficiency in only one language is not sufficient for economic, social, political and educational success. Globalization and international communication necessitate the capability of articulating in more than one language. South Koreans can argue about benefits and disadvantages of bilingual education with no end, and nevertheless, these arguments have resulted in the polarization on nation’s opinions of bilingual education to the extreme between nationalists who oppose bilingual education and liberals who welcome it. Some may suggest that it is still premature to draw any substantial conclusion on overall effective on bilingual education. However, one significant factor that South Koreans are overlooking is that the country is only about the size of Massachusetts without sufficient natural resources, and as a result, they have heavily depended on global trades and international market. Therefore, in my opinion, it is no longer the issue whether they approve the bilingual education or not, but it is sensible that they should rather focus on what kind of English education model they adopt for elementary levels. I concur with Zelasko about concerning the education model in English, “it is an educational approach that not only allows students to master academic content material, but also becoming proficient in two languages is increasingly valuable and necessary skills in the early twenty-first century” (Zelasko, 1991, n.p.).
For the bilingual issue, Yoo mentioned in the article that Bok once asked an astonishing and repulsive question to the Korean public: “If you have new born baby, and if he or she can choose between English and Korean as a mother tongue, which would you recommend? Bok assumes that every Korean will answer English if they are true to their hearts without being misguided by romantic nationalism, and since that question, the public opinion poll has been favors to bilingualism” (Yoo, 2005, p. 11).
Trimnell eloquently summed up the core meaning of bilingualism by beautifully articulating, “Bilingualism promotes understanding of the intercultural sensitivity, which builds up trust and understanding, and it can bridge the gap between peoples, and promote peace and international trade. Bilingualism also enhances economic partnerships, diplomacy, and international contacts require strong comprehension of the cultural values and belief systems of the partners abroad. Therefore, bilingualism is imperative, for global citizenship is characterized by proficiency in other languages” (Trimnell, 2005, p. 84).
In my opinion, linguistic imperialism has ceased long ago, and countries must open up their doors to others, for a country can no long exist by itself since the world has become intimately intertwined into every aspects of human life. Bilingual education has much to offer for children, for it not only has positive effects on their brain development but also on their behavior and attitude, transcending its spectrum on social, psychological, academic, and neurological facets. Concerning globalization and economic outlets, I think, those can too be best achieved by promoting and implementing bilingualism through the educational system within the country, and by adopting bilingual education, South Korean will undoubtedly reap many benefits from it.
References
Casanova, U. (1995). Bilingual education: Politics or pedagogy? In O. Garcia & C. Baker. (Eds),
Policy and Practice in Bilingual Education: Extending the Foundation. WBC Ltd.: Bridgend, UK. (pp. 15-24).
Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 42(2), 222-251.
Cummins, J. (2003). Bilingual education: Basic principles. In J-M. Dewaele, A. Housen, & L. Wei. (Eds), Multilingual Matters-Bilingualism: Beyond Basic Principles. Cromwell Press Ltd.: Frankfurt Lodge, UK. (pp 56-66).
Jung, S. K. & Norton, B. (2002). Language planning in Korea: The new elementary English program. In J. Tollefson. (Ed), Language Policies in Education: Critical Issues. Lawrence Erlbaum Association, Inc.: NJ. (pp 245-265).
Kim, M. J. (2005). Effectiveness of bilingual education: Implications of English education in Korea. English Literature, 18(2), 150-183.
Otheguy, R. & Otto, R. (1980). The myth of static maintenance in bilingual education.
The Modern Language Journal, 64(3), 350-356.
Poonoosamy, M. (2009). Language policies in South-Korea: Talk Anglo-Korean epic resistance in the hub of globalization. Deakin University Australia. n.p. Accessed March 17, 2010 from http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/icg/events/pdf/mpn-056.pdf.
Ryu, J. (2004). The social adjustment of three, young, high-achieving Korean-English bilingual students in kindergarten. Early Childhood Education Journal,32(3), 165-171.
Spring, J. (2009). American Education. (14th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
Summers, L. (2000). What is the best age to learn another language? Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 650- 681.
Trimnell, E. (2005). Why you need a foreign language and how to learn one. (2nd ed.). Beechmont Crest: Cincinnati OH.
von Goethe, J. (2009). Why Learn Language? The advantages of learning another language. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 650-681.
Yoo, O. K. (2005). Discourses of English as an official language in a monolingual society: The case of South Korea. Second Language Studies, 23(2), 1-44.
Willig, A. C. (1985). A meta-analysis of selected studies on the effectiveness of bilingual education. Review of Educational Research, 55(3), 269-317.
Zelasko, N. (1991). Bilingual education - need for bilingual education, benefits of bilingualism and theoretical foundations of bilingual education. n.p. Accessed March 17, 2010 from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1788/Bilingual-Education.html.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Cultural Excursion for Intercultural Communication Report
Since Jeanne, Youngran, and I could not find the day that accommodated our complicated and different schedules for the cultural excursion, I am grateful that Jeanne has suggested that we could visit the Getty Center Museum with the virtual tour, for I feel that I have become much more culturally sophisticated by it.
According to its website, the Getty Center Los Angeles is home to the J. Paul Getty Center Museum. It also houses a research institute a leadership training institute, a grant program and a conservation institute. The Getty Center Los Angeles was opened on December 16, 1997. The Getty Center Museum has a number of fine collections and exhibitions of classical sculpture and art. They also exhibit European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture, decorative arts, and photographs.
(http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/california/los-angeles/getty-center#)
After watching the short film clip about the overview of the Getty Museum, I told myself that I had to visit the place over this summer. It would be a wonderful experience if Jeanne and Youngran’s family could accompany with me.
According to the clip, the visitors would see:
• European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture and decorative arts, and European and American photographs
• A selection from the special collections of the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute
• Modern architecture and gardens
The Getty Center Museum also offers educational resources for adult learners, teachers, students, and families. Since I was particularly interested in educational aspects of ELS learning and Jeanne also suggested me to explore for the ESL educational resources, I spent extensive time in navigating the below sites for ESL learning activities and workshops. I was so ecstatic about these sites that I felt like a kid in the candy store. WOW! Look at these enrichment curricula and resources that the museum offers:
Language through Art: ESL Workshops (Education at the Getty)
One-day program for adult ESL teachers. Learn strategies for using the Gettys collection to enhance your English-language acquisition curriculum.
ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Lessons for adult ESL students that build language skills though art.
ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Lessons for adult ESL students that build language skills through art.
Professional Development Opportunities (Education at the Getty)
Information about resources and services for teachers at the Getty Center, Los Angeles
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Visiting the Getty Center with your ESL class.
Looking at Portraits Lesson 4: Commission Statement (Education at the Getty)
Students apply what they have learned about portraits in a formal writing exercise.
Looking at Narrative Art Lesson 1: What Are Stories? (Education at the Getty)
Students discover how visual artists represent a story by depicting a single moment from it.
All Curricula (Education at the Getty)
Visual arts curricula developed by the Getty Museum tie into other subject areas. Aligned with California state and national standards.
Looking at Narrative Art Lesson 2: What's the End of the Story? (Education at the Getty)
Students will create a story based on an image.
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Tips for teaching about landscapes in the visual arts.
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Tips for teaching about portraits.
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Tips for teaching about representing narrative in the visual arts.
Language through Art (Intermediate Level) (Education at the Getty)
A series of lessons for adult learners of ESL focusing on building language skills through art.
Looking at Landscapes Lesson 1: Finding Yourself in a Landscape (Education at the Getty)
Students make connections between their personal experiences and landscapes.
Looking at Landscapes Lesson 2: Verbal Descriptions (Education at the Getty)
Students practice their speaking skills while describing a landscape scene for a partner to draw.
Looking at Narrative Art Lesson 3: Creating Your Own Story (Education at the Getty)
Students think about a dramatic moment in their lives and imagine how to translate it into a work of art.
(http://www.getty.edu/Search/SearchServlet?la=en&col=getty&nh=10&qt=esl+learning&lk=1&rf=0&st=11)
Thank you, Jeanne, for suggesting me to go on virtual tour at the Getty Center Museum. I had fun and learned a lot from it!
According to its website, the Getty Center Los Angeles is home to the J. Paul Getty Center Museum. It also houses a research institute a leadership training institute, a grant program and a conservation institute. The Getty Center Los Angeles was opened on December 16, 1997. The Getty Center Museum has a number of fine collections and exhibitions of classical sculpture and art. They also exhibit European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture, decorative arts, and photographs.
(http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/california/los-angeles/getty-center#)
After watching the short film clip about the overview of the Getty Museum, I told myself that I had to visit the place over this summer. It would be a wonderful experience if Jeanne and Youngran’s family could accompany with me.
According to the clip, the visitors would see:
• European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture and decorative arts, and European and American photographs
• A selection from the special collections of the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute
• Modern architecture and gardens
The Getty Center Museum also offers educational resources for adult learners, teachers, students, and families. Since I was particularly interested in educational aspects of ELS learning and Jeanne also suggested me to explore for the ESL educational resources, I spent extensive time in navigating the below sites for ESL learning activities and workshops. I was so ecstatic about these sites that I felt like a kid in the candy store. WOW! Look at these enrichment curricula and resources that the museum offers:
Language through Art: ESL Workshops (Education at the Getty)
One-day program for adult ESL teachers. Learn strategies for using the Gettys collection to enhance your English-language acquisition curriculum.
ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Lessons for adult ESL students that build language skills though art.
ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Lessons for adult ESL students that build language skills through art.
Professional Development Opportunities (Education at the Getty)
Information about resources and services for teachers at the Getty Center, Los Angeles
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Visiting the Getty Center with your ESL class.
Looking at Portraits Lesson 4: Commission Statement (Education at the Getty)
Students apply what they have learned about portraits in a formal writing exercise.
Looking at Narrative Art Lesson 1: What Are Stories? (Education at the Getty)
Students discover how visual artists represent a story by depicting a single moment from it.
All Curricula (Education at the Getty)
Visual arts curricula developed by the Getty Museum tie into other subject areas. Aligned with California state and national standards.
Looking at Narrative Art Lesson 2: What's the End of the Story? (Education at the Getty)
Students will create a story based on an image.
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Tips for teaching about landscapes in the visual arts.
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Tips for teaching about portraits.
Language through Art: An ESL Enrichment Curriculum (Education at the Getty)
Tips for teaching about representing narrative in the visual arts.
Language through Art (Intermediate Level) (Education at the Getty)
A series of lessons for adult learners of ESL focusing on building language skills through art.
Looking at Landscapes Lesson 1: Finding Yourself in a Landscape (Education at the Getty)
Students make connections between their personal experiences and landscapes.
Looking at Landscapes Lesson 2: Verbal Descriptions (Education at the Getty)
Students practice their speaking skills while describing a landscape scene for a partner to draw.
Looking at Narrative Art Lesson 3: Creating Your Own Story (Education at the Getty)
Students think about a dramatic moment in their lives and imagine how to translate it into a work of art.
(http://www.getty.edu/Search/SearchServlet?la=en&col=getty&nh=10&qt=esl+learning&lk=1&rf=0&st=11)
Thank you, Jeanne, for suggesting me to go on virtual tour at the Getty Center Museum. I had fun and learned a lot from it!
Friday, July 23, 2010
EESL 536 - Intercultural Communication Report
For a couple of weeks, Dr. Lynne has been excitingly informing us, “The Korean teachers are coming and be prepared,” which phrase reminds me of the 60’s events when the America public was prepared to receive the British invasion of the Beatles (I am a little bit exaggerating in here, for I was not in American in the 60’s but I saw it in the Ed Sullivan Show at PBS and also heard about the notorious publicity about them).
With much anticipation and enthusiasm, I met with my Korean partner, Youngran Song. She is a mother of two children who are in elementary and lives in Redlands. When she informed me that she teaches 4th graders, I was ecstatic, and we were immediately bonded, for I had been a long-term substitute teacher for the 4th graders, and they are my favorite grade to teach and interact with because their developmental stage in academic, social, psychological aspects appeals to me. They are innocent, witty, intelligent, creative, and compassionate.
According to Youngran, she majored in molecular biology and is passionate for learning English right now. Being a Korean for myself, I am keenly aware of Koreans’ zeal and passion for acquiring English, and I have been a vocal proponent of Korean becoming a bilingual country. In my opinion, monolingual has ceased long ago, and countries must open up their doors to others, for a country can no long exist by itself since the world has become intimately intertwined into every aspects of human life. I think bilingual education has much to offer for children, for it not only has positive effects on their brain development but also on their behavior and attitude, transcending its spectrum on social, psychological, academic, and neurological facets. Concerning globalization and economic outlets, I think that it can be best achieved by promoting and implementing bilingualism through the educational system within the country, and by adopting bilingual education, South Korean can reap many benefits from it since the country has heavily depended on global trades and international market.
Going back to my Korean partner, Youngran, I found out that we have some similarities. First, we are both Christians, more specifically, Protestants and love to listen to Christian music, and we are deeply engaged in activities within our churches. We are also a fan of Audrey Hepburn who starred in charming and sophisticated movies, such as “Roman Holiday” and “Breakfast at Tiffany.” The day we met, she informed me that her children were visiting Disneyland with the church group, but she couldn’t join them because she had to be in class.
Right now, our another partner, Jeanne, is diligently and deliberately searching for the most memorable place for the cultural tour so that Youngran and her children can maximize their cultural experiences in America. I will continue this blog after the tour, and I am looking forward to meeting Youngran and her children again as well as our wonderful and lovely friend, Jeanne.
Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:8
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like no one's watching.
Sing like no one's listening.
Live like there's no tomorrow.
Fear like a stone.
From Paradise Awaits or Mark Twain
Every storm has an end.
Every night brings a new morning.
What’s important is to trust those you love and never give up.
We must all keep hope alive.
Crono
With much anticipation and enthusiasm, I met with my Korean partner, Youngran Song. She is a mother of two children who are in elementary and lives in Redlands. When she informed me that she teaches 4th graders, I was ecstatic, and we were immediately bonded, for I had been a long-term substitute teacher for the 4th graders, and they are my favorite grade to teach and interact with because their developmental stage in academic, social, psychological aspects appeals to me. They are innocent, witty, intelligent, creative, and compassionate.
According to Youngran, she majored in molecular biology and is passionate for learning English right now. Being a Korean for myself, I am keenly aware of Koreans’ zeal and passion for acquiring English, and I have been a vocal proponent of Korean becoming a bilingual country. In my opinion, monolingual has ceased long ago, and countries must open up their doors to others, for a country can no long exist by itself since the world has become intimately intertwined into every aspects of human life. I think bilingual education has much to offer for children, for it not only has positive effects on their brain development but also on their behavior and attitude, transcending its spectrum on social, psychological, academic, and neurological facets. Concerning globalization and economic outlets, I think that it can be best achieved by promoting and implementing bilingualism through the educational system within the country, and by adopting bilingual education, South Korean can reap many benefits from it since the country has heavily depended on global trades and international market.
Going back to my Korean partner, Youngran, I found out that we have some similarities. First, we are both Christians, more specifically, Protestants and love to listen to Christian music, and we are deeply engaged in activities within our churches. We are also a fan of Audrey Hepburn who starred in charming and sophisticated movies, such as “Roman Holiday” and “Breakfast at Tiffany.” The day we met, she informed me that her children were visiting Disneyland with the church group, but she couldn’t join them because she had to be in class.
Right now, our another partner, Jeanne, is diligently and deliberately searching for the most memorable place for the cultural tour so that Youngran and her children can maximize their cultural experiences in America. I will continue this blog after the tour, and I am looking forward to meeting Youngran and her children again as well as our wonderful and lovely friend, Jeanne.
Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:8
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like no one's watching.
Sing like no one's listening.
Live like there's no tomorrow.
Fear like a stone.
From Paradise Awaits or Mark Twain
Every storm has an end.
Every night brings a new morning.
What’s important is to trust those you love and never give up.
We must all keep hope alive.
Crono
Friday, July 16, 2010
Reflective Writing
Dear Jenny,
Thank you for expressing your concerns about your students who keep falling into one genre, a narrative writing, using only familiar vocabulary when they were asked to write an essay. I understand your frustration as you try to teach different genres with a variety of vocabulary. I sympathize with you because the education of English language learners has become an immediate concern for teachers across America as the ELLs population increases exponentially, especially in southern California. At times, it can be too big of a burden or challenge to carry such responsibility because the way we teach reading, writing, speaking, and listening will greatly impact on ELLs in all aspects of their academic and social life.
Current educators are apprehensive that America is falling behind other rising countries, mainly China and India, in math and science; however, I differ with them because linguistics requires an intricate cognitive process compared to acquiring mathematical and scientific knowledge that entails logical rationale, which skill is not necessary for a critical period. A cognitive element is not the only issue for the mastery of a language, but teaching in writing is imperative for children because they primarily write to express and clarify their own ideas and feelings. As children learn to write, they discover the uniqueness of written language and the ways in which it differs from oral language.
Jenny, I know that you have been searching for an alternative pedagogy, which would eventually enhance the ELLs’ learning in writing. In this quarter, I took an EESL 665 course, a creative teaching, to be tuned with the current dynamics of a learning style for the present wave of students having been exposed to computers, movies and television programs embedded with special effects, so I thought I would try to learn a way to incorporate my subject knowledge and curriculum into the creative teaching in order to increase student learning. I noticed that students’ attention span is getting shorter, and it is harder to captivate their attention more than 10 minutes at each period; therefore, achieving the teaching and learning objectives is getting difficult. Since research shows that creative teaching is vital for the effectiveness of a teaching, I wanted to learn its methods and be familiar with the tools, for creative teaching utilizes multi-sensory approaches, which strategies cater for all of the students’ learning styles and needs.
Jenny, you may want to ask a question, “What does exactly creativity mean and how does it relate to student learning?” I am glad you have asked that question. In our first day of the class, my classmates were instructed by the professor to form a group of 3 and come up with the definition of creativity, and I was profoundly intrigued by their responses. I would like to share some of them with you, and here are the lists of the definition of creativity by each group.
• Creativity is the ability and process to produce positive, unique, independent, and imaginative objects.
• Creativity is the ability to structure and express oneself through the imagination in daily life.
• Creativity is an inhibited, original, self-expression of culture.
• An ability which we are born with, and it can be developed and inspired by what we see, what we listen, and what we feel for some positive and useful matter.
• Creativity is a combination of old things and new ideas carried out in a unique way through activities, process, and products.
• Creativity is a capacity to create using unique or innovative idea/capacity to invent or see things from a different/unique point of view.
• Creativity is thinking outside of the boundaries using words, visuals, sound, and touch to express and evoke emotions in order to make the unusual usual.
• Creativity is something new and beyond others’ expectation. When people see it, they’ll say, “Wow, I’ve never thought like that!” So, creativity is generated from someone’s unique and interesting perspective.
• Creativity is that one can see through a lens which to view the world’s possibility.
Jenny, from the lists of its definition, you can speculate how a creative teaching is necessary for the effective teaching and learning by first stimulating new ideas, and then processing them into a concrete concept, and finally applying them into the pragmatic application. You mentioned before that it was especially hard for ELLs to write a descriptive writing from all of the writing genres. It maybe that they have a limited vocabulary skills and since English is my second language, I can relate to them because many adjectives are derived from a different form of grammatical functions. In my opinion, descriptive writing is especially associated with creativity, for children use its technique to paint word pictures and to make their writing more concrete and vivid by noting specific information, choosing words carefully, creating sensory images, and adding dialogue.
Since descriptive writing is painting pictures with words, children need to be keen observers attentive to word choices and sensory images, and with this aspect, I think you can increase students’ vocabulary for adjectives by utilizing different programs and tools, such as PowerPoint, Movie Maker and Photo Story 3; however, I recommend Prezi, a two dimensional, brain rouser to increase and broaden a vocabulary repertoire. I have used PowerPoint many times to integrate curriculum into the teaching method before, and at first, its medium was able to hold students’ attention; however, it was temporary, and students became quickly bored. When I was introduced Prezi by Prof. Marcy, I knew right away that it would revolutionize the teaching and learning. With the Prezi, the content is stimulatingly integrated, presenting the concepts in a 360 degree with a two dimensional image by focusing on key words, turning the whole and part of the screen, and zooming focused words in and out. Frankly, I became woozy by the time I had reviewed 7 examples. However, the fact is that the more woozier it gets, the more students like it, which is my ultimate definition for the “digital generation.”
I have not had an adequate time to explore all the aspects of techniques and characteristics of Prezi; however, I assure you that by using its program, your students will be mesmerized visually from continual motions of content areas and key words so that you can effectively achieve teaching objectives and learning goals. If I can summarize what I have learned so far from an MA in TESOL, learning has to be student-centered, authentic, meaningful and practical. By utilizing this tool, I think you can achieve most of the agenda listed from the above.
Jenny, many 4th graders are truly a “digital generation.” They are already computer savvy and willing to take the learning into a higher level. By taking courses, such as computer- assisted language learning and creative teaching, I feel that I am fulfilling the educational obligation to myself and my students, for I believe that my students deserve the best education. During the summer vacation, I am planning on creating several presentations for a writing by utilizing Prezi, and I will share them with you on a collaboration day in August.
It has been only 6 days since the last day of school, but I already miss all of the students terribly. I hope you have a fun and safe summer.
Fondly,
Hea-Young
P.S. I have included several links for Prezi for you to review.
http://prezi.com/gybeqvfdlmgw/ Adjective Clauses
http://prezi.com/6hvxpzy4w3sy/ World Population Growth - planning an essay
http://edu.prezi.com/language/esl
Thank you for expressing your concerns about your students who keep falling into one genre, a narrative writing, using only familiar vocabulary when they were asked to write an essay. I understand your frustration as you try to teach different genres with a variety of vocabulary. I sympathize with you because the education of English language learners has become an immediate concern for teachers across America as the ELLs population increases exponentially, especially in southern California. At times, it can be too big of a burden or challenge to carry such responsibility because the way we teach reading, writing, speaking, and listening will greatly impact on ELLs in all aspects of their academic and social life.
Current educators are apprehensive that America is falling behind other rising countries, mainly China and India, in math and science; however, I differ with them because linguistics requires an intricate cognitive process compared to acquiring mathematical and scientific knowledge that entails logical rationale, which skill is not necessary for a critical period. A cognitive element is not the only issue for the mastery of a language, but teaching in writing is imperative for children because they primarily write to express and clarify their own ideas and feelings. As children learn to write, they discover the uniqueness of written language and the ways in which it differs from oral language.
Jenny, I know that you have been searching for an alternative pedagogy, which would eventually enhance the ELLs’ learning in writing. In this quarter, I took an EESL 665 course, a creative teaching, to be tuned with the current dynamics of a learning style for the present wave of students having been exposed to computers, movies and television programs embedded with special effects, so I thought I would try to learn a way to incorporate my subject knowledge and curriculum into the creative teaching in order to increase student learning. I noticed that students’ attention span is getting shorter, and it is harder to captivate their attention more than 10 minutes at each period; therefore, achieving the teaching and learning objectives is getting difficult. Since research shows that creative teaching is vital for the effectiveness of a teaching, I wanted to learn its methods and be familiar with the tools, for creative teaching utilizes multi-sensory approaches, which strategies cater for all of the students’ learning styles and needs.
Jenny, you may want to ask a question, “What does exactly creativity mean and how does it relate to student learning?” I am glad you have asked that question. In our first day of the class, my classmates were instructed by the professor to form a group of 3 and come up with the definition of creativity, and I was profoundly intrigued by their responses. I would like to share some of them with you, and here are the lists of the definition of creativity by each group.
• Creativity is the ability and process to produce positive, unique, independent, and imaginative objects.
• Creativity is the ability to structure and express oneself through the imagination in daily life.
• Creativity is an inhibited, original, self-expression of culture.
• An ability which we are born with, and it can be developed and inspired by what we see, what we listen, and what we feel for some positive and useful matter.
• Creativity is a combination of old things and new ideas carried out in a unique way through activities, process, and products.
• Creativity is a capacity to create using unique or innovative idea/capacity to invent or see things from a different/unique point of view.
• Creativity is thinking outside of the boundaries using words, visuals, sound, and touch to express and evoke emotions in order to make the unusual usual.
• Creativity is something new and beyond others’ expectation. When people see it, they’ll say, “Wow, I’ve never thought like that!” So, creativity is generated from someone’s unique and interesting perspective.
• Creativity is that one can see through a lens which to view the world’s possibility.
Jenny, from the lists of its definition, you can speculate how a creative teaching is necessary for the effective teaching and learning by first stimulating new ideas, and then processing them into a concrete concept, and finally applying them into the pragmatic application. You mentioned before that it was especially hard for ELLs to write a descriptive writing from all of the writing genres. It maybe that they have a limited vocabulary skills and since English is my second language, I can relate to them because many adjectives are derived from a different form of grammatical functions. In my opinion, descriptive writing is especially associated with creativity, for children use its technique to paint word pictures and to make their writing more concrete and vivid by noting specific information, choosing words carefully, creating sensory images, and adding dialogue.
Since descriptive writing is painting pictures with words, children need to be keen observers attentive to word choices and sensory images, and with this aspect, I think you can increase students’ vocabulary for adjectives by utilizing different programs and tools, such as PowerPoint, Movie Maker and Photo Story 3; however, I recommend Prezi, a two dimensional, brain rouser to increase and broaden a vocabulary repertoire. I have used PowerPoint many times to integrate curriculum into the teaching method before, and at first, its medium was able to hold students’ attention; however, it was temporary, and students became quickly bored. When I was introduced Prezi by Prof. Marcy, I knew right away that it would revolutionize the teaching and learning. With the Prezi, the content is stimulatingly integrated, presenting the concepts in a 360 degree with a two dimensional image by focusing on key words, turning the whole and part of the screen, and zooming focused words in and out. Frankly, I became woozy by the time I had reviewed 7 examples. However, the fact is that the more woozier it gets, the more students like it, which is my ultimate definition for the “digital generation.”
I have not had an adequate time to explore all the aspects of techniques and characteristics of Prezi; however, I assure you that by using its program, your students will be mesmerized visually from continual motions of content areas and key words so that you can effectively achieve teaching objectives and learning goals. If I can summarize what I have learned so far from an MA in TESOL, learning has to be student-centered, authentic, meaningful and practical. By utilizing this tool, I think you can achieve most of the agenda listed from the above.
Jenny, many 4th graders are truly a “digital generation.” They are already computer savvy and willing to take the learning into a higher level. By taking courses, such as computer- assisted language learning and creative teaching, I feel that I am fulfilling the educational obligation to myself and my students, for I believe that my students deserve the best education. During the summer vacation, I am planning on creating several presentations for a writing by utilizing Prezi, and I will share them with you on a collaboration day in August.
It has been only 6 days since the last day of school, but I already miss all of the students terribly. I hope you have a fun and safe summer.
Fondly,
Hea-Young
P.S. I have included several links for Prezi for you to review.
http://prezi.com/gybeqvfdlmgw/ Adjective Clauses
http://prezi.com/6hvxpzy4w3sy/ World Population Growth - planning an essay
http://edu.prezi.com/language/esl
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Assignment #8: Course Reflection and Personal Philosophy
Course Reflection and Personal Philosophy
I love children and values education. I believe that every child has a right to be educated and to engage in a productive and fulfilled life. I also believe that every child is given a purpose to bring something unique and special to the world, and as a teacher, I have a privilege to help each of them to develop his or her capability by effectively conveying subject knowledge and human values so that they grow up to be as capable and respectable individuals.
My philosophical aspects of teaching sound appealing, but I struggled with the method of pedagogy and curriculum. Someone said that humans are creatures of habit, for even though I had completed the teaching credential program taught by distinguished professors that a creative and student-centered curriculum is crucial for student learning, I found myself repeating the pedagogy that I had received from Korea, which was a direct, teacher-centered instruction. As an elementary educator, I realized how important interactive teaching and students-centered learning were as a teacher and students worked together to create a meaningful and realistic curriculum so that students could apply what they had learned to practical settings of real life. I understood its concept in my head; however, I just could not overcome old relics of authoritarian teaching style that I had been influenced for over 20 years.
However, my role as an elementary educator has undergone a tremendous transformation since I experienced one pivotal event. One day, I was teaching an adjective to 4th graders, and even though they knew the definition and grammatical aspects of it by heart, the students just could not understand the logistical functions of it. So, I decided to teach adjectives in more meaningful way by employing different strategies. Next day, I brought flowers, a teddy bear, an orange, a basket ball, and sand paper to the class and divided the students into 5 groups. After teaching the definition and grammatical part of an adjective one more time, I distributed each item that I had brought from home to each group along with a piece of construction paper with a graphic organizer drawn onto it and a marker. I then instructed them to write all adjectives that they could think of after visualizing, toughing, smelling, and feeling the object onto the construction paper.
Next, I had each group come up in front of the classroom and present their finished project, heeding the students to be a polite and receptive audience, and I also gave an insightful and positive feedback on each group with a lot of praises. The students loved the activity and participated in it wholly and enthusiastically. In order to assess their learning, I assigned a short writing essay titled “My Favorite Holiday” and instructed them to write a two-paragraph essay using as many as adjectives they could think of in circling all the adjectives that they had used. Later when I was assessing students’ writings, I was surprised at how they had written excellent and effective stories.
At the time, I did not aware that I was implementing an interactive and student-centered curriculum in a meaningful and practical way. I had preconceived knowledge about the democratic learning and student-centered curriculum, but I did not know how to express them. After all, I have literally been brainwashed by professors for 2 year, 1 year at teaching credential program and 1 year at masters in TESOL learning effective strategies and curricula for teaching reading and writing not only to mainstreams but also to multilingual students. I realize how powerful young writers are, for they use their writing as a tool to express their feelings, persuade others, and convey their ideas, therefore, it is my responsibility to have them achieve its mastery, and I do not take it lightly.
I love children and values education. I believe that every child has a right to be educated and to engage in a productive and fulfilled life. I also believe that every child is given a purpose to bring something unique and special to the world, and as a teacher, I have a privilege to help each of them to develop his or her capability by effectively conveying subject knowledge and human values so that they grow up to be as capable and respectable individuals.
My philosophical aspects of teaching sound appealing, but I struggled with the method of pedagogy and curriculum. Someone said that humans are creatures of habit, for even though I had completed the teaching credential program taught by distinguished professors that a creative and student-centered curriculum is crucial for student learning, I found myself repeating the pedagogy that I had received from Korea, which was a direct, teacher-centered instruction. As an elementary educator, I realized how important interactive teaching and students-centered learning were as a teacher and students worked together to create a meaningful and realistic curriculum so that students could apply what they had learned to practical settings of real life. I understood its concept in my head; however, I just could not overcome old relics of authoritarian teaching style that I had been influenced for over 20 years.
However, my role as an elementary educator has undergone a tremendous transformation since I experienced one pivotal event. One day, I was teaching an adjective to 4th graders, and even though they knew the definition and grammatical aspects of it by heart, the students just could not understand the logistical functions of it. So, I decided to teach adjectives in more meaningful way by employing different strategies. Next day, I brought flowers, a teddy bear, an orange, a basket ball, and sand paper to the class and divided the students into 5 groups. After teaching the definition and grammatical part of an adjective one more time, I distributed each item that I had brought from home to each group along with a piece of construction paper with a graphic organizer drawn onto it and a marker. I then instructed them to write all adjectives that they could think of after visualizing, toughing, smelling, and feeling the object onto the construction paper.
Next, I had each group come up in front of the classroom and present their finished project, heeding the students to be a polite and receptive audience, and I also gave an insightful and positive feedback on each group with a lot of praises. The students loved the activity and participated in it wholly and enthusiastically. In order to assess their learning, I assigned a short writing essay titled “My Favorite Holiday” and instructed them to write a two-paragraph essay using as many as adjectives they could think of in circling all the adjectives that they had used. Later when I was assessing students’ writings, I was surprised at how they had written excellent and effective stories.
At the time, I did not aware that I was implementing an interactive and student-centered curriculum in a meaningful and practical way. I had preconceived knowledge about the democratic learning and student-centered curriculum, but I did not know how to express them. After all, I have literally been brainwashed by professors for 2 year, 1 year at teaching credential program and 1 year at masters in TESOL learning effective strategies and curricula for teaching reading and writing not only to mainstreams but also to multilingual students. I realize how powerful young writers are, for they use their writing as a tool to express their feelings, persuade others, and convey their ideas, therefore, it is my responsibility to have them achieve its mastery, and I do not take it lightly.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Assignment #1: Myself As a Writer
Myself As a Writer
My earliest memory that I experienced as a reader happened in Korea when I was about 5 years old. As I walked through the busy streets, I was fascinated by writings on advertisements and signs attached to buildings, and I felt compelled to read them all aloud. At first, my mother was delighted with my peculiar habit, encouraging me to reading them all, however, as time went by, she was somewhat annoyed by my obsessive behavior. Since I could not pay attention to the direction where we were heading that day, for I was busy engaged in reading all the signs, my mother had to tug me along by pulling my hand constantly to the directions where that day’s destination might have been. The memory of my mother’s strong tugging hand had permanently imprinted in my memory.
I do not recall any significant difficulties in learning to read or write in Korean. The transitions for acquiring my first language, Korean, were smooth and effortless compared to my second language, English, for the first language skills came as natural. I believe in Chomsky’s Universal Grammar theory hypothesizing that human beings are born with preexisted language ability, called the innate capacity. I also agree with Lenneberg’s critical period hypothesis that older learners of a second language rarely achieve the native like fluency that younger learners display, despite often progressing faster than children in the initial stages.
Teachers in Korean were more intensely focused on conveying subject knowledge in math and science than Korean language, and I do not remember teachers administering us spelling tests beyond 5th grade unlike here in America. It makes so much sense that Korean language is constituted as a uni-language as opposed to English language that was originated from and influenced by many different countries such as, Latin, Roman, Greece, France and many more. Not only American children have to learn about parts of speech, but they also have to acquire root words using prefixes and suffixes and what countries those were originated from. In this sense, learning English is definitely more complicated than that of Korean.
The most significant memory I had in Korea regarding reading was that the teachers would assign 5 to 10 classical books for us to read during the summer vacation from middle school to high school, and these were some books that I had read and some attempted during vacations:
• San Gook Gi
• Whang Jin Hee
• Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Tess by Thomas Hardy
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• Gone with the Wind
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
These are among many books that I had read midst of hot and humid summer days and nights where the crickets chirp endlessly, evoking me into life’s sadness and hardship as mosquitoes wheezed by biting me all over the body mercilessly. At that time, I was definitely a hormone charged teenager who was consumed by discontent and restless, and my diary revealed poignantly how I felt about life in general. By retrospect, those were the best times of my life being able to submerge into the characters of books by keeping falling in love with Rhett Butler in Gone with The Wind and Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre. Not only we had to read the books, we also had to write summaries about them, and the teachers were vigilant in the processes by having us read them aloud in class.
For the writing experiences, the Seoul District had a writing contest in every spring and every student grades from 4th grade through High school had to participate in it. The teachers gave us one period (one hour), and we had to write narrative or expository essays or Sijo by carefully selecting from the given themes and different genres, and each student could only choose one theme under one genre. When we turned in our finished writings, each teacher would review them and selected the best ones and then submitted them to the district pool. It was a great privilege to be selected into the top 10, for not only it was an honor, but some of us were ecstatic because the prizes were comprised with many expensive classical novels, encyclopedias, and Korean and English dictionaries.
In one year during my junior in high school, instead of writing a usual essay, I chose to write a Sijo which was a profoundly short and very structured poetry form initially introduced by Chinese, for I was mesmerized by its beauty that resonated serenity and peace. For a while, I was so absorbed by it, and just witnessing a simple morning light, a drop of rain, and a fresh smell of breeze stirred my whole emotional state, which compelled to write one immediately. By following the tradition, we would sit in a circle and compose one impromptu according to a given topic by taking turns. It was a profound experience.
Sijo is traditionally composed in three lines of 14-16 syllables each, totaling between 44-46 syllables. A pause breaks each line approximately in the middle; it resembles a caesura but is not based on metrics, and here is an example:
The spring breeze melted snow on the hills then quickly disappeared.
I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair
And melt away the aging frost forming now about my ears. ...U T'ak (1262-1342, author of this oldest surviving Sijo) (http://www.ahapoetry.com/sijo.htm).
In college, I was on the way of becoming a registered nurse when I had to meet a required social sciences’ prerequisite of American history. When I heard Dr. Yoshino’s lecture, I knew immediately that I had to major in history, for I was falling in love with the American Founding Fathers and their ideologies that shaped the American history, thus, the hallmark of my writing had begun. Having come to this country at 21 years old, my writing had been contoured into a certain style, meaning that I had not learned how to write academic papers in using a critical thinking ability. It was very difficult for me to transform my preconceived knowledge into the new academia, such concepts as, America actually practiced “aristocracy” instead of “democracy” because only 1% of elite controls this country, and Marxism has many merits. These prevalent ideologies at UCR were shocking academic discoveries for me, and it was hard to grasp the concepts. Even though I was able to digest theses theories eventually, I just could not translate them into my writings, not to mention for grammatical and linguistic aspects of writing in English too. However, many professors and teaching assistants took pity on me and worked with me diligently and consistently on essays, term papers and research papers. I am permanently grateful for them.
After all these years, I cannot fathom how I am still struggling with the writing, mainly for the correct usages of articles and propositions. I do not know how to overcome with these problems, and at times I get so discouraged. I have taken a class specially designed for the articles, and according to its rules, it has 101 for them. The negative aspect is that after taking the class, I am more confused than before by overcompensating it, and the same story applies to the usage of propositions as well. Maybe I am in the fossilization period, and when my Korean friends inform me that I will always have problems with articles and prepositions just like they do, I feel hopeless.
I am also finding out that these problems also apply to English language learners in elementary levels. I am a substitute teacher for elementary, and my district is composed with a high percentage of ELLs. When I implement language arts, I am often surprised to see how much ELLs are having similar problems as I am. Many of them are struggling with propositions, but not as much as articles. When I reveal my problems on the usages of articles and prepositions to some ELL coaches and teachers, they just dismiss it as a minor problem and often suggest that I could overcome it with a simple exercise such as reading books aloud or circling all propositions when I read. I wish the problems are simple as that, however, I know it has to be more complicate than that, and I am determine to find out how to help ELLs and also myself.
I have just taken EESL 615 last quarter and enjoyed writing a literature review using 15 resources. I am anxiously looking forward to engaging in writing a research paper for bilingualism in Korean. Even though I have mostly written papers in MLA form, I am learning how to write them in APA style. I am not a digital generation and have a habit of printing out the articles instead of reading them directly, however, I am getting better at using electronic technologies and love to communicate through emails. Taking Prof. Marcy’s CALL has helped me tremendously.
References
Accessed April 10, 2010 from http://www.ahapoetry.com/sijo.htm
My earliest memory that I experienced as a reader happened in Korea when I was about 5 years old. As I walked through the busy streets, I was fascinated by writings on advertisements and signs attached to buildings, and I felt compelled to read them all aloud. At first, my mother was delighted with my peculiar habit, encouraging me to reading them all, however, as time went by, she was somewhat annoyed by my obsessive behavior. Since I could not pay attention to the direction where we were heading that day, for I was busy engaged in reading all the signs, my mother had to tug me along by pulling my hand constantly to the directions where that day’s destination might have been. The memory of my mother’s strong tugging hand had permanently imprinted in my memory.
I do not recall any significant difficulties in learning to read or write in Korean. The transitions for acquiring my first language, Korean, were smooth and effortless compared to my second language, English, for the first language skills came as natural. I believe in Chomsky’s Universal Grammar theory hypothesizing that human beings are born with preexisted language ability, called the innate capacity. I also agree with Lenneberg’s critical period hypothesis that older learners of a second language rarely achieve the native like fluency that younger learners display, despite often progressing faster than children in the initial stages.
Teachers in Korean were more intensely focused on conveying subject knowledge in math and science than Korean language, and I do not remember teachers administering us spelling tests beyond 5th grade unlike here in America. It makes so much sense that Korean language is constituted as a uni-language as opposed to English language that was originated from and influenced by many different countries such as, Latin, Roman, Greece, France and many more. Not only American children have to learn about parts of speech, but they also have to acquire root words using prefixes and suffixes and what countries those were originated from. In this sense, learning English is definitely more complicated than that of Korean.
The most significant memory I had in Korea regarding reading was that the teachers would assign 5 to 10 classical books for us to read during the summer vacation from middle school to high school, and these were some books that I had read and some attempted during vacations:
• San Gook Gi
• Whang Jin Hee
• Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Tess by Thomas Hardy
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• Gone with the Wind
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
These are among many books that I had read midst of hot and humid summer days and nights where the crickets chirp endlessly, evoking me into life’s sadness and hardship as mosquitoes wheezed by biting me all over the body mercilessly. At that time, I was definitely a hormone charged teenager who was consumed by discontent and restless, and my diary revealed poignantly how I felt about life in general. By retrospect, those were the best times of my life being able to submerge into the characters of books by keeping falling in love with Rhett Butler in Gone with The Wind and Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre. Not only we had to read the books, we also had to write summaries about them, and the teachers were vigilant in the processes by having us read them aloud in class.
For the writing experiences, the Seoul District had a writing contest in every spring and every student grades from 4th grade through High school had to participate in it. The teachers gave us one period (one hour), and we had to write narrative or expository essays or Sijo by carefully selecting from the given themes and different genres, and each student could only choose one theme under one genre. When we turned in our finished writings, each teacher would review them and selected the best ones and then submitted them to the district pool. It was a great privilege to be selected into the top 10, for not only it was an honor, but some of us were ecstatic because the prizes were comprised with many expensive classical novels, encyclopedias, and Korean and English dictionaries.
In one year during my junior in high school, instead of writing a usual essay, I chose to write a Sijo which was a profoundly short and very structured poetry form initially introduced by Chinese, for I was mesmerized by its beauty that resonated serenity and peace. For a while, I was so absorbed by it, and just witnessing a simple morning light, a drop of rain, and a fresh smell of breeze stirred my whole emotional state, which compelled to write one immediately. By following the tradition, we would sit in a circle and compose one impromptu according to a given topic by taking turns. It was a profound experience.
Sijo is traditionally composed in three lines of 14-16 syllables each, totaling between 44-46 syllables. A pause breaks each line approximately in the middle; it resembles a caesura but is not based on metrics, and here is an example:
The spring breeze melted snow on the hills then quickly disappeared.
I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair
And melt away the aging frost forming now about my ears. ...U T'ak (1262-1342, author of this oldest surviving Sijo) (http://www.ahapoetry.com/sijo.htm).
In college, I was on the way of becoming a registered nurse when I had to meet a required social sciences’ prerequisite of American history. When I heard Dr. Yoshino’s lecture, I knew immediately that I had to major in history, for I was falling in love with the American Founding Fathers and their ideologies that shaped the American history, thus, the hallmark of my writing had begun. Having come to this country at 21 years old, my writing had been contoured into a certain style, meaning that I had not learned how to write academic papers in using a critical thinking ability. It was very difficult for me to transform my preconceived knowledge into the new academia, such concepts as, America actually practiced “aristocracy” instead of “democracy” because only 1% of elite controls this country, and Marxism has many merits. These prevalent ideologies at UCR were shocking academic discoveries for me, and it was hard to grasp the concepts. Even though I was able to digest theses theories eventually, I just could not translate them into my writings, not to mention for grammatical and linguistic aspects of writing in English too. However, many professors and teaching assistants took pity on me and worked with me diligently and consistently on essays, term papers and research papers. I am permanently grateful for them.
After all these years, I cannot fathom how I am still struggling with the writing, mainly for the correct usages of articles and propositions. I do not know how to overcome with these problems, and at times I get so discouraged. I have taken a class specially designed for the articles, and according to its rules, it has 101 for them. The negative aspect is that after taking the class, I am more confused than before by overcompensating it, and the same story applies to the usage of propositions as well. Maybe I am in the fossilization period, and when my Korean friends inform me that I will always have problems with articles and prepositions just like they do, I feel hopeless.
I am also finding out that these problems also apply to English language learners in elementary levels. I am a substitute teacher for elementary, and my district is composed with a high percentage of ELLs. When I implement language arts, I am often surprised to see how much ELLs are having similar problems as I am. Many of them are struggling with propositions, but not as much as articles. When I reveal my problems on the usages of articles and prepositions to some ELL coaches and teachers, they just dismiss it as a minor problem and often suggest that I could overcome it with a simple exercise such as reading books aloud or circling all propositions when I read. I wish the problems are simple as that, however, I know it has to be more complicate than that, and I am determine to find out how to help ELLs and also myself.
I have just taken EESL 615 last quarter and enjoyed writing a literature review using 15 resources. I am anxiously looking forward to engaging in writing a research paper for bilingualism in Korean. Even though I have mostly written papers in MLA form, I am learning how to write them in APA style. I am not a digital generation and have a habit of printing out the articles instead of reading them directly, however, I am getting better at using electronic technologies and love to communicate through emails. Taking Prof. Marcy’s CALL has helped me tremendously.
References
Accessed April 10, 2010 from http://www.ahapoetry.com/sijo.htm
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