Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual School: Choices, Risks, and Dilemmas

by Goldstein, Tara; Pon, Gordon; Chiu, Timothy; Ngan, Judith

• ISBN13: 9780805840162
• ISBN10: 0805840168
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual School: Choices, Risks, and Dilemmasis for teachers and teacher educators working in communities that educate children who do not speak English as a first language. At the center of the book are findings from a four-year critical ethnographic case study of a Canadian high school with a large number of emigrant students from Hong Kong and rich descriptions of the multitude of ways teachers and students thought about, responded to, and negotiated the issues and dilemmas that arose. The solutions and insights they derived from their experiences of working across linguistic, cultural, and racial differences will be extremely valuable to educators in other locales that have become home to large numbers of immigrant families. The book is designed to help readers think about how the issues and dilemmas in the case study manifest themselves in their own communities and how to apply the insights they gain to their own teaching and learning contexts: * Each chapter includes four components: an excerpt from the ethnographic study; an analytic commentary on the ethnographic text drawn from a variety of theoretical perspectives and academic disciplines (including interactionist sociolinguistics, language minority education, English as a Second Language education, critical literacy, anti-racist education, and critical teacher education); a pedagogical discussion; and suggestions for further reflection and discussion. * The book features the use of ethnographic play writing to engage readers with the issues that arise in multicultural/multilingual schools. The author's playHong Kong, Canadais included in its entirety and is used to stimulate further discussion of the issues raised in each of the chapters. * Although it is organized around two different kinds of schooling dilemmas--dilemmas of speech and silence, and dilemmas of discrimination--everyday dilemmas of curriculum and assessment are also discussed throughout the book. * A methodological discussion of the choices the author made while designing, conducting, and writing up the critical ethnographic case study makes the book useful in qualitative research methodology courses. * A set of strategies and activities is provided for helping students develop English oral presentation skills.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword	xiii
Sonia Nieto
Preface	xix
A Word About Language	xxv
Acknowledgments	xxix
Contributors	xxxi
Introduction: Bilingual Life and Language	1	(24)
Choice at Northside The Case of Northside	1	(4)
Academic Programming and Linguistic Diversity at Northside	5	(5)
The Cantonese-Speaking Students at Northside	10	(1)
Studying Language Choice	11	(2)
Choosing to Use Cantonese at School	13	(1)
Translation and Transcription Notes	14	(2)
Risks Associated With Using English	16	(2)
Dilemmas Associated With Using Cantonese	18	(2)
Teaching in ``New Times''	20	(5)
Part I Dilemmas of Speech and Silence
Accepting and Legitimizing Multilingualism	25	(16)
``At Times, People Learn Better From Their Peers''	26	(3)
Commentary: Learning and Teaching in Cantonese and Mandarin	29	(6)
The Fluidity of Language Choice and the Practice of Codeswitching	29	(1)
On Public and Private Spaces in the Classroom	30	(1)
On Interethnic/Interracial Relations in the Multilingual Classroom	31	(1)
Codeswitching to Work Across Linguistic Differences	32	(3)
Pedagogical Discussion: On Linguistic Accommodation	35	(3)
For Further Reflection and Discussion	38	(3)
A Collective Reading of Hong Kong, Canada	38	(1)
Emotional Responses to Hong Kong, Canada: Personal Reflection	39	(1)
Issues and Dilemmas Raised in Hong Kong, Canada	39	(1)
Private and Public Spaces: Personal Reflection	39	(1)
The Possibilities of Words Unspoken	40	(1)
Promoting and Legitimizing English	41	(17)
A Commitment to English	42	(2)
Commentary: Insisting Upon English	44	(5)
Student Responses to English-Only in the Classroom	46	(3)
Pedagogical Discussion: Learning From the American ``Ebonics Debate''	49	(6)
For Further Reflection and Discussion	55	(3)
Private and Public Linguistic Identities: Personal and Professional Reflection	55	(1)
Journal Writing in English	55	(1)
Imagining Carol's Journal Entry	56	(1)
Looking at the Intersections of Race, Language, and Class	56	(1)
Ambivalent and Changing Investments in English	57	(1)
Responding to Silence	58	(25)
``I Can Keep It in My Heart''	59	(1)
``Everyone Has to Contribute''	60	(2)
Commentary: Silences in the Multilingual Classroom, Co-Written With Gordon Pon	62	(7)
Burdensome Silence	63	(2)
Inhibitive and Attentive Silences	65	(2)
Desires for Whispered Cantonese	67	(2)
Pedagogical Discussion: Silences in the Multilingual Classroom, Co-Written With Gordon Pon	69	(9)
Anne Yee, Greg Dunn, and Leonard Robertson	69	(3)
Working With Inhibitive and Attentive Silences	72	(2)
Alleviating Tensions in Small-Group Work	74	(2)
Lowering the Stakes of Small-Group Work	76	(1)
Alternatives to Small-Group Work	77	(1)
For Further Reflection and Discussion	78	(5)
Unearthing and Deconstructing Stereotypes Around Varieties of English	78	(1)
The Myth of the Non-Accent: Personal Reflection	79	(1)
Developing Communicative Competence and Confidence: Professional Reflection	79	(1)
Performing and Engaging With Silence	80	(1)
Speaking English and Acting White	80	(3)
Part II Dilemmas of Discrimination
Resisting Anti-Immigrant Discourses and Linguicism	83	(19)
Journey to Acceptance	84	(3)
Beginnings	84	(1)
Final Reflections	85	(2)
Commentary: Negotiating Identities in ``Hong Kong, Canada''	87	(9)
Teaching and Learning in ``Hong Kong, Canada''	88	(1)
Opening Small Doors	89	(4)
Journey to Acceptance: Challenging Assumptions and Rejecting Linguicism	93	(3)
Pedagogical Discussion: On Rejecting Linguicism	96	(3)
On Language, Authority, and a Schoolwide English-Only Policy	97	(2)
For Further Reflection and Discussion	99	(3)
The Complexity of ``Who Am I?''	99	(1)
Working With Controversial Language Issues	100	(1)
Not Understanding What Is Being Said: Personal Reflection	100	(1)
Responding to a Call for a Schoolwide English-Only Policy	101	(1)
Oral Presentations, Accent Discrimination, and Linguistic Privilege	102	(22)
No Pain, No Gain	104	(6)
Timothy Chiu
Commentary: Speaking With Different Accents	110	(6)
On Classroom Presentations	110	(2)
On Sharing the Responsibility of Communication	112	(2)
Accessing the Target Language Community	114	(1)
On Linguistic Privilege	115	(1)
Pedagogical Discussion: Anti-discriminatory Education in Multilingual Schools	116	(6)
Responding to Accent Discrimination and Linguistic Privilege	116	(3)
Acquiring Discourse Competence	119	(3)
For Further Reflection and Discussion	122	(2)
Thinking About Accent and Race: Personal and Professional Reflection	122	(1)
Thinking About Positive Evaluations of Different Accents: Personal and Professional Reflection	123	(1)
Thinking About Linguistic Privilege	123	(1)
Conclusion: Challenging Linguistic Inequities in Multilingual School Communities	124	(9)
Contesting and Challenging Student Multilingualism at Northside	125	(1)
Challenging Linguistic Inequities in Multilingual School Communities	126	(2)
From ``What Is'' to ``What Could Be''	128	(2)
Pedagogical Discussion: Promoting Multilingual and English Learning Activities	130	(3)
Appendix A: Hong Kong, Canada	133	(50)
Tara Goldstein
Appendix B: Critical Educational Ethnography in Postmodern Times	183	(14)
Introduction: On Hybrid Texts and Multiple Voices	183	(1)
On Hybrid Texts and Representing Multiple Voices	184	(1)
On Writing in Multiple Voices	185	(2)
The Research Team	187	(1)
Our Fieldwork	188	(8)
Participation Observation and Document Analysis Activities	188	(1)
Ethnographic Interviewing, Translation and Tape Recording Everyday Language Practices	189	(1)
Hybrid Reading: Research Reports, Memoirs, and Plays	190	(2)
Student Playwriting and the Politics of Researching ``Other People's Children''	192	(1)
Playwriting As Critical Ethnography	193	(1)
But Whose Story Is It?	194	(1)
Learning to Write Plays	195	(1)
Getting Feedback and Revising	195	(1)
Conclusion: On Rigor, Persuasiveness, and Trustworthiness	196	(1)
Appendix C: Developing Oral Presentation Skills	197	(6)
Judith Ngan
Demonstration Speech	197	(1)
Outline of Lecture on Developing Oral Presentation	198	(1)
Lecture on Developing Oral Presentation Skills	199	(4)
References	203	(8)
Author Index	211	(4)
Subject Index	215