Contact Information
Email: katebarba10@gmail.com
Phone: (267) 261-4551
Learning Outcome 3
"Students will demonstrate understanding of the socio-cultural
contexts in which languages are acquired and their effects on communication and
language learning."
Volunteering at the I.E.L.
Over the past five years, I have had the opportunity to work with students from many different countries and cultures. In my last semester at Gonzaga University, I attended a class called Immigrant and Refugee Perspectives. Part of the requirements for the class was to observe and assist an adult refugee class at the Institute for Extended Learning (I.E.L.) in Spokane, Washington. The class I elected to work with was a second level adult English class which consisted of students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Ukraine, Mexico, Sudan, and Iraq. Volunteering at the institute was my first opportunity to work in such a diverse class where the focus was on the ability to communicate and function in society rather than academic.
While serving in Ecuador, I was able to apply the knowledge and experience that I gained from my volunteer experience to my secondary classes in Ecuador. I worked in a low-income school where formal book learning education did not appear to be as valued as it is in the United States. Many parents did not seem to be active participants in their children's formal education and the students themselves often lacked motivation to learn. The value of understanding the cultural differences and taking the time to acquaint myself with each of my students was reinforced after my service and through my experience volunteering at the I.E.L.
I also believe that part of teaching English as a second or foreign language incorporates learning the culture and customs of the language. Therefore, in my classes, I included a mixture of teaching both language and cultural norms to prepare the students for real life situations should they ever have the opportunity to travel to another country or meet a native English speaker. In the video below, you will listen to one teacher's observations about the differences in American culture and Ecuadorian culture. Many of these differences illustrate the importance of taking time to learn about your students' culture because it can impact their behavior and actions in class. The second video shows the differences in American and Ecuadorian greetings.
Every culture should be valued and I believe that it is the teacher's role to ensure that the students have the opportunity to share their own culture as well as learn about the culture of the language they are learning.
"To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture." Frantz Fanon
Ecuadorian Culture
Greetings