Week 4

Social Identity and Cultural Assimilation
February, 4th

Language and Identity 
           In the article, “Language and Identity” by Bonny Norton, he discussed the importance of who we are and who we represent in society. He discussed that “gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, among other characteristics are all implicated in this negotiation of identity”. Reflecting on what was discussed in the article, there is a correlation in which a student’s identity and language is very important for students to succeed a second language and trying to understand another culture.  However, it can be a challenge because there are so many factors that can contribute for a student having difficulties achieving second language acquisition. Not only are we trying to learn a second language, but also understand its social context. This can be an implication, particularity for students trying to learn a second language. In his article he discusses five areas that were research on identity,

1. Identity and investment. Research was done that showed that having motivation to learn another language may not be sufficient to have developed a good language. 
2. Identity and imagine communities. A clash between what is being learned in class and adjusting the language to society. 
3. Identity categories and educational changes. Creating a supportive environment where everyone identity is included in the classroom and respected.
4.  Identity and literacy. Literacy practice can really help people develop and better adjust outside of the classroom. 
5. Identity and resistance. Resistance can be troublesome when it comes to developing second language acquisition.

These are all very important contributing factors that we as future teachers need to consider and to better understand our students. We need to take into consideration who our students are and embrace their identity in the classroom. When we have students who are experiencing difficulty understanding the social context of another culture it may lead many students to restrain themselves from learning a second language and culture. Students’ affective filter is trigger and can cause the students to be less motivated to learn a new language and assimilate to the culture.

In the article, “Social Identity, Investment and Language learning”, it discuss important concern that as teacher we should take. I believe it was very important to encourage our students to try to further develop their language outside of classroom. I also believe it is very important to make our students be more of multicultural citizens and be accepting of who they are in society. I like the objective mention and discuss in this article to better help our ELL students feel more comfortable speaking their L2, such as,

1. Investigative opportunities to interact with target language speakers.
2. Reflect critically on engagement with target language speakers.
3. Reflect on observations in diaries or journals.
4. Pay attention to and record unusual events.
5. Compare data with fellow students and researchers.       

            Additionally, students who are trying to assimilate can be challenging, besides learning a new language. Reading the article about “The Making of an American”, it was very interesting the trajectory of Europeans trying to assimilate into the Americanized way. Surprisingly, Europeans also struggled to assimilate and change their beliefs and values. However, even though there were struggles it was still not as complicated and problematic for them to adapt than someone whose culture was very different from an American and/or European. As future teachers, we need to understand that assimilating can be very problematic for someone whose culture is different from ours. We need to be sensitive and supportive of all students and have an understanding of where they are coming from. Overall, we need to take into consideration who our students are, what is their identity, respect who they are, embrace their identity in the classroom, be sensitive, encourage the best from all students, and be supportive. 
 

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