Hello, my name is Fatima Babar (watch my vlog if you'd like to know how to correctly pronounce my name!)
I am currently in my final semester at the University of Houston where I
am in early childhood education major and will be graduating this December.
VLOG #1: Self-Introduction
I am an American-Pakistani and have grown up in a dual language household. I also spent majority of my childhood education in another country. Although I was proficient in the English language growing up, I was not proficient in the language that was predominantly spoken in the country that I grew up in. I feel that this experience gives me a good sense of what an ELL student may feel like in a school where English is the dominant language.
I am looking forward to this class and learning about how I can better reach students who may not speak English as their first language. As Wright states in his text, researchers used to place the blame of underachievement on ELLs (immigrant students) and their families with claims of lower IQs and cognitive inferiority. (Wright, pg. 14) It was later discovered that many poor and minority students tend to be segregated in the most overcrowded and underfunded schools. Many schools serving poor, minority, and ELLs usually have the least experiences teachers and the fewest resources.
I believe that in modern day, and especially in the city of Houston, diversity in student populations around the entire city is now a commonality. To me this means that, as educators in Texas, it is important for us to know how to best meet the needs of ELLs and understand how we can educate inclusively for all levels of English language proficiency. We must also be aware of the linguistic diversity in our schools and surrounding communities. (Wright, pg. 16)
I agree with the text in our classroom textbook that to better educate our students, we must begin to understand their cultural backgrounds and should be careful to avoid stereotypes and generalizations. (Wright, pg. 16) I remember being stereotyped as an "Indian" student many times in high school because some of my peers and even my teachers assumed that was my ethnic background because of the color of my skin. I was constantly asked if I celebrated Indian holidays and traditions such as Holi and Deewali, and was even asked by people what it meant for Indian women to wear a red dot on their foreheads. At the time as a young teenager, I found that offensive and rude to be stereotyped based off of the color of my skin.
I believe that if my teachers had taken the time to understand my cultural background and history, they would have understood me better as a student and helped me when it came to things that I struggled with or did not understand. Therefore, I know that if I am to have ELLs or students of different cultures in my classroom, I should not make generalizations or jump to conclusions about their learning abilities.
References:
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Passion is definitely your best quality but you have also been blessed with many opportunities to explore the world and see it first hand and not through movies or TV shows as it happens to most of Americans. Developing tolerance and understanding other cultures is the best outcome of traveling. I wonder about your experience in American schools and how this impacted your cognitive development as well as your learning of languages. Your story is fascinating. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteHey Fatima, I really enjoyed watching your video. I found the variety of places you’ve been to very fascinating as well as the many languages you’ve been exposed to. I admire your use of the word “Passion” because that is one of the qualities teachers really need. As you said and as Wright (2015) stated, “Historically, the U.S education system has done an inadequate job in providing equitable educational opportunities to poor and minority students.” This proves that the best hope for the student’s success is in the hands of the teachers, due to the lack of resources, so teachers need to have hope and passion to help these ELL students achieve.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Thank you so much for the sweet compliment! I do hope that the people who choose to become educators choose to do so for the desire to teach with love and respect for the future, because it is our job to make the system work in a way where education is desirable to our students.
DeleteHello Fatima, I enjoyed watching your video and reading your entry. It was interesting to find out that when you were younger your mom made sure you responded in your native language so you wouldn't forget about your native language. This is kinda the opposite to my experience when I was younger. Once I started learning English I would mainly talk to my parents in English. They never reinforced me to continue practicing my native language. Which is one of the reasons why I believe I am not so fluent now that I am older. You mentioned when you were in high school, even the teachers assumed your ethnic background because of your skin tone color. They never took the time to learn about your cultural background. Wright (2015) states, "Teachers who respect the students home languages and cultures can be most effective in helping students make the transition" (page 29). This means teachers are helping the students going from one language to another, however, the teacher still takes in account of the students' native language.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Fatima,
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you were able to learn Urdu and English at the same time as a child! Your traveling experiences sound very interesting also! I also learned to read and write in Arabic to read Quran as a young child. I find that lots of emphasis was made on reading rather than translating the actual meaning where I was learning Arabic at Islamic school. Were you able to learn Arabic and French fluently while living in Saudi Arabia? Also, do you have an older sibling who spoke English at home when you were a child? Wright (2015) mentions that if the student is one of the younger children in the family, and the family has been in the United States for several years, it is likely that older siblings speak English and use it at home. This may have contributed to your learning of the English language while also learning Urdu as a child. In another blog, I learned about a student who was born in the U.S., but learned Vietnamese and had to attend ESL classes in order to learn English when she entered grade school since she was the first child born and had no older siblings to support her English language learning at home.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hey Angel, thank you for your response!
DeleteTo answer your question, I did learn how to speak French very well. Arabic was difficult for me to speak and write in, but I can understand it pretty well and translate words that I read.
How cool that you also learned the Arabic alphabet and read the Quran growing up!
I do have an older brother, so yes! What a great connection. That helps put perspective into why learning English was so easy for me and I was able to communicate quickly as I developed as a child. Thank you!
Hi Fatima!! It is nice to see that we are in the same course. :) I can relate to your experiences on so many different levels. I think that growing up as a minority in an area where we spoke different languages or had a different cultural background than the majority of the population, we both felt firsthand, struggles similar to those of which ELL's in our classrooms face. Like you, I too always try to make sure I understand my students' cultural backgrounds and rather celebrate it in my classroom. Because we are both able to understand what these students need, we have an advantage of being able to give them the best support they need in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree! I am so glad that both of us can relate due to our very similar cultural and traditional backgrounds as well as our similarities as American Born Confused Desis in our generation. I agree, due to our multi-cultural backgrounds, we will be able to relate to ELL students and be able to aide them by understanding their needs.
DeleteHi Fatima. I think it is very interesting to know that you have been introduced to so many different languages from such a young age. I have personally been introduced to four different languages in my life. I was wondering, which languages are you most proficient in? Also, what techniques were used to teach you Arabic and French? In my opinion, your philosophy was great. According to Wright, one of the biggest problems in the field is the lack of consistency and agreement about what to call students who are not yet proficient in English. I believe that with your philosophy and the help of this class, you will be able to help all of your students regardless of their language preference.
ReplyDeleteWright, W.E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy and practice. (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Calson.
Hey Almira!
DeleteYes! I read your blog and thought it was so cool that you grew up learning English, Urdu, and Arabic similar to how I did, and how interesting that you also were taught Turkish!
I love your philosophy as well and agree with you! Immersion of cultures is a great way for students to be able to communicate in a language that they are being taught. I believe that is why the Dual-Language programs that many schools in Texas have are helpful for A LOT of spanish speaking bi-linguel students.