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Is English a global language
About English as a global language
English is a global language
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This essay will explore a range of topics in relation to talking about Englishes rather than English and multi-literacies rather than literacy. Firstly the evolution of English; the origins, influences and current English that we use. Then focusing on social class and the effects of an individual’s social class on education; through the exploration in particular of Bernstein’s theory of language codes. Then discussing Englishes and how there can be many Englishes rather than one English language, and how this occurs when English is used as a global language. (Crystal REFERENCE) Aboriginal English is discussed, as it is relevant to teaching in Australia. Recognising the differences in learning and language between Aboriginal Children and non-aboriginal
children is a crucial part of being inclusive and to not disadvantage or advantage children based on culture or the English that they know and speak. (Bernstein) Multi-literacies will be a crucial point in this essay as it is important for teachers to understand that literacy is not just a matter of reading and writing anymore. Becoming literate in a multimodal world means exploring other literacies including but not limited to digital literacy, spatial or gestural literacy. (Caitrin Blake) Learning these literacies in the classroom help to form a child’s identity as they identify themselves with their environments. (Bernstein). Finally, the topics will be discussed in relation to teaching and why it is important for teachers to grasp multi-literacies and Englishes rather than the singular English and Literacy.
To possess the ability to read and write, is to be educated, is it not? It is a plausible argument that can be made, but we must ask ourselves what limitations and obligations drive this argument. One can counter that there are none and that literacy is simply not black and white, but a spectrum of many shades and colors. Dennis Barron argues that English, a language prevalently used by people in approximately 61 countries around the world, should be banned instead of formalized in the US. He states that it is not what it used to be and that it places too many stigmas on languages that are not itself or a part of its eminent division. The essay that follows is a continuation of the argument that Barron has made; that English as a whole should be banned instead of formalized. We all possess the ability to be literate, English is not and will never be an instigator or inhibitor of that.
The importance of the acknowledgement between land, language and Aboriginal identity (NSW BOS 2003, p.6) can be seen through past historical events and present Government policies. Keeffe (1992) suggests belonging to the land and possessing cultural traits unifies the Aboriginal people on a whole, language being a major factor in maintaining their cultural identity. Keeffe (1992) found that Aboriginal language is treasured, due to the opinion it was stolen but in a variety of ways identified as being both examples of persistence and resistance, was reclaimed. Language is symbolic of the hardship and strength of the Aboriginal people and culture. The inclusion of AE, within the context of learning languages, improves mental functions due to the concentration on systems and patterns found in linguistics. Therefore AE, with justification on numerous accounts, has been included in government and education policies and programming such as the creation of the AETP (NSW DET 2008) and Working with Aboriginal communities’ consultation and protocol document (NSW BOS
For many first year college students, the idea of sitting down in an English class and being asked to write an essay conjures up anxiety and stress from their high school experience. Many students bring a secret of reading and comprehension illiteracy with them to college. There is a shifting definition of literacy occurring in the United States with the advent of technology. School districts are assuming that the issue of reading will be addressed in the home and are leaving many students behind in reading goals. Many educators assume that when a student enters the first day of their English 1010 course that their reading level is sufficient to complete their coursework and produce coherent compositions. It is only after the initial class meeting and composition assessment that the instructor is able to view the bigger problem of reading illiteracy in English 1010. How does the instructor address the literacy of each individual student without affecting the learning environment of the students who are able to read and write a coherent composition? The problem in regards to reading levels should be addressed before the student even arrives on campus. There can be many reasons for the cause of reading illiteracy: learning disability, poverty, and education of parents to name just a few. The school systems are placing the burden of reading comprehension in the home and not at the educational level when all parties should be a part of the issue. Administrators are assuming that students are read to from infancy and receive encouragement to read from their parents. The school systems also assume that children have abundance of reading materials in their homes and have initiative to pick up...
Daniels, Harvey A., and Urbana, IL. National Council of Teachers of English. Not Only English: Affirming America's Multilingual Heritage. 1990. ERIC. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
Literacy is vital for reading and writing of all children, both hearing and deaf. Research has shown that having a strong L1 foundation, it can be applied in learning how to read and write in English. Advocates of bilingual bicultural education agree that the reading and writing skills that are acquired based on the strong foundation of their L1 develops the foundation of L2 (Evans, 2004; Puente et al, 2006). Researches conducted by Padden & Ramsey (2000) show that ASL fingerspelling skills are related to English literacy and vocabulary knowledge (Hile, 2009). One study done by Padden & Ramsey (2000), showed the fingerspelling tasks that were given to thirty-one deaf students in two groups (3rd-4th graders
Throughout this semester I have learned many ways of writing through two main essays literacy narrative and comparison and contrast. These two essays have taught me how to correctly fix my comma splices, thesis statements, and capitalization. I have engaged in numerous learning material during this summer class. Many times when I thought it would be hard to work on those three developments I never gave up. I gain more positive feedback from my teacher because he pointed out most of my mistakes I made on both literacy narrative and comparison and contrast essays to help me understand what is it that I need to work on. My development as a writer became stronger.
Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.
This essay will explore the essentialness of teachers expanding their classroom learning to include ‘multiliteracies’. The term ‘Multiliteracies’ has two important aspects, language variation and multimodal texts (New Learning Online, n.d.) To understand language variation this essay will look at the origin of language and its progression to the idea of ‘Englishes’.
Literacy is defined as “the ability to use available symbol systems that are fundamental to learning and teaching for the purposes of comprehending and composing, for the purposes of making and communicating meaning and knowledge” (Stock, 2012), and it is one of the most essential skills that an early year student will learn. Literacy serves to provide the building blocks for the continued knowledge acquisition and general education of individuals of all ages; by working to understand and identify how and why literacy is taught using the structured literacy block format in Australian schools, and in identifying the benefits of utilizing this type of tool for teaching literacy in student’s early years, it will be possible to gain a better understanding of the organization, planning, and teaching approaches that are used in a literacy block approach. A sample standard literacy block will be provided, offering the means of understanding the applications of the tool, which will serve to further stress the necessity of this tool’s usage.
My relationship with literacy began when I started elementary school and that was the first starting point of my positive relationship with literacy. I really started to grow as a reader and writer throughout my middle school and high school years. Throughout my years of going to school I had many positive experiences that shaped my view of literacy today. My literacy skills have also enhanced throughout my educational years.
In our schools today, literacy should not just be a task for the English or Reading teacher. Instead, literacy should be a shared venture by all teachers within all content areas. Teaching literacy in all content areas is important because a teacher with a solid understanding of teaching literacy in his/her content area will tremendously help all students achieve greater success on class assignments and standardized assessments. There are three main points that surround the idea of teaching literacy in all content areas. Teachers need the necessary skills and knowledge to teach literacy, once the necessary skills and knowledge are gained then there is justification for teaching literacy across content areas, and
There are some theoreticians who view literacy in a form of social practice. In their view, social issues are also important components, as well as linguistic competence and understanding cognitive processes in language studies. Freire (1974) views literacy not only as a process of knowledge transformation, but also as a relationship of learners to the world. Vygotsky (1978) suggests two stages of development at social and individual level. In his view, literacy is a phenomenon that is created, shared, and changed by the members of a society. Gee (1996) similarly argues that becoming literate means apprenticeship with texts and apprenticeships in particular ways of being. In summary, literacy practices are not just about language, but about their interrelation with social practices.
(Eds.), Literacies and learners: Current perspectives 3rd ed. (p. 1-23). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.
Bourdieu (1974) argues that the education system is biased towards those from middle and upper-class backgrounds. The culture of the ‘dominant classes’; the upper-classes, is imposed on young people in education, pupils from the upper-classes have an advantage as they have been socialised into the dominant culture and acquired skills and knowledge relevant to learning before entering the education system. These young people possess ‘cultural capital’; cultural capital includes mannerisms, a knowledge of creative and artistic parts of culture, the closer a young person presents themselves and their work to the style of the dominant classes the more likely they are to succeed as teachers are influenced by cultural capital. Also the grammar used by teachers disadvantages working class pupils as they cannot understand it. Bernstein (1961) argues teachers use elaborated speech codes; which is detailed and explanatory, working-class pupils are limited to using restricted codes; clear-cut and easy to understand speech, whereas middle an...
Benjamin Whorf once stated, “Language shapes thoughts and emotions, determining one’s perception of reality” (Kilgour). This statement could not be more exact. Language is one of the main factors determining how we feel, how we see the world, and how we learn. Without language there would be no education. It is the most effective form of communication in a society and it is responsible for informing, teaching, and persuading. The action of creating thoughts, memories, opinions, and feelings is entirely based on the use of language. George Orwell, the author of the story “Animal Farm”, focuses on the use of language in relationship to education and political control. Readers are brought through the beginning stages and collapse of a revolution. George Orwell emphasizes the use of language in education and in the process of a revolution. Language plays a large role in the beginning stages of the revolution, but plays a large role in the fall as well. This essay will examine the general importance of language in education and revolution, the relationship between language and learning how to think, and also the relationship between language and learning what to think, both of which create the growth and fall of revolution as George Orwell shows in this story.