Assignments Winter 2004

 

Seminar Guidelines

Readings

Research

 

Workshop

FIELDTRIP

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Seminar

You have been assigned to lead seminar one time during this quarter. You will be collaborating with other two students for this task, and it is highly recommended that you work as a team. Each of you will be responsible for the following:

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Seminar Week 1

Analysis Guide: Heath's "English in Our Language Heritage"

General Information
* What do you know about the author of the article?
* What is the character of the collection that includes these articles? What is the purpose of this collection? Who are the editors?
* What are the authors' sources? How do they use their sources?
* Year of publication, publisher and any other relevant information.

Heath's Article. Background information
* What does the Constitution of the U.S. state about language? You will need to consult the Constitution to answer this question.
* Who were John Adams and Noah Webster?
* What was the "Americanization Campaign"? And the "Nationality Act"?

Analysis
* Identify the thesis and the most relevant paragraphs in the article.
* What kind of approach does the author use? Why?
* "Throughout the history of the United States, whenever speakers of varieties of English or other languages ... " (10) Can you provide examples to illustrate and prove true this statement?
* Establish the role of religion and education in language policy and language use, according to the article. Compare with more recent developments and identify similarities and differences.
* Is the U.S. tolerant of diverse languages? Yes. No. Why?

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Seminar Week 2

. "Part I. Historical Roots of U.S. Language Policy" in Language Loyalties.

Background Work and Information
* Establish a chronology of the most relevant events related to bilingual education and language policy according to the book
* For each event explain its relevancy and consequences, and research all those aspects that are unclear or unknown to you.
* What major historical, social and political events were in direct connection with the development of bilingual education and language policy?
* How much of this information is relevant to understand other aspects of the educational system and policy of the U.S. in general?

Analysis
* What is the aim of this book?
* How did the author select and use his sources?
* Chose one or two events that impressed you the most. Find more information in other sources that may modify or support the presentation of those chosen events.
* Bring newspaper and magazine articles that illustrate recent developments in language policy and bilingual education. Be ready to outline them for your classmates.
* What specific information did you learn from all this articles?

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Seminar Week 3

Part IV, V and VI in Language Loyalties

Leaders: Shara Cunningham, Jenny Booher, Cassandra Close

The class will be divided into two groups. Each group will be given a set of questions that they will be responsible to answer using the text or prior class work. We will meet back together to share the relevant information resulting from the discussions and any final thoughts.

Objective: Given the discussion from this seminar you should be able to identify clear references to linguistic policy in the U.S. and their immediate implications in effect on specific groups in the U.S. Identify landmark judicial cases that have influenced language policy, and to reflect on these issues and how they may shape language policy and interpretations of our constitutional rights in the future.

Group 1:
What are language rights? What determines them? What are the affects of language policy on language rights?
Bennett argues that English is the central key to educational opportunity. What is this statement lacking that a bilingual education supporter may argue? Use the text and work from last quarter.
Tollefson states, "Language policy is one mechanism for locating language within social structures so that language determines who has access to political power and economic resources." P16 How does this quote apply specifically to the U.S. context? What are the implications of U.S. English in reference to this quote?

Group 2:
What determines a suspect class? Why is language not considered one? How would you argue that language should be a suspect class? Look specifically at the case studies.
Discuss the two justifications for government’s role in the area of language. P451 Efficiency and Equity. How do you see these relating to the U.S. historical context?
Compare the language policies of the U.S. and Australia. Is one more united then the other?

 

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Seminar Week 4

Part I and II of Language, Power and Pedagogy

LeadersToby de Luca and Katie Fraser

"A child can understand a punishment inflicted by an individual, such as a parent or guardian, and bear it with a certain amount of acquiescence. What it cannot understand is a punishment inflicted by society."
-Oscar Wilde

Seminar: The class will be divided into two groups for the jeopardy game. Upon completion of the game each group will be given a set of questions to discuss and respond to within their group. We will regroup and debrief about what each group discussed, and gather conclusions and final thoughts on the reading, discussion, and questions.
Objectives: After discussion, students will be able to recognize how power relations in the greater society are reflected in education. Students will have a better understanding of the relevance of different power relations in culturally and linguistically diverse educational contexts. Further, students will be familiar with the ways in which language proficiency is conceptualized and assessed in multilingual contexts.

Group 1
*Cummins agues:
The students’ identities are affirmed and academic achievement promoted when teachers express respect for the language and cultural knowledge that students brings to the classroom and when the instruction is focused on helping students generate new knowledge, create literature and art, and act on social realities that affect their lives (34).
Discuss and brainstorm some ways in which you, as an educator, can actualize and implement these ideas into your classroom using current and past resources.
*How are patterns of discrimination in the wider society reflected (or challenged) in the school context? To what extent do structures that have been set up in the school, such as the content of the curriculum, assessment practices, and the language of instruction, contribute to perpetuating discrimination and underachievement among certain groups of students (34)?

Group 2
*Cummins argues:
ELL students continue to be included in mainstream standards assessment usually with a variety of accommodations. I argue that under these conditions, assessment by means of traditional standardized norm – or criterion-referenced tests provides largely meaningless and potentially harmful data (142).
Discuss how these standards can be harmful. What alternative assessment procedure does Cummins propose?
*Should separate standards be developed specifically for ELL students? Why or why not? What are the arguments for and against separate standards?

 

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Seminar Week 6

Cultural Diversity in Schools. From Rhetoric to Practice: pp. 1-56
Cummins, J. Language, Power, and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire (Part 3).
Leaders: Pam Margon and Sean Maung

1) Identify the distinct components of Freire’s approach to Transformative education and Morae’s use of the Bakhtin circle. What are the societal implications / consequences of adapting such approaches? (use examples of curriculum models or events in Cummins that model each of these philosophies.
2) Why should dominant groups give up or share their (coercive) power? How can subordinated/oppressed groups convince their oppressors that it is also in their best interests to move towards collaborative models of social progress?" (238)

-Apply these questions to arguments in the book that support this line of thinking. Then consider potential arguments that could be applied to the following social constructs: economic class, race, gender…etc.
- What historical events necessitated a dominant group giving up/ sharing coercive power?3) Opponents of Multicultural Education and Critical Pedagogy proclaim that these methodologies are just "ideological orientations that have little intrinsic relationship to student learning." Find examples in chapters 7 and 8 that refute this claim.

4) Discuss Ruiz’s Framework for Language (p.170). Through the use of previous knowledge and examples from the reading, identify programs and legislation that relate to language as a problem, right and resource.
5) Analyze the Ramirez study (187) and the effects of Time-on-Task programs in comparison to late exit programs. How does critical literacy and community development play a role in late-exit programs in comparison to English immersion?
6) On p. 191 Cummins describes the Interdependence of L1 and L2. Discuss potential advantages of this relationship.
7) Discuss the Short Circuit/ Linguistic Threshold hypothesis. How is L2 proficiency conceptualized?
8) Cummins proclaims: "In complex educational and other human organizational contexts, data or facts become relevant for policy purpose only in the contexts of a coherent theory. It is theory rather than the individual research findings that permits the generation of predictions about program outcomes under different conditions"204).

Discuss this relationship between theory and policy

 

 

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Subjects for presentations and research papers.

You should turn in a brief paragraph stating your selected topic by Thursday, October 23. The paragraph should include a sentence or two defining the specific theme on which you will focus, and another few sentences about your initial approach. Some hints to help you in your selection:

 

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Fall-Winter Project Description

This assignment is due in my faculty mailbox (Sem 3127) on Monday, November 24. The more background and general information you acquire, the easier it will be to specifically establish the core of your work and determine the extent of your interest.

Description
The description of your project should be at least 250 words clearly stating the major theme and/or activity, with related and relevant issues.
Here are some useful hints for writing your description, extracted from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers :

o Select a subject and/or an activity that interests you and that you can develop within the assigned limits of time and space.
o Determine the purpose of your project. What do you want to achieve through your research, interviews, community-based work, etc?
o Gather your ideas and information in a preliminary list, eliminating anything that seems out of the scope of the specific focus of your project.
o Arrange materials in an order appropriate to the aims of your project and decide on the method or methods you will use to develop it.
o Be realistic: schedule carefully the steps of your work, keeping some flexibility in time for particular problems that may arise.

The description should include:

* Title (straightforward and brief)
* Significance and aims of the project
* Conception and definition of the project (basic ideas or questions to be explored)
* Plan of work and methodology

Bibliography

If there are numerous sources on your subject, you may consider to narrow it by choosing a relevant aspect or topic characteristic, or, in the case of scarce material, you may conduct your bibliographical research on more than one subject.
The bibliography should be in alphabetical order, and you can divide it into sections such as general reference works, books and articles, or according to themes covered. The citations should comply with the MLA format.
Try to include in your bibliography only those titles that directly apply to your topic, for which you should have physical contact with the book or article, or possibly know of its contents by reading indexes or abstracts. You may proceed in your library work by first consulting general reference books that will lead you to more specialized material on the subject; in any case you should have first-hand knowledge of your sources.
You should have a minimum of 8 entries.

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Research Paper Oral Presentation

Students who have conducted research on different topics related to, language acquisition, education of minorities, bilingualism and bilingual education will present a summary of their findings during week 10. The attendance to this event is absolutely compulsory and will require the active participation of the whole class.
I have made a tentative schedule for the presentations. Each student will talk for a minimum of 20 minutes to a maximum of 30 including 5-10 minutes for comments and questions from the audience.

Tuesday, March 9
Exceptional Students
9:00-9:30 Katie Fraser
Literacy
9:30 – 10:00 Veronica Jayne
10:00- 10:30 Megan Guimon
10:45- 11:15 Karen Herschleb
11:15-11:45 Aimee Richardson

Wednesday, March 10
Acculturation and Language
9:00-9:30 Miles Thomas
Issues in Deaf Education
9:30-10:00 Katrina Stern
Policy
10:00-10:30 Kevin Moore
10:30-11-00 Bacchus Taylor
11:15-11:45 Nicole Trantham
Bilingual Education Programs
11:50-12:50 Cassandra Close and Toby de Luca

 

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Workshop 1


In small groups, answer the following questions that should help you to establish objectives and activities for your community work as well as identify those areas that you need to further study and research.

For next class, you need to bring a list of objectives and the corresponding activities that you will carry out in your community work.

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Workshop Notebooks

At the end of week nine I will collect your notebooks containing all the work done in this section of the program.
The notebook should include the following:

 

1) List of objectives and activities planned for your in-service training.
2) Annotated bibliography containing the readings that are accompanying your practice.
3) Thorough description of your group of students, containing as much relevant information you were able to collect.
Specify which characteristics of the group were particularly relevant in shaping your performance during the quarter. Identify your concrete practical responses to those characteristics.
4) Lesson plans and activity handouts.
5) Evaluation of the methods, textbook and materials used for instruction.
6) Self-evaluation.
7) Any other relevant pieces of information that will allow me to better judge the scope and depth of your community work.

The presentation of complete notebooks on time is necessary in order to receive full credit in this part of the program.

 

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Field Trip Information. Information and Schedule

Please, make sure that you have all the following items:
* If you are one of the drivers, make sure you have obtain the corresponding license from the motor pool office.
* Money for meals.
* Some extra money for more food.
* Sleeping gear.
* Notebooks and all the necessary materials for your classroom observations and group discussions (including week 9 seminar readings).
* Music, extra food, enthusiasm and any other required element to have a successful and fun field trip.

Wednesday, March 3
Departure from Evergreen Bus Circle at 6:45 am.
11:00-11:30 AM . Arrival to Yakama Tribal School. Contact: Principal, Anita Swan, (509) 865-5121. From highway 82 (around exit 50), take highway 97 towards Toppenish. At the intersection of Toppenish and Fort Road, turn left towards Toppenish. Take the immediate left again (on wooden sign that reads Stanley Smartlowit Education Center). You will be on Lindel Street and the school is the first building on your left. See the information about the school at the end of the schedule.
3:00 Visit to the Yakama Tribal Center and Museum. (509) 865-5121, ext. 4724.
5:00 Arrival to The Campbell (509) 877-6413, 2527 Campbell Road, Wapato. Contact: Sheri Noah. From Toppenish, get back on to Highway 97 and turn left on Progressive Road. Turn right on Campbell Road. The farm is on the right hand side. If you get to the intersection of Campbell with West Wapato, you went too far0
5-7 PM. Dinner
7-9 PM. Seminar / Preparation for visit to schools in Pasco.

Thursday, March 4
7:30 Am. Departure to Pasco. See attached information about districts and services from visit in 2000. Contact: Elizabeth Padilla, Director Special Programs. C.L. Booth Education Service Center 1215 West Lewis. (509) 546-2887
Visit Schedule: Pasco High School (Pasco High is located off the Hwy 182. Take the 20th Avenue exit. Go South, right turn and travel on 20th until you get to Court Street. Left on Court a few blocks until you come to 10th. Right on 10th. Go to main
building entrance .)
5-7 PM. Dinner
7-9 PM. Reports and conclusions on visits / Preparation for visit to West Elementary in Toppenish..
Friday, March 5
8:30 Departure to West Elementary, 141 Ward Road. Contact: Clara Jimenez, Principal. 509-865-8241
12:00 Return to the farm
1:00 Return to Olympia.


From the Rural Adult Education FORUM
December 1992/January 1993, Vol.5 No.2
Yakama Nation Tribal School:
Rediscovering Yakama culture
Multicultural reform is contextual. For Anglo schools, reform efforts focus on reaching out to other cultures. In the case of the Yakama Nation, multicultural reform needs to first focus on the dignity and
integrity of the Yakama people before reaching out to other peoples and other cultures.
The Yakama Nation Tribal School is located on the Yakama Indian Reservation just outside Toppenish, Washington. The school serves between 60 and 70 students in grades seven through twelve. Most
come from four nearby communities-Toppenish, Union Gap, Wapato, and White Swan. Others come from surrounding rural communities. In general, the communities the school serves share the social
and economic traumas found on reservation lands-unemployment, loss of traditional Indian values, multigenerational alcoholism, drug abuse, and physical abuse.
Established in 1980, the Tribal School has evolved to be an alternative to public school education for about ten percent of Yakama youth. At its most basic level, the Tribal School works to rekindle the sense of who the Yakama people are and what they want to attain. School personnel believe that, "once students understand this awareness and accept it, they can learn to understand others." Consequently, the school focuses much of its effort on integrating the Indian culture into the academic program.
This approach is controversial within the tribe. Although the Yakama people accept and value schooling as an important part of the future of their youth, many also feel that language and culture are private
matters to be dealt with in the home. Many homes have become so dysfunctional, however, that these values are know longer taught. Consequently, the school feels it must offer an alternative.
The Tribal School's EMPIRE plan initially focused on the language arts curriculum. School personnel wanted to shift from a curriculum that focused on traditional classics to one that focused more
specifically on the Yakama culture. The curriculum of design would promote an awareness of:
The circle and completeness of life
respect for the universe
life as a gift to be nurtured
the gifts that have been given to enhance
the cultural heritage of the Yakama people
the need to honor the past by continuing the belief and teachings of the elders.
To accomplish these goals, the curriculum was revised to include more involvement from tribal elders, field trips for various religious and educational lessons and experiences, inclusion of Indian authors in assignments and as speakers in classes, and use of the Yakama language in class assignments and presentations.
Individual teachers developed goals, student outcomes, and instructional activities appropriate to the new curriculum. One teacher, for example, built a unit around salmon fishing. The purpose of this unit is to help students link the past, the present, and the future of the Yakama people. Just as salmon were an important part of the subsistence economy of the Yakama people, so too are they an important as a
symbol of our need to protect the environment. As described in Yakama: "Pi'ma Sapsikw'asha Ixiyay"--"They are learning for the future."
The EMPIRE project included a number of other initiatives. A staff in service program on dysfunctional families was well received and has been integrated into staff development activities on an ongoing
basis. The school inaugurated peer group sessions with students. During the second year of the project, faculty emphasized "healing the healers," helping those working with Indian youth come to terms
with the devastating effects of alcoholism on the Yakama people.
Work with other schools involved in the EMPIRE project was extremely important to the Yakama Tribal School. The opportunity to work with Navajo and Hopi teachers helped those at the Yakama Tribal
School gain confidence in the appropriateness of their efforts. The respect and acceptance felt from other EMPIRE participants were also reaffirming. Tribal School members reported that they not only
gained self-confidence as individuals but that the EMPIRE project had encouraged the entire staff to work together rather than in isolation.
Evidence that the project has had a positive effect on students is overwhelming. Students show improved attitudes toward the school and towards themselves. Attendance has increased. Students are more self-confident and therefore more willing to do presentations in class. Student-to-student interactions have also improved. Students have shown a greater interest in their heritage and language and are also
getting involved in contemporary issues facing the tribe. More students express interest in returning to (or staying on) the reservation in order to help their people.
For those at the Yakama Nation Tribal School, multicultural reform starts with a renewed effort to honor and teach the traditions of the Yakama tribe. School staff argue that the students must first
rediscover their own culture before they can reach out to other cultures, learning what it is to be Indian before understanding how to be Indian in an Anglo world.
This school profile was adapted from a case study by Jeanne Crawford and Kathleen Ross.

 

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