1. Why Is It Important for Teachers to Reflect on Cultural and Linguistic Diversity?

Raymond Dougherty Stallions TESL 220 February 6, 2014 Module 1 Assessment Questions

1. Why is it important for teachers to reflect on cultural and linguistic diversity?

It is important for teachers to reflect upon cultural and linguistic diversity so that they

are culturally competent as well as delivering the curriculum in a way that is culturally

appropriate. It is the teacher’s job to ensure that all students achieve whether they be

the cultural majority or minority. Teachers should always be in the process of on-going

reflection to ensure that they are identifying ways to better their curriculum so that it

effectively reaches the entire class. This process also helps teachers from becoming

culturally blinded which could lead culturally and linguistically diverse students to

become frustrated and dissatisfied with school. In a country where the majority of

teachers are white middle class Americans and the growing majority of students are

culturally and linguistically diverse. It is important for teachers to reflect upon the

differences between cultures so that they help students achieve to the best of their

abilities.

2. Explain the difference between BICS and CALP. Why is it necessary for teachers to

understand the distinction between these two types of language proficiency?

BICS or basic interpersonal communications skills are the students with the ability to

understand basic conversational English. This is also classified as social English. An

example of this would be Maria playing and talking with her peers during recess. It takes about two years to develop but is inadequate come upper elementary. CALP or

cognitive academic language proficiency is a student’s ability to effectively understand

and use the more advanced and complex language necessary for success in academic

endeavors. This generally takes English language learners five to seven years to develop

and examples of this are any vocabulary used in a classroom setting such as words like

photosynthesis. It is necessary for teachers to understand the distinction between these

two types of language proficiency because teachers can mistake fluency among peers

for English proficiency in the classroom. This is exactly what Mr. Bennett did when he

made the assumption that Maria was proficient based on peer interaction.

3. In the Challenge, Mr. Bennett wrote notes home to Maria’s family. Why might this

have proved problematic? What other options might you recommend to Mr. Bennett

for communicating with Maria’s parents?

Mr. Bennett writing notes home to Maria’s family proved problematic because he was

making several assumptions about her family, the greatest of which being that Maria’s

parents were able to proficiently read and write in English. Mr. Bennett could have

taken several routes in getting into contact with Maria’s parents. The first of which

could have been to go to a faculty member who could speak and write in Spanish and

have them write the note in Spanish for Maria to take home. However in the instance

that Maria’s parents cannot read he could have had the appropriate faculty members

call Maria’s home and arrange a meeting with the parents in a setting that is most

comfortable to them. In this scenario Mr. Bennett would obviously be accompanied by a faculty member that speaks Spanish so that they can talk about Maria’s education and

how to best proceed in the future.

4. Mr. Stone, a teacher from a rural community where all the students share similar

cultural backgrounds, relocates to a large city where the students come from a wide

variety of cultural groups. He notices that many of his students are not performing

well in class. Upon self-reflection, he realizes that because of cultural differences

these students may not relate to his style of teaching or to the stories and examples

he uses in class. What can Mr. Stone do to become more culturally responsive and

meet the diverse needs of these students?

Mr. Stone must change his curriculum so that it is more appealing and responsive to the

students in his class. He can do this by providing examples from different cultural

backgrounds or providing the curriculum in a way that is validating and meaningful.

Teaching the students to respect their own and other individual’s cultures is another

great strategy to take. The use of supports however could prove to be the most

beneficial. Using things such as manipulatives, word walls, real world objects,

cooperative learning opportunities, etc. can give the students an opportunity to learn

hands on or with their peers so that they understand and comprehend the content.