Manifesto

This manifesto represents what I learned in the course of "Multilingualism and the Classroom" and my ideas for teaching now and in the future.

1.  I believe that History is important in language teaching.

        As language teachers, it is extremely important to know the history of the language and why it is taught while other languages are dying. We need to teach our students that all languages are equally valuable and they must not be discriminated against. We also must be prepared to help any indigenous students that we might have in the future. We should at least learn some phrases from their language to help them when they may have difficulties understanding something in the language that we teach. Understanding this History can help us understand better why some languages are used more in the country. Teaching about how English is so important in today's World can help our students to understand why it is important for them to learn it. (The Language of Empire, 2003)

2. I will teach my students about World Englishes.

        We need to let them know that all languages and dialects are important and the language that someone speaks does not give them more or less value. There are many variations of English and speaking one of them does not mean that you do not know English. We as language teachers need to create awareness of these types of Englishes and let our students get familiar with at least some of them. We can help them be aware of these variations of English by showing them videos, movies, and music where different types of English are spoken.  

3. I will follow a culturally responsive pedagogy. 

        This means that I will pay attention to the students and their families’ funds of knowledge (Anderson & Anderson, 2018). Funds of knowledge refers to the cultural knowledge and skills that a person or family has accumulated through the years. By this, I think that it is important for us teachers to be aware of the funds of knowledge of our students because we will get to know them better, learn from them and also make them and their families feel accepted, respected, and included in the class or school community. Besides, we must include resources in our classroom from different cultures, such as books, posters, and do activities to learn more about different cultures. 

4. I believe that second language students must be able to keep using their mother tongue while learning the L2.

        Oftentimes, students that arrive in another country have to learn the language spoken there and stop using their mother tongue. Some might even think that using their mother tongue while learning the language spoken in that country will delay their learning, but it is not the case. Garcia (2017) stated, "What is most important for bilingual teachers is to become aware of the students’ bilingual practices, of their translanguaging, and to leverage this translanguaging to develop their students’ understandings, creativity, and criticality.” Students that arrive to a different country already know another language and academic and social skills. However, they are seen as they do not know much because they do poorly in their classes. We as teachers need to realize that they are struggling because they are asked to do activities and answer tests in a language that they are still learning, but if we let them use their native language, they can show how much they actually know. We need to help them translate at the beginning, so they can continue learning the language and become more fluent without forgetting about their mother tongue. 

5. I believe that we can make a difference by caring about our students. 

        "It is also important to establish a supportive learning environment where the students feel welcomed, accepted, and supported.”  (Coelho, 2012). Teachers need to be more involved in the students' lives. They learn better when they feel fine. We as teachers can listen to them and ask them about their interests and about their life. Once we do that, we create a better relationship with them and we can help them to learn better. In the case of a multilingual classroom, we need to make our international students feel welcomed and included. Although this is expected for any classroom, sometimes it is forgotten and I think it is very important for us teachers to have this as a priority in our classes.

6. I believe that we need to acknowledge our student's process so they can acknowledge it, too.

        As Coehlo (2012) mentioned, “It is important during this stage (renewed optimism) to acknowledge the progress that has been made. For example, it can be helpful to review portfolios of work with individual students so that they can see how much they have already learned.” We need to keep track of our student's development and always let them know about their accomplishments. Sometimes we do not realize the progress that we have made, so it is nice when someone congratulates us and encourages us to keep going. This can encourage our students to keep learning and strive to accomplish all of their goals.

References

Anderson, J., Anderson, A. (2018). “No Peeing on The Sidewalk!”: Family Literacy Programs in Culturally, Linguistically, and Socially Diverse Communities. In Journal of Family Diversity in Education, Volume 3, Number 1. Retrieved from https://urcourses.uregina.ca/pluginfile.php/2334873/course/section/267404/Anderson%20%20Anderson%202018.pdf

 Coelho, D. E. (2012). Language and learning in multilingual classrooms : A practical approach. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.uregina.ca

García O. (2017) Critical Multilingual Language Awareness and Teacher Education. In: Cenoz J., Gorter D., May S. (eds) Language Awareness and Multilingualism. Encyclopedia of Language and Education (3rd ed.). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02240-6_30

Films Media Group. (2003). The Language of Empire. Films On Demand. https://fod-infobase-com.libproxy.uregina.ca/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=98112&xtid=33215.