Title: Different Ladies Lovin’ Our Different Languages

Podcast Script:

Eunice: Hello everyone! My name is Eunice and today I am joined with my amazing classmates, Konstantina, Arnesa and Claire. Today we are going to be discussing about exploring assumptions, ideologies, and beliefs about the English language, linguistic variation and bilingualism

Konstantina: hello!

Arnesa: hi!

Claire hi!

Konstantina: It’s important to talk about assumptions, ideologies and beliefs about the English language because a lot of people mistakenly believe that speaking English is easy or that those who are learning are only people that are from another country.

Arnesa: It’s important for everyone to realize that speaking these misconceptions can hurt people and sometimes discourage them.

Claire: How can we create a safe environment for learners when it comes to them learning and communicating with one another?-

Eunice: To start off, I would like to begin with my own experience with learning English as a bilingual person. Growing up, I spoke the majority in Korean and when it came for me to go to school, I had a difficult time catching up with the other students and was placed in an ESL class. Although it took time, there were teachers that were patient and very supportive during the learning process.

Konstantina: From birth up until I was in Pre-K, the only language I spoke was Greek! As my parents were getting me enrolled in pre-k programs the teachers told them that I was behind in comparison to my peers. So my parents got very nervous and decided to tell my entire family to stop speaking to me in Greek so i can catch up in my English learning faster. this caused me to lose some of my ability to speak Greek and i had to spend years in Greek school relearning the language.

Arnesa: My first language was Montenegrin! I learned English as a toddler as well but I primarily spoke Montenegrin with my parents and family. Being the oldest child of an immigrant family, it is most common to speak the mother tongue. Yet when I started kindergarten, my teachers saw that Montenegrin was my first language and immediately put me into an ESL program without speaking to my parents! It was so confusing because I already spoke English fluently!

Eunice: One major misconception about learning English is that, often people think that you can’t speak in English just because it is not your first language. No, English may not be my first language but that does not mean that I don’t know how to speak it. And because of these misconceptions there are students that are placed in ELL or ESL classes.

Konstantina: Another big misconception is that there are people who believe that being bilingual as a young child can negatively affect them. However, research shows that children who are bilingual or multilingual have a better concentration rate as well as being able to study/focus better.

Arnesa: These are just a few out of many misconceptions that people think when it comes to students being bilingual or multilingual. So as future educators how can we support our students? One major support is just being there for your students. Constantly assuring them.

Claire: So, what can we take away from the assumptions people make about students' languages and how can we avoid these misconceptions in the classroom?

Eunice: It is definitely very important to recognize the child’s strong role in their own linguistic development! Teachers shouldn’t be the ones directly assuming things about a students linguistic abilities. Parents and guardians should also be directly involved in making choices about if their child is in any specific programs.

Konstantina: yes! As future educators we need to recognize the importance of familial relationships and how important it is to keep an ongoing relationship with students, parents, and families to develop a strong, respected sense of linguistic variation and culture.

Arnesa: Another huge emphasis on the educator part is that we have to be patient. We have to realize that at times the students are going to get frustrated but we can’t get upset with them. Rather we have to show our support and let them know that it’s okay to make mistakes. That’s just part of the process when it comes to learning something new and that is okay.

Claire: Thank you everyone for joining us!