Week 13

Multilingualism, World Englishes and Diglossia

The fact that there are 700 non-native speakers, 350 more than native speakers really surprises me. It also makes me wonder, if the number of people who are non-native English speakers doubles the number of native speakers why are we as a society not doing more to accommodate these speakers, especially in school settings. Students are going to be coming into our classrooms from inner circle countries, outer circle countries where English is a second language and from expanding countries where English is a foreign language. As a pre-service teacher it is imperative that teachers know that each and every one of our students have individual needs and wants when it comes to language learning and we must know how to learn and address these needs. As a pre-service teacher it is important to know the difference between students who come from inner circle countries, outer circle countries and expanding circle countries because their needs and experiences are going to differ.

Knowing the history of the student’s countries concerning globalization and nationalism is something every teacher should strive to know and understand. The student’s teacher should take time to understand the culture and the history of the country especially concerning language. Teachers also need to learn about the individual student; his or her motivation or more importantly their investment to language. Knowing the student on a personal level will be instrumental in every aspect in the classroom but especially with their language learning skills. Knowing about their home country’s language history and the individual child will inform you about problems they may have in the classroom.