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.
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