Module 6

Module 6: Linguistic Diversity 

 How will you address the linguistic needs of your students?

1.  Read Article: 

Pidgin in Education and analyze the position or viewpoint of the authors.  Write your Critical Analysis Essay and submit through laulima

Conisder these while questions while reading and composing your critical analysis essay:

• • What do the authors say about Pidgin in Education?

  • How might ideas shared in this paper impact teaching and learning?

• Do you agree with the opinions shared?  Why or Why not?

Rubric: Critical Analysis Essay

2.  View power point:  English Language Learners and consider the following questions:

• What does this presentation say about ELL?

• How might you incorporate strategies shared here to work with ELL students and parents?

3.  Read Article:  Doʻs and Donʻts of Teaching English Language Learners

•           What are some important strategies for teachers of English Language Learners?

4.  View the site:  History of Hawaiian Immersion

• What are Hawaiian Immersion schools and how was it established in Hawaiʻi public schools?

• What impact do Immersion schools have on the indigenous culture of Hawaiʻi?

• Are there similar programs that exist in other states or countries with indigenous languages?

5.  View the video below:  Pidgin - The Voice of Hawaiʻi

*Youʻll need to be logged in to your UH account to view this video.

What if you are made to feel ashamed when you speak your “mother tongue” or ridiculed because of your accent? “Pidgin: the Voice of Hawai’i” addresses these questions through its lively examination of Pidgin - the language spoken by over half of Hawai’i’s people.

"This film poignantly explains how language creates a sense of belonging in a society pressured to conform to the dominance of English. It is essential viewing for language educators, parents, and college students, especially in linguistics and Asian-Pacific Studies."

-Christina M. Higgins, Associate Professor, Second Language Studies, University of Hawai‘i

Whatʻs Due this Module:

Critical Analysis Essay

Teachers are tasked with the important responsibility of knowing the langauges of the school community and its students.  Honoring students' home language is important in order to build the bridge between home and school and begin the learning of "standard English".  It is imperative for teachers to remember that before any other learning takes place, they must first honor the home language and culture of their students.

 *Additional Resource:  Teacher Tips for working with students who speak a variety of language

• • Seariders Production: Ha Kam Wi Tawk Pidgin Yet?

Project Description

This project provides students enrolled in an advanced media production class at Searider Productions (located at Wai'anae High School) with the opportunity to learn about the relationship between local language and identity through exploratory film-based ethnography. This project directly involves fields of study in the humanities that engage with questions of identity. In asking how language is a part of identity, questions such as Who am I?, Where am I from?, and Where am I going? will direct the students' research, and the students will encounter issues that are often explored by humanities scholars in literary studies, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies.

The students will use video projects to research various viewpoints on local language and identity by recording people in their communities as they use Pidgin, English, and other languages. They will also interview people with a range of backgrounds about Pidgin, including educators, community leaders, and family members. The students' work will culminate in two public presentations of their work at Wai'anae High School and at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa in the Spring of 2009. The video project will be introduced by Dr. Darrell H. Y.Lum, who will begin with a short reading from his own local literature. Following the showings, Dr. Lum will engage the audiences in a discussion of the issues that the video project raises. We intend to continue this project at other locations in Hawai'i, pending funding.

Teaching Multicultural Values through Children's Literature