Here’s a question:
A nuclear waste filling ground was created. The content is expected to go under radioactive decay for a few thousand years and exposure to this is very harmful. How should this be indicated?
Here’s my answer:
I would fence the place up and put up a huge sign explaining what it is.
What’s your answer?
Think about how hard of a problem this could be without a “tool” called literacy.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Learn to speak the language to show respect
I recently encountered someone who said that immigrants who don’t speak English are rude for not respecting American cultures. This idea shocked me at first, because I never thought of it that way before. As an immigrant myself, when I see an immigrant who can’t speak English, I just assume that he/she didn’t spend much time in America. I often felt bad for them for all the troubles they might go through… because I’ve been there. I can see how it can be seem rude though, when I think about foreigners in Korea who don’t even try to learn Korean because they can get by speaking only English. My father came to my mind as I thought more about this. He has been living in the U.S. for about eight years now, but he is still not very proficient in English. And it’s because he has been working a lot of hours and spends the rest of time at home resting. He may not speak, read, and write the language well, however he loves America as much as he loves his home country now. I think that it is important not to judge and understand that everyone has their own story.
Survey for measuring literacy rate
It seems as though many countries use surveys to measure literacy. However, this survey method is subjective. For example, when given this question, "Can you read and write, with understanding, a simple sentence relating to your daily life? Yes/No" some people may simply believe that being able to read and write their name is being "literate". Since measuring literacy can be so subjective, it must be difficult to get an accurate view of international literacy. Every country measures this in a different manner. Therefore, any list that ranks countries by literacy rate must be skewed to some extent.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Prop 227 – English learning point of view
There probably are many other issues involved with proposition 227, but I am going to talk about its effectiveness on English learning based on my experience.
My answer is, “yes, it does help you learn faster.” When I first came to America in 1997, I was enrolled into 7th grade. In our ESL class, there was a class helper who spoke Spanish. She would use Spanish to help out Mexican students (and other Spanish speakers) who composed about 35% of the whole class. I obviously couldn’t get that kind of help because she was the only helper, and I often felt helpless when I got stuck. But always I would somehow overcome the problems by using my Korean-English dictionary, Pictionary , gestures and etc. I believe this kind of struggles actually helped improve my English learning. At the end of my first semester, I had excelled faster than most of the Spanish speakers and moved onto a higher leveled ESL class.
Learning a whole new language is not easy, and you will want to get help from someone who speaks your language, because it’s just easier that way. I think this kind of dependence can quickly grow and could hinder your learning. If you are truly desperate, you can get that kind of help “outside of school” by asking your family, relatives, family friends, or from the internet.
Getting help in school in your native language is not all that necessary in my opinion. While you’re still in school, you can get by most of the things without having to speak your own language. And the more you surround yourself in English, the quicker you will learn to speak English.
My answer is, “yes, it does help you learn faster.” When I first came to America in 1997, I was enrolled into 7th grade. In our ESL class, there was a class helper who spoke Spanish. She would use Spanish to help out Mexican students (and other Spanish speakers) who composed about 35% of the whole class. I obviously couldn’t get that kind of help because she was the only helper, and I often felt helpless when I got stuck. But always I would somehow overcome the problems by using my Korean-English dictionary, Pictionary , gestures and etc. I believe this kind of struggles actually helped improve my English learning. At the end of my first semester, I had excelled faster than most of the Spanish speakers and moved onto a higher leveled ESL class.
Learning a whole new language is not easy, and you will want to get help from someone who speaks your language, because it’s just easier that way. I think this kind of dependence can quickly grow and could hinder your learning. If you are truly desperate, you can get that kind of help “outside of school” by asking your family, relatives, family friends, or from the internet.
Getting help in school in your native language is not all that necessary in my opinion. While you’re still in school, you can get by most of the things without having to speak your own language. And the more you surround yourself in English, the quicker you will learn to speak English.
Education research in UC?
A few lectures ago, Dave brought up how UC (or UCB) was questioning whether having a graduate study of education was necessary. Those who oppose were arguing that UC is a research focused institution yet education is not a topic of research… I probably would have said the same thing before taking this class.
After three weeks of discussing literacy, however, I am starting to realize the importance of research in education. I am not knowledgeable enough to convincingly argue my points. However, through many discussions, activities, and reflection of my own literacy journey thus far, I have come to realize that there exist more effective ways of teaching literacy (and teaching in general). I believe that research is the single most effective way of figuring them out and that we should take advantage of it. It’s ironic that the value of education is so underrated, while it seems that a lot of us depend on education to become successful.
I now feel like I share maybe a slight bit of what education researchers’ frustration might be towards this issue.
After three weeks of discussing literacy, however, I am starting to realize the importance of research in education. I am not knowledgeable enough to convincingly argue my points. However, through many discussions, activities, and reflection of my own literacy journey thus far, I have come to realize that there exist more effective ways of teaching literacy (and teaching in general). I believe that research is the single most effective way of figuring them out and that we should take advantage of it. It’s ironic that the value of education is so underrated, while it seems that a lot of us depend on education to become successful.
I now feel like I share maybe a slight bit of what education researchers’ frustration might be towards this issue.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Different types of English
Before, I sought m future as an Engineer, I was confident I would have no trouble communicating with my colleagues in English – mostly because Engineering involves understanding concepts and quantitative skills. But recently (in about 6months), I changed my mind and wanted to become a management consultant, which is much more on the business side. While I was confident that I could learn all the necessary skills by attending a business school, I was worried that my English proficiency would get in the way because of the nature of the business field which involves a lot of speaking and communication skills.
Even after living in the US for about 11 years now, in some situations, I had hard time comprehending the language -- for example, when I am watching a movie. This had me underestimate my English proficiency as a whole before discussing Gloria Anzaldua’s work in class. Now, I know that it’s because I am not proficient in THAT particular “type” of English spoken in the movie.
With the realization that there are many different types of English spoken depending on the situation, it relieves me greatly, because it means that I just need to LEARN the languages.
It’s not a huge barrier of the whole English language (that I’ve been dealing with ever since 11 years ago) anymore but only another style of language to be familiar with.
Even after living in the US for about 11 years now, in some situations, I had hard time comprehending the language -- for example, when I am watching a movie. This had me underestimate my English proficiency as a whole before discussing Gloria Anzaldua’s work in class. Now, I know that it’s because I am not proficient in THAT particular “type” of English spoken in the movie.
With the realization that there are many different types of English spoken depending on the situation, it relieves me greatly, because it means that I just need to LEARN the languages.
It’s not a huge barrier of the whole English language (that I’ve been dealing with ever since 11 years ago) anymore but only another style of language to be familiar with.
In response to Bakhtin - Why is it so hard to make others’ words your own?
A lot of times, language takes on different shapes to suit different groups of people. One example is the technical style of talk often used in the field of Science and Engineering. It involves using technical jargons and phrases to make technical communication more effectively and efficiently.
When I first took engineering classes at Cal, I had trouble comprehending the professors’ “technical talk”. I often wondered whether it was truly necessary to speak in such a way. At one point, I thought that they were doing it just to sound more sophisticated.
However, after a couple of years of taking engineering classes, I found myself speaking the same technical English with other classmates. I had naturally come to acquire the style of speech, because it was the most effective way of describing engineering problems/situations. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to explain an engineering situation without using the language.
Once, a friend came in to one of my engineering classes because she wanted to “get a taste of it”. After the class, she said how she couldn’t make sense of what the professor was saying at all. Of course, the material itself was totally new to her, but it was mostly the technical English that troubled her.
I remember from my past experience of learning English that it’s awkward both to your tongue and brain to say something that you are not familiar with.
For me, the learning process usually involved:
1. Hearing or seeing a word repeatedly
2. Learning the meaning of the word by looking it up on the dictionary or from the context
3. Using the word in the “right situations”
4. Continuing to practice using the word
It’s probably hard for non-engineering students to adapt to this kind of speech, because, unlike someone like me, they have neither the chance nor the need to encounter it.
When I first took engineering classes at Cal, I had trouble comprehending the professors’ “technical talk”. I often wondered whether it was truly necessary to speak in such a way. At one point, I thought that they were doing it just to sound more sophisticated.
However, after a couple of years of taking engineering classes, I found myself speaking the same technical English with other classmates. I had naturally come to acquire the style of speech, because it was the most effective way of describing engineering problems/situations. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to explain an engineering situation without using the language.
Once, a friend came in to one of my engineering classes because she wanted to “get a taste of it”. After the class, she said how she couldn’t make sense of what the professor was saying at all. Of course, the material itself was totally new to her, but it was mostly the technical English that troubled her.
I remember from my past experience of learning English that it’s awkward both to your tongue and brain to say something that you are not familiar with.
For me, the learning process usually involved:
1. Hearing or seeing a word repeatedly
2. Learning the meaning of the word by looking it up on the dictionary or from the context
3. Using the word in the “right situations”
4. Continuing to practice using the word
It’s probably hard for non-engineering students to adapt to this kind of speech, because, unlike someone like me, they have neither the chance nor the need to encounter it.
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