Blog 26

Introduction

Everyday there seems to be more and more students that struggle in the classroom. If this is already true  about the average student, those that predominantly speak another language other than English must have even more of a difficult time in the traditional English speaking classroom. In reality, how are "non-standard English" speaking students affected in the traditional English speaking classroom? The purpose of this research is to find out how these children are really affected and what possible changes are available to make the lives of these students better. In this paper, the reader will see how children are affected, what a former Elementary Education teacher knows about the subject matter, and changes that can be made. This research is important to language research because it provides information and educates  others on how these students  are affected and what can be done to easily include them in the classroom. This is a topic that needs to be dealt with in everyday life and there should always be a solution to problems that arise within it. It appears that students that come from "non-standard English" homes are greatly affected in the English classroom and they are in many ways.

Literature Review

The author's chosen are Luic Moll and Norma Gonzalez from the book called Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook and the article used is entitled "Teaching Standard English to Speakers of Nonstandard English Dialects". Both sources provide a good amount of information that will answer the research question previously stated.

Luic Moll and Norma Gonzalez talked about two third graders named Lupita and Yolanda. Both students come from Spanish speaking homes but because they receive aid from their teachers, they are able to complete required tasks in the classroom. Lupita and Yolanda had to conduct research about the Natives. The research they did was Spanish but the books they chose to use for the projects were all in English. They needed assistance because of the English books but they were able to successfully complete their projects. These students were on their way to literacy in two languages. "They are becoming competent in specific literate practices that will help them to consciously and intentionally use their bilingualism as a means to accomplish personal, academic, or intellectual tasks" (Moll and Gonzalez 157).

The internet article had much to say about students who come from nonstandard English homes. There is a high percentage of students who are struggling to learn standard English. "Many students who do acquire standard English do so while being taught to reject the language of their home, community and peers. In the process, they are denied an effective element of social solidarity, which is an important element of cultural heritage" (www.maec.org/old/cross/6.html). There are many arguments that explain why nonstandard English children have low levels of achievement in the standard English classroom. One of the arguments is that traditional classroom techniques used in language arts education have fallen short because they have been too focused on the structure of language instead of "communicative competence". Another argument is that many teachers have had negative attitudes towards the language adaptations.

The articles did not have much to say about implementing ways for nonstandard English students to acquire standard English. It is important that teachers respect the home language of the students but they must also play a part in helping the students learn standard English. One way to help these students is by grouping them  with students who may know they're home language along with standard English and another possible way is by the teacher giving guidance as to how the student can successfully complete classroom activities. The author's work relates to the topic because it helps to answer the research question. The work shows how nonstandard English students are affected and what can be done to help these students.

Methods

A face-to-face interview was conducted in my home. This method was chosen because I like to observe a person while they are speaking and this helps me to get a better understanding of what they are saying. The interview only took about 25 minutes and it was easy to make the subject feel comfortable. I wrote up protocol questions and got a voice recorder to prepare for the collection of the data. Collection of the data required asking the protocol questions and recording the answers. I searched for patterns and how to correctly group similar things into categories.

Presentation of Data

Family and Life Background Story

K: Hi there! I really appreciate your time in allowing me to interview you. I wanted    to know how do you think children that come from “non-standard English” homes are affected in the traditional English speaking classroom. Ok. Could you give me your name?

C: (smiling) Sure, it’s Carolyn Martin, Kelsee

K: What are your past and current occupations?

C: Well, I used to be a bank teller and then I became a teacher. I taught for 32 years and I am currently and happily retired (Laughing).

K: (Laughing) That’s great! Could you please tell me your immediate family members and their ages?

C: Ok. My husband, Kevin Martin who I have been with for 25 years, my son Kevin Martin jr. who is 21 years old, and my daughter Kelsee Martin who is 24 years old (laughing)

K: (smiling) That’s amazing that you’ve have been with your husband for that long.

C: HaHa! Yes it has been a great journey so far…….tough at times, but great!

K: Awesome. If you do not mind, tell me what your family circumstances were when you were younger and your current family circumstances.

C: Hmmm. Ok. Well….when I was younger…I would say it was between lower and middle class. My parents had to work very hard but we were able to get all of the things we needed. Currently….. I would say definitely middle class. Happily the family is comfortable and we’ve been fortunate to get what we need and practically whatever we want. Thank God!

K: Yes. Thank God! Haha. Alright. Now could you tell me a little about yourself?

C: Sure. I am from Statesborough, Georgia and moved to Newark, New Jersey when I was 3. Let’s see….I love going to Church and writing poetry and I have very much enjoyed educating children. My life has been very pleasant and I just love having fun! You know…like going to the movies...shopping…and a whole lot more.

K: Do you remember which elementary, middle, high school, and college you attended?

C: Yes I do. The first school I went to was Avon Avenue School. After that I went to 14^th Avenue School and umm then I …..can’t remember the name of the middle school but later went to West Side High School. From there I went to Rutgers University and then Kean University where I graduated. I started teaching after graduating and then I returned to Kean University for my master’s degree.

K: In school when you were younger, was your home language a good match for the classroom?

C: Uhh, yes it was. I had no difficulty in the classroom and things were fairly easy for me.

Introduction to Literature Short Story

K: Were you taught to value literacy?

C: Oh I sure was. My mom really expressed to me how important literacy and school in general was. My dad hardly ever talked about literacy or school.

K: How did your parents deal with how you spoke out in public and in the home?

C: Hmmmm...They accepted the way I spoke as a kid but as I got older they knew that I needed to speak properly so they began correcting me when I was wrong.

K: In the classroom, how did your teacher and other students talk in school?

C: Everyone spoke standard English except for two little girls. The girls predominantly spoke Spanish.

K: How did your teacher work with these students?

C: The only thing I remember is the teacher putting them together with other students who were bilingual.

First Time Experience with Students as a Teacher

K: Do you remember your first reaction to a student that came from a nonstandard English home?

C: Uhh, yes I do. It was my first year of teaching and I had a little boy who only spoke fluent Spanish and minimal English. It was difficult for me to figure out what to do to help him because I wasn't prepared. When I went home later that day, I researched different ways to include him in the classroom.

K: Describe how you felt about these students.

C: I had compassion towards them and still do.... I understood that it could be hard at times for them to understand the work and at times they would feel left out.

K: What was the school's attitude about these students?

C: The school cared about these students and desired for them to feel just as included as the other students.

Later Experience with Students as a Teacher

K: How did you feel about the students years after your first time teaching?

C: I felt the same way that I always did. I just became more eager to want to help these students and I had even more of an empathy towards them.

K: Did the school still have the same attitude about the student's?

C: For the most part, yes. It was interesting how the amount of these students increased in the classrooms.

K: Yeah, I have noticed that as well.

Current Experience

K: Has your feelings about these students changed from the first teaching experience to now?

C: Actually, no. I pretty much feel the same.

K:Are you still teaching?

C: (Smiling) No, I retired two years ago. I have worked for 32 years and I am so happy to finally relax!

K: (Laughing) Lucky you! I just have a few more questions for you. Do you believe that a students' language is a part of their identity?

C: Oh absolutely. What they have learned growing up will always be a part of them. That's just the way it's going to be for them.

K: Do you think our methods of teaching these students should change over time?

C: Definitely. Because technology and so many other things are drastically changing. We have to keep up and make sure the students are learning at a good pace. If the methods never change, we cannot expect complete success for these students.

K: What values do you believe the educational system places on these students?

C: The system seems to believe these students are very important and they realize that they are a part of the world's future.

K: Is there anything else you would like to add?

C: Hmm... I don't think so. I think you asked great questions! (Laughing)

K: Great! Thank you so much for your time.

Analysis of data

The pattern that I mostly found was that the subject felt the same way about the students over the years and she wanted to become more involved in their learning. For the majority of the statements the subject had definite statements and seemed certain of the answer she wanted to give. I could tell in the beginning of the interview that she reflected back on the past to help her answer the questions. When she really wanted time to think and give a good answer, the subject would glance at the ceiling and show that she was really thinking about what she wanted to say before actually saying it.

Conclusion

The research is definitely important because this is something we deal with in everyday life. I mentioned what a couple of author's thought about the topic and added what could be done to help these students. Methods of teaching the students should change over time in order for their success to be accomplished. This will always be a topic that needs to be discussed.

Blog 25

Here is some of what I have so far!

Introduction

Everyday there seems to be more and more students that struggle in the classroom. If this is already true  about the average student, those that predominantly speak another language other than English must have even more of a difficult time in the traditional English speaking classroom. In reality, how are "non-standard English" speaking students affected in the traditional English speaking classroom? The purpose of this research is to find out how these children are really affected and what possible changes are available to make the lives of these students better. In this paper, the reader will see how children are affected, what a former Elementary Education teacher knows about the subject matter, and changes that can be made. This research is important to language research because it provides information and educates  others on how these students  are affected and what can be done to easily include them in the classroom. This is a topic that needs to be dealt with in everyday life and there should always be a solution to problems that arise within it. It appears that students that come from "non-standard English" homes are greatly affected in the English classroom and they are in many ways.

Literature Review

The author's chosen are Luic Moll and Norma Gonzalez from the book called Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook and the article used is entitled "Teaching Standard English to Speakers of Nonstandard English Dialects". Both sources provide a good amount of information that will answer the research question previously stated.

Luic Moll and Norma Gonzalez talked about two third graders named Lupita and Yolanda. Both students come from Spanish speaking homes but because they receive aid from their teachers, they are able to complete required tasks in the classroom. Lupita and Yolanda had to conduct research about the Natives. The research they did was Spanish but the books they chose to use for the projects were all in English. They needed assistance because of the English books but they were able to successfully complete their projects. These students were on their way to literacy in two languages. "They are becoming competent in specific literate practices that will help them to consciously and intentionally use their bilingualism as a means to accomplish personal, academic, or intellectual tasks" (Moll and Gonzalez 157).

Blog 24

There are a lot more things that have to be completed before I am finished with the research paper. I have an introduction and presentation of some data but I still need to work on my literature review, methods, analysis of data, and conclusion. I have a good amount of information to use but I have to properly organize it and make sure that I accurately use it.

Blog 23: Focus of data

I have begun to transcribe the interview but have not completely finished

The beginning focus is the subject's family background and introduction to literacy.

Family and Life Background Story

K: Hi there! I really appreciate your time in allowing me to interview you. I wanted    to know how do you think children that come from “non-standard English” homes are affected in the traditional English speaking classroom. Ok. Could you give me your name?

C: (smiling) Sure, it’s Carolyn Martin, Kelsee

K: What are your past and current occupations?

C: Well, I used to be a bank teller and then I became a teacher. I taught for 32 years and I am currently and happily retired (Laughing).

K: (Laughing) That’s great! Could you please tell me your immediate family members and their ages?

C: Ok. My husband, Kevin Martin who I have been with for 25 years, my son Kevin Martin jr. who is 21 years old, and my daughter Kelsee Martin who is 24 years old (laughing)

K: (smiling) That’s amazing that you’ve have been with your husband for that long.

C: HaHa! Yes it has been a great journey so far…….tough at times, but great!

K: Awesome. If you do not mind, tell me what your family circumstances were when you were younger and your current family circumstances.

C: Hmmm. Ok. Well….when I was younger…I would say it was between lower and middle class. My parents had to work very hard but we were able to get all of the things we needed. Currently….. I would say definitely middle class. Happily the family is comfortable and we’ve been fortunate to get what we need and practically whatever we want. Thank God!

K: Yes. Thank God! Haha. Alright. Now could you tell me a little about yourself?

C: Sure. I am from Statesborough, Georgia and moved to Newark, New Jersey when I was 3. Let’s see….I love going to Church and writing poetry and I have very much enjoyed educating children. My life has been very pleasant and I just love having fun! You know…like going to the movies...shopping…and a whole lot more.

K: Do you remember which elementary, middle, high school, and college you attended?

C: Yes I do. The first school I went to was Avon Avenue School. After that I went to 14^th Avenue School and umm then I …..can’t remember the name of the middle school but later went to West Side High School. From there I went to Rutgers University and then Kean University where I graduated. I started teaching after graduating and then I returned to Kean University for my master’s degree.

K: In school when you were younger, was your home language a good match for the classroom?

C: Uhh, yes it was. I had no difficulty in the classroom and things were fairly easy for me.

Introduction to Literature Short Story

K: Were you taught to value literacy?

C: Oh I sure was. My mom really expressed to me how important literacy and school in general was. My dad hardly ever talked about literacy or school.

The data will begin to state the subject's background, then introduction to literacy, afterwards the language at home, early school experience, language at school, then teacher experience, and lastly current exposure.

Blog 22

I recently did the interview and will have some of the data on the 23rd blog. I did not collect any other data as of yet.

Blog 21

Doing this short analysis project has really helped me with analyzing certain things.

I understand that I need to give more detail when stating my research question, I must relate the analysis to the research question better, and keep working on the development.

Blog 20: Draft answers to questions

1. The strengths of my writing for the introduction are that I begin to give some background information and then I state the problem. I conclude the introduction with the purpose of the essay. I need to work on including the importance of my research to writing studies.

In my literature review, I do well with beginning to talk about the research and its importance. I eventually give 2 example: one from a literature book and another from a website. I could work on giving more information with greater detail.

2. The problem identified is that many children that come from "non-standard English" homes enter into classrooms that use traditional English and that these students would experience difficulty in dealing with this. I point out that there are ways that teachers can easily incorporate these students into the classroom.

3. Two of the researchers mentioned have found a way to successfully incorporate a student into the traditional classroom.

4. I connect them by pointing out that there is a solution to the problem stated in my research.

5. I would like to provide more information and give more detail.

6. I want your assessment and advice on how to improve this draft.

Blog 19: Introduction and Literature review

Introduction:

The United States is expanding rapidly and this partly due to many people coming from places outside of the

U.S. One huge problem for them is that most of them do not speak traditional English fluently and in order to

get a decent job and be used in the U.S. for popular things, you must speak a large amount of English. There

are families that enroll their children into schools in the United States but do not realize the difficulty that the

children will have adjusting to the fluent English speaking classrooms. Today, some children have different

reactions to what they are faced with in the classroom of traditional English. In this essay, I plan to show how

children that come from "non-standard English" homes are affected in the classroom.

Literature Review:

I want to know how "non-standard English" speaking students are affected in a traditional English speaking

classroom. This research is important to language research because it provides information and educates

others on how these students are affected and what can be done to easily incorporate them in the classroom.

This is a topic that needs to be dealt with in everyday life and there should always be a solution to problems

that arise in dealing with this topic. Authors Luic Moll and Norma Gonzalez in a book entitled Literacy: A

Critical Sourcebook conducted research about a girl named Lupita and how she was able to work with

traditional English speaking students. Spanish was her first language but she was rapidly learning English. She

was required to do a project and she chose books that were all in English. Her teacher had to help her with

some of it but she successfully completed the project and was able to use both Spanish and English with it. In

another research, a boy named Jose was put into a traditional English classroom. His teacher did not know

how to properly handle the situation and wondered why he was pit in her classroom. Both of the researches

are interesting and have given me the desire to delve more into studying the topic. I would like to find out

how much the educational system values these types of students. This project is important to me because it

will help me to know how to appropriately include these students in my classroom in the near future.

Blog 18: Draft Short Analysis

This was also sent to the class email.

Kelsee Martin

Nov, 8, 2012

Eng 3029-01

Short Analysis Project Draft

                    There are a lot of different reactions from people who have read Shaggy Dog

Stories and they are popular among many. Some folks can connect to the stories and

others cannot. A Shaggy Dog Story is a long, drawn-out anecdote ending with an absurd

or anticlimactic punchline (thefreedictionary.com).

                    I am interested in studying what makes a Shaggy Dog Story funny and what

makes one not. After doing thorough research, I have found that a person’s background,

age, and level of education have much to do with why a person would find Shaggy Dog

Stories to be funny or not.There were five Shaggy Dog stories that were handed out in

class for me and other fellow classmates to read. After observing them all, we had to rank

them as the first one being the funniest and the fifth one being the least funny. One of the

SDS is about a snake called Nate. The original punchline is “Better Nate than Never” but

The traditional punchline is “Better late than never”. The next one is about friars. The

punchline listed is “only Hugh can prevent florist friars” and the traditional punchline

is “only you can prevent forest fires”. Third is an SDS about a giant panda that escaped

from a New York zoo. The original punchline said “Giant panda, lives in China, eats

shoots and leaves”. There is a book entitled “Eats Shoots and Leaves”. The fourth SDS

is about Robinson Crusoe. Its punchline stated “Thank Friday it’s God!” and the actual

phrase is “Thank God it’s Friday”. The last SDS is about chess players. The punchline

is “it’s chess nuts boasting by an open foyer”. The traditional punchline is “chess nuts

roasting by an open fire”.

                By looking at the class’s blog from September 18^th, I observed the rankings

that were given.

           

	Connection to the quote	Connection to experience
Panda	*	H
Friday	H	H
Nate	M	N
Friars	N	N
Chess	N	N

*You don’t have to be familiar with the quote because the panda explains the connection

in the joke itself.

The jokes the class found the funniest have more or stronger features associated with

being funny.

                       The codes/categories I will use to find out why the class believed the SDS

about the Panda and Robinson Crusoe are funniest are connected values, connected

usage, connected activity, and simple jokes.

                    Some of the students found the SDS about the panda to be one of the

funniest because they connected to it in some way. Some have read the book “Eats

Shoots and Leaves” and after reading the SDS, have found the punchline to be funny.

The SDS about Robinson Crusoe was funny as well because most of the class had a

connection. A few classmates said that they often used the punchline “Thank God it’s

Friday” and they also value it because in reality they love when Friday arrives.

                   Many of the classmates believed that the SDS about Nate was in between.

Not many used the punchline “Better late than never” but have heard it from somewhere

before. The SDS about the chess players was one of the least funny stories. Some of the

class said that they knew what the actual punchline of it was but found it to be a little

boring. Hardly any of the class had any connection to it but someone did say that they

found little connection because they have sang the song “Chestnuts roasting by an open

fire” and they also enjoy Christmas time. The SDS about friars was one of the least funny

as well. All of the class understood the punchline and had heard it before but did not find

any connection to it.

                    In my opinion, the SDS about Robinson Crusoe was the funniest. I have a

close connection with it because I always use the phrase and I value Friday because it is

the last day that comes before the weekend. It is a day of fun and relaxation to me. I

understood the punchline automatically and found it clever because of the way that the

words were switched. I also enjoy going to TGIF restaurant; it is my favorite place to eat!

The punchline was funny to me and I enjoyed it the most. My second favorite is the SDS

about the panda. I agreed with the rest of the class how they saw it to be funny. The third

favorite is the SDS about Nate the snake. I have used the phrase “Better late than never”

but I do not find any other connection to it. My fourth favorite is the story about the chess

players. I like to sing the song “Chestnuts roasting by an open fire” and I love Christmas

time. The least favorite was the SDS about friars. I completely agreed with the classes

conclusions of this SDS. I noticed a connection that the Shaggy Dog Stories had. Each

story gave some background on a person or a particular group of people and at the end

they all had punchlines. All of the endings of the stories were cleverly worded and some

were even spelled differently than the actual phrase people use. For example, in the

punchline that stated “Only Hugh can prevent florist friars” words sounded almost the

same as they do in the original phrase which is “Only you can prevent forest fires”.

                    Some of the SDS involved some type of violence.

	Violence Level
Panda	H
Friars	H
Chess	M
Nate	L
Friday	N

H= High Violence

M= Medium Violence

L= Less Violence

N= No Violence

The cartoon SDS were about the panda and Nate. The SDS about the panda was the most

violent because the punchline involved shooting. The SDS about Nate hardly included

any violence. The SDS about friars, chess, and Friday were realistic and only the SDS

about Friday included no violence.

                   Three of the SDS included real people and two of them used animals as the

main character.

	Animal/Real Person	Dialogue
Panda	A	Y
Friday	R	Y
Nate	A	N
Friars	R	N
Chess	R	Y

A= Animal              Y=Yes

R= Real Person       N=No

The panda was the only animal with dialogue. In the SDS about the chess players, the

hotel manager had dialogue but the chess players did not.

                   After reading the SDS in class, it has made me interested in reading more of

them. I have introduced them to people in my family and some friends and they enjoyed

reading most of the stories. I definitely see myself continuing to read the Shaggy Dog

Stories in the future.

Blog 17: Final Interview protocol

Hello, my name is Kelsee Martin and I appreciate your time in allowing me to interview you. I am eventually going to be a certified Elementary Education teacher and this project will help me to have more background knowledge before I enter the classroom. The research that I am doing is how children that come from "Non-standard English" homes are affected in traditional English classrooms.

Demographic Information

Name:
Current Occupation:
Previous Occupations:
Nationality:
Race:

Immediate Family Members and Ages:

If you do not mind, could you describe your family circumstances?

Income Level:
Growing Up:
Now:

Were you taught to value literacy?

Can you tell me a little about yourself? Where were you born? What is your family like?

Where did you live?
Growing Up:
Now:

Do you remember which elementary, middle, high school, and college you went to?

In school when you were younger, was your home language a good match for the classroom?

Early Exposure To Literacy

Can you tell me how and when you learned to read and write?


At Home

What language did you speak at home when you were young? Explain

What groups did you use this language with? Church groups? Community groups?

How did your parents deal with how you spoke out in public and in the home?

Do you remember your first reaction to students that came from "non-standard English" homes?

Did you and your siblings react the same to these students?

Early School experience

How did your teacher and the other students talk in school? Did you feel included?

How did the teacher work with these students?

How was the teacher's attitude toward these students? Students' attitude toward other others?

At School

Describe how you felt about these students?

Did you have to work with the students that did not come from traditional English speaking homes?

How did your teacher work with these students?

Do you know of any friends know students that come from "non-standard English" homes?

Teacher experience

What was the school's attitude toward these students? Mother's attitude?

What methods did she use to teach? What would she do then and now?

Do you believe that a students’ language is a part of their identity? Please Explain.

Current Exposure

Does the students' attitude about language change over time?

How do you think our methods should change?

Do you still have contact with any of these students?

Do you react to them the same way you did years ago or differently?

Do any of your current friends still have contact with the students?

Also

For what purpose do you collaborate with students that come from "non-standard English" homes?

What values does the educational system currently place on these students?

How/when/where/why do you see yourself collaborating with these students in the future?

Is there anything more you would like to say about students that come from "non-standard English" homes?

Blog 16: Draft Interview Protocol (Revised)

Demographic Information

Name:
Current Occupation:
Previous Occupations:
Nationality:
Race:

Immediate Family Members and Ages:

If you do not mind, could you describe your family circumstances?

Income Level:
Growing Up:
Now:

Were you taught to value literacy?

Can you tell me a little about yourself? Where were you born? What is your family like?

Where did you live?
Growing Up:
Now:

Do you remember which elementary, middle, high school, and college you went to?

Early Exposure To Literacy

Can you tell me how and when you learned to read and write?

How did you first come in contact a student that came from a "non-standard English" home?

At Home

Do you remember your first reaction to students that came from "non-standard English" homes?

Did you and your siblings react the same to these students?

At School

Describe how you felt about these students?

Did you have to work with the students that did not come from traditional English speaking homes?

How did your teacher work with these students?

Do you know of any friends know students that come from "non-standard English" homes?

Current Exposure

Do you still have contact with any of these students?

Do you react to them the same way you did years ago or differently?

Do any of your current friends still have contact with the students?

Also

For what purpose do you collaborate with students that come from "non-standard English" homes?

What values does the educational system currently place on these students?

How/when/where/why do you see yourself collaborating with these students in the future?

Is there anything more you would like to say about students that come from "non-standard English" homes?

Blog 15

Research Question: What kind of learning issues are faced by learners who come from homes with "nonstandard English"?

The kind of research that I want to find is the age, background, education level, and etc. I believe that these all have to do with the issues that nonstandard English students have to deal with.

Questions: What do you think are some issues that these students face?

                 What are some ways that teachers can make the work easier to comprehend for these students?

                  Do you think that these students should not be included in a regular classroom?

                 

Blog 14: Short Analysis Project

The research question that I have come up with is why do some people find the shaggy dog stories to be funny and others do not? I would like to find out the different reactions from people who read them and why they react the way they do.

The codes used that are relevant to the question are background, education, age, and sex (male/female). Patterns show that less people find the shaggy dog stories to be funny than most. Shaggy dog stories cannot be possibly humorous to everyone.

My hypothesis explains the data by using the examples of peoples' reactions to the stories. It uses references: for example, observation. I observed the classes reactions to the stories and the majority agreed that the story about the panda and Friday, were the funniest. This is probably because more of the students connected with these two stories more than the others. A person's background and age seems to mostly affect a person's reason for why they would find the shaggy dog stories to be funny or not.

My overall theory is that a person would have to connect with the story and have an understanding of the joke. It seems that the majority of people do not agree that the stories are funny. It explains that everyone has a different point of view and we come from diverse backgrounds.

Blog 13

Terms From the Textbook: I'm not having difficulty with any of the terms. I was able to look up more information about the terms that were not clear to me.

Building Tasks: Gee stated in chapter two of his book that a discourse analyses asks questions about any language based on these building tasks: significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections, and sign systems and knowledge.

Significance asks "How is this piece of language being used to make certain things significant or not and in what ways?".

Practices asks "What practice is this piece of language being used to enact?".

Identities asks "What identity is this piece of language being used to enact?".

Relationships asks "What sort of relationship is this piece of language seeking to enact with others?".

Connections asks "How does this piece of language connect or disconnect things?".

Politics asks "What perspective on social goods is this piece of langauge communicating?".

Sign systems and knowledge asks "How does this piece of language privilege or disprivilege specific sign systems?".

My project is about children being affected by coming from nonstandard English speaking homes into standard English speaking classrooms.

The building tasks that mostly relate to my research are significance, identities, relationships and connection.

Blog 12: Shaggy Dog Stories Data Set

Research Question: Why might some people find the Shaggy Dog stories to be funny and others not find them funny?

Ideas for features of the data: Does age range have a difference?
 
                                             Does a person's background have to do with why they would find these stories  to be funny or not?

                                             Does a person's race or sex (male/female) have to do with the stories being funny or not?

                                             Does the amount of education a person has have to do with why these stories would be funny or not?

These are just some of the questions I would look into to find out the answer to my research question.

Blog 11: Developing a Research Plan

Research Question: What kinds of learning issues are faced by learners who come from homes with "nonstandard English"?

Purpose: I hope to discover and elaborate on how students deal with being in a Standard English classroom as they come from a nonstandard English home.

Information that must be gathered: How students learn to assimilate to a Standard English classroom (hear from an actual student who has dealt with this), articles from magazines, literature, actual observations, and etc.

• I will be studying a friend (Kevin) who has dealt with this in the past and is currently in college.
• I will collect information from my mother (Carolyn) who is a former teacher and has seen what students must go through (students who come from nonstandard English homes) and Kevin.
• I would like to study 2 subjects
• I will conduct interviews, textual analysis, and observation.

Blog 10: Group Analysis

Andrea
Shana
Generra

Question: What features of the comments give information for the revision of the paper?

Coding of the comments:
Sample Writing Guide with Comments:

1. There was positive feedback and no negative comments.
2. The teacher supported the student.
3. The student was encouraged by the teacher to correct a few things without being too harsh.
4. Explains how the student should revise the paper.
5. There were examples of sources given.

Sample Process Narrative:

1. There was positive feedback and no negative comments.

2. The teacher supported the student.
3. The student was encouraged by the teacher to correct a few things without being too harsh.
4. Explains how the student should revise the paper.
5. There were examples of sources given.

Both samples help the student to revise the paper well.

Sample 3:

1. The teacher guided the student in how to revise the paper.

2. There was encouraging comments.

3. Seemed to be no negative comments.

This sample also showed that the student help a lot of help with revising the paper.

Sample 4: 

1. The comments were not quite positive, but not negative either(neutral).

2. Some comments gave good guidance.

3. Student might be confused as to how the professor wants him/her to revise the paper.

This sample didn't give clear direction in how the paper should be written.

Sample 5: 

1. There should be further explanation of the comments made.

2. Didn't really give enough advice as to how to revise the paper.

Sample 6:

1. There were positive comments. 

2. The comments help the student to revise the paper

3. Plenty of feedback is provided.

Unanswered Questions: How does the writer feel when reading the comments?

                                     Are the comments positive/negative?

                                     What are the similarities between the comments?

Blog 9

I was not in class for the group work due to being sick but joined Shana, Andrea, and Generra's group.

We decided to use the paper that Andrea for the assignment. These are our ideas and comments so far.

Question:

What features of the comments give information for the revision of the paper?

Coding of the Comments:

1. No negative comments, but positive feedback.
2. Supports the student in a positive manner.
3. Encourages the student to keep writing and edit where necessary, without being aggressive.
4. Gives examples of sources that can be used.
5. Explains what needs work and follows up with how to "fix" the revision.

Student Reactions:

Andrea - This was my paper that we were working on. I did not have any hard feelings about the comments from my professor. I thought I was doing the assignment wrong, but I was assured that I was not, and it gave me hope that I will complete the paper without worrying to much about it. To me it was all positive feedback.

Shana -

Generra -

Pose a Question:

We did not get this far yet. We have no question as of today.

Blog 8: Develop a Research Topic

Research plan:

Children come from all types of different backgrounds and some even speak languages other than English. I will use Katie and John as two examples. In Katie's home her parents speak Spanish and a minimal amount of English, but John comes from a family that speaks only English. How are these students affected by each other and the rest of the classroom since they both come from totally different households? Are they positively/negatively affected?

I'm looking to find data from internet sources, magazines, books, and etc.

I will conduct my research by interviews, observations, and etc.

Blog 7

Topic: Teaching the history of the English Language

What others have said about the topic:

~ The English Language has been subjected to tremendous change throughout the 20th century.
~ The tradition has been practiced in many adaptations around the world.
~ Back in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries the focus was mainly on grammatical rules, syntactic structures, along with memorizing vocabulary and translation of literary texts.
~The Grammar Translation Method is still one of the most popular and favorite models of language today.
~ It helps the students understand the importance of learning the English Language.

Research Question: How does teaching the history of English Language affect students?

Blog 6: Focus for the Research Project

I chose Sample Literacy Narrative 2.
The focus of the introduction: The author not seeing herself as a writer.

Features  1. can write well enough to earn A's on papers
               2. development in literacy was a process of bouncing off different cultural stories to become a writer
               3. started relationship with writing by reading (beginning of becoming a writer)
               4. family visited he library weekly (persistent with study)
               5. sisters, parents and friends had indirect and direct influence on her reading (influences helped with reading
               6. gained valuable experience through her sisters (positive/negative experience? or both?)
               7. believes imagined stories are just as valid as written ones (connection to literacy)
               8. enjoyed playtime with sisters but did not think of herself as a writer
               9. didn't believe she could record he own stories (have to do with low self-esteem?)
             10. believed if she claimed that she was a good writer, she would take what belonged to her older sister
             11. saw writing as a tool for academic work (writing is necessary)
             12. interested in Role play Gaming but it prevented her from recognizing it as a legitimate form of writing
             13. says she had no talent at writing
             14. sister encouraged her and begin to see herself as an author
           
Ending Question: Why did it take so long for the author to see herself as a writer?

Shaggy Dog stories class ranking prediction

The first story involved a play on words. It had some humor to it and the 

punchline was at the end. Enough information was provided to explain the

new version of the quote. While reading this, I envisioned in my mind 

the string trying to get the beer. Prediction for class rank: #2

The second story was not humorous to me at all. It was a joke and involved

a play on words. It seems like not many people would understand the 

punchline especially if they do not already know the original quote. I could

not connect to the quote.          Prediction for class rank: #3

The next story's punchline was kind of corny but the wording was clever. I

didn't find it funny but liked the wording of the quote. There was a play on

words and enough data was provided to explain the new version of the quote.

                                                Prediction for class rank: #4

The last story put visual images in my mind. I could relate to the punchline at

the end and enjoyed the play on words and the humor.

                                                Prediction for class rank: #1

The patterns I noticed were the play on words, the punchline at the end, and 

enough information being provided to explain the new version of the quote.

The theory of all of the stories is that the quote at the end gives meaning to 

the story.  

All of the stories have clever punchlines and readers will have different reactions

to each of them. What one finds funny, another one will not. The play on words

was done well for each of them.

Analysis of 9/11 Interview

I chose to analyze Rachel and Valerie's interview.
They chose a paragraph format and the focus was 9/11. The beginning of the
paragraph was about what was stated in class about oral history.

The interview was conversational: both students asked and answered questions.
A narrative frame was used as a guide for reporting data.

Hypothesis: If the interview includes both the interviewer and subject answering/asking
questions, the subject will feel more comfortable and only have to state personal
answers and not facts.

Valerie said "She was very sympathetic and never interrupted me...". Here she was
making an observation. The after thought was "After the interview we were just
talking off the record about 9/11 and how sad we feel for the people who lost their
lives and the families who have to deal with their loss...".

The hypothesis was tested by these two students and it's proven true. The interview
was short and simple.

*Update*

Hypothesis: The evaluative afterthoughts were most useful.

Tested Hypothesis: Proven to be true because the afterthoughts expressed concern
for others and they show the reader(s) more background information as to how the
interview went.

Blog 3: Oral History. Interviewer(Kelsee) and Subject(Tshandi)

I conducted an interview with Tshandi on 9/11.
I asked her several different questions and she had a good variety of answers.
She said that she was ten years old when 9/11 took olace and attended Cicely Tyson school. The school had made an announcement on the intercom stating the event that took place and her mom quickly picked her up. It wasn't important to her until she found out that one of her family members was involved. She stated that she was shocked by this.

Her family was definitely affected by it and they began consoling one another after finding out about what had taken place in NYC. Tshandi's mom was afraid of letting her out of her sights.

I had given some background information as well as ask questions.
I was 11 or 12 when the event happened. None of my family was involved so it didn't really bother me. I guess especially because I was pretty young I didn't truly understand what was going on. I honestly only remember just being happy that school had let out early because of the event.

Tshandi does well at communicating and expressing her ideas.

Blog 2: Analysis and How it Works

Analysis is the observation of the elements of a whole and their association with each other to create a whole. It works by critically observing something and asking what it does and why it is what it is.

I would use analysis to study Elementary Education by interpreting the purpose of the subject. I'd look up the meaning of Elementary Education and all of the components and ideas that are related to it.

Blog 1: Research in English and Writing Studies

It seems to me that anyone interested in English and Writing Studies would research about the aspects of these subjects. Some main topics would probably be how they could properly write a paper and effectively capture a readers' interest.
I am interested in research about Elementary Education.  I have worked with children for at least 10 years and had always wanted to be a teacher. One of the main things I am interested in researching is how children are able to use pictures in a book to understand the text. Watching a child interpret what they see amazes me especially because the children interpret things so differently. What interests me is knowing what children like to learn about as well.