# data[].attributes.body
It was intriguing after learning that grammar can only be learned when there is language acquisition that there are arguments to teach grammar before language acquisition and arguments that it should be taught after language acquisition. This affects the methods of how we as teachers we will teach EAL students and illustrates that teaching grammar will vary depending on where the student is in their language acquisition. The article outlines the argument that L2 learners should be taught grammar while acquiring a language because it prevents these learners from learning incorrect grammatical habits (Ellis, 2006, p. 90). It is also believed that learning grammar early-on provides a strong foundation for learning to follow. However, it is also believed that teaching grammar should only be taught after one learns communitive input naturally. It is argued that grammar should be taught later because second language-learners will naturally learn grammar in acquiring the new language and we must let them work through this. Ellis states that he favours the teaching of grammar after students acquire it naturally. He stresses the importance of listening and also reading with L2 learners in teaching them grammar and to utilize task-based learning (Ellis, 2006, p. 91). In all, it is helpful to learn of the different ways we can teach grammar and the ways we must adjust our teaching depending on the level of language naturally acquired by the learners.

Reference: Ellis, R. (2006). Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 40(4), 83-107. doi:10.2307/40264312

# data[].attributes.body
"Why can't we all just be human? Isn't it this focus on race that divides us?" (Sensoy & DiAngelo, p146). I find this quote stick out to me because a huge part of my ECS110 journey was based on evolving as a student, future educator and most importantly as a person. There is no such thing as being "neutral". I know this because this was the ignorant "excuse" I always used before I was able to see how ridiculous it sounded. Being "neutral" is actually going against inclusion and supports the dominant.

# data[].attributes.body
Reading Ellis’s article on Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar was very interesting because it provided a perspective that I had never thought of before: that as an educator to L2 students, we can only teach so much. In learning a language, second language-learners must acquire language on a natural level. Studies have shown that teaching grammar benefits learners, but it only helps them in learning a second language when it corresponds to the language they have acquired in a naturalistic setting. This is beneficial to learn as a future teacher because it reiterates the fact that in teaching EAL students, we must be patient. Students cannot comprehend grammatical rules if they do not have proper language acquisition.

Reference: Ellis, R. (2006). Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 40(4), 83-107. doi:10.2307/40264312

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection #2- English as a Dominating Language

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection #2- English as a Dominating Language

# data[].attributes.body
One key point within this article was the dominance and power that English holds within the global society. There has been a spread of the English language around the world, placing a lot of power and supremacy on it. This is very politically charged because it creates a dominance of Western political ideologies. Pennycook states that, “language and language teaching are always inscribed in relations of power” (Pennycook, 1989, p. 594). This reiterates the fact that school is politically charged because there is an emphasis on English education in schools around the world.

Reference: Pennycook, A. (1989). The Concept of Method, Interested Knowledge, and the Politics of Language Teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 23(4), 589. doi:10.2307/3587534

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection #1- Seeing the Politics in Schools 

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection #1- Seeing the Politics in Schools 

# data[].attributes.body
Reading the Concept of English to Speakers, Interested Knowledge and the Politics of Language Teachingwas interesting because it reviewed the many ways that schools and education are politically charged. Schools used to be viewed as political, which was an interesting concept. However, in the 20thcentury there was a shift to view schools in Western countries as “training grounds” to instill skills to be an active citizen in society. However, the article describes that the shift to not see schools as political creates an issue because it allows for the school to reproduce political ideologies and social constructs such as classism, racism, and sexism. Pennycook describes that by failing to view schools as political, we fail to create opportunity for social change through school. Take for example, the ways language in school are politically connected. In Canadian schools, there is an emphasis on English and French which is a direct result of political influences and history. Without realizing the ways schools uphold political systems and allow certain groups in society to be oppressed, we deny the opportunity for schools to be a platform for social change.

Reference: Pennycook, A. (1989). The Concept of Method, Interested Knowledge, and the Politics of Language Teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 23(4), 589. doi:10.2307/3587534

# data[].attributes.body
Sensoy and DiAngelo discuss in this chapter the ways that racism exist in society today. They boil it down to once main point: the oppressive systems of racism manifest through white supremacy. On page 143, the textbook explains that white supremacy is a term that “captures the pervasiveness, magnitude, and normalcy of White privilege, dominance and assumed superiority” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017). Through reading Chapter 9 of the textbook and learning of how whiteness is tied to power and privilege, I was reminded of a very insightful article I read by Peggy McIntosh, titled “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. In this article, McIntosh explains what exactly white privilege means and describes it as being a set of unearned assets that she can count on cashing in every day (McIntosh, 1992).  She explains that having white privilege is like having a knapsack that people of colour do not have; in other words, she is given a set of advantages in society due to her skin colour. What is most interesting in McIntosh’s article is that she explains how society is formed to hide this realization for white people. White people are not supposed to recognize that they are part of a large system in which puts others at a disadvantage (McIntosh, 1992). The idea that White people are carefully taught to not see their whiteness and advantages in society connects to page 143 of Sensoy and DiAngelo when they explain that, “White people feel that being white has no meeting, this feeling is unique to White people and is a key part of what it means to be White; to see one’s races having no meeting is a privilege only whites are afforded” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017). By turning a blind eye to the ways in which white supremacy awards advantages and power to White people, it allows them to continually take these advantages at the cost of people of colour without feeling badly about it. In other words, by not seeing white privilege for what it is, we are reproducing oppressive acts of racism.

References:

Sensoy, Ö, & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Understanding the Global Organization of Racism Through White Supremacy. In Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to key Concepts in Social Justice Education (Second ed., pp. 141-154). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Reference: McIntosh, P. (1992). White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Multiculturalism, 30-36. Retrieved March 4, 2019, from https://www.winnipeg.ca/clerks/boards/citizenequity/pdfs/white_privilege.pdf

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection #1-- The Problem with Celebrating Multiculturalism

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection #1-- The Problem with Celebrating Multiculturalism

# data[].attributes.body
A very important point brought up in Chapter 9 of Sensoy and DiAngelo is the issue with multicultural education. The authors discuss how multiculturalism and diversity are often celebrated in school today, which is a step in the right direction towards breaking down the oppressive systems of race and white supremacy, but simultaneously acts towards reproducing these systems. We believe that implementing multicultural education is revolutionary in changing society, but the textbook critiques this false pretense. Celebrating diversity is a good quality, but the ways schools do it is not going to change the oppressive structures in place because we are not addressing the socio-political factors of race. Celebrating diversity and learning about the surface levels of other cultures (such as food, clothing, and music) does not acknowledge the “history and politics of difference” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 142). Essentially, celebrating diversity without acknowledging power relations acts to reinforce inequality by “obscuring unequal power relations between groups” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 142). In other words, we trick ourselves into believing that because all races, ethnicities, and cultures are being recognized and celebrates, they are equal when in reality we have done nothing to create the structural forces at hand that create and reproduce inequality between race. I believe this is important as future teachers—we must recognize the need to educate our students on the inequalities between race in order to actually work towards racial equality.

Reference: Sensoy, Ö, & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Understanding the Global Organization of Racism Through White Supremacy. In Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to key Concepts in Social Justice Education (Second ed., pp. 141-154). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

# data[].attributes.body
On pp. 108-116, the authors discuss how advertising, media and popular culture influence society and oppression of women in pop culture. From sports to movies and TV shows to music videos- it all portrays women in certain ways that society deems they should be portrayed. The idea on p. 108 about pre-pubescent girls in sports hitting puberty and establishing their identification as heterosexual is interesting. Because sports are not viewed as feminine, young girls have to find a balance between showing femininity and preforming in their sports, whereas males playing sports do not have to confirm their heterosexuality. Another thing that stood out to me is the portrayal of women in 🤬 and in hip-hop music videos. Women have always been sexualized and/or objectified in society but pop culture has made it significantly worse (pp. 113-115). Males in 🤬 and male rappers are represented as dominant figures while women are represented and submissive and simply there to fill the male's desire. If you listen to any hip-hop or rap song, probably 8 times out of 10 the artist refers to a woman in a derogatory way that belittles their existence to a sexual object. Another thing to consider is that it seems like women in the music industry are more often dressing in revealing outfits or having to put on a provocative performance in order to gain attention and approval from society. How many times have you seen a male prancing around on stage wearing a skimpy dress with their hair, makeup and nails all done up? It doesn't happen that often because males do not need the validation from society in pop culture to look or act a certain way unlike women who seem to have to work a lot harder to seek approval.

# data[].attributes.body
In uncovering the myth that sexism is a thing of the past, Sensoy and DiAngelo provide multiple examples throughout the chapter to exemplify the many ways oppression through sexism continues presently. The chapter discusses sexism is evident in advertising, movies, music videos, and essentially all social constructs in Western society. This begs the question: if sexism is so evident in so many aspects of our society, how does it go unnoticed? On page 106, Sensoy and DiAngelo explain sexism is often difficult to see as a result of many instances. First, is that dominant culture views oppression as an isolated event. Oppression, especially through sexism, is often regarded as an individual act by one bad person or one specific group of bad people. By placing an individual emphasis on sexist acts, sexism gets away as being seen as an isolated event and not what it really is—a socially constructed system. The chapter also identifies that pop-culture acts to “amplify rigid gender roles” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 106). Media reinforces and socializes our ideas of what is means to be a man or woman, boy or girl. We follow these rigid gender norms, which further reproduces oppressive structures related to sex. Lastly, the textbook identifies that sexism as an oppressive system often goes unseen as such because it is “obscured through the ideology of the West as civilized and liberated, in contrast to places that are uncivilized and backward, such as the East” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 107). In western society, there is a belief that sexism only exists in eastern societies. As such, it can be seen how sexism is not only denied in our society, but through its denial, racist ideas are produced. It is essential to recognize that our society not only fails to notice sexism and what it is (an oppressive system), but it reproduces it through societal norms and uses it to build other oppressive systems and beliefs.

Reference: Sensoy, Ö, & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Understanding the Invisibility of Oppression Through Sexism. In Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to key Concepts in Social Justice Education (Second ed., pp. 102-118). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

# data[].attributes.body
What struck me most  out of all of the slides are the last two bullet points on slide 36. "There is a need for ELA/EAL teachers to understand the colonizing effects language has had/does have on non-English speakers in Canada." and "Anti-oppressive strategies are needed when teaching ELA." These are concepts that, as a native English speaker, I have never even thought about before but are obviously very important for all teachers to know. It is interesting to read them and think "well obviously those things are important" but also have no idea how to implement those ideas. I think that that speaks to how the norm has always been different to what these concepts suggest. I would be very interested in seeing exactly how anti-oppressive strategies would be integrated into ELA and EAL.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection #1- But Isn't Sexism in the Past?

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection #1- But Isn't Sexism in the Past?

# data[].attributes.body
Sensoy and DiAngelo bring up a brilliant topic in chapter 7—the common belief that oppression through sexism is believed to be in the past and not a present-day issue. Due to the way our society is constructed, it is easy for us to recognize forms of oppression in the past, but difficult for us to consider that they are still occurring. The textbook offers a reason for this: we are immersed in our societal waters, so we do not notice many systems of oppression that are ingrained in our constructs of society as we do not know any different; it is not until these systems are changed that we notice them. Take the suffrage movement, for example. We recognize women were oppressed in the past because of the many rights they gained which have carried on today, such as the right to vote. However, we are only able to easily recognize that women in the past lacked these rights since we have them today. What is difficult to see is the rights we lack today, because we have yet to gain them. Sensoy and DiAngelo explain it like this: “Because our attention is directed to isolated events from the past, rather than the overall picture, current patterns of oppression become harder for us to see” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 104).  What is important as emerging teachers to understand is that institutions reproduce the dominant culture’s norms, which in Western society adhere to patriarchal beliefs (beliefs that place men as superior to women). Schools are an institution and actively circulate and maintain cultural norms, thus showing sexism in reinforced in the school (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 103).

Reference: Sensoy, Ö, & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Understanding the Invisibility of Oppression Through Sexism. In Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to key Concepts in Social Justice Education (Second ed., pp. 102-118). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

# data[].attributes.body
I think that response, specifically peer response, is a part of the writing process that I overlooked as important in high school. In addition to the benefits of peer response that are outlined on the slides I think that it is a unique way to gain new insights on a topic, that might be more beneficial than a teachers feedback. I have never thought about the social aspect of peer responses, both the benefits and the possible constraints. For me, peer responses were always done in a haphazard way, without much meaning put into it, which is related to the constraint about the students uncertainty about the value of peer response. But I can look back and see how those situations could have been changed to foster positive social interaction and attitude towards writing.

# data[].attributes.body
When being asked what is Whiteness I had a lot of thoughts racing through my mind. What is Whiteness? Is whiteness even a word? How does being white truly effect certain things in society? And for the last question the answer is yes. Looking at page 143 we see a statement being made by the authors " ... we do not mean it in its lay usage to indicate extreme hate groups such as Ku Kulx Klan or the dozen of others like it. Rather , we use the tern to capture the pervasiveness, magnitude, and normalcy of white privilege, dominance, and white superiority" (pg. 143). This line really hit me hard. I have never really thought about all the advantages and privileges I have just because of the skin colour I was born with. I was once asked in a class would you change your skin coulor to feel what another race feels? I thought about it and then answered no. everyone was very shocked I then gave my reasoning. I would not want to feel what those people feel everyday, and if you think you would want to you must not know the affects of racism and how bad it truly is to out your self willingly in those shoes. My prof was shocked as well, but said I was corrected and had never truly thought about it this way. I beleive we need to be able to try and make a change, but not have to walk in those shoes for a day we should have the compassion to see the affects and just know we need to make a change for the better.

# data[].attributes.body
The comparison that Pennycook drew between the social sciences and the physical sciences was a very insightful one. Often the social sciences attempt to be factual and therefore somehow more legitimate by viewing them in the same light as the physical sciences. The result of this is "human issues" being presented as free from personal and political bias, as neutral. In ECS we often talk about how nothing in education can truly be neutral, if it is presented as neutral, it is supporting the dominant narrative. Pennycook calls for a re-examination of the social sciences on these grounds, specifically linguistics.

# data[].attributes.body
I found Ellis's article to be extremely informative. In the first paragraph it goes over some crucial definitions and concepts that are crucial in teaching grammar. "Presenting grammar" and "Practicing grammar" are two completely different things but also go hand in hand with each other. The concept of presentation versus practice is interesting and I think allowing students to learn towards a more natural way will promote L2 learners to present and practice on their own terms.

# data[].attributes.body
When should we teach grammar?

I think this is a great question and is definitely something I have yet to think about. After reading this section I believe the best way to teach grammar is the natural way. I think teaching right and wrongs right off the bat will create boundaries for students and that is not what we want. I think learning a new language is a lot like learning in a classroom with your peers. You don't only learn from the teacher but learn from your peers as well. I think the same idea can be focused on L2 learners. L2 students will learn more naturally than they will being taught specific things to.

# data[].attributes.body
Should grammar be taught in separate lessons or integrated into communicative activities?

After only reading the title of this section of the reading I thought I already had an idea of what would have be more helpful for me when I was learning grammar, both in English and Spanish. My initial thought was that it would have more of an impact if it were integrated into communicative lessons, I think this was simply based on how I didn’t enjoy how dry my grammar lessons were in Spanish.

However, after reading this section and thinking back more on my own experiences I agree with Ellis, that it should be both taught in separate lessons and integrated in. It is important that students not only learn grammatical content, but how to successfully use that content and rules in a communicative way.

Pennycook

# data[].attributes.body
"At a time when all education is threatened by the conservative drive toward standardized curricula, and a move "back to basics," a move which threatens all openness and diversity in education and ignores questions of class, race, or gender difference, a move which threatens finally to render the teacher as nothing but a technician trained to transmit a fixed canon of knowledge, it is essential that teachers start to oppose those forms of knowledge that are being thrust upon them under the guise of scientific objectivity" (Pennycook, p 612). I find this closing quote extremely important in this article because it shows how political our education system. As teachers we cannot allow a conservative aspect to threaten the state our system is in right now. We are no where close to where we need to be but we are a lot better than I was in school. I was brought up in a Eurocentric based curriculum and had not learned about Residential Schools until post secondary school. This is a major issue that has been transformed over the past couple years but there is so much more work to be done.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection #2- Extensive Reading and Peer Responses

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection #2- Extensive Reading and Peer Responses

# data[].attributes.body
Another key piece of information presented in the PowerPoint was the need to integrate extensive reading when teaching L2 students, which I felt also connected to the activity of peer-responses. The presentation explains that although reading is often a focus in L2 education, learning to read can be difficult for EAL students and there is often little emphasis on extensive reading. The third slide explains the many ways reading can be challenging for L2 students: it requires an awareness of text structure, large vocabulary, background knowledge, cultural and social contexts, and appropriate reading strategies. It is understandable that in learning a language, reading lots of content is critical in order to develop the many skills it requires. What is critical to understand, though, is that it is hard for L2 students to read and enjoy reading because they are often lacking these skills. Through experiencing great difficulties, EAL students may not want to read and therefore miss opportunities to gain these skills, creating a cycle. That is why it is very important as educators to encourage extensive reading and the skills that must go along with it. Continuing on in the presentation, I realized that one way to encourage these reading opportunities can be through having students edit each other’s’ work. Slide 21 offers a useful quote by Rollinson, connecting extensive reading with peer-editing and overall language acquisition: “By giving the students practice in becoming critical readers, we are at the same time helping them towards more self-reliant readers, who are both self-critical and who have the skills to self-edit and revise their writing”. This quote offers insight into the ways reading skills tie into overall language skills and benefit writing skills. The quote connects the usefulness of extensive reading to the usefulness of having students edit and revise peers’ work because through editing peers’ work, a student is actively reading and gaining the ability to read critically. In all, I felt as though the focus on extensive reading connected well to the efficiency of peer-editing. I can see how both topics can support one another and keeping both in mind will help educators in teaching L2 learners.

Reference: Baudu, C. (2019). Teaching and Writing [PowerPoint slides].

# data[].attributes.body
In general I found this article to be really eye opening, I have never heard the terms "structural grammars, generative grammars (based on a theory of universal grammar) , and functional grammars" (pg. 86) before this reading. I think that when it comes to what we learn regarding grammar and language in school, there isn't enough time to cover how large the English language is, so decisions have been made to make that easier. It is so interesting to hear how a decision about how to teach grammar can be controversial, it seems like it should be a fairly uncontroversial topic.  Ellis discusses both the minimalist position and the comprehensive position related to teaching grammar, and how both seem to be unwarranted. I agree that the way to teach grammar would lay somewhere in the middle of the two. Especially when teaching additional language learners. When I was learning Spanish I would constantly be surprised by how much I was actually learning about English and how and why we speak the way that we do. On the other hand, what I knew and understood about English often helped me understand grammar in Spanish

# data[].attributes.body
When we think of different types of grammar we automatically think of how a person talks when they are in one setting versus another. For example how you would use language with your friends hanging out would be very different then how you would talk your teacher in the classroom. Grammar plays a very important role in the English language so knowing how to properly use it In the right context at the right time is very important. For example when we say "I want to eat grandma" is very different then "I want to to eat, grandma." This is the type of grammar that needs to be corrected. do you want to eat your grandma or do you want to eat and you are just telling your grandma. This can show you the value of grammar and how knowledge can be very very important.

# data[].attributes.body
Education is political.
Curriculum is political.
Look at the roots of our education and curriculum system... the best way to describe it is how they describe it in ECS classes. "Pale, stale & male".

I have looked at our education and curriculum systems in a political way but I have never looked at the language aspect of it yet. I think the government influences the language aspect of our curriculum as well. English is the dominant language which is what is shown throughout our curriculum. "Knowledge is provided within a particular configuration of social, cultural, economic, political and historical circumstances" (Pennycook, pg 595). I think this sheds light on just how important language is. It also makes me think back to how much language was loss in the Indigenous cultures across Canada. Language is ultimately how information and education is passed down so the impact residential schools made is drastic.

# data[].attributes.body
I was very intrigued by the part in the reading that stated " I would suggest that these arguments are especially relevant to second language education, since it is centred around highly political concept of a language and is bound up in the contentious issues bilingualism, minority education, and internationalism" (Pennycook 591). Politics are generally the same in every language it Is something that  can be discussed easily. Language can be standardized to to different classes, religions, or any group for that matter all relating back to politics. This can also all relate back to sociolinguistic something my group talked about last week in our presentation. Politics and classics can have such an effect on language that we may not even notice it since its been going on for so long. An example of this would be the video we showed. we look at these men as lower class, and un educated because of the eway they talked, but who really knows they could have been the total opposite.

# data[].attributes.body
Learning and comprehending new vocabulary and reading techniques goes way beyond what the teacher can do. I think reading for both pleasure and school purposes is so important. This is something I find crucial for both L1 and L2 learners to adopt. As a kid I hated reading because it was always looked upon as school work. I was never able to look at reading as something fun or interesting. Extensive reading is a lot more fun than intensive reading but reading skills are built upon both types of reading. Reading extensively builds students comprehension, fluency and builds on their vocabulary. These skills are then transferable to intensive reading and makes it a lot easier.

# data[].attributes.body
One topic that was of great importance throughout the entire presentation was the gap EAL students face between learning English and comprehending English as a result of context related to culture. As focused upon last week, language and culture are intertwined; language is essentially a product of culture and communicates the smallest aspects of culture. So, in learning a second language, one must learn the underlying aspects of the culture intertwined with this language in order to understand the context and comprehend meanings. The importance of context was discussed early on in the PowerPoint: slide 3 states that L2 instructors must consider that social context influence reading development. The presentation continues to allude to the idea that L2 learners will struggle in comprehension with the language, as seen on slide 42 and 44 which explain that effective listening skills and writing skills require knowledge of cultural constructs. It was also interesting to learn that the dilemma of understanding language due to a cultural gap and understanding context can be overcome through the use of genre-approach to teaching L2 writing. On slide 29, the presentation explains that the genre-approach guides“students to ways they can most effectively achieve their purposes by systematically relating language to context”. Genres effectively help L2 students grasp cultural aspects as to better comprehend contexts and language. It was interesting to learn of the ways culture plays a role in one’s ability to effectively learn and utilize a language. As such, it was also interesting to learn that certain methods like the genre-approach can help break down the cultural barriers of learning English.

Reference: Baudu, C. (2019). Teaching and Writing [PowerPoint slides].

# data[].attributes.body
When I thin about elementary school and reading I think about all the readings we were forced to focus on that was no interest to me at all. It was hard to read and I had no intentions of gaining any knowledge from it. This is how I feel most children felt when they were just given a book and told to read it. Children like to have a options and if they are given something they have had a say in they may focus more and actually care about what they are reading making it more knowledgable for them as learners. By giving children a chance to pick what they are earning we hope they will become more engaged, and focused when it comes to larger components. I do beleive there is a time and place and time for intensive reading but it does not need to be all that goes on in.

# data[].attributes.body
Language is blatantly political and this is elucidated right in the standardized conservative curriculum. Curriculum is put forth by the government and is created within us, not beyond us in many senses. In our provincial curriculum, the knowledge we are expected to teach to our students to help understand the world reflects the interests of one particular group and doesn't consider the views of others. This invalidates the knowledge others could share and makes it seem irrelevant because of the political power inequality (p. 613). Additionally, the politics of knowledge do not allow any room for innovation or new methods. I've seen first-hand the amount of time teachers (and we, as future teachers will) spend trying to take the framework of curriculum and make it less dry and static. Allowing learners to obtain new knowledge through social and cultural means of learning acquisition is of dire importance for understanding the world around us.

# data[].attributes.body
The relationship between education and politics that this article is discussing is something that I have talked about in many ECS classes, but I have not really looked at the importance of those things relating to second language acquisition. In our seminar presentation last week, we discussed a bit about the standardization of language and how that is related to classism, so it makes sense that this would be a political act as well. It seems to strange to me that language, something we are constantly using and finding a huge importance in, can be based on some very out of date systems but we still use them today because we don’t know that underlying meaning. The example that I used in my presentation was the use of the double negative in English, and how that was decided to be incorrect grammar based on the mathematical idea that two negatives equal a positive., which only highly educated people would know. There were totally arbitrary decisions made that negatively impact the way that we view others, especially those who are just learning English.

# data[].attributes.body
I am going to focus this reflection on why genre is gaining attention in L2 writing instructions? Genre is a response to process methods. "This means emphasizing the process of the product neglects direct instruction in certain text features, test students are still evaluated by their control of these features. (reopen, pg. 321). This is one way to let children pick what topics are exciting or appealing to them rather then through stuff at them that they have no interest in.If a student has some type of intrastate they will be way more engaged and actually enjoy doing the activities. This helps children affectively acheive thier purposes by relating language to context ( Hyland 2004, pg. 8). All children deserve to enjoy everyday doing something that will benefit them academically.

# data[].attributes.body
It is so important to realize THIS DOES NOT EXIST. Racism involves having the institutional power, which only white people have. When people talk about reverse racism, they imply it is possible for that institutional power to move back and forth, or they believe that everyone is equal in every sense and therefore everyone has the ability to be racist, which is not the case. Sure, there are instances where white people face discrimination- it has happened to me before. But simply because of the colour of my skin, I already have an advantage over those people who call me a "white 🤬." People part of the minority group can have just as many racial prejudices as those part of the dominant group (149). However, at the end of the day I still have my white privilege and power that I have not had to fight for or have done nothing to earn.

# data[].attributes.body
"I have a friend who is a person of colour, which shows that I'm not racist" (Sensoy & DiAngelo p147). I find this quote ridiculous but relatable at the same time. Being white myself, I've never had to face the challenges and have always had white privilege on my side. It wasn't until University that I got to learn and see how much white privilege has positively impacted my life without even noticing it. Even the school curriculum was based around Eurocentric views. I can't imagine going through school and not being able to relate my own family history to the stuff I am learning. There is white privilege everywhere and it blows my mind people can still say since they have friends of colour they are not racist. Until you overcome the uncomfortable process of realizing white privilege and what racism really is you will continue to side with the dominant culture.

# data[].attributes.body
On pp. 90-91, Ellis weighs the arguments of teaching grammar to L2 right off the bat to avoid errors in the long run and letting language develop naturally and delaying teaching grammar basics. Having taken a Cree class last semester, I lean more toward the natural development argument. It was admittedly difficult to begin learning a new language having no prior experience, but I believe my prof did an excellent job in helping us develop our knowledge of the language and its structure over the semester. We did not begin with grammatical structures, but rather focused on developing and expanding our vocabularies. It wasn't until later in the semester that we learned tenses and the 1P, 2P, 21P, 3P, etc. of the language, but having a a basis of vocabulary did make this process a lot easier when it came time to form a proper or un-broken sentence for conversation. Once you put the vocabulary you built and the formal grammar structures, together it made it a lot easier to remember the rules of grammar as it flowed naturally rather than trying to apply the rules as you build up a vocabulary.

# data[].attributes.body
Why first caught my eye when reading this reading was the question; " When should we teach grammar?'. This question was something I've never thought about before for someone that is going into education. What I found out was very intriguing " best to emphasise the teaching of grammar in the early stages of L2. Acquisition. According to the second, it is best to emphasise meaning focused instruction to begin with and introduce grammar teaching later" (pg. 90). I would have never thought these would be the stages to were we would teacher grammar before looking at this reading. Grammar is something that takes time to learn and isn't the easiest when somethings can mean many different things. Taking a second language class this semester made me more aware of how hard it can be to put grammar into a different context then what you are used to. So I believe teaching L2 grammar may be a little soon and should just focus on basic words.

# data[].attributes.body
I think it was really interesting to read all of the "Common White Misconceptions about Racism" that start on page 146. While reading them I was trying to count how many times I have heard them before. The first misconception really jumped out at me, it says "why can't we all just be human,? Isn't it the focus on race that divides us?" I think that for white people, it is really simple to not focus on our own race, as it is seen as the 'norm' and it’s the dominant race. It is easy to not focus on it because we are not constantly and consistently being judged and stereotyped because of our race in the way that people of color are. It's easy for white people to 'just be human' because our skin color isn’t a barrier for us to be seen in that way, as human.

I think that this misconception relates to how people say "I don’t see color" or "we all bleed red". I think these ideas maybe had good intentions at one point but ultimately miss the mark.  In general these ideas try to neutralize or negate the importance of race and color. I think that it is really important to see color and to see differences but to see them in a positive and celebratory light, ignoring them altogether will help no one and will allow racism to continue to thrive.

# data[].attributes.body
This chapter spends a couple pages looking at how history has been told to support a white supremist viewpoint, and in turn how we as teachers must challenge that idea. This made me think back to how Indigenous content was taught in my high school. Firstly it was only ever taught in history classes when it could have been incorporated everywhere, secondly in my grade 11 year they added in a Native Studies elective that was optional and only 4 people took it. When it was taught in my history 30 Canadian history class, it was mostly taught from the perspective of the European settlers. We did learn about how First Nations people lived in Canada prior to contact, but as soon as that contact was made we switched to the European perspective, effectively erasing the impact on the First Nations people. That history class was part of the process of "obscuring, negating, rewriting, or reducing to folklore the histories of colonized peoples" that Sensoy and DiAngelo speak of on page 146.

# data[].attributes.body
One part that really caught my eye well looking at pg. 595 of the reading was the part when Pennycook stated " they argued that all knowledge is produced within a particular configuration of social, cultural, economic, political, and historical circumstances and therefore always both reflects and helps reproduce this conditions". This particular sentence stood out to me in great detail. One thing I got from this was the social aspect of learning. Children come to school everyday with the knowledge they have already learnt at home. You don't know what a child is being told at home so something teaching can be very tough. Trying to get a child to look past what their parents may be telling her can be tough and slightly unappealing because you know they will go right back home and told the same thing. Children tend to almost become brainwashed by their social lives. They want to fit in with the people around them so they tend to go with the flow and believe what they are being told. Being apart of a dominate group can have a huge effect on what you already beleive coming into the class room and usually you can not change these peoples minds. These people tend to think what they know is "right" and there is nothing you can say or do to change that.

# data[].attributes.body
Krashen (1981) argued that grammar instruction played no role in acquisition, a view based on the conviction that learners (including classroom learners) would automatically proceed along their built-in syllabus as long as they had access to comprehensible input and were sufficiently motivated" (p. 85). I'm not sure I agree with this point brought forth. I think the basics of grammar should be taught in formal lessons because sufficient grammar is crucial in literacy and language development. Krashen argues his points by saying "as long as the students are motivated" which is not always the case with every student. Relying on students to be self-motivated is utopic and it doesn't happen in our classrooms. Sure, it can be delivered to learners in other ways, but I think it is fundamental for students to receive formal lessons on the basis of grammar.

# data[].attributes.body
Although I grew up speaking English I can relate to these slides and the importance of reading. I went to a French immersion school from K-4 and that drastically impacted my reading skills. Coming from an English speaking home I struggled having to learn everything in French then going back to English at 330 when school finished. We spoke briefly in class about the difficulties L2 students have and how their access to help at home is limited because there is that language barrier present with their parents or guardians. I can totally relate to this because I'd go home and my mom could help a bit as she studied in France for a year but that was an entire different dialect than Canadian school French. I think we also sometimes forget that L2 students not only have to learn the stuff they are doing but they also have to follow the same instructions that L1 students have to follow. So instead of just one set of tasks L2 students must take on 2 every single time.

# data[].attributes.body
For my second reflection I am going to focus on how the media can portray sexism. One examples is commercials on the television. Women on tv are usually doing "easy" jobs like cooking, or cleaning; not the construction worker jobs or "hard" labour. We see this everywhere women are made out to be the weaker sex. another example is beer commercials. We sexualize women "saying if you buy this beer you will get the hot girl" this is far from okay in my eyes. Women are not something that can be bought nor a sexual object. Another prime example would be music videos. Women are made to dress to appeal to men making them wan to listen and watch to the song because it is usually sexual. These all demonstrate how sexism is placed in the media to try and manipulate people into believing one thing over another.

# data[].attributes.body
Sensoy and DiAngelo do a really good job at explaining sexism in music videos. As I was reading through the comparisons they made between music videos and 🤬 it brought me back to pg.104 and 105 where it shows some statistics of sexual assaults against women. These massive industries go together because they are both targeting young audiences. Are these industries desensitizing our youth? Are these industries painting women to be objects rather than people?

# data[].attributes.body
I really appreciated Sensoy and DiAngelo's explanations of how media reinforces sexist narratives, and contributes to why we tend to not notice the sexism in them. I thought their discussion on gendered advertisements was very interesting and is something that I have thought a lot about. Ellen has had a segment on her show where she makes fun of the BIC for Her line of pens, where the only difference is that the pen is pink or purple and is made a bit slimmer. It's so strange that a pen would have a gender placed on it. What is worse is the underlying assumption that it is based on is that all 'normal' pens are made for men, and women, who are different than the male norm, must need their own pen. Just as the chapter talked about certain cigarette ads being targeted to men, but women smoke them too. However when a cigarette like Virginia Slims is marketed toward women, men don't want to smoke them.

# data[].attributes.body
The "imagine" section at the very beginning of this chapter made me laugh a bit because its not something that we have to work very hard to imagine because what they described is the Donald Trump situation in the United States. I often hear the comparison that if Hillary Clinton had even a sliver of the controversial social history (ex. many failed marriages, children by multiple men etc.) that Trump has she would be completely ripped apart by the media (even more than she already was), be charged, and would never have come close to winning the presidential election. But somehow, because of Trumps status he so far seems to be unscathed. The section in this chapter that talks about What Makes Sexism Difficult to See?, attempts to explain why subtle and blatant sexism have become normalized in our culture. I think that the subtle sexism and enforcement of gender roles is what makes people so willing to excuse blatant sexism like the politician in the 'imagine' or like the very real comments that Donald Trump has made. Many women who support Trump use the excuse that women's oppression is a thing of the past and not something that is part of Western culture. Their denial of the oppression simply perpetuates the idea that it is ok if the oppression were to continue.

# data[].attributes.body
When I first started reading this chapter the first thing I noticed was a line " Why can't we all just be human? isn't it this focus on race that divides us?". this line really took me by surprise. The focus on the issue is not what divides us. The thing that divides us Is when this focus is talked about and is normalized to keep happening. Why should we have to all be the same for people to be happy. We are all different and that is ok. We should have to pretend we are all the same and all "human" to please everyone and some how stop racism. Yes we are all the same on the inside, but we should have to pretend to be something else on the outside or forget who we are to make a change. White people like to talk about reverse racism like it is something so simple. Just because you wouldn't consider yourself racsist; you have to be aware that because you are white you do have differnt privileges and advatanges then people of another race. Saying things like " why can't we all be human" is just an excuse to make themselves feel better, and say see I am not a racist. This is the truth and it is sad.

# data[].attributes.body
The author does a great job of going into detail and using examples to explain sexism to the reader. I am going to focus on page 106 of chapter 7 as I found it to be very interesting. This page focuses on how sexism can be difficult to see and why that is so. One idea the author had really stood out to me " If we view oppresion as an isolated event (such as suffrage or reproductive rights), or as an extreme example of violence against a single women, the boarder patterns become obscured". This really stood out to me. These types of things happen everyday, but we do not hear about them. They become so normalized in our society that when it does happen it is on the news for 30 seconds and then everyone forgets about it. An example of this could be sexual assault towards women. We hear about it on the news, we listen, get upset. Then we shut off the TV go on with our lives and the one person is left alone to deal with all the oppression on their own. There are multiple reasons why sexism effects society today and we need to be aware of this and try to make a change the best we can. Males still have this power and the only way we can make a change to this is if we un normalize sexism and male power.

# data[].attributes.body
Extensive reading is very beneficial to both L1 and L2 learners. By reading extensively, students can enjoy what they are reading because they can choose what they read. While reading outside of the classroom, students are building their vocabulary, training themselves to read more quickly, obtain and retain more knowledge and focus on the language rather than the text. All of these tools will help them as they partake in intensive reading in the classroom/their classes. Intensive reading may not be as enjoyable as extensive, but it can become easier and more tolerable for the student because their understanding and interpretation of language within text can help them navigate through the more vigorous and informative required class readings. When students understand the context in intensive reading, they can focus more on the tasks they need to accomplish rather than spending copious amounts of time trying to interpret the text itself. By reading extensively, students are setting themselves up for success when it comes time to intensively read.

# data[].attributes.body
Sensoy and DiAngelo start this chapter off with a powerful analogy that stuck with me throughout the reading. They stated that oppression adapts over time and how the cultural “water” is difficult to see while we’re all swimming in it. I find that sexism is often overlooked because it’s a lot better than it used to be. The major milestones such as being able to vote or going away to school and having a career. Although women can do all of this now and people think “sexism” no longer occurs they are wrong. Yes, women can go have a career and vote now but what happens when they want to have a family? They must go on maternity leave which takes away crucial time. While their male coworkers/husband/partner are still able to go to work every day, we may come back from maternity leave to them having a promotion while as a woman we missed out on that simply because we had to go on maternity leave. On pages 108-110 Sensoy and DiAngelo talked a lot about sports and how women and men’s sports differ, I found this both interesting and relatable. Being a female athlete, I have always been aware of the differences between men and women sporting events. For example, women’s sports throughout high school and university, women always play at 4-5pm with a limited crowd presence and the men play around 7-8pm when everyone is off work and able to attend. This chapter also brought up Hayley Wickenheiser and how if she was a male she would make millions of dollars in the NHL but since she is a woman she has no salary and must rely on endorsements and advertisement deals. After the 2010 Olympics Hayley Wickenheiser was featured in a Betty Crocker add which promotes her heteronormative family setting and highlighted her traditional family responsibility of cooking for her children and husband.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why is extensive reading is not the central component of reading instruction in most L2 contexts? (Grabe, 280)

# data[].attributes.subject
Why is extensive reading is not the central component of reading instruction in most L2 contexts? (Grabe, 280)

# data[].attributes.body
I think L2 educators are so focused on educating L2 learners on all the complexities of the English language they forget that extensive reading/reading for pleasure is a key tool for being able to do this. Reading context or stories seems like a good way to pick up language and dialogue more easily as the conversation between characters, for example would be more natural and therefore quite beneficial. The L2 learner would be able to choose something to read that they are interested in, and would become more engaged with the text, the meaning of the text, and the different parts of the English language. I think extensive reading should be a larger component in L2 learning because it is more engaging that simply studying the language and all of its components and complexities that come with it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Looking forward to seeing all of your posts and dialogue!               Chauntel

# data[].attributes.subject
Looking forward to seeing all of your posts and dialogue!               Chauntel

# data[].attributes.body
Having "whiteness" as described on pages 142-143 encompasses a common rebuttal that is suggested in chapter 11: "Appealing to a universalized humanity." The feeling that being white has no meaning is unique to white people that are given privileges and power that non-white people do not have. White people tend to have notions such as "we are all just human" or "we all bleed red" because they have never experienced anything except being white, and have never been outside of the dominant group. Whites can say these things, but they have never faced oppression because of their race or culture and arguing that "we are all the same" is easy because of that fact. If one were to put themselves in the shoes of a person part of a minority, they would indeed see this is not the case, even if the individual held this belief themselves as a person. One person may not be racist or discriminate against others that are part of minority groups, but white supremacy is not an individual thought or belief, it encompasses the white privilege that all whites have. White people must be aware that just because they, personally, may not be racist, it doesn't take away the fact they are part of a dominant group that has the institutionalized power to be racist, and many people in their group do take advantage of that privilege.

# data[].attributes.body
I like the idea the authors put forth by saying oppression adapts over time and the cultural "water" is difficult to see while we are swimming in it. I agree with how they say many women think women's oppression, or sexualization and sexism in this case, is a thing of the past because I know many people that believe this to be true. Though the objectification of women was significantly worse in the past, it stills occurs today. For example, women do have the right to vote today, but this does not mean we still face instances of oppression and many people turn a blind eye to this solely because we were given the right to vote, which we had to fight for. Larger milestones such as voting rights do not mask the oppression that occurs in people's day to day lives and mean that it doesn't exist because we earned one right in society. Prominent examples of this include sexual abuse, assault and 🤬, which many women in Canada and the U.S. experience every day but become masked because "it's better than it used to be" (pp.105). Additionally, just because it is better than it used to be, does not mean it cannot still improve. I think there is still a ways to go in our society until we reach equality. Even when and if it happens, we, as women, will probably still have to fight for it because we are not born with the same institutional power males are.

# data[].attributes.body
I was intrigued by this part of the reading in relation to including, accepting and validating other knowledge on language teaching and learning: Giroux's concept of the teacher as "transformative intellectual", or seeing ourselves "as professionals who are able and willing to reflect upon the
ideological principles that inform [our] practice, who connect
pedagogical theory and practice to wider social issues, and who
work together to share ideas, exercise power over the conditions of [our] labor, and embody in [our] teaching a vision of a better and
more humane life" (Giroux & McLaren, 1989, p. xxiii). Using this concept in our future teaching careers gives light to the minority groups and/or their knowledge on language and teaching we may not have. Being part of the dominant group, we may not let ourselves see other valid perspectives that are potentially useful and instead focus on knowledge we are conditioned to think is "right" without even considering the views of others.