Languages Other than English
One of the ways you can document your learning is by writing or expressing yourself in a language of your learning environment, or otherwise connected with your learning. Because language is art form as well as a means of communication, many stylistic modes fall naturally into a particular language.
In addition, language has cultural and political significance. Kenyan, writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o writes in Kikuyu rather than English (the colonial language) and emphasizes the importance of choice of language in Kenyan literature because it indicates a choice in mindset. Paulo Freire makes especial mention of the role of language in creating a dialogue, a rapport between the learner and the material learned. In the translation of his books into English, Freire purposefully keeps several of his coined terms in his native Brazilian Portuguese (most notably Conscientização-- "conscentization").
In a school which emphasizes the importance of social change and CULTURAL SENSITIVITY (see section H.5), we need to consider what it means when we write our documented learning mostly in the language of (in the cases of most Centers) a culture which colonized or dominated or occupied the area at one point or another.
An essay in another language doesn't have to be a masterpiece either; you can evaluate it by its content (both actual content and politico-linguistic significance) rather than strictly by its form.
Workshop Discussion Sparks
- Discuss the role of Language and of the English Language and of the native Languages in your area.
Inspired and Creative
- Write poetry in a new language.
Rigorous Training
AAAAAGGGHHHH!
See Also
Contribute to the Portfolio Resource Guide!!!
Previous Page
Up to Category
Next Page
Contents
Index
Front Page
Friends World Home
