{"id":239,"date":"2014-09-21T21:16:42","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T04:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/?p=239"},"modified":"2022-01-11T13:14:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T21:14:16","slug":"troublesolving-intolerance-ell-under-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"Responding to the attack on ESL in Vancouver media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Unfortunately, the Vancouver Sun has published <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vancouversun.com\/opinion\/columnists\/Shelley+Fralic+Back+school+lessons+learned\/10223111\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">another column by Shelley Fralic on ELL\/ESL<\/a>&#8230; and this one is <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/?p=235\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">as bad as the last<\/a>.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Here is a response to the 9\/15 article from faculty in my department&#8230; let&#8217;s hope the Sun publishes it, especially in light of the most recent column:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The undersigned faculty members of UBC\u2019s Department of Language &amp; Literacy Education are writing in response to Shelley Fralic\u2019s column \u201cESL, the trouble with our schools: Looking past altruism, and political correctness\u201d (9\/15\/2014). Fralic\u2019s article contains many inaccuracies and distortions about English language learners (ELLs) and ELL public school education that merit comment.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Class size and composition is not just about ELLs<\/strong><br \/>\nBy asserting that the \u201ctrouble\u201d with schools is \u201cESL,\u201d the article places undue blame on ELLs while doing little to illuminate the realities of a very complex issue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Learning an additional language is not a handicap<\/strong><br \/>\nThroughout the article, ELL is described as a \u201cdisability\u201d and a \u201clearning problem,\u201d terms that pathologize additional language learning and cast ELLs in distinctly deficit terms. Characterizing ELLs as \u201chandicapped\u201d smacks of English-only chauvinism and able-ism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ELLs are not a monolithic population<br \/>\n<\/strong>The label \u201cELL\u201d obscures an exceptionally diverse group for whom variables such as age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, country of birth, citizenship, first language development, educational background, academic experience, and much more intersect in a myriad of ways that are themselves fluid and changing. The general characterization of ELLs in this article is simply inaccurate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ELL education is not remedial<br \/>\n<\/strong>Learning an additional language, just as learning to read, write, and speak one\u2019s first language, is a developmental process, not one in need of remediation. Remedial education for ELLs will do nothing but institutionalize inequality based on who is\/is not a \u201cnative speaker,\u201d with ELLs consigned to vocational tracks while non-ELLs enjoy the opportunities afforded in the \u201cmainstream.\u201d ELL segregation is mean-spirited \u2013 \u201charsh\u201d and \u201ccruel,\u201d as Fralic herself writes \u2013 and would violate the rights of ELLs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ELL education is not \u201coutside the capabilities of the average instructor,\u201d nor does it \u201clower the common educational denominator\u201d<br \/>\n<\/strong>High-quality, language and content-integrated instruction that benefits ELLs is not only attainable for the \u201caverage instructor,\u201d but also provides major educational benefits to ELLs\u2019 English-speaking peers. This understanding informs coursework in ELL teaching that is required across UBC\u2019s B.Ed. teacher education program, and it is a primary motivator of its popular B.Ed. cohort \u201cTeaching English Language Learners through Problem-Based Learning.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Parents of ELLs are not freeloaders, nor are they negligent caregivers<br \/>\n<\/strong>Fralic asserts that ELL parents do not \u201cprepare their children for school\u201d because they do not teach English or \u201cbasic social skills\u201d in the home; instead, they expect BC \u201ctaxpayers will do that job for them.\u201d To begin with, and this cannot be overemphasized: parents of ELLs are BC taxpayers, too. Second, and perhaps contrary to expectation, \u201ceffective\u201d additional language learning occurs when children\u2019s first languages and literacy abilities are developed and maintained, not replaced (here, by English). Despite this, research has found that parents regularly DO try to encourage English use in the home, in the well-intentioned belief that to do so will help at school.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ELL education in Canada is not about \u201caltruism,\u201d it is about equity and human rights<br \/>\n<\/strong>ELLs have a fundamental right to education, to their first languages, to English (in English-speaking Canada), and to a supportive, inclusive public school system that is committed to equality and the safety of all children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>&#8220;They\u201d are in fact \u201cUs\u201d<br \/>\n<\/strong>The article consistently refers to ELLs and their parents in derisive terms, while \u201cwe\u201d \u2013 non-ELL Canadians, presumably \u2013 are cast as \u201ckind\u201d and \u201copen-hearted,\u201d misguided by our collective generosity toward these uncomprehending foreigners. But this Us\/Them distinction is a glaring deceit: the majority of ELLs and their parents are Canadian nationals (many by birth) or permanent residents. More significantly, such acrimonious Us\/Them language has been used for generations to justify disenfranchisement, persecution, and oppression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fralic\u2019s article spreads inaccuracies and misinformation that are a genuine disservice to ELLs, their parents, their teachers, and the readership of the Vancouver Sun. It is also a disservice to ELLs\u2019 English-speaking peers, who have so much to gain in a globalized knowledge economy from the linguistic and cultural resources that ELLs bring to BC classrooms. The \u201ctrouble with our schools\u201d is most assuredly not \u201cESL,\u201d but ill-informed columns like Fralic\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Steven Talmy, Associate Professor<br \/>\nJim Anderson, Professor<br \/>\nWendy Carr, Senior Instructor<br \/>\nRyan Deschambault, Lecturer<br \/>\nPatsy Duff, Professor<br \/>\nMargaret Early, Associate Professor<br \/>\nMargot Filipenko, Professor of Teaching<br \/>\nLee Gunderson, Professor<br \/>\nJan Hare, Associate Professor<br \/>\nAnnette Henry, Professor<br \/>\nKedrick James, Instructor<br \/>\nRyuko Kubota, Professor<br \/>\nCarl Leggo, Professor<br \/>\nMarianne McTavish, Instructor<br \/>\nBonny Norton, Professor<br \/>\nAnthony Par\u00e9, Professor<br \/>\nKen Reeder, Professor<br \/>\nLing Shi, Professor<br \/>\nSandra Zappa-Hollman, Assistant Professor<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 83px;\" width=\"520\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"390\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"390\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unfortunately, the Vancouver Sun has published another column by Shelley Fralic on ELL\/ESL&#8230; and this one is as bad as the last.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1738,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1738"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/conditionalrelevance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}