Chapter 1 Reflection
This first chapter of Zwiers’ text Building Academic Language: Essential Practices for Content Classrooms has really prompted me to consider my acquisition of academic language and how my background and experience will vary greatly in comparison to the students that I teach. Having been drawn to language arts from a young age, I hadn’t really considered all of the factors at play in my upbringing that eventually lead me to pursue theatre and English in a teaching capacity. While I have always appreciated the benefits of growing up with English as my primary language knowing that it has been advantageous in the learning process, I hadn’t thought of many other factors that Zwiers brings attention to. My “mainstream” upbringing provided me with a world of knowledge that was fostering my English academic growth (Zwiers 1, 2). I’ve had the advantage of a large family that has encouraged deep discussions around the dinner table; toys and games that were specifically designed to foster growth in the English language; exposure to television, movies and books; extra-curricular activities that furthered my experience interacting with others and putting my language skills to use; the list goes on.
I think it is imperative as a teacher to have an understanding that in any given classroom, the students will be coming from all walks of life and vastly different backgrounds and upbringings. In order for every student to learn and grow, it is necessary to recognize the needs of individuals and adapt teaching strategies accordingly. One idea from the text that really resonated with me was that “Devaluing students’ ways of making sense of the world also devalues them” (Zwiers 11). If a teacher were to only value the language comprehension and expression of students that demonstrate mainstream level academic discourse, the result is always going to marginalize and devalue any students that do not meet those expectations, thereby creating a learning environment that would not encourage participation from all students. This is something I will pay attention to in my teaching, to be sure that every student will be given that sense of value regardless of the level at which they are expressing themselves.