Embracing Multilingualism: Language, Identity, and the Path to Becoming an ENL Teacher
Below
you will find a list of questions to help you brainstorm ideas for this
personal essay. You should consider these questions as a means of helping you
form your answers, but you are not required to answer all of them. This is to
get you started thinking about how you use language: Describe the languages,
dialects, and styles used by your parents, grandparents, and siblings. Are they
oral, written, gestural, or a combination of all three?Where are you from?
Where have you lived? With whom have you lived? Which of these social details
do you think may have influenced the way you speak now?What language does your
family speak? How is language used in your family? When? For what
occasions?What other languages have you used in communication?To what extent
does nonverbal language play a part in your family?Is there a familial conflict
when you switch between languages? Explain.Did you
have any language pathologies as a child, such as stuttering, lisping, etc? How
did you deal with these?What kinds of “dialects” or types do you use in
different situations? For example, how do you speak/write to your friends on
Facebook or through texts? How would this stay the same or change if you are
talking/writing to your grandmother? Teacher? Coach? Why do you think you make
these choices about language? Do you engage in code-switching? When? With whom?
For what purpose? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo3hRq2RnNI AND https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6NfRMv-4OYHow does
your language reflect your upbringing?Do you have childhood memories that
revolve around language?What type of language was spoken in your neighborhood?What
inside jokes or insider linguistic cues do you use with different audiences? In
what situation do you use them?Do you remember particular comments or instances
where your language, either spoken or written, was commented on? What was said
about your language, and how did you respond?What differences do you notice
between the way you speak and the way you write?Do you speak mostly in
sentences or fragments?Do you speak non-linguistic languages such as software
code or music?Is your language elliptical?Do you use words that are viewed as
inappropriate? When do you use such diction? With whom? At what moments? What
need does this fulfill? Why do you feel it necessary to fulfill this need?What
other languages have you studied? To what extent has this impacted your other
language?In what ways do you see language as a part of your
identity?How do you feel about your first language? When do you use it?
With whom do you use it? Is important for you / your kids to retain fluency in
it? **** BRIEF STORY ABOUT MYSELF: My name is Anastasia Vasilakos. I have a
younger brother. I am 29 years old. I speak fluent English born and raised in
New York. My parents are both born and raised in New York. My grandparents on
both side where born and raised in Greece. My dad parents Sparta Greece and
came to US to live in NY. My mom parents my grandma born in Sparta Greece my
grandfather Kefalonia, Greece. My grandpa on my mom side was an immigrant here
married my grandma. He came by boat from Greece. Married my grandma for papers
and live happy married 57 years. My grandma became a US citizen at the age of
21 through her brother. I speak fluent Greek and English. I write it as well. I
visit Greece twice a year winter and summer have family there. My
grandparents both sides live in NY. We go on vacation to Greece Kefalonia and
Sparta. We speak Greek at the house at my grandparents house and at home with
my parents. Manly with grandparents and mom. My dad speaks for English. I am
dual citizenship have my passport USA and Greek one. Went to greek school to
learn greece and just by going to greece every year speaking at home as well.
fist language was english then greek. I am super close with my family. I liove
across from my grandparents and I am over there house everyday for food and we
only speak greek. Live in Queens, NY. I used to go to sunday school as well as
greek school till 8th grade. Have many cousins and friends who are greek and
live in Greece and we commnicate in Greek by phone instagram and facebook we
write in Greek and English because my friends and cousins love the english
language and they want to learn it better so they respond back in english
and I srespond back in Greek to practice. I listen to greek musci as well. In
college Pace University I took Spanish and Italain. I studied abroad in Italy
and took Italian there. I know the basics of Spanish and Italian. I do not
remeber how to write not fluent in Speaking either. I have my masters at Grand
Canyon University birth- 2nd grade. Graduated in 2021. now getting extenstion
in ENL. I am a substitute in the Department of Education. Please talk about
also why I believe its important to became a ENL teacher like 2 sentences. and
why these languages are important in school. 2 sentences.
