Reading Reflection - Oral Language

Reading Chapter 2 helped me to articulate and understand a concept I think that I’ve always just assumed as “so.” And that is that different people speak in different ways. Not only does this mean speaking differently by region, but speaking differently within regions, and even the differences between Standard English and other, sometimes considered “atypical” vocabularies. I know that I, personally, switch between Standard English and other ways of speaking depending on the demographics of who I am surrounded by, the situation I am in, if I am speaking to a person of authority, and many other factors.

I was appalled by the fact that bilingual education has been completely eliminated from some school systems. As a native English speaker, I was, and still am, fascinated by the Spanish language. I love trying to comprehend Spanish that I read and hear, no matter how long it has been since my last Spanish class (which is far too long). I think that Spanish in the classroom can benefit children of all nationalities and languages. I believe that it helps to foster learning and knowledge of different types of people and cultures. Additionally, I find it to help ELLs feel comfortable and, fairly obviously, learn more efficiently.