English Teachers Stand at the Very Heart of the Most Crucial Educational, Cultural, And

Empowering Women in ESL Classes: A Freirean Approach

Case studies of Five Latina ESL Students at Central Piedmont Community College

Liv S. Thorstensson, Academic ESL Instructor, Central Piedmont Community College

“English [as a Second Language] teachers stand at the very heart of the most crucial educational, cultural, and political issues of our time” (Gee, 1994, p. 190).

Research question

What is the impact of ESL coursework in empowering adult Latina ESL students in their personal and professional lives?

Rationale

·  Ng (1981) argues that immigrant women hold a different position in society to immigrant men and that immigrant experiences must be understood from the standpoint of gender.

·  There are more female than male immigrants in the U.S. Female immigrants are more likely than males to live in poverty (Grieco, 2004).

·  A general concern among immigrant women is that their education and experiences in their native countries are of little value to them in the U.S., which gives them little access to resources they seek (Norton, 2001).

·  “Where there is great social distance between the groups little acculturation is considered to take place, and as a result members of the second language group are deemed not to become proficient speakers of the target language” (Norton, 2001, p. 3).

·  In the U.S. those without substantial English language proficiency are disproportionately trapped in “ethnic work ghettos” or “ethnically identified occupations,” such as assembly line, restaurant, and cleaning jobs (Johnson, 2000).

Theoretical paradigm: A Freirian Approach

Brazilian popular education theorist, Paulo Freire, in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) criticizes education systems that serve to maintain inequalities between the wealthy and the poor.

Critical Pedagogy: Connecting Students to the World Outside

·  Critical pedagogy involves social justice through transformation, and discursive constructions of race, culture, gender and otherness (Kubota, 2004).

·  The role of the teacher is to be a student with the student.

·  Knowledge=“problem posing…a medium evoking the critical reflection of the teacher and students” (Freire, 1970, p. 10).

·  Conscientization=“learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against aggressive elements of reality” (Freire, 1970, p. 35).

·  Praxis=discourse that encourages critical thought and subsequent action.

·  “Education is cultural action for freedom and therefore an act of knowing and not memorizing” (Freire, 1970, p. 12).

Knowing your students: Gender and Education in Latin America

·  Latin American and Caribbean governments have made grade strides including women in policy-making, implementing gender quota law in legislative positions (Htun, 2004).

·  Women continue to face discrimination in the labor market, lower wages and less access to social services, including education (Buvinic, 2004).

·  Stromquist (1992) notes that gender roles in Latin America differ greatly between rural and urban areas. Gender roles also differ greatly by social class.

·  Both public and private schools are typically single sex education which maintains gendered identities and labor division (Sara-Lafosse, in Stromquist,1992).

·  There are a disproportionate number of students in public schools. Overcrowding, lack of fit between education and work, and poor organization lead to high dropout among children (ibid., 1992)

·  Education does not necessarily lead to more economic opportunities for poor women in Latin America as women are less likely than men to find stable, higher paying jobs (Catanzarite, in Stromquist, 1992).

·  Latin American women have internalized gender roles and are not likely to desire positions traditionally held by men (ibid., 1992).

Methodology

This is a qualitative study using case studies of five adult Latina ESL students at Central Piedmont Community College.

To gather data, I am currently conducting interviews so as to gain an in-depth understanding of these students’ experiences.

I will follow Merriam’s (1998) and Patton’s (1990) methods of qualitative data analysis conducting descriptive within-case analyses followed by cross-case analyses.

Participants

*Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

Research Questions and Sub-Questions

The research was guided by one general question: What is the impact of ESL coursework in empowering adult Latina ESL students in their personal and professional lives?

Sub-questions

·  Motivation to pursue ESL coursework

·  Future aspirations

·  Experiences in their ESL classrooms

·  Contact with native speakers outside of the classroom

·  Changes have they made in their lives (family, personal, work) since starting ESL coursework

·  Suggestions to improve their ESL classes

Preliminary Findings from my first round of interviews

Motivation

·  3 of the 5 students aspire to earn MA degrees in various fields. These 3 hold BA degrees from universities in their countries.

·  2 of the 5 wish to find better jobs. These 2 have a high school education.

Suggestions for Improvements

·  More evening classes to accommodate work schedule.

·  Mixed-level classes impede learning process.

·  Prefer smaller class sizes.

·  Group work is conducive to overall learning.

·  A class of students with mixed linguistic backgrounds is more conducive to learning than a class of all Latino students.

Empowerment

·  All 5 mentioned feeling much more comfortable in communicating with native English speakers as a result of their ESL coursework.

·  All continue to hold lower-paying positions, however.

Contact with native speakers

·  3 of the five students communicate with native speakers of English on a daily basis.

Additional Considerations from the Literature

What can we do as TESL professionals to empower all our students?

·  Ask ourselves: How do our assumptions about what students should and should not do in the classroom reflect our cultural lens regarding education? How might our students’ lenses differ from ours?

·  The teacher must provide students with opportunities to practice outside of class. They must also be aware of social structures that prevent practice with native speakers (Norton, 2001).

·  Teachers must understand individual student’s investments in learning as well as anxieties they may harbor (Norton, 2001).

·  Journal writing is an emancipatory tool (Walden, 1995)

·  Self-assessment and reflection on content learned, the process of learning, perceived successes and failures of learning, and awareness of perceptions of learning (Taylor, 1995).

·  Model proper academic and social language

·  Teach critical thinking skills

·  Make learners responsible for their own learning

·  Include group work as a means of building confidence in women learners

·  Design curricula and activities that are inclusive of all groups (Lee & Sheared, 2002).

Final Considerations

·  As a language, English constructs ideological meaning systems of gender that are, in turn, perpetuated by speakers and learners of English (Johnson, 2000).

·  We must not assume that students indeed want to change their social conditions—a very Western thought.

Critique of Freire

·  Freirean approach doesn’t address resistance to social change in students or the rest of society.

·  It also neglects affective factors in students (motivation, anxiety).

·  Finally, it doesn’t include women and particular struggles women face in society in its equation.

References

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Catanzarite, L. (1992). Gender, education and employment in Latin America.

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Latin America. Pp. 67-86. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum

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http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=234.

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