Crash and Burn

Linking Language and Content: ESL and Art History by Deborah Raphan & Janet Moser (1993-94) is yet another article we have been assigned to read that is specific to education in the United States! Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the article or the United States. My beef has to do with the homework assignment itself. The fact of the matter is that we are in Québec, Canada, and our situation is quite different from the one in the United States. Speaking of interdisciplinary teaching, I would like to have fewer articles about the United States, and more articles about Canada, and specifically Québec! It would be nice to link the specific language and content that we are living here in Québec to our teaching practices, seeing as most of us want to teach English as a second language (ESL) in Québec.

Furthermore, I am Canadian, and last time I checked, I was still living in my own country. I find it offensive that the culture from another country should be such a large part of my pre-service teacher-training. For example, I find the following statement difficult to understand: “[m]any students come from cultures in which the typical give-and-take between teacher and student is totally absent […]” (Raphan & Moser, 1993/94, p. 17). The writer is an American citizen talking to an American audience, so how am I, as a bilingual Canadian Anglophone supposed to relate to this type of discourse? What is meant by typical give-and-take? Typical compared to what and for whom? Where am I in all this? More importantly, where are my future students? Is Québec not a socialist society? That is what the guy at the medicare told me. It is also a bilingual society situated within a bilingual country. Our national anthem is sung in two languages! Generally speaking, we are all humans. However, I would like to focus in on our situation here in Québec. My question is: “What has what is going on in the United States have to do with what is specifically going on here in Québec?” Teaching English as a foreign language in the United States is quite different from teaching English as a second language in Québec. Our culture is different, the variation of English is different, our history is different, and the way we approach multiculturalism is different. So what is the big idea? Are all these American articles a pre-brain washing to the final American take-over of Canada? What gives? Are we all asleep at the wheel, or should I drink more coffee?



Todd

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Yes, it is snowing again. I was born in Canada, so this kind of weather is sooooooo normal, but it would be great to hear from someone who is experiencing it for the first time! 'Let er rip', as we say in the business! Did you know that the Inuit people have 20 different words for snow? Apparently, they have 20 different kinds of snow! If anyone knows anything about this, please fill me in.

Todd

Take a Look!

I often do a Speaker's Corner activity with my students . This little ditty represents my personal favourite from 2006. The students had an hour to prepare before they went into the booth, so the activity was fairly spontaneous. One of the speakers was in the beginner group, while the other three were in the intermediate group.


Todd

P.S. On this first day of Spring, I would like to send a personal message to my dear brother, Jess, who lives in British Columbia. "Happy Birthday bro!"

As you can probably see by this picture of me and my brothers, I think the world of them!

Todd

Snifffdogs have arrived with the Spring!

Hello Everyone!!!

I am a pre-service English second language teacher studying at Université Laval in Québec, QC. Although I am an Anglophone, which simply means that English is my mother tongue, I am not Anglo Saxon. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Anglo Saxons, but my grandparents on my father's side are Scots. That's why I am like I am! I'll give you my last dollar if you need it more than me, but don't try to make me believe something that you don't believe yourself.

So, we have broken the record for snow fall this year. Do you know how many snow shovels have been stolen in the past three weeks in Québec city alone? I don't know either, but I will get back to you on that one. I live in a small village of 352 people, and our shovels have also been mysteriously disappearing...Mystère et boules de gomme! For myself, I've been living in a modest room in residence for the last four years, and with the coming of spring, I'm starting to show some serious signs of cabin fever! If you see me having anything that resembles a melt down, just remind me to take a deep breath, and of course, give me a hug once in while. That's what my mom and dad always did. Once I get home to my husband, I chill out like everyone else. On the other hand, if you see me snifffing around the coffee machine, if you can, stick a danger sign on my back to warn the unsuspecting ones...I always get a hankering for coffee in the Spring, like one giant wake-up call. And yes, you guessed it! This is a leathal mix...an accident just waiting to happen.

On a more serious note, Dr. Patrick Duffley had to leave us for a while and I would like to wish him a speedy and fruitful recovery. He is by far one of the most interesting teachers I have ever had the pleasure of studying under. I am sure that my colleagues would agree when I say that we miss him 150%... although 150% of what I don't know, but we miss him to tears!

Todd