Sunday, September 16, 2012

Questions to ask.

I've started reading a bit of Action Research again for my next module, Methodology. The book I am reading is really good one for the introduction to AR. There is a section about how to find a starting point. One of the ways is to take notes in classes on any kinds of questions that occur to your mind. That is when I started questioning endlessly.

Why does my own daughter has no motivation to learn this super useful language?
What are really going on to her English classes?
How effective can test be for learners?
How demotivating can test be for learners like my daughter?
What can possibly motivate her to learn this language?
How important it is to acquire English for her future?
How essential it is to acquire English for children, for this nation, for the world?

Personally, I think sharing a language is one of essentials to interact with other beings. The more interactive we can be, the better understanding we get. Misunderstanding is also inevitable feature of human communication, however, language is one of the most useful gift that we have to understand each other more. We interact and learn about each other. I might not the only one wish truly the world peace and enjoyable future for children. I might not be the only believer that sharing a language might lead us to more peaceful world. It is sensible for me to share English as common language since the human history entitle the language as the most spoken one in the world. Whether we like it or not, it is the fact that English is the most spoken language and it evolves as the world does. Instead of creating another new language, why can't we take a part in the evolution. It can be much more simplified and modified to meet our needs. We might be able to have our own version like Australian, French, Italian, Indian, Malaysian, Balinese, Chinese, Phillipinos and other nations do.  We share the basics but some features can be developed depending on the first language. For instance, pronunciation and some colloquial expressions and idioms. Diversity and variety are cool features of a language.

Some says sharing language might lead us to have an identity issue - we might lose our own identity. In fact, having the 2nd language is having an additional resource. Being resourceful is another key to lead a peaceful world for I believe ignorance is basically the cause of most of conflicts.

Sharing a language is not about getting high scores in tests for English proficiency. It is not about getting into one of the best universities nor business institutions. It is about the future of us- what kind of world we would like to live in? With advanced technology, it is amazingly easy to unit now. It is our chance to talk about our mother earth, our home with hundreds of people all over the world. Some may argue that we can have interpreters and translators. Some may say PC or Mac can be our interpreter. But I think nothing or nobody can be a better presenter for my mind except myself. I would like to speak my own mind instead of depending on someone else's interpretation which can be slightly or even greatly different from what I originally mean. Based on the fact that interpretations and translations  
are, in most of cases, different ballgames. The discrepancy between what the original speaker mean and
the translations or interpretations is inevitable. It is also a wonderful feature of spoken and for certain degree, written language for everybody posses his/ her own definition of words they use. For instance, degree of "like" for me is different from that of yours. The meaning of "wonderful" is different from that of yours. Therefore, the best presenter of your mind is you. That is the reason I support language learning rather than interpretations and translations. On top of that, it is more liberating and more intimate if you can interact with others with your own words. The joy of interaction would be much much higher from my experience. I always feel more empowered to learn new expressions and new vocab. in English, my second language for they mean extra communication tools with others to me.
Picturing all the kids from all over the world from a little village in Nepal to Tokyo get to know each other as they share the language is one of my favorite pass time activities.

Questioning myself, "Why do you bother to teach children English?" is valuable for I can confirm the meaning and the thought behind my action.


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