Prompt 2: Delpit

One of the tasks of this prompt was to describe the linguistic, ethnic, and sociocultural characteristics of the students in the classroom that I am tutoring. Some the students I am tutoring are bilingual but they don’t understand either language to the max. I was able to tell who the kids were that spoke a different language at home because at times they would use their home language instead of English. I can tell that the students have picked up on both languages quickly because they are first grade students that have conversations in both languages.
The students in my class sometimes forget that they are in school and act as if they are at home with their families. The teacher tries her best to relate to everyone and their backgrounds, but it is difficult with such a wide variety of ethnicities. Each lesson is designed by the teacher so that it is fair to the whole class and universally connects everyone. The class I am in is mostly Asian and Hispanic children. The teacher speaks Spanish fluently and sometimes she even speaks Spanish to the children when they do not listen. The class that I visit every week is like a melting pot. Children come from all different cultures and backgrounds, but they are all put into one classroom where they interact and learn with each other. This sets up a future for our world where everyone understands and respects one another, regardless of race or ethnicity.

The cultural capital that they bring is great; although they come from non-wealthy backgrounds they have the knowledge to be fluent in two languages. Many middle-class children with opportunities for a better education have difficulty in learning a new language. Although this maybe requires more work for the students and teachers to teach them English it could pay off in the long run. Also when students understand both languages well, they could go on to learn a third language in the middle and high school grade levels if the opportunity is given. This is excellent for the future of these children because knowing more than one language fluently is great to put on job applications and chances are they can get a better job. Many schools and companies need translators when dealing with students or clients that aren’t fluent in English. Having someone who could do help translate will benefit schools and companies.

The theorist Lisa Delpit talked a lot about the silenced dialogue and how cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings of the rules and thus undesirable behavior. The teacher of the classroom I was in tried to make it very clear of what was expected, but with the cultural differences in the class it was very hard.