I P A Definition

Multiculturalism In The Classroom In light of the increasing number of diverse people groups moving to the United States the complexion and complexity of our society is changing. Approximately 32 million people speak a language other than English at home (Nieto, 2000). The impact of this growing cultural and linguistic diversity is nowhere more visible than in our schools. More than 3 million or 7.4% of students in all public and private schools are limited in their English proficiency (Macias, 1998) and is a reality not just in the urban schools, but suburban and rural as well are experiencing this tremendous diversity. Based on the philosophy of Paulo Freire (1998) “to study is not to consume ideas, but to create and recreate them” (p.4). Educators and leaders of our society must...  [Read more]

English as a Global Language In the last few months that I have been traveling, it has become even more apparent to me how important it is to be able to speak English to interact in the world today. Many of the people that I have been talking with over the last few months have not been native English speakers. And it became very clear to me that if they had not learned English, I would not be able to communicate with them, they have to learn a second language to be able to broaden their opportunities for travel, work, and general communication with people from other countries. As a native English speaker, you take this for granted. And as a result, many native English speakers only speak the one language. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, the British economic predominance in the...  [Read more]

Difficulties with Spoken English Recently, I greeted a German intern working with our company in the lobby of our office building while walking into work. “Good morning,” I said, and he returned. I did not know much about him yet as he had just started. I knew he was from Germany as we had recently been introduced, but I decided to find out more about him. “Where are you coming from,” I asked. He was confused and embarrassed. This is a common question others in the office have often asked meaning Where do you live, or How do you get to work everyday etc. especially since the locale of the office is downtown DC, so not everyone comes from the same place. I realized, however, as soon as it came out of my mouth and by the strained look on his face, that I should have constructed the...  [Read more]