It was interesting to read that research supports the notion that immigrant Korean parents have a strong desire to pass on their mother tongue to their American-born children  in case they return to Korea for familial obligations and economic opportunities.  I found this particularly interesting because of my own culture and background.  I have also read about several cases where Mexican immigrant parents do not push for their American born children to keep their native language, but rather to learn English as soon as possible because it will benefit their futures here in the United States.  I think it is unfortunate that parents think that their children should learn English at the expense of losing their culture and native language.  Judging by my personal experiences, I would say that my parents saw learning English as a priority, however; not at the expense of losing my culture and native language (Spanish).  I will however say that because I didn't have that extensive familial conversation aspect growing up, my Spanish isn't as strong as my English.  My parents are both very reserved, quiet individuals, and allow our family is either in Texas or Mexico so I didn't have a whole lot of interaction in my native language outside of my home.  Mrs. Cho's story resonated with me because it reminded me of my mother.  She has also been in the U.S. for quite a while, but she still not confident in her English speaking abilities, therefore; my siblings and I communicate with her in Spanish. From personal experiences, I have noticed that Mexican parents want their children to learn English as soon as possible so that they can prosper.  They want it so bad that they are willing to sacrifice their Spanish speaking abilities.  According to this article, it seems that  Korean parents want their children to keep their native language, but for the same reasons.  The only difference I see is that, due to the bad economic situation in Mexico, parents don't seem to expect their children to return to Mexico to be successful.

Week 4 blog

Week 4 blogg

Just because a learner is highly motivated doesn't necessarily mean he or she will in turn be a successful language learner.  There are several factors that come into play when it comes to learning a new language- environment, classroom instruction, etc.  A person may be labeled as "unmotivated" when in fact they are really motivated and would be able to learn the language given different circumstances.  The classroom base study conducted by Duff shows that the students involved were quiet in the classroom not because they were "unmotivated," but because they were not invested in the language practices.  In other words, they did not feel comfortable  in their classroom setting. They stayed silent for fear that their native English speaking peers would criticize or laugh at them.  According to Stephen Krashen, the "silent period" is a natural stage of second language acquisition, but I strongly believe that in order for students to be able to move beyond that stage they really need to be invested in the language and overall classroom practices; it is the teachers duty to create such a classroom community. I agree with Norton's theory that despite teachers' best intentions in the classroom, their practices can potentially recreate subordinate student identities.  If second language learners are made to believe that their culture is not as important as the majority culture they will associate their own culture and their own identity with being less important. As a future language teacher of students from linguistic and culturally diverse backgrounds, I fear that it will be difficult to avoid biases and incorporate all students' cultures fairly so that they develop a strong sense of identity.  I think that one good way to battle this fear is by making a genuine effort to get to know my students well.  I think it is unfortunate when students are automatically labeled as unmotivated simply because they have a hard time opening up and relating to their teacher.  

While reading about Martina, the immigrant woman from Czechoslovakia, her story sounded all too familiar.  She reminded me of my mother's experiences in migrating to the United States and not knowing any English.  My sisters and I would always have to accompany our mother to serve as her translators. My oldest sister began translating for my mom at as young as 8 years old.   To this day, she will occasionally bring us along if she needs help translating because her English is not quite as good as she would like it to be.