Week 4: Social identity and Investment

I enjoyed reading the articles. I believe many of the ideas mentioned in them related to my life as an ELL. A quote that really related to myself in middle school was in Norton's language and identity article by Duff: "Silence protected them [ELLs] from humiliation". I was that shy ELL kid that would rarely raise their hand to avoid embarrassment because I was proficient in the English language. I knew some English but not native proficiency. Norton discusses that there is an unequal relations of power that language learners are trying to fit in. I liked how she mentions that a persona negotiates through language throughout a variety of sites at different points of times. I denied access to the powerful social network that allowed me to speak. I was really hesitant to make a mistake. I would only speak out if the teacher would ask me questions. During group time, the native speakers would rarely ask for my opinion because they knew I was proficient in English. I would try to speak, but sometimes I would not invest in trying to create a social distance between me and them. There was times where I would say an incorrect utterance in English and feel embarrassed like Eva. Eveytime this happened, my motivation would decrease, so I would start speaking less and less in front of the mainstream classrooms. Eva and Martina's journey as language learners have led them to experience their own social identity in a powerful social network. Even though I cannot recall being marginalized as badly as these ladies, I did feel separation between social relations of power. Because of the lack of proficiency in the target language, I felt they were the dominant group. In my ESL classes, I would speak normally because I would feel comfortable with my English proficiency. I knew most of these kids were at my level or lower in English proficiency. Constructing my own social identity was not a priority especially if it was with native speakers. I would always encounter social interactions with native speakers but it was minimal, because I would try to avoid it.
The classroom-based research discussed in Norton's article is a great way to keep active by carrying out social interaction with their local community. These are great ways to increase social identity and understanding the difference in social interactions between the native and non-native groups. They are able to analyze and examine, as well as compare data, issues that were difficult to resolve. ELLs are able to reflect on their experiences and examine any breakdowns they encounter. I liked this list because cultural issues in social interactions will occur to ELL students and these can help them overcome difficulties in social practices between them and native speakers. Americanization and narrative identities are discussed in Pavlenko's article, which got me remember how I was as a new immigrant in the United States. It was not easy for a mom, a 12 year old and a 6 year old to come to a new country by ourselves. We encountered so many difficulties, but now we have assimilated to the new culture and language. I have enjoyed learning about social identity because I had never analyzed the topic in depth.