Exploring+Language+and+Identity

(Adapted from readwritethink.org)
 * Lesson: Exploring Language and Identity (English III) **

a) develop critical reading strategies  b) discuss and evaluate the impact of language on identity formation and self-esteem  c) expand awareness of the role language plays in identity formation d) write a literacy narrative
 * Essential Learning Aims/Objectives **

1.01-1.03 – read, reflect, respond to texts  2.02 - culture influencing language  4.01- literature reflecting culture  6.01/6.02 – conventions
 * NC Standard Course of Study Objectives Addressed **

1. Think/Pair/ Share: What are the different "languages" you use? When and why? Consider both reading and writing, and don't forget about email. If you speak another language, include it. 2. Discuss the interaction of language usage and choice with audience and occasion by focusing on the examples the students have provided. How does language translate into power? 3. Write/Pair/share: Describe a time when someone made assumptions or even a judgment (negative or positive) about you based on your language usage (written or spoken). If students say they've never had such an experience, suggest writing about a situation they've observed involving someone else. 4. Look for similarities among the experiences students describe, and discuss them as a group. Ask whether they notice stereotypes at work in the situations they describe.  5. How does language reflect/form identity and establish community?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Activating Strategies **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> **Teaching Strategies** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Introduce Amy Tan. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Distribute copies of "Mother Tongue," and read the first two paragraphs aloud. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Discuss why Tan opens with an explanation of what she is //not//. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Read the next two paragraphs. Ask students to explain what Tan means by "different Englishes." <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Shift the discussion by asking why Tan speaks a "different English" with her mother than with her husband. Ask students to consider whether doing so is hypocritical. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Have students read the remainder of the essay in class individually. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Divide students in pairs. Students will be given 15 minutes to prepare a response to a discussion question. Must explain their answer and refer to the essay for specific support.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Discuss narrative assignment. Explain that a literacy narrative tells a specific story about reading or writing. Tan's article is essentially a literacy narrative because it discusses events about language use from her past (whether good or bad) and reflects on how those events influence her writing today.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Extending the Lesson **
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Literacy Narrative Assignment: Write a brief essay discussing at least two different “languages” you use in writing and speaking. Be specific in your description of each one, and explain why that “language” is appropriate for a particular occasion or audience. You might consider what would happen if you used one of your “Englishes” in a setting more appropriate to another—what would the consequences be? How do your different audiences respond to your “Englishes”? Include specific examples of the “languages,” including dialogue. You may write about yourself right now or a younger self, but write in first person and try to make the writing convey your personality.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Begin brainstorming w/students using Venn diagram. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Allow time in class to begin the narrative. Finish for homework.