Finding a Voice

There is no definitive answer to the integration of the language learner and the language learning environment. Diversity in the classroom, just as educators need to reach the diversity in non-ESL classrooms, need to address the students differences and adapt their teaching strategies to best fit the students needs both on an individual and a communal scale. The purpose should be to find unity within the class so students from different cultural backgrounds have a base of commonality to communicate in. In Peirces text, Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning, he state4s, “We can see language as a way to identify with ones surroundings…” To better the student it would be beneficial to them to become acquainted with their environment. They should have an understanding and exposure so they can produce mental definitions of those items. Assimilation into a new language, and in turn a new culture, could then be an easier path. If the learner is not comfortable with their surroundings a learning block may develop.

According to Peirce, ”…this affective filter comprises the learner's motivation, self-confi-dence, and anxiety state-all of which are variables that pertain to the individual rather than the social context.” The unknown is always frightening. It is also stated that, “In the field of SLA, theorists have not adequately addressed why it is that a learner may sometimes be motivated, extroverted, and confident and sometimes unmotivated, introverted, and anxious…”. Humans contain multitudes. There is no absolute to a human emotion, nor is there an absolute to why a learner may feel motivated, unmotivated, introverted, or extroverted. Here the individual should be looked at and not grouped into the category of ESL, male or female. No one should be souly labeled as an introvert or an extrovert. The comfort level depicts how loose a language learner might be. From this I would like to propose the language learner be introduced to the culture and environment by means of their own language initially and then interweave both the two dynamics of learning. This may also make the student comfortable and become “an extrovert” to ask more questions thus, learning more from the unparallel of their mind. There should be no assumptions to why the connection of content is not being communicated to the learner. However, positive reinforcement and a constant strive to understand learners are vial to the learning and teaching process.