The roles and
responsibilities of teachers depend on the goals teachers have for their
students. If the goal is to have students assimilate into the school culture
and perform well on English language measures, then this teacher may see it as
her/his role to help the student learn English as quickly as possible, even at
the expense of the home language. If the goal is to help the student become
academically successful, and be college-bound, then the teacher’s role may be
to use the students’ language to develop academic language until the student
is proficient enough in English to function well in an academic setting.
Finally, if it is the teacher’s goal to help the student develop self-efficacy and
become operating members of a democratic society, then it is the teacher’s
responsibility to help the student learn how to negotiate situations and
develop all areas of potential. All students’ potential is enhanced by learning
languages. Therefore, teachers with this goal will consider all languages as
valuable resources that s/he has a responsibility to preserve while also teaching English (see Delpit’s article for arguments on why English should be taught in conjunction with first language)*
*In pursuit of this goal, teachers also have a responsibility to learn about language development and the acquisition of a second language (see Wong’s article on what teachers should know about language).
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