In my personal narrative “É o jeitinho brasileiro,” I detailed my experience of learning Portuguese during my two week stay in Brazil. During my visit, the Brazilian people that I met were very encouraging and helpful as I was mastering the language. In the Sedaris reading, Me Talk Pretty One Day, on the other hand, the main character learned French in a much
more unfriendly environment in which the teacher constantly insulted and belittled the students. In both cases, the atmosphere present while mastering the language, whether hostile or hospitable, seems to play an important role in the overall learning experience and comprehension of the language. The way in which the people each language is being learned from acted and treated the learner is significant. In the scholarly text Heroes, rebels, and victims, Williams analyzes the identities that students construct for themselves and for their teachers in terms of literature when
writing personal narratives (redundant) and how this influences them. This led me to ponder the question: How does the environment in which a language is learned affect the learner’s perception of themselves (identity) and in turn impact their learning? Well, as the learner responds to the environment in which they are learning, if they identify themselves as a “hero” or a “rebel” their learning will be facilitated, whereas if they identify themselves as a “victim” their learning will be hindered.
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In my personal narrative, the caring atmosphere I was exposed to while in Brazil was something very present in my language learning experience. Going into my first week in Brazil, I had no background in the language, so I consciously knew that I was faced with quite a large obstacle to overcome from the beginning. This mental note shows that an identity for myself as a learner was already being constructed based on the environment I was going to be working in. As I began to learn the language,
not only were the people very kind, but the environment in which I was able to listen to the Portuguese and absorb it was
one of high spirit and all around happiness. This environment was very conducive to learning because I was emotionally attached both to the people I was learning Portuguese from and to understanding the interesting stories that were being
told at the dinner table each night. My progress and my reaction to the environment in which I was learning shows that as I was improving my Portuguese, I was also creating a sort of hero identity of myself. This hero identity is described by Williams as a “rise to success” in which “the writer is the hero of the narrative” (Williams 343). My hero identity that came about as a
result of the kind people around me and my reaction to this learning conducive environment manifested itself in the fact that I became extremely determined and almost obsessed with understanding Portuguese and overcoming the obstacle of learning a
language I had no background in. This is just as a hero in literature finds himself having to overcome an obstacle to reach
his goal, reacting to the environment around him and either using it to his or her advantage or letting it be his or her downfall. In my case, my learning environment became a positive catalyst to learn Portuguese because the people around me were very supportive and this in turn impacted my perception of myself, making me feel very comfortable to explore learning Portuguese very freely. The language began to come to me very fast and before I knew it, I was forming sentences and engaging in small talk with the friends I was making. Because I was learning Portuguese in a learning conducive environment, I constructed a hero identity for myself, which in turn facilitated my learning.
not only were the people very kind, but the environment in which I was able to listen to the Portuguese and absorb it was
one of high spirit and all around happiness. This environment was very conducive to learning because I was emotionally attached both to the people I was learning Portuguese from and to understanding the interesting stories that were being
told at the dinner table each night. My progress and my reaction to the environment in which I was learning shows that as I was improving my Portuguese, I was also creating a sort of hero identity of myself. This hero identity is described by Williams as a “rise to success” in which “the writer is the hero of the narrative” (Williams 343). My hero identity that came about as a
result of the kind people around me and my reaction to this learning conducive environment manifested itself in the fact that I became extremely determined and almost obsessed with understanding Portuguese and overcoming the obstacle of learning a
language I had no background in. This is just as a hero in literature finds himself having to overcome an obstacle to reach
his goal, reacting to the environment around him and either using it to his or her advantage or letting it be his or her downfall. In my case, my learning environment became a positive catalyst to learn Portuguese because the people around me were very supportive and this in turn impacted my perception of myself, making me feel very comfortable to explore learning Portuguese very freely. The language began to come to me very fast and before I knew it, I was forming sentences and engaging in small talk with the friends I was making. Because I was learning Portuguese in a learning conducive environment, I constructed a hero identity for myself, which in turn facilitated my learning.
In the Sedaris reading, the learning experience and overall environment
in which he had to learn French is very different than my experience of learning Portuguese, therefore causing his environment and resulting identity to be. Sedaris began his journey to learn French as very enthusiastic student that had come to France to take a class. This enthusiasm to learn and Sedaris’ preparation and excitement for the course show that his identity as a learner was already being constructed. The teacher and the experience turned out to be much different than he had expected. The teacher was very harsh and often belittled the students and made them feel inferior. Sedaris even described his experience on the first day when “the teacher proceeded to belittle everyone” and he and all of the other students “left class foolishly believing that the worst was over” (Sedaris 170). Sedaris responded by feeling very scared of using French because of a fear of being put down for his attempts. This led him to become extremely motivated to learn the language as he would spend hours each night on his studying and reading for the class. Sedaris explained that “[he] took to spending four hours a night on [his] homework, putting in even more time whenever [they] were assigned an essay” (Sedaris 171). The harsh environment in which Sedaris was learning evoked a motivation and a drive in him to learn French. Williams describes some students as having been “stigmatized through literacy experiences” like Sedaris, but there are those that “refuse to portray themselves as helpless victims” (Williams 344). Due to his intense studying and the constant motivation he developed from the harsh environment he was learning in, Sedaris refused to be a victim of his poor learning environment and a learning identity for himself as a rebel developed. Through this, he learned a large amount of French in a relatively short amount of time. The fact that this environment caused such a strong emotional response supports the claim that learning environments that provoke the learner to create an identity for themselves which in turn facilitates their learning. |
In both cases, my experience of learning Portuguese in Brazil and Sedaris’ experience of learning French in the classroom in France, the environment of the learner played a large role in the identity the learner assumed and in turn, accelerated the rate at which the languages were learned. This link between learning environment causing a learner to create an identity for themself and the learner acquiring information at a much faster rate is made very clear by both of the experiences analyzed. On the other hand though, could the environment and the identity the learner develops for themselves have little to do with the rate at
which information is learned? This may be so in that the rate at which something is learned has more to do with the identity that is constructed for the teacher, rather than the identity that is constructed for the learner. For example, if a student views a teacher as being strict and overbearing, the student will likely work harder to meet the requirements, just like if a student constructed an identity for a teacher to be laid back, they will likely be more relaxed with their assignments. Even with this said, I still stand by the claim that this is unlikely because with each learning experience, the identity we construct for ourselves based on the environment in which we learn is the factor that will determine whether or not we decide to work. If the identity is of a hero or of a rebel, the learner will be more motivated to succeed, as opposed to if the learner’s identity is that of a victim.
which information is learned? This may be so in that the rate at which something is learned has more to do with the identity that is constructed for the teacher, rather than the identity that is constructed for the learner. For example, if a student views a teacher as being strict and overbearing, the student will likely work harder to meet the requirements, just like if a student constructed an identity for a teacher to be laid back, they will likely be more relaxed with their assignments. Even with this said, I still stand by the claim that this is unlikely because with each learning experience, the identity we construct for ourselves based on the environment in which we learn is the factor that will determine whether or not we decide to work. If the identity is of a hero or of a rebel, the learner will be more motivated to succeed, as opposed to if the learner’s identity is that of a victim.
The environment in which new information is learned plays a vital role in the rate at which this information is learned. If the environment evokes the learner to construct an identity for themselves as either a hero or a rebel, then the learner gains new knowledge at a much faster rate because there is more of a sense of motivation to learn. This is significant because this
information could be used in the education system. By finding ways to alter the learning experience so that each student has some type of positive emotional reaction to what is being taught could greatly improve the rate at which students would learn.
information could be used in the education system. By finding ways to alter the learning experience so that each student has some type of positive emotional reaction to what is being taught could greatly improve the rate at which students would learn.
Works Cited
Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. New York: Little, Brown &, 2000. Print.
Williams, Brownwyn T. "Heroes, Rebels, and Victims: Student Identities in Literacy Narratives.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (2003): 342-45. Print.
Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. New York: Little, Brown &, 2000. Print.
Williams, Brownwyn T. "Heroes, Rebels, and Victims: Student Identities in Literacy Narratives.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (2003): 342-45. Print.