Thursday, February 7, 2008

New cultures and languages in classrooms

A few classes back, we were talking about how new students enter classrooms who do not speak a word of english. We noticed that in a few years, there will be many spanish speakers, even more than english speakers. Even in classrooms today, you may find five different students from different countries. The United States is changing very much with languages.

A few days ago I was watching Nick Jr. because my son watches The Backyardigans. Anyways, as may people know, Nick Jr. has Dora the Explorer and has recently added Go, Diego, Go. Both of these shows teach young children english and spanish. The shows are very educational, and the children learn a new language. With new students coming into classrooms, these shows help a lot. If there is a new student that comes into a classroom and only speaks spanish, there will be another student who may know a few words because he or she watches Dora and/or Diego at home. These shows can be very beneficial to the student, the new student, and even the teacher. Nick Jr. is also introducing a new show called Ni Hao Kai-lan. This show follows the same baseline as Dora and Diego, except the little girl is Chinese. This show, just like Dora and Diego, will be teaching children Chinese and the Chinese culture. I couldn't believe it when I saw it on tv. Nick Jr. is really expanding with different cultures and backgrounds. For a while, Nick Jr. has the show Little Bill. I feel Nick Jr. is really changing with their shows. They are accomodating everyone's background. The show looks really cute and educational, just like Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go.

If anyone is interested, here is a link explaining what the show is about.
http://www.nickjr.com/shows/ni-hao-kai-lan/kai-lan-about-the-show/ni-hao-kai-lan-about-the-show.jhtml

Today, teachers are worrying about how to communicate with new students, pretty soon they won't have to because they will be learning from their own english speaking students.

Chloe

1 comment:

Srta. Cross said...

That's a really good point that beyond the students being able to speak another language for their own good, and own education, they can also help new students. By making new, non-English speaking students feel more comfortable, the transition to a new country and a new culture will definitely be easier for them.