“Social Identity Investment, and language learning”, Bonny Norton
When I read this article, I found myself can’t stop reading through the whole article. No matter the story of Ivan ,Wong, or Mary, each of them reminds me of teaching English in my home country, Taiwan. Wong’s story interests me the most. Wong never talked to people at work because he was afraid that he would make mistakes. I have taught English in an English learning institution for two years. Most of the kids were tried to talk as more as possible when they came to the English learning institution. However, a boy, Shawn, never looked happy and enjoyed in the class. He never said a word or answered my question. He even lies on the desk when other kids come to talk to him in English. Finally, I know the main reason behind Shawn after talking to his parents. Shawn’s father works in China, comes back- and-forth between Taiwan and China every three months, and stays in Taiwan for about two weeks. Shawn has a younger sister who is smarter than him, no matter in learning English or Math. His mom always compared him with his younger sister in the family or in front of her relatives. That’s not the only embarrassment of a eight- year-old child’s mind but also deprived his interests in learning English. On the one hand, I have tried very hard to communicate with his parents about Shawn’s situation; on the other hand, I let him be the leader of each game we played and build his confidence in speaking English. I put all my effort to encourage him, applauded him when he said a complete sentence in English.
Gradually, Shawn has become more and more involved in the classroom before I resigned the job in the English institution in order to earn a Master’s degree in USA.
