Video Blog (Part I and II)

Click the link to watch my videoblog about part one and two of the course (hint: turn the volume up, it’s not really a good quality).

LINK

Peace out, hombres!

Improving literacy

Monty Python and the Holy Blog.

I’m back! A great man named Martin Luther King once said: “I have decided to stick with blogs. Twitter is too great a burden to bear.” He couldn’t have been more right.

• (First note to the readers) Twitter is seriously uncool! Really, stop posting tweets and start blogging you sissies!

For this week I will be discussing Eve Bearne’s text called ‘Improving literacy’. While reading through the article something grasped my attention. It is stated that a language policy is a process of continuing development. Improving literacy isn’t easy in an ever-changing society. The technology is changing year by year, and it’s going faster and faster as there is an exponential growth. There are also more and more immigrants from foreign countries. These “newcomers”, as they are called nowadays, also have to fit in our language policy, they can’t be left out.

I think it’s very good that this policy is revised regularly. A changing society should not have a non-changing, steady language policy. Language is also changing quite rapidly, thanks to new features in the modern technology. To name some: Facebook, Twitter, mobile phones,…. They change the way we speak, read, listen and write. We can easily state that these new forms of technology have a larger impact on our lives than any school could have. However, this could be a problem, because those technological features haven’t got a language policy at all. Waht we need is a fully-working, clear and transparent language policy that focuses equally on both “natives” and “newcomers”. The problem, however, is: try making one…

So, I guess that was it. Dear ladies and gentlemen. I regret to announce that this is the end. This will be my very last written blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed my unsuccessful and futile attempts to put a smile on your faces while reading these blogs. However, I’ve enjoyed the time here and I’ll miss you all a lot!

• (Second note to the readers) I’m probably not going miss you at all.

I shall leave the world of blogs and return the world of sane people. Remember what Plato said: “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.” Which category are you?

Peace out, hombres!

Spoken language and effective learning II

Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Blog.

Wim has returned for another set of exciting adventures. Sure, I will not be running away from a five-ton boulder, neither will I be dodging arrows shot at me by some mad undead skeletons. No, I shall have none of that Hollywood-nonsense. This blog is all about civilised and refined discussions… regrettably… Indiana Jones once said: “This blog is like a bad penny, it always turns up.”

• (First note to the readers) This quote would sound a lot better if the Indiana Jones theme was playing in the background!

I chose to write another discussion on the spoken and effective language, since it is such a large and elaborate subject. Today I will be discussing an age-old dilemma: should pupils be allowed to speak in class? Many people believe that talking in class fails to encourage pupils to learn, and thus it fails to achieve high standards in education. Furthermore, it misses the crucial role played by classroom talk in children’s development. However, studies have proven that structured classroom talk is central to effective learning and that talk enables information and concepts to be shared and internalised.

Ms Kelly has told us that she will personally take care of having us fired if she would ever hear that we had forbidden a pupil to speak in class. It’s a warning I do not take lightly. As an English teacher, I strongly believe in the value of speaking in class as part of the language-learning process. Speaking in class is essential if you want to learn English. Reading about a language is boring and utterly useless. Speaking the language, however, is the best way of learning the language. As an extra you also train your communicative (speaking and listening) skills.

• (Second note to the readers) If I had a penny for every time I’d wish one of my teachers wouldn’t talk for once, I’d be a millionaire.
  

That’s it folks! I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s discussion of the course. I hope to see you next week!

Peace out, hombres!

Spoken language and effective learning

The Blogfather II

I’m back, and so are the blogs. Over the course of time, the blog has claimed its place in history. A great English poet and playwright once said: “To blog, or not to blog. That’s the question.”

• (First note to the readers) Shakespeare’s blogs were quite popular back then.

This week’s lesson dealt with spoken and effective language. Basically, it means that there are many different types of languages. I’m not talking about foreign languages such as French, English, Dutch or German, but about different sorts of language within a certain language. I’ll give you an example. The language that I speak at home (possibly a dialectic variation of the official language) is not the same as the language that I have to speak in school. When you are amongst friends, you’ll probably speak another type of language as well. School language can be a little bit more complicated than your home language. However, are you “stupid” just because you aren’t able to fully grasp or understand this language?

I think not! When I’m talking to my friends, we often use a very technical language about video games or films, which contains a lot of specific vocabulary that is not widely used. If my teacher would describe me as “less-gifted” than other pupils just because I don’t fully  understand the school language, does that mean I can call my teacher “dumb” if he or she doesn’t understand my technical language? “The borders of my language are the borders of my life”. Thankfully, we are able to broaden those borders and thus, broaden our life.

• (Second note to the readers) Just because I play video games, doesn’t mean that I’m a nerd! Well sort of….

That’s it for this week, next week, I’ll be back with more.

Peace out, hombres!

Coming soon…

Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Lessius Wars: Episode IV – The Blog Strikes Back

Another week, another blog. Aristotle once said: “A blog is a second self”, and he couldn’t have been more right. Aristotle’s blog was quite popular in Ancient Greece apparently.

• (First note to the readers) Don’t try to add Aristotle on Facebook, he’s dead.

So here we are again, for the fourth time already. Time flies. Today I will be discussing Geert Hofstede’s view on cultural differences. Geert Hofstede has tried to categorise each culture by the means of a graph chart. He uses five dimensions: power distance index, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long term orientation vs. short term orientation.

Apparently, us Belgians are quite good at avoiding uncertainty and pretty individualistic. I think this might be a correct but over-simplified classification of a culture. Is it possible to catalogue a culture by the means of five simple indicators/dimensions? Another questions that comes to mind: is this information really that reliable? Mr Hofstede apparently thinks that the Arab world is one and the same country with the same culture. Well it isn’t! People of the Arab world are very different. People from Morocco don’t share the same culture with Iran or Pakistan. Even the languages are different. As foreigners, we often think that people of the Arab world only speak one language: Arabic. This is false. While a lot of people understand Arabic, they all have their own languages and dialects.

• (Second note to the readers) Arab people do not explode when they’re angry.

That’s it for this week. To those who are looking forward to my next blog post: “Study the past if you would define the future.” – Confucius

Peace out, hombres!

High and low cultures in Europa, in Belgium, in Flanders?

The Silence of the Blogs

My third blog post. Nelson Mandela once said: “A good writer and a good blog are always a formidable combination.” Ah, that good old Nelson still reads my blog once in a while…

• (First note to the readers) Copying quotes from famous people and adapting them is more fun than it seems, actually…

So here we are… yet again…Life’s going great, the bird are singing in the sky, everyone is dancing all day long and there’s flute music everywhere! No, just kidding… thank god… But anyway, everything is going great.

This weeks lesson was about the difference between high and low context cultures. High cultures are societies in which there are a lot of unwritten rules on how to behave in specific situations. I specifically say that they’re unwritten because they aren’t formulated in a code of conduct. We learn how to behave in a certain situation from our parents and our environment. Low culture is the opposite of high culture. In a low culture society, everything is written down in rules. Our culture here in Flanders is quite a low context culture. We know how to behave in certain situations, but a lot of our social behaviour is written down. As a result, we are more adaptable than the Japanese for example, a typical example of a high context culture. In Japan, there is a very strict social protocol, which has to be followed at all times. It’s not written down, but it’s handed down from father to son, from mother to daughter. Everyone knows his or her place in the society.

• (Second note to the readers and note to self) It’s not because an Asian person looks like Jackie Chan, that he IS Jackie Chan…

In my opinion, a healthy mix between a high and a low context culture would be ideal. As a society we should have some rules written down. But if there are too much of them, we become mindless slaves who are programmed to follow rules. If there are too little rules and the social protocol would be very strict, we’d become fearful of change. A society needs change in order to progress. Stagnation only leads to decline…

That’s it for this week. Stay tuned for more. I’m going to end with quite a philosophical quote: think about this for a while…

“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?” – Albert Einstein

Peace out, hombres!

Education and multiculturalism

Lord of the Blogs.

My second blog post. As Voltaire used to say: “What a heavy burden is a blog that has become too famous“. Or was it something else he said? Never mind, this version is way cooler in my opinion!

• (First note to the readers) Never quote people if you’re not 100% sure whether that what you’re quoting is correct…

So here we are… again… The VOETen-week is over, back to reality. I’m exhausted, but it was definitely worth it. I had a great time and it was refreshing to think back of the De Kluis and to spend some time with my classmates/friends.

Now on a more serious note: I’m going to be discussing the video fragments of our European leaders on multiculturalism is Europe. According to my good friend Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, multiculturalism in Germany has failed. I have my own opinion on this (prepare to be amazed!): Well, dear Miss Merkel, it hasn’t! Multiculturalism hasn’t failed in Germany at all. The term multiculturalism refers to the diversity in a society (in the form of ethnicity, language, religion,…). Germany has a very multicultural society in that aspect. I think good old Merkel is trying to explain the failure of interculturalism in Germany. These are two different terms. It’s a fact that interculturalism is a lot less “famous” than multiculturalism, and both terms are often (falsely) seen as one and the same. Interculturalism refers to the relationship between different groups and cultures in a society, and to the acceptance, equality and respect between those cultures. Let me put it this way: interculturalism is the desired effect of multiculturalism. Merkel isn’t 100% wrong if she claims that interculturalism has failed in Germany. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t call it a success either, but there is definitely some respect between both cultures. Unfortunately, there is still along way to go before we can even speak of equality. It’s the same story here in Belgium. Ethnic minorities are far from equal to our leading culture. What are we supposed to do in my opinion? Give it some more time. If the government would support diversity more and if they would ensure equal rights to the cultural minorities, it would be a huge step forward.

• (Second note to the readers) If you ever happen to walk into Geert Wilders, feel free to kick him in the nuts!

That’ll be all for this week. Since we’re in the middle of the holidays, I’ll be enjoying my spare time by working for school, as always… I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog.

Peace out, hombres!

Chancellor of Germany

Culture, cultures, multicultural, intercultural,… and I?

Dude, where’s my blog?

My first official post… One small step for mankind, but a huge one for Wim! To be honest, it does sound a lot better when Neil Armstrong says it…

• (First note to the readers) Blogs are cool! Exhibit A.

So here we are… The second training period is finally over. It wasn’t a complete disaster, but I wouldn’t call it a success either sadly. A good thing about the training period (yes, I was able to find some good things) is that I came into contact with multiculturalism and other cultures. Conveniently, it was also a topic in our Communicative Skills course, now isn’t that just wonderful?

What is multiculturalism? I’m glad you ask! Let’s quote Wikipedia, shall we!

Multiculturalism has a number of different meanings. At one level the term means the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g. schools, businesses, neighbourhoods, cities or nations. In this sense multiculturalism approximates to respect for diversity. – © Wikipedia

• (Second note to the readers) Remember kids: referring to sources is important! You wouldn’t steal a car! you wouldn’t steal a handbag! You wouldn’t steal a baby! Copying texts from websites without mentioning your sources is stealing!

Those are lot of words for something which has different meanings and that is quite difficult to explain. Personally, I think that acceptance is the main concept in this definition.  Before being able to speak of a successful multicultural society, the different cultures living in that society should first be able to accept each other, and most importantly: their differences. Each culture has different values, traditions, views on certain topics,… Tolerance is a word which is slightly similar to acceptance, yet it is so different. It is easy to be labelled as intolerant. Having your own opinion about other cultures is often considered intolerant. Being “politically correct” is hard, and there’s a fine line between racism and freedom of speech.

I shall say one more thing: when I was teaching I was able to observe the pupils and how they interacted with each other. I’m quite proud to say that these pupils didn’t care about different races or beliefs. The absence of prejudgments was refreshing, and it’s probably one of the best things that I’ve learned during the training period.

That’s about enough serious “mumbo-jumbo” for this week. Now the VOETEN-week will probably give me enough material to talk about next week. I still need some good topics, so I’m going to think about it long and hard (that’s what she said…).

Peace out, hombres!