Joan Latchaw

English

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

My most important lesson was not about teaching, schools, or institutions, but about human rights. Outside of tourism—ziplining through the Rain Forest in Costa Rica or snorkeling in Puerto Rico—I have experienced no real effects of third world existence. The reality of oxen pulling carts on highways, of women hauling water, and of rail-thin horses munching grass around sidewalks was truly shocking. The Fuentes family, who hosted us in Managua, had three children educated in the public schools. Students have no books, which are financially prohibitive. They learn from worksheets and photocopies. Many students find themselves squeezed into classrooms with 40, 50, 60 or even 80 other students. Before I went to Nicaragua, I considered these conditions hopeless and ethically irresponsible. Now I’m preaching, “We have to help!”

Before reporting on how departments of English, Foreign Languages, Education, or Social Work can collaborate with Nicaraguans, I will describe UNAN-Leon, our sister institution. Walking across the campus, you’ll see old one-story buildings that we might call temporary, with no air conditioning, and with so much outside noise, that teachers cannot be heard without screaming. The library has no actual books, no journals, and no databases. Professors teach by photocopying chapters, short stories, and worksheets. Teachers in the English Department focus on language learning; that is they teach EFL at the undergraduate level. And majors, unlike our students who read Shakespeare and write literary analyses, generally achieve intermediate oral fluency only. That is, they read and write at very basic levels, if at all. Under these circumstances, acquiring an MA degree is a real triumph. Dr. Bramlett and I were able to attend a thesis defense; two Nicaraguan students were advised by professors from Valencia, S pain. Although the presentation didn’t have the polish we expect at UNO, the study was well-grounded and impressive.

Despite these conditions and learning outcomes, Nicaraguans typically believe that learning English is the way out of poverty, disease, and hopelessness. On numerous occasions at the congress, teachers and students (from both cities and rural areas) would confront me: “I have a very serious question to ask that I hope you can answer.” With baited breath I anticipated an inquiry beyond my expertise. The burning question? “Please tell me, how do you pronounce the?” Since the faculty have no native English speakers, the participants felt privileged in the presence of “real” speakers of English. And their desire to learn new methods of teaching and hear new ideas was heartwarming and inspiring.

This plea from participants was echoed by the last keynote address of the conference, on the last day. Dr. Fernando Carazal from Madrid, Spain called for the professionalization of English teachers. Dr. Carazal supports 8 departments at UNAN-León with money and faculty. He also consults with many of UNAN’s other sister institutions in collaboration with his own: Alcalá de Heneres. The Americans from UNO—Dr. Frank Bramlett and I from English and Dr. Ann Coyne from Social Work—were greatly appreciated in this regard. Dr. Bramlett gave a workshop on error analysis in writing; I spoke on teaching EFL with critical thinking techniques and gave a workshop on teaching through drama; and Dr. Coyne provided an instructional unit, “Great Books Discussion Technique,” using our Declaration of Independence. We received many complements both for our presence as native English speakers and for our ideas, which could easily be implemented. Without textbooks, such information is difficult to come by. I will discuss th e issue of professionalization and UNO’s future role in greater detail at the end of my report.

In addition to bringing knowledge to Nicaraguan teachers, I learned lessons about EFL teaching, some of which fly in the face of theoretical assumptions. ESL and EFL approaches advocate teaching language through culture. My own Spanish texts devote chapters to language and customs in Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, etc. However, teacher groups in my workshop session at UNAN wanted to dramatize issues that focused solely on problems in their society: immigration, abuse of women, garbage collection, and the economy. They were less interested in cultural phenomena in America or other English speaking countries, although UNAN-Leon does offer a course in Contemporary American Culture. In other sessions I attended, the focus was on human rights. In other words, language teaching becomes relevant to the conditions of people’s lives and, in that sense, reflects Paulo Freire’s pedagogy-of-the-oppressed approach. I suggest that our approach to teaching Spanish might include not just the positive, exciting, and exotic features of other countries, but their problems and plights as well.

This approach makes education more meaningful to many students. I saw theories of social interaction becoming more than teaching techniques to achieve fluency. Instead of being bound by textbook exercises—to discuss family celebrations in small groups or to share vacation experiences—students were instructed to solve an important problem or make a serious decision. Thus, the language served a larger function, not a goal in itself. I suspect that such a pedagogy could inspire students to social action, rather than just fulfilling a general ed requirement. Foreign Languages and Service Learning would make a splendid marriage at UNO.

Because students want to employ English to enter a profession or embark on a productive career path, they are interested in speaking proficiently. One workshop on phonetics taught instructors how to apply linguistics (phonetics) in ESL teaching. This was a fascinating approach that focuses on teaching the phonetic symbols, pronouncing the phonemes, and contrasting them with the native language. The idea is to teach English without a heavily Latino accent. Thus students will have a better opportunity to work at the American Embassy in Managua or for American corporations. Using phonetics in our foreign language teaching might also prove productive for our students at various levels of learning.

However, entering a profession or career requires much more expertise than oral fluency and interestingly, many of the sessions covered ESP or English for Specific Purposes. Although I learned something of this area for my keynote address, I discovered that ESP is becoming a very popular field for students in higher education in the Latin American world. ESP workshops were given on tourism, nursing, and medicine. The work includes doing a needs analysis, what students need to know in the particular field. For instance, in medicine, teachers should focus on specific vocabulary related to health and disease, instruct students in more formal grammatical patterns, and teach the genre of journal articles. This academic area is crucial for Nicaraguan people to enter the professional class, which is above poverty level, though not much moreso. For instance, two married physicians cannot afford to buy even a modest house in Managua. Many in the professional class live with parents or grandparents who were abl e to afford housing in the Somoza era. Helping people move into this socioeconomic group, however, is a crucial step in pulling this small country out of poverty. At this time, many poor and indigent people are escaping into Costa Rica without any skills or means of support and thus, straining that country’s economy and social structures.

The people convinced me that education is the only hope. I must be part of the solution and believe that UNO, as a sister institution, can become part of a larger, global family. To that end, I, along with the other Nicaraguan participants in the congress, will plan further collaborations with our colleagues: more faculty and student exchanges and more service projects. Together, we shall overcome!

I thank UCAT for funding my trip and for transforming me into a citizen of the world. I pledge to work for social justice in this small, beautiful, culturally rich country.

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