In reading “The Implications of Globalizing English” by Suresh Canagarajah I have to say I was blown away. The key points to understand this article all have to do with the alternate routes in English. The way English is taught in classes is through the traditional route (Standard English) which has been done for generations, as we all know. But as it turns out, although English learner student are learning Standard English in class, they are picking up the language better outside of class. You see, English is a difficult language to learn with all of our rules and pronunciation, but in a social setting among friends and social media they are picking up the language rather fast.

            What I learned from this article is that there is more than one way to learn English. Traditional English is difficult to learn, even as a college student, so it’s understood a little bit slower due to its method being taught. As for learning the more social English, everybody picks it up rather quick because we use it every day. You use it when you are at work, talk with your friends and family, and respond to text or social media. Its more personalized to you and your group so you pick up your own English your own way. For instance every group of English speaking individuals have their own way of speaking English. Country farm kids have a very lazy twang kind of English compared to urban kids and their English. It goes further than that though. Hawaiian have a different way of speaking English compared to Canadians, it’s all relevant. I kind of already knew this just from being a young adult. I talk to different people in different variations of English. For instance, I’m not going to speak to my professor or my mother the same as I speak to my friends, it just doesn’t work. So it actually comes down to being formal, professional, or casual when speaking.

            This information I have to say is so important to our school and our teachers as well. Knowing that English expands beyond Standard English is so important to understand for many reasons. First off, understanding this situation will help nonnative speakers of English open up to native speakers of English there for helping said nonnative speakers understand social English, (the English used on the street). The sad thing about this way of speaking English is that I don’t think you can teach it in a classroom, its self-taught. Of course the traditional way of speaking English is not going anywhere, but it gives student the foundation in which the process of speaking is taught. On the street and in public is where you really learn to speak English. It like if you were just dropped in Mexico with only the basic teaching of Spanish taught in high schools. You either learn the language or just flat out not survive. Good thing this is not real, but the concept is the same. This is very important to teach all of our grades because all styles of English are important.

In reading “The Implications of Globalizing English” by Suresh Canagarajah I have to say I was blown away. The key points to understand this article all have to do with the alternate routes in English. The way English is taught in classes is through the traditional route (Standard English) which has been done for generations, as we all know. But as it turns out, although English learner student are learning Standard English in class, they are picking up the language better outside of class. You see, English is a difficult language to learn with all of our rules and pronunciation, but in a social setting among friends and social media they are picking up the language rather fast.

            What I learned from this article is that there is more than one way to learn English. Traditional English is difficult to learn, even as a college student, so it’s understood a little bit slower due to its method being taught. As for learning the more social English, everybody picks it up rather quick because we use it every day. You use it when you are at work, talk with your friends and family, and respond to text or social media. Its more personalized to you and your group so you pick up your own English your own way. For instance every group of English speaking individuals have their own way of speaking English. Country farm kids have a very lazy twang kind of English compared to urban kids and their English. It goes further than that though. Hawaiian have a different way of speaking English compared to Canadians, it’s all relevant. I kind of already knew this just from being a young adult. I talk to different people in different variations of English. For instance, I’m not going to speak to my professor or my mother the same as I speak to my friends, it just doesn’t work. So it actually comes down to being formal, professional, or casual when speaking.

            This information I have to say is so important to our school and our teachers as well. Knowing that English expands beyond Standard English is so important to understand for many reasons. First off, understanding this situation will help nonnative speakers of English open up to native speakers of English there for helping said nonnative speakers understand social English, (the English used on the street). The sad thing about this way of speaking English is that I don’t think you can teach it in a classroom, its self-taught. Of course the traditional way of speaking English is not going anywhere, but it gives student the foundation in which the process of speaking is taught. On the street and in public is where you really learn to speak English. It like if you were just dropped in Mexico with only the basic teaching of Spanish taught in high schools. You either learn the language or just flat out not survive. Good thing this is not real, but the concept is the same. This is very important to teach all of our grades because all styles of English are important.

Blog #2

IIn reading both the article from Grammar Alive and the article Christensen's article, I found these two sources very beneficial in teaching grammar. Of course they are two different sources but they share a common goal, teaching grammar. Teaching grammar can be a tricky thing to teach so more than one source confirming different routes of teaching really helps.

In reading Grammar Alive I found three goals of teaching grammar right off the bat in chapter one. The goals state; Goal A: "Every student, from every background, will complete school with the ability to communicate comfortably and effectively in both spoken and written Standard English, with awareness of when use of Standard English is appropriate.(1)" Goal B: "Every student will complete school with the ability to analyze the grammatical structure o sentences within English texts, using grammatical terminology correctly and demonstrating knowledge of how sentence-level grammatical structure contributes to the coherence of paragraphs and texts.(1)" And finally Goal C: "Every student will complete school with an understanding of, and application for, the natural variation that occurs in language across time, social situation, and social group. While recognizing the need for mastering Standard English, students will also demonstrate an understanding of the equality in the expressive capacity and linguistic structure among a range of language varieties both vernacular and standard, as well as an understanding of language-based prejudice.(1)" I do feel that these three goals make up teaching grammar for the reasons of teaching Standard English along with turning that around into social English, along with every student completing school. When I become a teacher I hope to follow these goals.

In reading Christensen's article, right in the beginning I found some differences that separate them apart. In the article, there are many first hand situations which would put this source as a primary source instead of a secondary source, Grammar Alive. Also in reading this article I felt that Christensen was exercising his social English more than his Standard English. He definitely when on to talk about Standard English but in a social manner. What I did gather from this article as well is that the Goals (ABC) are used in this article but are used in real life teaching situations which I found helpful due to the fact that we see the actions in real life situations. Personally that helped me, it’s one thing to read the goals in a book but it’s another to see them work for what they are in situations.

I do have to say there wasn't a whole lot of similarity in the readings, rather they flowed in each other. Using the three goals, Christensen showed us how to proper ally use them in a situations of teaching. As for Grammar Alive, this reading showed us the actual goals in which we use in proper teaching. So just to state the fact again, they flow into each other. In the questions of these two being common or challenging each other, I would have to side with common and flowing into each other. 

Work Cited

1.Haussamen, B., & Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar. (2003). Grammar alive! : A guide for teachers. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English.