Received: from sccrmhc01.attbi.com (sccrmhc01.attbi.com [204.127.202.61]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id h1MGI3P14080 for <nifl-esl@nifl.gov>; Sat, 22 Feb 2003 11:18:03 -0500 (EST) Received: from p200-40569 (h00045af7aabf.ne.client2.attbi.com[24.218.148.156]) by sccrmhc01.attbi.com (sccrmhc01) with SMTP id <2003022216175800100ate2ke>; Sat, 22 Feb 2003 16:17:58 +0000 Received: by localhost with Microsoft MAPI; Sat, 22 Feb 2003 11:27:44 -0500 Message-ID: <01C2DA65.6AF6B3A0.ldpierce@emlc.org> From: Lisa Pierce <ldpierce@emlc.org> Reply-To: "ldpierce@emlc.org" <ldpierce@emlc.org> To: "'nifl-esl@nifl.gov'" <nifl-esl@nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8575] RE: Re: Impending Attack on Iraq Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2003 11:27:42 -0500 Organization: EMLC X-Mailer: Microsoft Internet E-mail/MAPI - 8.0.0.4211 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Status: O Content-Length: 2913 Lines: 61 While I am on the topic of folks being constructive, thank you John for turning this melee of personal views into ideas for what to consider when discussing political issues with our students (who we all need to remember also have widely varying views). I think some ideas on how to present material in as neutral of a way as possible would be helpful. We all know that all forms of media have their biases, as well as our texts and we also. Have any of you out there tackled such highly charged political issues? Were you able to present both sides accurately and fairly? What activities and methods did you use? In debate clubs across the country students learn to research, present, listen to and critically evaluate issues from all sides. Perhaps we could bring some of this into our classes. Lisa -----Original Message----- From: John Kamplain [SMTP:john_kamplain@albanyparkcommunitycenter.org] Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 9:44 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8572] Re: Impending Attack on Iraq if that's the case, then who's making sure students are getting a fair, objective point of view on the war. you say i don't think esol is apolitical. i think it's important to teach students how to nurture and voice their own opinions and not the manufactured ones you're spouting here. i think that if you want to get into the larger question of "is teaching political" we can do that. but a listserv ostensibly dedicated to esl shouldn't. if you want to talk about how to show both sides of this complex issue to students and let them decide where their thoughts are, we can do that too. but i'm not seeing that in the last few missives. what i'm seeing is a lot of rhetoric about how bad this country and its government is. how going to war is wrong, yet not how there may be just cause for war. 1. how you propose to present both sides of this issue to a low level (ESL 0-2) class? 2. how would you present both sides of this equation? 3. how do we as teachers avoid editorializing in situations like this and instead show point/counterpoint? 4. i find the claims of "big brother" and "censorship" laughable in a day and age such as ours. if anything, there's too much information out there. are you proposing media studies in esol? how would you present media analysis into an esl class and what level? what's the difference between media quantitative media analysis and crying wolf? it seems to me that in the limited amount of time we have with students, these are complex challenges. if you are serious about these issues within an esl context, i'm still curious why you're spending your time lashing out at government and not addressing the contextual (eff) methods that could be used in teaching. finally, i find it ironic that you use a government subsidised listserv to spew anti-government opinions. only in america and god bless us for it!
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