Applied Linguistics and Language Teacher Education by Nat Bartels

RIEGELHAUPT AND CARRASCO 11713. CONCLUSIONSThere was a clear and direct impact of training in applied linguistics for the teachersinvolved. As evident in some of the teacher quotes, when they began the course theyheld negative attitudes toward their students’ language abilities. They believed that theirstudents were unable to express themselves in English. They did not understand thattheir students spoke a dialect of English with rules that differ from those found instandard English. One example is the fact that their students seldom formed plurals orpast tenses as prescribed in English grammar textbooks. Once they realized that,perhaps, some of their students were using an Apache language model for plural and pasttense formation, their attitudes toward what they had considered a serious error began tochange.It is essential for teachers, especially those who are not aware of or familiar with thedialect of their students, to understand it and learn to respect it for what it is: a perfectlyviable, rule-governed dialect of English that has historically been influenced by contactwith Apache much in the same way as English has been influenced by contact with otherlanguages. It is important that teachers understand the sociolinguistic circumstances oflanguage use in the community and schools in which they work. In this case, training inapplied linguistics that was based on the linguistic reality of Whiteriver Apachesdirected teachers to shift paradigms from a deficit model to an additive one, one wheretheir students’ dialect is respected and accepted, while efforts toward achieving bidialectalismand bilingualism continue to take place.NOTES* Mr. Edgar Perry, an Apache Language and Culture specialist, teacher and tribal elder, taught a Apachelanguage and culture workshop for teachers as part of the course. This was followed by the school-communitylinguistics lectures by Drs. Riegelhaupt and Carrasco.REFERENCESCarrasco, R. and Riegelhaupt, F. (in press). Science, Language, Culture and the Sacred: Issues and Concernsfor Science Curriculum Development for Apache, Navajo, Zuñi and Hopi Schools. In B. Spolsky & 'topeOmoniyi (Eds.), The Sociology of Religion and Sociology of Language. London: John Benjamins.Carrasco, R., Riegelhaupt, F. &. Gilbert, W. (2002). Integrating Apache language and culture into the schoolcurriculum: A teacher training and applied research model. Paper presented at the 31st Annual Meetingof the International & National Association of Bilingual Education Conference: History meets the Future,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 19-23, 2002.Carrasco, R. & Gilbert, W. (2000) Bilingual Education: Training for all Teachers. A three-year grant to trainall teachers in the Whiteriver School District in the White Mountain Apache Nation. Office of Bilingualand Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA-Title VII now Title 111), U.S. Department of Education,Washington, D.C.Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for languageminority students. In: California State Department of Education (Ed.), Schooling and Language MinorityStudents. Los Angeles: Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment Center, California State University,Los Angeles.