Embracing Multilingualism and Eradicating Linguistic Bias | Karen Leung | TEDxWWU
Karen Leung is currently in her second year in Woodring’s Early Childhood Education at Western Washington University. Through her involvement in this program, she has found that her passion lies in social justice and linguistics, and the overlap that exists between these two in bilingual education. Being in Woodring allows her to apply her passions to her teaching career, and gives her the opportunity to break down language barriers in education. Growing up as a native Cantonese speaker, Karen took ESL classes in school, all the while interpreting for her parents during teacher conferences at just seven years old. Through this experience, she realized that there is a need of increased awareness of the linguistic biases in our society and the need for more resources for immigrant families who are working in tandem with schools to provide the best possible education for their children. Karen also sees the potential of linguistic diversity in education, and believes that it is crucial for multicultural education.
Karen's dream is to open a bilingual, Cantonese-English early childhood learning center, incorporating her knowledge in childhood development and multilingualism. Karen Leung is currently in her second year in Woodring’s Early Childhood Education at Western Washington University. Through her involvement in this program, she has found that her passion lies in social justice and linguistics, and the overlap that exists between these two in bilingual education. Being in Woodring allows her to apply her passions to her teaching career, and gives her the opportunity to break down language barriers in education. Growing up as a native Cantonese speaker, Karen took ESL classes in school, all the while interpreting for her parents during teacher conferences at just seven years old. Through this experience, she realized that there is a need of increased awareness of the linguistic biases in our society and the need for more resources for immigrant families who are working in tandem with schools to provide the best possible education for their children. Karen also sees the potential of linguistic diversity in education, and believes that it is crucial for multicultural education. Karen's dream is to open a bilingual, Cantonese-English early childhood learning center, incorporating her knowledge in childhood development and multilingualism. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
“What we say is far more important than how we say it.” Thanks for the wonderful speech.
This has gave me more ideas for my speech, im also cantonese and people in my class have been saying things in cantonese accent i do not like. This has helped me a lot
Omg youre so GREAT. Thanks for your strength and bravery!! Hugs from 🇧🇷🇧🇷
I once told a girl in the internet “I always wanted a German Shepherd, still I wouldn’t trade my cat for anything”. She answered: “who would trade their pets?” That’s how I realized that’s a Brazilian expression
interesting ! thank you for sharing this video
understanding this is so crucial nowadays
Good and forthfill speech
My MD-educated cousin, adopted from Korea also "speaks very good English!" LOL! Thanks for this talk!
I work in a grocery store and we have many customers who cannot speak German (my native language) in a way that I can easily understand them. Sometimes they are even impossible to understand because the words are pronounced in a way that they do not even vaguely resemble what they mean. It is sometimes a tough challenge to help them.
I wish more immigrants would have kept there native languages through the generations. I hope your children will embrace Cantonese and as many languages they can! I have tried multiple times to learn a second language but thus far not a one has stuck.
It was great
Great
great
This year alone I've felt ashamed of a lot of things I've thought or said that were so utilized in society that I've used them without realizing their negative impacts. Like the use of the term "broken english". Like... how did I not realize that hearing your own speech referred to as broken over and over would affect you negatively? I'm trying to change! Taking Linguistic Anthropology has shown me the error in a lot of my thought processes about others and the way they use language.
Nice voice🎉.
When you are so focused on self you can not see being gracious to others.
"Speak American!" Me: Por supuesto con mucho gusto.
Yet, in Mexico or all other Spanish speaking countries in Central and South America, citizens of the US are called "Americanos". You need to educate them first. Good luck with that!
맞아요. 미국인들 대부분에 다른 나라 사람과 언어 더 많이 이해하면 좋겠어요.
My thoughts on this talk: I agree with a lot of Karen's points. I find it horrendous that people's intelligence is so often judged based on their knowledge of English. This is not even only the case in English speaking countries, but thanks to American/English-language hegemony in the world, even people living in their native countries are often seen as backwards if they don't speak English well. It's a horrible double-standard: A French person would never be ashamed of not knowing German, per se, but I know several French people who are embarrassed by their lacking English skills. I also very much agree that Americans need to become more multilingual. However, the fact of the matter is English speakers are catered to around the world- all our TV shows, movies, music, higher education, opportunities are available to us in our native language. This is, in today's world, not the case for speakers of other languages who are under immense pressure to learn English. Speakers of other languages have to nurture their own languages and English speakers have to be made to see the value of learning other languages before they will start to learn. Our current "English above all else" system is not conducive to this. In regards to how her parents speak- I'm sorry, but "You eat full yet" IS broken English. Speaking broken English isn't a bad thing and one's foreign language skills should NEVER be used as a measure of intelligence. The fact remains though, that there is a correct (read: standard) way of speaking English and an incorrect (read: non-native) way. Furthermore, while using Cantonese syntax and expressions with English words is very interesting and offers a window into the culture, I don't see it as an incredible feat. On the contrary, this is a trap that many language learners fall into- translating directly. It's definitely more of a feat to avoid calques. Of course, speaking grammatically incorrect is not a bad thing, and I abhor people that say "Speak American" as much as the next guy! Lastly, Karen seems to toot her own horn a lot for being bilingual. It's true that being bi- or multilingual is very good for the brain, but Karen let's face it, you don't know what it's really like to master a foreign language from scratch. You were gifted two languages from birth, speaking the language of your parents and the language of your country. No reason to rub that in other Americans faces who were not fortunate enough to grow up bilingual. You could lead by example by brushing up on your French! ;)
Sometimes we have to take the time to read longer comments places and not just short blurbs.
i agree with every word
All very true.
I've brought up my son who was born in Spain to speak native speaker level English. I've written about the 5 key strategies that any parent can use(even non natives) to ensure their child speaks a second language from birth. THE 5 KEY STRATEGIES OF SUCCESSFUL BILINGUAL FAMILIES by Simon Brampton.
Hi, I’m Henry Guo. I’ve been spending more than 100,000 hours studying English humor and culture and spending more than 100,000 hours studying Chinese humor and culture. I’m teaching Chinese language in jokes. Hope you can help me promote the funny way of teaching Chinese.
Hey Carmen. Thanks for the lecture and perspective. Dominant language speakers don't have the need to speak another one. I am multilingual out of necessity. I don't want to diminish your feeling of discrimination but to me it comes with the territory. I enjoy the benefits of the dominant culture I have embraced. Linguistic discrimination, for me, is a small price to pay. Second generation immigrants, like yourself, my daughter and many others, also pay a price. You are fortunate your parents speak the same language and therefore spoke it at home. You are a true bilingual. My wife and I speak 2 different languages. So, when she was born we had a conundrum. English was a necessity in my work. So the choice was easy and simple. She is now a native English speaker. I made a compromise when I realized that my language will not continue with me. We taught her a universal language(?). Music. She's "multilingual" in piano, violin, voice and can "babble" in any instrument she cares. She is Canadian. Officially bilingual, multicultural. Universal healthcare. Discrimination of the sort you talked about, I pray will be a thing of the past. You and your fellow Americans stay safe from covid 19.
I wish the Chinese chick's victimology and her hatred of America was a thing of the past.
"Speak American"? Speak Navajo (or other indigenous languages)
It feels like I'm being lectured by my parents for doing something wrong.
The problem is English bias in the world. Not America. So in that sense I disagree with her. How can any American expect to understand Cantonese or any of the hundred other languages in the world. There is nothing wrong with expecting someone in the US to speak English, or at most Spanish and English because if its demographics. It doesn't make you superior that you can speak English natively without an accent but Americans ought to speak English well. But people in other countries do not need to speak English well. This is why English speakers in Mexico for example should no expect English spoken to a good level, and have no right to demand English to be spoken.
The girl looks Chinese and she started her speech in a language that sounds very different than English, and she sounded very confident in that language, which makes you think that it might be her native one. It's only natural to expect her to have some accent when she switches to English. I don't see how's it discriminating. Politically correct BS.
Yes, that's ridiculous hypocrisy: No Chinese person would even expect a caucasian to speak any Chinese, let alone perfect Chinese. And o if they did, all of a sudden, the Chinese would be a hundred times more surprised about that! That then makes them a hundred times more biased and prejudiced, according to her own logic! Also, they say how Americans should be able to understand their English no matter how broken it is and not complain, yet they know perfectly well that if a foreigner (a non-tourist) in their own country spoke broken, barely-intelligable local language the locals would all comment on it and tease and mock and get extra annoyed. And they would comment not just on a broken language, but on the smallest disfluencies, in fact. I know that because I speak English and Russian and though Russian is my first language, I have received WAY more criticism for stumbling over my words in Russian from Russians than I ever have for my English (haven't received any negative comments about English, in fact). Everyone can learn to speak any language in a clear, intelligible way. And if they don't bother, it is not just the "privileged local Americans" who are negatively affected, but literally everyone, including other non-native speakers (probably even more so).
Quit whining.
@@ElenaKomleva good point
@@ElenaKomleva No Chinese person would even expect a European American to speak any Chinese. Caucasian is outdated.
So you still don't understand such thing as "bilingual" or "multilingual", even after watching the video. LOL