Cynthia,

You said that your agenda in the classroom is

"to use the classroom to inspire empowerment and
agency in each individual. I believe this is central to a healthy
democracy and ultimately is essential to our survival."

I do not say that this is an unworthy goal. However, the ESL learners are
not in a position to challenge your agenda. I believe that your agenda
should be carried out in the language of the learner, so that they can feel
more comfortable challenging your assumptions.

Language learning should be aimed at bringing about a very specific
transformation, to transform someone who does not use a language well, into
someone who does.

Speakers of languages are mostly amateurs, as are most people who sing. I am
not talking about training professional singers here. I am talking about how
to make a learning process as enjoyable as possible, because that will bring
about success.

Steve



-- 
Steve Kaufmann
www.lingq.com
1-604-922-8514
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/professionaldevelopment/attachments/20080714/9ea3b523/attachment.html