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These are teachers that were hired to teach something else(either SPanish, ESL, don't remember), and when they're program got cut, they got placed teaching English. Now some are either getting reassigned, and some fired.
By the way, these are legal residents, if not citizens.
I have at least 10 friends that went into liberal studies and some of them are teaching bilingual education. First of all, the student must pass all his or her college courses, do supervised intership, pass state exams, etc. If the teacher was not qualified for the job, he or she would not have passed those exams and someone during his or her supervision would have noticed that something was wrong with the lack of teaching skills. That is is all of a sudden an issue...considering it is AZ, I think it is a case of prejudice. Just my two cents.
If these teachers meet all of the required qualifications, then there is no reason that they should be reassigned.
There are lots of foreign lang teachers who are fluent but who still have an American accent. Yet, they are able to teach Spanish (and other langs) very effectively. And English lang teachers are no exception.
In fact, a native Spanish speaker who has learned English is much more valuable than a native English speaker as an ELL teacher b/c the non-native speaker understands the issues that are specific to English lang learners who are native Spanish speakers.
Native English speakers are not qualified to teach English simply b/c they are native speakers. And most English majors in the U.S. focus on literature (and how to teach it), which is useless for someone trying to learn English, which is why there are specific programs to train ELL teachers.
Again, qualifications should be the criteria here, not accents, unless (as one person in the article pointed out), an accent severely impedes lang acquisition.
Furthermore, students don't necessarily learn how to pronounce a lang like a native speaker by modeling a teacher. I know many students of Spanish and English who have never been able to master native pronunciation even after studying with a native speaker and immersing themselves in the lang. In fact, that description describes the majority of language students.
However, I do agree with the concerns re: fluency, although I am suspect as to how teachers are judged re: fluency. I know many people who think that pausing to search for a word or not knowing a particular word for something means that someone is not fluent.
I am highly suspect that this has suddenly become an issue just as immigration reform in AZ has begun.
I think accent is an important part of being able to comprehend what you are taught. I remember having a few teachers (not in other languages, I'm talking science or math) in college that I had no idea what they were saying. Had to learn everything from the book and just sit bored through the class.
I think discrimination issues have just gone too far. Just like being fat should disqualify you from being a cop or a fireman, having a heavy accent should disqualify you from teaching. Not everyone is meant for all fields.
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