Impact of Geography on Language and Learning

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THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION
by Your Name
Modern Educational Thought
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(Name of School/University)
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(Date)
The Role of Language in Education
Introduction
Language is an integral part of the learning process. It is the medium with which learning is passed from the teacher to the students and vice versa. This is the main reason why to successfully learn the concepts taught in schools, learners’ understanding of the language used must be developed properly first.
According to Oller and Perkins (1978), and Coleman (2010), developing language properly can help a great deal in preparing students for a lot of things. These things primarily revolve around preparing students for assessments and tests. However, this does not mean that preparing for exams is the sole reason as to why language should be developed. It is also important that the learner’s oral and written communication skills using the chosen language is properly developed (Brown 2000). To develop these aspects, certain factors must be taken into consideration. In this regard, this study aims to examine the impact of factors like geography, culture, teacher usage, modern application, home language, and student perception affects the way students understand and use language, how this, in turn, affects the way they learn.
Impact of Geography on Language and Learning
The first factor that will be examined in this study is geography. Students who study in a foreign country often find problems in learning, not only because the place is new, but because the language is new as well. For instance, students from a non-English speaking country want to study at an American university. Unless the student, learns the language to the point of fluency, he or she may find it difficult to interact and participate in class, especially if the manner of speaking is colloquial. There is also a problem when the English that the student knows is different from the English the university uses. This is because according to Everett (2013), the geography in which a specific language or dialect originates may affect how it is spoken. For instance, the English spoken in the United Kingdom is different from the English spoken in America. A student who is used to American terminologies may find it confusing to study at a British university because although most of the terms are similar, there are terms that are innately British.
This is also true for students who are studying in the same country but in another province or island who speaks a certain dialect different from his or her own or using a different tonality. Take, for example, the Philippines. The Philippines is an archipelago located in South-East Asia. Because of the natural barriers between the areas of this country, there are at least a hundred different languages that are mutually unintelligible. There is a national language, Filipino, which is used throughout the Philippines, but it is not used very often in the areas where it is not the native language.
A problem arises with this situation: When a student moves to a place within the country that does not speak his/her native language or dialect, there is a language barrier that prevents further learning. Because of this natural barrier, the student transferee may find it hard to learn the lesson taught by the teacher in the native tongue of the place. If the teacher tries to shift the medium of instruction to suit the learning needs of the transfer student, there is a risk of affecting the learning of the other students. Hence, a national language is usually mandated as the national medium of instruction, in this case, Filipino. Now, to adapt with global demands, the Filipino medium of instruction has shifted primarily to English, especially in the higher education.
This geographical problem is felt by various countries and students all over the world and despite that many reforms and policies implemented to mitigate this language barrier and lessen its impact on student education, it still does not fully provide a solution.
Effect of Culture on Language and Learning
Another factor that can also affect the role of language in education is culture. Cultural differences also affect the child’s application and understanding of language, which will also impact the learning process.
Hoff (2006, p. 55) examined how culture change can affect the language development of learners. His analysis found out that because the cultural environment where a child grows forms a huge support system on how the child acquires language, changing the environment also causes a change at which a child acquires language. Those who are slower in adapting to the new knowledge may end up learning slower than those who are already accustomed to the language. Bourdieu (1992, 2011, p. 81) also posits the same realization in his concept Cultural Capital, Habitus and Field.
Cultural Capital, as defined by Bourdieu (2011, p. 81), is a collection of the things that he has achieved and all the things that were provided for him, whether by society or from other individuals. This capital defines a person’s position in the “social order”. It also defines the language one uses. Those who are born in a wealthier family, in contrast to those who are born in less wealthy homes, will, often, have a better education than that of their lower-class counterparts. This affects the way they talk and view society. Where a person from a middle- or lower-class family in the Philippines may know only one or two languages, a person who is born into a wealthy family will have the chance to learn another language on top of those he already knows. And because their grasps of the languages are better, they also have wider opportunities to learn more as well as better cultural adaptability. This is evident in those who study in universities located in another province or city, even island. Some stay at their local area to study and because they are native to that area, there is less change in culture and language usage that can affect their education. However, those who studied in another place, using a different dialect or language, will have diversity in cultural perspective and learning experience.
Another concept developed by Bourdieu (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992) is the concept of Habitus. The concept of Habitus is probably Bourdieu’s most influential concept. Habitus is defined as a set of relations ‘deposited” as mental and corporeal representations of how people perceive and appreciate things, and how they act in response to these perceptions and appreciations. These actions then become a part of a chain of relations leading to the formation of habits, skills, and dispositions which are defined by a person’s Cultural Capital (Bourdieu 1982, 2011, p. 81). This concept is like the sports concept of “feel for the game” (Jorgensen 2011, p. 315). A habitus is a great tool for successfully getting a “feel” for how the society in which a person is a part of “plays out”. It also closely affects how a student uses language in education. An example of this is how a student from Manila talks and uses the language in learning is also a bit different. Since Tagalog is the native language in the area, the student will be able to speak and understand the lessons delivered in Tagalog better compared to someone who is not used or has little grasp of the language. Meanwhile, a person who is from the provinces in which Filipino, or Tagalog, is not the primary language will be more comfortable in speaking his own language and will also learn better using their native dialect or language.
The area of effect for the Cultural Capital and Habitus is defined by Bourdieu as the Field (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). This is where all the interactions between the people of diverse backgrounds and experiences meet. Some of these fields include education, law, religion, language development, and more. Every field is different from another in its positions, rules, and the way it grows (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). But they are not the only individual in this sense because these fields tend to overlap, like in the case of language and education.
Ramburuth and Tani (2009, p. 182) conducted a research on the impact of culture on learning and found out that students who came from English speaking countries learn the lessons taught in English faster than those who aren’t native English speakers. To help those students who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, institutional support must be implemented to help them acculturate to the language, environment, and the learning (Sepulveda 1973, p. 209). This finding from Ramburuth and Tani further implies how culture affects learning via the route of language misunderstanding.
The researches conducted by Hoff, Bourdieu, and Wacquant, Ramburuth and Tani, and Sepulveda all support that language is an essential factor in student learning and due to culture, this medium of communication may lead to better or less favorable ends for students. This is especially true for those who are not raised accustomed to the universal language, English, or any other foreign language that is essential in their pursuit of education.
Impact of How the Teacher uses Language in Student Learning
Now, culture and geography are not the only factors that impact the learning of students through affecting language. Teacher factor also plays a role here, especially with how teachers apply language in the classroom. The statement, “It wasn’t what he said, it’s how he said it” best implies this scenario.
Henderer (1971) conducted a study which examined the impact of the teacher’s tone of voice on student academic performance. The aim of the study was to find out if the emotion behind the teacher’s tone of voice impacts the student’s performance at school. Results of the study suggested that teachers who use a ‘cold’, ‘angry’, or ‘anxious’ tone elicited better performance than teachers who taught with ‘warm’, ‘not angry’, or ‘not anxious’. These teachers were viewed as weak in terms of discipline, so students spent less time on being productive. During his time, it may have been the case for the students—to do better because they fear the teacher.
However, today, this may not be so. Although it cannot be denied that being firm in the classroom to maintain discipline and productivity is important, the teacher doesn’t have to necessarily use restricting and angry tones when dealing with students. Johnston (2004) supports this concept in his book on how the language used at school overlaps with how children learn. Johnston outlined that since teachers serve as the moderators and facilitators in creating a good learning environment in school, the way the teacher talks and uses the language affects how students learn. Take for example a teacher who uses commanding language in lessons. There is a tendency that students will focus on the lesson not because they are motivated but because they are scared. This leads to lesser learning because students feel unwelcomed in asking clarifications or participating in activities which dampen their learning. This is a far cry from a teacher who uses engaging language in delivering lessons. Since the teacher’s language aims to engage the students, this will help gives the students a welcoming air which helps keep them motivated to learn.
Bucholz and Sheffler (2009, p. 4) conducted a study on the impact of a warm and inclusive classroom climate on the performance of students. According to the results of the study, a classroom that is dedicated to fostering warm acceptance and cooperation leads to more productive students. Some of the methods to achieve this is to keep the classroom physically and emotionally conducive to learning (Turano 2005; Hannah 2013). Regulating and moderating the language and tones used within the class is one contribution to this. This means that the teacher must also watch over how students speak towards other teachers, authorities, and their classmates to ensure that no offending words are tossed without any care. This is because offending language can result in many problems and most of these problems can leave a significant impact on students’ pursuit of education.
Rodrigues, de Medeiros, and Teixeira (2017, p. 2) conducted a study on the effect of the teacher’s dysphonic voice on the learning of the students. Dysphonia is a medical condition that is common among teachers and affects the ease at which teachers talk. In the study, Rodriguez, de Medeiros, and Teixeira found out that listening to the teacher’s dysphonic language negatively affected the students’ performance. Findings show that when dealt with a teacher with dysphonia, the students spend more time decoding the actual language and less on understanding it. Although, not directly, this study still shows the impact of problems affecting teacher language on student perception.
The study presented by Henderer, despite opposing the more recent of studies of Johnston, Bucholz and Sheffler, Turano, Hannah, and Rodrigues, de Medeiros, and Teixeira, shows that even then, teacher usage of language has been a route that has been studied to provide a better understanding on the issue. The results of the study may have worked on the classroom environment before but the studies of Johnston, Bucholz, and Sheffler, Turano, Hannah, and Rodrigues, de Medeiros, and Teixeira provide a more modern view on the issue and a more prevailing realization in a common learning classroom.
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