Teaching Tolerance in English Classes
As my graduation from the University of Toronto draws closer, my desire to introduce my English teacher to my school mates become stronger and stronger. Four years ago, in 1986, Mrs. Debby Repka, an M.A. from Yale University and wife of a mathematics professor started to teach English to a graduate student from the People’s Republic of China who was working with her husband. Since then, Mrs. Repka has conducted English classes for about 30 students. The students are divided into three classes, held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Over the last four years, free of charge, Mrs. Repka has taught English as a second language to students from Argentina, China, Greece, Holland, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
The classes are conducted in the dining room in Mrs. Debby Repka’s house, an ordinary three-story house in a downtown neighbourhood. The facilities are rudimentary: in the middle of the room is a big, square table with surrounding chairs. The students are provided with sharpened pencils and recycled computer paper. There is no black board, not even an easel. Mrs. Repka writes on the blank side of the recycled paper and then holds up what she’s written. She uses her own stereo system to play tapes of passages in English. Her classroom is probably the most economical in Canada, one of the world’s richest countries. Yet she has achieved her goal successfully. I will never forget what I gained from her class – a knowledge of the language and a lesson in human consideration and understanding.
A routine English class is a three and a half hours of non-stop training in a wide variety of skills-speaking, listening, reading and writing. The class begins with a warm-up in which students are encouraged to express their opinions about a topic Debby has introduced. Next there is a dictation. The biography and writing style of a famous writer and the main themes in his/her works are presented briefly. Then Debby reads a paragraph from one of the author’s books, and the students write what they hear. Afterwards, each sentence is read aloud by a different student until the dictation is corrected in its entirety. In this way, students are exposed to many different genres such as the fairy tale, the contemporary spy novel, the novel of the 19th century, poetry, etc.
The dictation is followed by grammar practices. In succession, the students read aloud instructions on a grammatical point and then use them to correct error-ridden sentences. Next, the class reads an article from “The New Yorker”, the subject of which is a hot topic in North America or international politics. Each student takes a turn reading aloud while Debby monitors his/her pronunciation and explains difficult vocabulary and idioms.
Then comes training in listening. A tape-recorded passage from CBC’s “Sunday Morning” is played. Students write down whatever words they can pick out and then discuss the content of the broadcast with their teacher. The topic is always a controversy occurring in Canada or in the world. To help her students understand it, Debby introduces relevant background information, so that the event will be treated in its proper context. Afterwards there is an exercise in vocabulary enrichment. Students are asked to write down ten words which Debby dictates and transform them into like-sounding words by changing either vowels or consonants or by adding syllables. They are also required to work as a team to figure out correct answers.
Next comes writing practice. Every one writes an essay on an assigned adhering to a specific format and incorporating new vocabulary into the passage. For example, students have practised the technique of writing a definition, a description and a thesis statement with supporting points. Such exercises are beneficial to visa students who must grapple with essays theses. Debby asks students to write fast without being afraid of making mistakes. She collects the essays, corrects them and returns them at the beginning of the next class.
The class ends with each student giving an oral précis of a “New York Times” article which had been assigned by Debby at the end of the previous class. The articles span topics from horticulture and botany to zoology, the arts, science, sports and politics. This part of class is like an “encyclopaedia” conference. Students listen to their colleagues while enjoying refreshments. They supply cookies or cake, and Debby makes tea and coffee.
Debby thinks that the best way to help visa students to master English language is to incorporate information about Canadian and American culture into her language teaching. Her goal is to make students comfortable enough to participate in social and cultural activities with Canadians. She has been unusually successful in this. Most of her students have improved their English proficiency dramatically, becoming much more familiar with Canadian society in the process.
I come from China, a country has been isolated from the rest of the world for years. I grew up without the experience of talking to someone whose mother tongue is English, never mind Canadian-English. On arriving at the University of Toronto, I was surprised by the high-rise buildings in downtown Toronto, amazed by the high-bridged nose of one of my Canadian colleagues, and moved by the elegant politeness of Canadians. However, these are superficial phenomena beneath which lies a complex and rich culture. To appreciate it, I needed, and received help from Canadians. Among them, Debby has offered me the most and the deepest support.
The knowledge I gained in Debby’s classes has to be understood in the context of the cultural differences between my country of origin and my host country. Canada’s multicultural society was brand-new to me. It is a great society in which all racial groups live peacefully together, but where racial conflicts will invariably surface because of the difference among people. In contrast, Chinese society is homogeneous, most Chinese being of the Han race. If I were to live in China all my life, I wouldn’t experience racial discrimination or discriminate against others, for I would probably live only with people like me. However, as soon as I joined the Canadian society, I discovered the sinful side of my human nature i.e., the prejudices I bore toward other people. I also realized that I have to face prejudice from others. To deal with these problems, one has to have a good understanding of the society.
In North America, citizens do not always enjoy the equality they are guaranteed constitutionally. In one of Debby’s classes, a student presented a “New York Times” article entitled “People Apart”, which characterized New York society as a failed melting pot where, after years of contact with each other, races still live apart. It quoted a black scholar’s description of the pot as containing ingredients which are parts of a whole but cannot constitute a whole. It is therefore comforting to see that the Canadian approach, which is multiculturalism rather than the melting pot, enables different cultures to live in relative harmony. The example of Canada has encouraged me to discard my stereotypes of other races and to educate Canadians to overcome their prejudices against me. This is the attitude promoted in Debby’s classes and is well accepted by the students.
I rarely encountered racism in China, nor did I encountered sexism. Chinese men and women were granted constitutional equality after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Under the communist guidelines, tremendous efforts were made by the Chinese government to help women enter the professions. In contrast to China, the women in many western countries have encountered and continue to encounter great difficulty entering professions such as medicine, law and engineering, which were dominated by males until the 1970s. At the U. of T., I can see traces of the older order in Hart House which women unaccompanied by males were not allowed to enter until 1972. I learned this during the 1990 Alumni Reunion. Many women who graduated before 1972 didn’t know the location of the Tuck Shop, the library or the rest room. Much information about feminist movement has been presented in Debby’s English classes. It has helped me gain a better understanding of the social position of Canadian women.
In addition, Debby has had students précis articles on the issue of sexual orientation. Her purpose in doing so has been to encourage those with little understanding of homosexuality to show tolerance toward it. In my view, tolerance is the essential characteristic of a modern, civilized society.
Most of the students in Debby’s classes are from China. She considers that students from the Mainland have a greater need to improve their English skills than those from other parts of the world.
Mrs. Repka’s spirit and opinions stem from her own life experiences, which include having been raised in a multiracial community and extensive travel which put her in contact with peop[le from widely different backgrounds.
If one understands the hardship a visa student encounters in Canada, he / she will appreciate the volunteer work of Mrs. Debby Repka. I still remember that during the first several months after my arrival in Toronto, I could hardly understand the radio, I read the newspaper slowly and expressed myself unclearly. I was totally occupied by courses and laboratory research during those months. I felt isolated from Canadian society and lived an abnormal social life. Sometimes I had to speak to myself in order to fulfil my need for human contact. Also, I had to learn how to react to situations as would a Canadian and rebuild the confidence I had lost because of my status as an outsider.
Attending Mrs. Repka’s class has changed my life significantly. In
Teaching Tolerance in English Classes
As my graduation from the University of Toronto draws closer, my desire to introduce my English teacher to my school mates become stronger and stronger. Four years ago, in 1986, Mrs. Debby Repka, an M.A. from Yale University and wife of a mathematics professor started to teach English to a graduate student from the People’s Republic of China who was working with her husband. Since then, Mrs. Repka has conducted English classes for about 30 students. The students are divided into three classes, held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Over the last four years, free of charge, Mrs. Repka has taught English as a second language to students from Argentina, China, Greece, Holland, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
The classes are conducted in the dining room in Mrs. Debby Repka’s house, an ordinary three-story house in a downtown neighbourhood. The facilities are rudimentary: in the middle of the room is a big, square table with surrounding chairs. The students are provided with sharpened pencils and recycled computer paper. There is no black board, not even an easel. Mrs. Repka writes on the blank side of the recycled paper and then holds up what she’s written. She uses her own stereo system to play tapes of passages in English. Her classroom is probably the most economical in Canada, one of the world’s richest countries. Yet she has achieved her goal successfully. I will never forget what I gained from her class – a knowledge of the language and a lesson in human consideration and understanding.
A routine English class is a three and a half hours of non-stop training in a wide variety of skills-speaking, listening, reading and writing. The class begins with a warm-up in which students are encouraged to express their opinions about a topic Debby has introduced. Next there is a dictation. The biography and writing style of a famous writer and the main themes in his/her works are presented briefly. Then Debby reads a paragraph from one of the author’s books, and the students write what they hear. Afterwards, each sentence is read aloud by a different student until the dictation is corrected in its entirety. In this way, students are exposed to many different genres such as the fairy tale, the contemporary spy novel, the novel of the 19th century, poetry, etc.
The dictation is followed by grammar practices. In succession, the students read aloud instructions on a grammatical point and then use them to correct error-ridden sentences. Next, the class reads an article from “The New Yorker”, the subject of which is a hot topic in North America or international politics. Each student takes a turn reading aloud while Debby monitors his/her pronunciation and explains difficult vocabulary and idioms.
Then comes training in listening. A tape-recorded passage from CBC’s “Sunday Morning” is played. Students write down whatever words they can pick out and then discuss the content of the broadcast with their teacher. The topic is always a controversy occurring in Canada or in the world. To help her students understand it, Debby introduces relevant background information, so that the event will be treated in its proper context. Afterwards there is an exercise in vocabulary enrichment. Students are asked to write down ten words which Debby dictates and transform them into like-sounding words by changing either vowels or consonants or by adding syllables. They are also required to work as a team to figure out correct answers.
Next comes writing practice. Every one writes an essay on an assigned adhering to a specific format and incorporating new vocabulary into the passage. For example, students have practised the technique of writing a definition, a description and a thesis statement with supporting points. Such exercises are beneficial to visa students who must grapple with essays theses. Debby asks students to write fast without being afraid of making mistakes. She collects the essays, corrects them and returns them at the beginning of the next class.
The class ends with each student giving an oral précis of a “New York Times” article which had been assigned by Debby at the end of the previous class. The articles span topics from horticulture and botany to zoology, the arts, science, sports and politics. This part of class is like an “encyclopaedia” conference. Students listen to their colleagues while enjoying refreshments. They supply cookies or cake, and Debby makes tea and coffee.
Debby thinks that the best way to help visa students to master English language is to incorporate information about Canadian and American culture into her language teaching. Her goal is to make students comfortable enough to participate in social and cultural activities with Canadians. She has been unusually successful in this. Most of her students have improved their English proficiency dramatically, becoming much more familiar with Canadian society in the process.
I come from China, a country has been isolated from the rest of the world for years. I grew up without the experience of talking to someone whose mother tongue is English, never mind Canadian-English. On arriving at the University of Toronto, I was surprised by the high-rise buildings in downtown Toronto, amazed by the high-bridged nose of one of my Canadian colleagues, and moved by the elegant politeness of Canadians. However, these are superficial phenomena beneath which lies a complex and rich culture. To appreciate it, I needed, and received help from Canadians. Among them, Debby has offered me the most and the deepest support.
The knowledge I gained in Debby’s classes has to be understood in the context of the cultural differences between my country of origin and my host country. Canada’s multicultural society was brand-new to me. It is a great society in which all racial groups live peacefully together, but where racial conflicts will invariably surface because of the difference among people. In contrast, Chinese society is homogeneous, most Chinese being of the Han race. If I were to live in China all my life, I wouldn’t experience racial discrimination or discriminate against others, for I would probably live only with people like me. However, as soon as I joined the Canadian society, I discovered the sinful side of my human nature i.e., the prejudices I bore toward other people. I also realized that I have to face prejudice from others. To deal with these problems, one has to have a good understanding of the society.
In North America, citizens do not always enjoy the equality they are guaranteed constitutionally. In one of Debby’s classes, a student presented a “New York Times” article entitled “People Apart”, which characterized New York society as a failed melting pot where, after years of contact with each other, races still live apart. It quoted a black scholar’s description of the pot as containing ingredients which are parts of a whole but cannot constitute a whole. It is therefore comforting to see that the Canadian approach, which is multiculturalism rather than the melting pot, enables different cultures to live in relative harmony. The example of Canada has encouraged me to discard my stereotypes of other races and to educate Canadians to overcome their prejudices against me. This is the attitude promoted in Debby’s classes and is well accepted by the students.
I rarely encountered racism in China, nor did I encountered sexism. Chinese men and women were granted constitutional equality after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Under the communist guidelines, tremendous efforts were made by the Chinese government to help women enter the professions. In contrast to China, the women in many western countries have encountered and continue to encounter great difficulty entering professions such as medicine, law and engineering, which were dominated by males until the 1970s. At the U. of T., I can see traces of the older order in Hart House which women unaccompanied by males were not allowed to enter until 1972. I learned this during the 1990 Alumni Reunion. Many women who graduated before 1972 didn’t know the location of the Tuck Shop, the library or the rest room. Much information about feminist movement has been presented in Debby’s English classes. It has helped me gain a better understanding of the social position of Canadian women.
In addition, Debby has had students précis articles on the issue of sexual orientation. Her purpose in doing so has been to encourage those with little understanding of homosexuality to show tolerance toward it. In my view, tolerance is the essential characteristic of a modern, civilized society.
Most of the students in Debby’s classes are from China. She considers that students from the Mainland have a greater need to improve their English skills than those from other parts of the world.
Mrs. Repka’s spirit and opinions stem from her own life experiences, which include having been raised in a multiracial community and extensive travel which put her in contact with peop[le from widely different backgrounds.
If one understands the hardship a visa student encounters in Canada, he / she will appreciate the volunteer work of Mrs. Debby Repka. I still remember that during the first several months after my arrival in Toronto, I could hardly understand the radio, I read the newspaper slowly and expressed myself unclearly. I was totally occupied by courses and laboratory research during those months. I felt isolated from Canadian society and lived an abnormal social life. Sometimes I had to speak to myself in order to fulfil my need for human contact. Also, I had to learn how to react to situations as would a Canadian and rebuild the confidence I had lost because of my status as an outsider.
Attending Mrs. Repka’s class has changed my life significantly. In
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