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Thong (Tong) Ly

ESL – 33B

Professor Karen Carlisi

30 March 2018

A Fascination with Language

Section 1: What Made Me Choose Linguistics?

When I was a kid, my mom sent me to a Chinese school to learn Mandarin. At that point,

what I understood the concept of learning a new language is to know how to acquire the fluency

in terms of speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills. However, while growing up, my

whole point of view about language changed completely when I started my English learning

journey. The difficulties that I encountered and the variations in the languages that I had learned

in my life formed a great many questions about how language works. I started to turn my focus

on the wide range of knowledge about language and observe how people around me from kids to

adults had learned languages. The longer I am on the journey of learning English, the more

interested I become in the study of language, and the more questions I have about the complexity

of this field. My constant curiosity led to a fascination with language and I realized a major in

Linguistics would allow me to further explore the sophisticated world of language besides

simply learning a particular language.

Born in Vietnam and raised in a Chinese family background, I took all the advantages of

learning native languages possible. When my family moved to the United Stated, I started my

journey of learning English. In Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue,” the author talked about “all

the Englishes” she grew up with had developed her love for language. I can totally relate to this

because through my history of learning all the languages, I never stopped questioning myself
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about what I could do to improve my language skills. While I had had a successful experience

with learning Mandarin in the past, I also had numerous difficulties with learning English. I liked

to observe how successful learners had studies languages and used my observations to reflect on

my experiences. To this way, the desire of becoming a successful language learner intensified

my love for language. I started to think more about language in depth and tried to figure out the

reasons why some people find it is easy to learn a new language, while some people have the

mindset that it is impossible to learn a new language as they get older.

I became more involved in language when those questions about how people’s

perceptions on learning languages arose, I started to observe the language development of my

nephew. He was brought up a Californian, but his parents never spoke English with him. The

main language spoken at home was Cantonese; however, he was permitted to watch tons of

American kids’ movies. Although he hadn’t been old enough to enter schools yet, his English

pronunciation was perfectly clear. What I had observed how my nephew developed language

resulted in some comparisons I made to my own English learning experiences. I realized that I

had studied English longer than he did, but he outdid me in acquiring knowledge about language.

I never stopped wondering what the reasons were and how I could explain these observations. It

is always my desire to figure out how children acquire knowledge about language. The complex

world of language formed in children is greatly different from what it is in adults. The curiosity

in language always intrigued me.

A fascination with language does not only come from the inner nature, the outer

motivation has cultivated my passion as well. Traveling experiences and the opportunities to

meet different people instill the love of language into me. There are a great number of different

languages in this world, and each language has great many different dialects. I would describe
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the variety of languages and their dialects as the colored pieces in a kaleidoscope and it never

fails to impress me. My natural curiosity led me to ask myself more questions about who initially

had created languages and what had caused them to do so. The more places I go, the more

curious I become about the origins of languages, and the more eager I become to explore deeper

into the world of language.

The world of language is extremely wide and sophisticated. I used to have the mindset

that learning a language is to acquire the fluency; however, it turned out to me that language is a

whole new world with many mysteries that never stopped impressing and attracting me. I find

that being a linguist is my dream and I cannot wait until one day I will be able to find all the

answers to satisfy my curiosity and pursue my passion for the study of language.

Section 2: Discourse Community of My Future Career

The fascination with language encouraged me to do further research on this field. Not

only do I see Linguistics as a major, but it is also perceived as my future career. I realized that

there were a great many career possibilities open for me in this field. Linguistics is not restricted

to any particular field; in fact, it is linked to a variety of professions such as law, film industry,

etc. One of the many possibilities that my heart was set on was to become a language educator. I

appeared to know that a degree in Linguistics is a good background for individuals like me who

would like to pursue Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Technically,

the specific discourse community of TESOL primarily focuses on the teaching and learning a

language; hence, language educators in this discourse community have the same objective that is

to share the value of knowledge about language.

In “Genre Analysis,” written by educator and researcher John M. Swales, a discourse

community is described as an association of people who come together as a group to share the
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same interests or relevant goals. Specifically, in my discourse community, TESOL program is a

group of language teachers who has a specific goal that is to teach students languages and help

them communicate and connect to others. According to Swales, in order for a discourse

community to exist and thrive, intercommunication among members of the discourse community

is the key. They gather together to provide feedback and information through the

intercommunication which resulted in acquiring their own unique lexis – the specific language

used among the discourse community members. For example, in the discourse community of

TESOL, TOEFL is an acronym for Test of English as a Foreign Language, which refers to a

standardized exam to measure the English language proficiency of non-native speakers who wish

to attend English-speaking universities.

As it was mentioned earlier, a discourse community is a place where it can provide both

beginners and experts with the opportunities to pursue their passion for a particular profession

and where they can learn and evolve; meanwhile, it is certainly a challenge that most beginners

have to face in order to reach success in their field. Another challenge is that they have to acquire

a certain level of relevant profession so that they can fully become part of their discourse

community. In preparation for making the gateway to the discourse community in my field as

well as to achieve success in my career path, an interview with a professional was organized in

search of the insights into this field. The answers drawn from this interview provide specific

details about what fundamental qualifications I need to obtain and develop as a future member of

my discourse community.

My interviewee was Dr. Karen Carlisi, who is an English professor at Pasadena City

College (PCC). She has been developing as an educator, curriculum developer, and textbook

author for over 35 years. The interview appointment took place at Building C, room 246 at PCC
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during her office hours, which was from 6:10 pm to 7:00 pm on March 22, 2018. The manners in

which the interview was conducted were one-on-one conversation and recording; and both

methods were utilizing simultaneously.

The results drawn from this interview provide the foundations that needed to be built for

my future career as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. Furthermore, the discussion

on several significant aspects and characteristics of the discourse community form the core of the

interview. No matter what profession it is, a good command of English is always a prerequisite,

especially for teaching profession. In other words, since language is what we are teaching, ESL

teachers need to have a high level of proficiency in English. Professor Carlisi explained that ESL

teachers would always have to be able to present lectures and explain them clearly. She also

added that objectives of lesson plans were needed to be stated clearly because students would

know what to expect from their professors. Academic writing also plays a crucial role in teaching

profession because teachers oftentimes need to write feedback, comments to students, or writing

to peers and departments (Carlisi). To illustrate this, my interviewee provided me with an

example when she had had to write proposals to get grants from her Dean for her projects that

were to create a better ESL program at PCC. Additionally, since she is an author, she told me

that language teachers could write textbooks and publish articles. Therefore, needless to say, a

high standard of English proficiency is the most important aspect needed to be achieved if a

Linguistics major has a desire to enter the teaching profession.

In addition to English skills, “ESL teachers need to be experts in cultures,” stated

professor Carlisi. We all know that English learners come from different backgrounds and

different countries; therefore, it is important that ESL teachers develop the ability to understand

the cultural differences. The capacity of understanding the cultural diversity plays a role in
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efficient teaching because English teachers will be able to treat their students with respect and

attentiveness. The respectful teaching manners that teachers show will give their students a real

sense of belonging. In addition, teachers who are experts of cultural differences are able to help

students in their academic success. For example, Professor Carlisi emphasized the importance in

identifying direct culture in the United States and indirect cultures in Asia countries when

teaching in an ESL class. Asian students who come from the indirect cultures tend to not express

their opinions directly through writing and speaking (Carlisi). In contrast, American culture is a

direct culture, which means that ideas or opinions have to be stated directly (Carlisi). With that

said, as an ESL teacher, he/she needs to be aware of the differences in both cultures and integrate

them into teaching so that their students could modify their habitual writing styles to assimilate

into American culture (Carlisi). Therefore, being able to understand the cultural differences is the

second most important characteristics that ESL teachers need to achieve.

Another important characteristic that an English teacher needs to develop is the critical

thinking skills such as creativity and analytical thinking skills (Carlisi). The ability to generate

different ideas that make lessons appealing constitutes being creative. In other words, English

teachers need to be able to integrate various methods into teaching in order to get their students

to learn efficiently. Most importantly, it is best that a Linguistics major develop analytical

thinking skills while in school because in order to become a successful English teacher, we have

to look at approaches to teaching and learning; and we have to analyze the strengths and

weaknesses. As a result of those analyses, we need to be able to apply what we have observed

into teaching. In another instance, professor Carlisi shared a story with me about her going

abroad to teach English in Poland and in Japan. When she came to Poland to teach English for

the first time, she realized that Polish students liked to talk with their teachers and there were
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always lively discussions in the classrooms. However, a few years, when she came to Japan to

pursue her English teaching career, she experienced a huge culture shock here. Compared to

Polish students, Japanese students did not like to talk with their teachers; thus, the classroom was

always very quiet. Having realized those differences, she integrated some colorful pictures into

teaching and let the students talk to one another instead of getting them to talk to their teacher.

Her experiences of applying different methods into teaching based on the specific situations

exemplified the significance of analytical thinking skills in teaching profession.

Finally, ESL teachers need to be active and interactive. This career is very broad, and it

will open to many possibilities (Carlisi). One of the opportunities is teaching English in some

foreign countries where English is not the main spoken language. The more people we know, the

more social we will be, and the more chances we will have in order to reach success in this field.

Another reason for being interactive is related to the symbiotic relationship between growing and

sharing. For the past 35 years, professor Carlisi has gone to many foreign countries to teach

English and to be a teacher educator as well as a curriculum developer. “The reason why that

happened was to find specific ways of relating to my field and really growing and wanted to

share it with other people,” said Carlisi. The combination of traveling, sharing, teaching, and

exploring are one of many golden opportunities that this profession may provide to English

teachers. Therefore, she advised me that it is best to build the socializing skills.

Section 3: Reflection on My Future Career and Discourse Community

Knowing about the most important qualifications that a Linguistics major need to acquire

and develop while in college is like a new driver having a GPS – Global Positioning System. It

shows a driver exactly where he/she needs to go in order to reach his/her destination. Similarly,

in order to successfully become part of my future discourse community, those characteristics that
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professor Carlisi provided me are the key to success. I am so grateful that she agreed to meet up

with me and share her priceless experiences as well as her insights into this profession with me.

Mostly importantly, those experiences that she shared with me present a picture of the real world

of this field that I will enter at some time in the near future.

One of the most important characteristics that I need to put great effort into is to become

very proficient in English. I personally believe that a high level of English proficiency is the core

of all the possibilities, which will enable me to pursue my passion for language as well as my

career in teaching profession.

Now while I am still in the process of learning English, I need to learn as much as

possible. English proficiency is one the most important qualifications that will allow me to fulfill

my passion for language. Therefore, I have a set of clear goals of what I expect to achieve after

the class ends. It is always my ambition to become an advanced ESL learner. I am trying to

develop all English skills in both ESL classes (106 and 33B) in terms of writing, reading,

listening, and speaking skills. In addition to all language skills, I am also focusing my efforts on

developing critical thinking skills such as analytical thinking skills, as professor Carlisi

suggested. I am hopeful that I will achieve all my desired results at the end of this semester

before I am taking a big step into my major that is the sophisticated world of language.
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Works Cited

Carlisi, Karen. (2018 March 22). Personal interview.

Swales, M. John. “Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings.” Cambridge

University Press. Print.

Tan, Amy “Mother Tongue.” In Guidelines: A Cross-Cultural Reading/Writing Text. Ruth

Spack. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006. 66-74