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Language Conference offer cultural awareness
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All English 123 classes presented the 13th Biannual Conference on Language in the Ada Hatch D Ballroom of the Student Union Building on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
English 123 is a writing class designed for students whose fist language is not English.
As an assignment, the students wrote a conference paper reflecting their experience as language learners. The conference allows students to write to the BSU community.
Assistant Coordinator of Boise State English language support programs Julia Geist Drew said the conference serves to inform the rest of the BSU community about the lives of multi-lingual and multicultural students.
“It is a learning experience for all,” Drew said.
This year’s conference, entitled “Treasure Hunting: Language, Cultures and Self,” gave students with various backgrounds a chance to reflect on their experiences with the English language.
The conference was divided into three panels: 1. “Chapters of Our Split Personalities,” 2. “Running Passed Hard Times” and 3. “Motivating Gives Us Power to Break the Silence.” After each panel, the audience asked the speakers questions.
In his paper, “A Story of Love,” Andrew Suzuki acknowledged the differences between Japanese and American culture and how language is only a part of the difference.
He was born and raised in Japan and moved to California. He grew up in a bilingual and bicultural household.
Handling this diversity of perspectives forced him to understand multiple cultures and languages and how they interact in modern America.
“Being bilingual is one thing, being bicultural is another,” Suzuki said.
Nicole Nkangura observed the cultural differences within a particular language.
She compares the attitudes of three French speakers with different cultural backgrounds in her paper “Language and Culture are Connected.”
“Language is very powerful because it explains the different cultures,” Nkangura said.
A few students who moved to the United States with their families described the need to be independent and social as a main reason to learn English.
“Unknowingly, my brain adapted to communicate with the people around me,” Sendy Martinez said in his paper “Español, My Private Language.”
Gabriela Novoa said her loves of learning is her main drive to learn.
“I hate to ask for help,” Novoa said. “If I don’t learn, I feel like I’m dead.”
The next language conference is in spring of 2008.
Jessica Henderson
News Writer