Date

5-9-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Over time, the United States (sometimes referred to as America) education system has shown inequality within its teaching methods, particularly in English classrooms from grades K-12. Despite the increase in diversity and English language learners in public schools, multicultural students have personally endured various forms of oppression in classrooms. Within this research, there will be an examination of the classroom setting from people who experienced their education in both their birth country, which happens to be Brazil in this particular research, as well as the United States. There is also additional research done from library databases, online sources, and readings by scholars who have argued for critical pedagogy. These firsthand experiences will create an enhanced understanding of the characteristics of the United States educational system within our K-12 English classrooms. Although everyone’s circumstances and environments may be different, prejudice and ignorance towards other cultures and languages are quite similar and very present throughout this education system. With this changing demographic of students, it is important to be aware of our diverse classrooms and who we are teaching to prepare our children to think critically in a complex world. In an attempt to find ways to create an improved and more inclusive learning environment for everyone, this examination will be focused on the following questions: how language acquisition impacts learning, how we learn what we learn, and what can be changed in the classroom.

Department

English

Thesis Comittee

Dr. Joyce Rain Anderson, Thesis Advisor
Dr. Ann Brunjes, Committee Member
Dr. Maria Hegbloom, Committee Member

Copyright and Permissions

Original document was submitted as an Honors Program requirement. Copyright is held by the author.

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