My Story narrative is a time for you to discuss the aspects of your culture which have attributed to who you are today as well as your goal to become an educator.  Keep in mind that you need to make connections with the concepts that you have read about throughout the readings.

II.            Identity descriptors and socializing agents.

A.    List 2 or more identity descriptors that you feel are the most privileged and least privileged (oppressed) in your life (total of 4).  Explain your choices by describing personal experiences that have led you to come to your way of thinking.  In addition, you need to support your information with a citation (correct APA citation from the book or other source).

B.    Based on the identity descriptors you selected, investigate the socializing agent behind the privilege and the oppression you discuss.

III.            Identify privilege and oppression. Think about one privileged aspect of your identity and replace it with one that is not privileged.  (for example:  if you subscribe to a religion that is privileged as is Christianity in the U.S. replace it with one that is less privileged like ISLA or Judaism; if you are white, replace your identity race/ ethnicity with another.  How would your life change?  How do you think you would have been treated in school, represented in the news or in the school curriculum?  What would be the most challenging aspects of your life with this different identity descriptor? If you dont feel that you have aspects of your identity that are privileged, explain why and do the opposite of this item (change the identity descriptor in which you feel oppressed to one of privilege).  This discussion should be a minimum of 200 words.

IV.            Conclusion: Conclude your story with your (Multicultural Activity My story narrative part 2) by sharing 3 commitments related to social justice that you will look for to expand your cultural diversity repertoire to prepare you for your role as an educator.  What do you feel you need to explore more in order to help you develop relationships with your future students to help them feel valued, safe and motivated in the classroom?

A.    This is the part where you would have included the cultural diversity activity (My Story Narrative part 2), described your activity and included artifacts.  Since you cannot participate in this, describe what activity you planned on doing to suffice this requirement.

You should have a paper that is 3-4 pages in length.
Your paper need to follow APA 6th style edition.  Please consult the manual or visit the PURDUE OWL Writing site https:owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01.
Your paper needs to have a coversheet and page numbers
Your paper needs to be double spaced and preferably written in 12 point Times Roman font.

I) The goals of the assignment
This assignment is designed with 3 main objectives:
1. to deepen your understanding of the key issues covered in the course;
2. to enable you to demonstrate an ability to formulate an informed interpretation of language in society based
on concepts and issues introduced in the course.
3. to allow you to critically reflect on the implications of sociolinguistic issues for TESOL.
The assignment may be a maximum of 3,000 words (excluding references) on a chosen topic from the
following list:
1) A critical reflection on your own language use in a given period of time.
2) A sociolinguistic portrait/analysis of a setting or of a recorded event
3) British English/American English Vs. local varieties of English
4) Standards, norms and models in language education
5) Mother tongue and English medium education
6) Language use, attitudes and identity
7) Native English Speaker Teachers (NETs) vs. Non-native English Speaker Teachers (NNET)
8) Others please check with the course lecturer
II) The recommended procedure
1. Choose the main topic of your essay.
2. Review the different levels (or areas) of discussion that correspond to the general parts upon which the
course is structured (i.e. key disciplinary terms, languages in the globalised world; language variation and
English language education; language-in-education policies and practices)
3. Decide whether there is one (or more) of these general levels that you would like to specifically address
when approaching your chosen topic (e.g., for the topic of mother tongue education in Hong Kong, one may
decide to consider one or more of the following issues: a) official institutional policies in Hong Kong
education, or b) the specific sociolinguistic and educational situation of a given community in Hong Kong,
or c) the case of a group of multilingual students/teachers in a given school/classroom, or d) the case of a
teacher/student, etc.
4. Identify the key issues, debates and discussions in the existing literature, regarding your chosen topic and
level of discussion.
5. Reflect on the implications of the issues being identified for TESOL.
6. Draft an essay plan and structure the discussion around sections, according to the specific key issues
emerging from your choices.
7. Write up the essay based on your essay plan and proofread the language and references carefully.
Some advice about the assignment
1. Begin with an introduction and summary of the essay, clarifying its purpose and organisation.
2. Include a conclusion.
3. Use APA citation and referencing conventions.
4. Format the assignment according to the requirements listed in this document.
5. Use the technical language of sociolinguistics. For terms that may be ambiguous or may have several
meanings, be sure to carefully define what you mean.
6. Proofread your assignment carefully and/or get peer feedback to ensure that the essay is clear and the
sentences are grammatical.
7. Do not go beyond the 3000-word limit (excluding references and appendices).
Content of the essay
1. Introduction (200-400 words approx.)
a. Provide an introduction to the key topics and issues addressed in the essay.
b. Include an overview of the structure of the text.
2. Main body (2000 words approx.)
a. Identify and elaborate the key issues, debates and discussions in the existing literature, regarding
your chosen topic and level of discussion.
b. Detail some of the most important controversies and academic approaches/angles to the issue(s)
discussed (i.e. try to keep a balance between voices/arguments involved) and structure these according
to corresponding subsections.
3. Conclusion (500 words approx.)
a. Summarise the issues discussed throughout the essay.
b. Highlight some insights and implications that can be drawn.
c. Refer to possible gaps and/or needs for future work, if any.
4. References (references are excluded from the word count)
a. Provide a full reference list of ONLY the articles, books or other sources that you have referred to in
your essay.
b. Please format your reference list according to academic conventions, e.g. the APA format as shown
in the following websites)