Wgu Glt 4 Task 4

FDT 4 Task 2
Part C Concepts Map
Japanese
Language
Japanese
Family Life
Parents
Extended Family
Holidays
ObonLabour Thanksgiving Day
Emperor’s Birthday
African American
Language
Ebonics
Creole
Family Life
Parents
Extended Family
Holidays
Black History Month and Martin Luther King Day
Kwanzaa
South central Lower Michigan is mostly white middle class. The most dominant sub cultures are Japanese and African American. Jackson County has a population of 89% whites, 8% African American and 2.5% Asian. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011) It is important for a teacher have an understanding of the prominent sub cultures in their area. Failure to recognize the sub cultures and their specific customs can be offensive and reduce the teacher’s
ability to teach. As a teacher I would like to be able to understand the cultures and respect the traditions of the sub cultures.
The main areas of concern are forms of communication and languages. What type of family life do the students have and what are the education expectations? The ability to recognize the major holidays, what they represent and when they are celebrated is important to communicate with the student.
Results
Japanese
Language
In the Jackson Michigan area there is a growing population of Japanese students. Most of these students are from families that where born and raised in Japan CITATION Jap12 \l 1033 (Japanese, 2012). They moved to the Jackson area to run the Japanese owned automobile parts plants in the area. The primary language in the home is Japanese. Most of the homes speak English as a second language.
The Japanese language consists of three main alphabets. They are Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana. The alphabets combined have several thousand characters. It is common practice for a Japanese student to attend US schools through the month of April and return to Japan to attend school through the month of July (Japanese, 2012). This is done to allow the young Japanese student to learn their native language. This is important to understand because these students may advance in subjects but be behind in others. There is also different ways of teaching mathematics.
The Japanese traditional family has the father who provides for his family. He maintains employment outside the house. His primary responsibility is as the wage earner. The father tends to work long hours sometimes six or seven days a week. The mother is the primary care giver. She runs the household. She maintains the home and is responsible for the care and raising of the children. The eldest son continues on after the father retires. As the parents’ age they do not enter nursing homes, it is the responsibility of the oldest son to care for his parents. Nursing homes are only for those elderly persons that require specialized care. (Osamu Saito, 2000)
Younger siblings will move out of the home once they have completed school. They will establish their own home while the eldest son inherits the current family home and continues to reside there and care for his parents. Family is one of the cornerstones of the Japanese culture.
Holidays
It is important to understand that different cultures have different holidays. It is important to understand the traditional holidays of the students in a class. The assignment of work during the time of holiday may interfere with cultural tradition.
Obon is a holiday to honor the spirits of ones ancestors (“Japanese culture”, 2012). Obon is celebrated at different times depending on the region of the country, usually in July or August. The festival lasts for three days. The holiday has become a family reunion of sorts. Family members return to their ancestral region. This is a holiday celebrating past generations. This is a joyous time.
Labour Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday honoring labor. The holiday is November 23 each year. This was formally known as the harvest festival. Now it is a celebration of labor and productivity. The formal change in name came in 1948, celebrating the post war reconstruction efforts CITATION Sim96 \l 1033 (Simons, 1996).
The Emperor’s Birthday is celebrated on December 23 each year.
The gates to the Imperial Palace are open to the public. There are only two days per year that the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace are open to the public. The date, currently December 23, is determined by the actual birthday of the reigning Emperor. December 23 is the birthday of Emperor Akihito. (Fujitani, 1966)
African American
Language is how we communicate. Most cultures maintain their own language. In the case of African Americans, their languages are English based.
Ebonics is also known as Black English. It is believed that the language was formed in the south during the slave trades. There is also an element of the Caribbean in the language. One of the strongest differences in Ebonics and Standard English is the “th” sound. In Ebonics, these consonant sounds as “d”. Them is dem, they sound like dey. The other main difference is that “I” and “e” maintain similar sounds (Perry, 1996)
Creole is another language. This is also known as broken English. The roots of this language are from the Caribbean. This is used primarily in the southern states. The primary difference between this and English is the pronunciation of the words CITATION Dal91 \l 1033 (Dalphinis, 1991).
Family
Many African Americans can trace their roots back to slavery. As slaves produce offspring, the children became a commodity and sold to other farms and plantations. Families where quickly divided. Most times the mother was paired with the children as the father was sold to another plantation. It has been common for the African Americans to be part of single family homes. CITATION Mic06 \l 1033 (Connor, 2006)Today 72% of African American children are raised by single family homes. Half of all African Americans have never been married. African American families usually lack a father. This leads to most mothers being forced to find jobs to provide for their children. This is where grandparents provide an important role in raising the kids. Without a father and the mother working, grandparents step in and aid in the care of the children. Aunts and uncle will also step in when necessary. (Taylor, 1990)
Holidays
There are three important holidays African Americans. These are Black History month, Martin Luther King Day and Kwanza.
Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 through January 1. It is not a religious holiday rather a way to honor the ancient African culture. Each day of Kwanza a different principle is celebrated, unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Kwanza is to embrace a positive outlook with the future. CITATION Pal95 \l 1033 (Paley, 1995)Black History Month is celebrated in the month of February. In 1926, a week in February celebrated black history. This occurred near Lincoln’s birthday. President Ford expanded black history to a month long celebration. Ford want America to reflect on the real accomplishments African Americans had made to the United States. CITATION The12 \l 1033 (The History Of Black History, 2012)Martin Luther King Day became a national holiday on January 20, 1986. The day is designed to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King. It stands as a reminder to the accomplishments as a civil rights leader. He advocated peaceful protest. He is credited with aiding in the desegregation of schools and expanding opportunities for African Americans. He was also instrumental in the passing of the Voting Rights Act.CITATION Jan93 \l 1033 (McDonnell, 1993)Similarities
Japanese and African Americans have similarities in their cultures. Both place a strong need for the extended family. Grandparents are integral parts of the centralized family. The other similarities are holidays, specifically Kwanza and Obon. Obon recognizes the important that family ancestors played in the family. It celebrates the lives from the past. Kwanza is deeply rooted in ancestors, and celebrating the culture. Both cultures find great pride in the past.
Differences
There are vast differences in the Japanese Cultures and the African American cultures. Language is one. African American languages are still based on English. The pronouncement of words differs but can be recognizable by most Americans. Japanese is and exceptionally detailed language with little or no similarities to English. The Japanese alphabet contains thousands of characters. Another difference if the family make up. The African American family is mostly single family. Most are void of a father. The Japanese place great importance on a two parent family. It is unusual for a Japanese family not to have the father involved in the family. There are also vast differences in Holidays. On prime example is Martin Luther King Day. African Americans celebrate the fallen civil rights leader on January 20th each year. The Japanese celebrate the Emperor’s birthday; this will change when a new emperor is named. One is celebrating a fallen leader where the other is celebrating its current leader.
Research Method
I began my research by reviewing the U.S. census bureau data about the population of Jackson County. The two largest minorities are African American and Japanese. I used the internet to gather a basic understanding of these cultures. This was a broad search and the research was narrowed to language, family life and the main holidays of each culture. I then interviewed two of my friends, Tom Gallant, who is married to a Japanese woman, and Craig Edmonson, who is African American. The interviews produced a baseline of the different cultures and gave me ideas to follow up on. Tom was able to provide me with a web site, Japan-Zone. I further expanded my research to the Jackson county library. I was less than familiar with the library. As I entered the library, I was greeted by the librarian. She inquired if she could help. I explained the project and she directed me to the Black history section of the library. I had a list of Japanese books I was looking for. She provided my with one of the books and I located the others in the computer directory. Here there were numerous books on the Japanese culture and an entire section of the library dedicated to black history.
I found many sources to be helpful. The most beneficial resource for the Japanese culture was Japan-Zone. This website gave quick facts about the Japanese culture. I used the information to aid in my research. I found the main holidays and language information. With the broad knowledge, I would look for specifics about each topic at the library. The most helpful African American resource was” The history of Black History”. This web site was similar to the Japan-Zone. Information was broad. The more detailed information was gathered from scholarly sources. Notes were taken from the websites to aid in the gathering of information from other sources. I was able to print various pages of sites located on the internet. The library charges for copies. At the library I took notes in regard to the information located. After all of the information was gathered, I organized it into section. First step was to divide the information into cultures and the by subcategories (Language, Holidays and Family). After organizing the data, I began to compose the essay.
Teaching Application
Understanding the cultures present in your school district is important to effectively teach all students. As a teacher it is important to adapt to the students present in your class. It is also important to respect various cultures. Black history month can easily be incorporated into the standard curriculum. It is important for all Americans to understand the role that African Americans have played in the development of this country. Black history month can also be used to look at other cultures present in the room. It is equally important to recognize that many different cultures have been instrumental in the development of this country. During Black History month Japanese students could be asked to address the role of the Japanese people and their contributions to this country. It is also important to recognize the holidays. As a teacher it would be helpful to limit homework during the times of cultural celebration. It is very important to understand that not all families are made up of a father and a mother. It is important to avoid embarrassing a student. As a teacher you want to avoid making a student feel out of place by discussing family makeups when there may be students that are raised by persons other than a father and a mother. Special accommodations may have to be made for Japanese parents if they are not able to speak English. It is important for a teacher to adapt to the challenges presented with various cultures.
The information gathered has been very enlightening. I have gained a greater knowledge of the cultures in my community. With friends of each culture, I further understand their roots and elements of their cultures and how they are celebrated. The Japanese culture was very interesting. I further understand some of the things my friend was required to do, in order to marry his wife.
Works Cited BIBLIOGRAPHY Japanese. (2012, July 29). Retrieved from Omniglot: www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese.htm (Primary Japanese source)
McDonnell, Janet(1993).Martin Luther King Day.Chicago. Childrens Press (Primary African American)
The History Of Black History. (2012, July 29). Retrieved from Fact Monster: www.factmonster.com/spot/bhmintro1.html(primary African)
Bureau, U. C. (2011). U.S. Census. Washington DC: U.S. Census Bureau. (Primary Government source)
Connor, M. E. (2006). Black Fathers An Invisible Presence In America. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. (Secondary African American)
Fujitani, T. (1996). Spendid Monarchy: Power and Pagontry in Modern Japan. In Fujitani, Spendid Monarchy: Power and Pagontry in Modern Japan (p. 503). Berkley: University of California Press (Non internet secondary, Japanese).
Dalphinis M. (1991) "The Afro-English creole speech community", Edwards, V. (eds), Multilingualism in the Brithish Isles Volumn 2, pp42-56. London, Longman. (African Primary)
N.P. (2012, August 1). Japanese Culture. Retrieved from Japan-Zone: http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/holiday.shtml (Primary Japanese)
Paley, V. (1995). Kwanzaa and Me: A Teachers Story. Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard College.(Non Internet secondary African)
Perry, T. (1998). The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children. Boston, Ma.: Beacon Press. (Primary African)
Saito, O. (2000). Marriage, family labour and the stem family household: Traditional Japan in a Comparative perpective. In O. saito, Marriage, family labour and the stem family household: Traditional Japan in a Comparative perpective. New Yorl. (Non Internet Japanese primary)
Simons, C. (1996). A Guide To Doing Business in Japan. Tokyo, Japan: Oak Associates.(Secondary Japan)
Taylor, C. S. (1990). Dangerous society. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press.(Secondary African)