v. cook (nov. 9)

I am a L2 language learner and also a L2 language user. According to Cook’s article, I’m a “successful multicompetent language user”(p.204). Am I? I can speak two languages and have multi-identities like mother, student, daughter, wife and so forth. But I don’t think I’m a successful multicompetent language user. And I have never thought English as mine in my life. Since I started to learn English at 12, I have thought English belongs to American people, not Britons or other English-speaking whites. I have admired their English and cultures because good English proficiency with the information on American culture is one of the most important methods to improve my status in Korean society including my grades in school. But my English proficiency has never gone beyond my expectation. It always makes me sick. I usually comfort myself with the idea, “I’m not an American, so it’s reasonable that my English is not good.”

Cook says “The meaning of native speaker here is . . . a monolingual person who still speaks the language learnt in childhood” (p.187) I remind of the film American Tongue. What are those people who I saw? People in the film are all native speakers, who learned English in childhood and I admired before. But if I am a department dean in a university in my home country, I would not hire those people even if they have TESOL degrees. Because I don’t think their English is not a good model for my students; then, what is a good English? And... is it possible that I recognize their English as dialects, if I don’t have previous knowledge about the film? Absolutely not. If I don’t have it, I would be frustrated because I can’t understand their English well.

What English do I have to learn? I may know the answer. It may be school English or media English. But if my students ask the meaning of some English dialects, what do I have to do? Can I say to them, ‘they're dialects, so you could ignore them’. Dialects are also English just like L2 users English is also English. What is the standard? Can we define?