Tuesday, October 11, 2011

What is left to say?!

From Chapter 1 of Curious Researcher, "Developing a Working Knowledge", I absolutely see the numerous topics one can take on when researching and if you are truly interested, how that can affect your writing overall. If we choose a topic that we absolutely hate and have no desire to research, the process as a whole will be a failure because we are already being tortured with something we hate. Based on the fact that our class assignment is to research a community, neighborhood, or group in Chicago, I have chosen to look more deeply into the community of Pilsen. I am personally not very familiar with the community overall because I am from the suburbs and have limited knowledge on Pilsen as whole. What interested me the most was its strong Mexican American culture, when i visited. I truly think that the most important issue to look into is the education children receive in a community like Pilsen that is a majority minority community. Are the ways in which children are educated different to how a white community neighborhood would be taught? That is why the group of people that intrigue me the most in Pilsen are the children, the Mexican American children, living in a community, where perhaps English may be their second language. Does Pilsen offer ESL classes for children who speak Spanish or any other language as their first language? What type of resources are these children offered to enhance their education? The places that draw my attention the most in Pilsen are the places as simple as the playgrounds, or the recreation centers, the art museums, restaurants, cart vendors, schools. How do all these locations come together to sustain their culture? or what kind of stereotypes is Pilsen even known for? Like i said i am not an expert on Pilsen, because I am not originally from there, but how do children or parents deal with gangs, or violence that occurs in the community?  I think all these groups of people have some kind of impact, big or small on Pilsen, and the people residing there. The two or three main questions that I would be interested in really knowing from Pilsen, would involve the children, education, and violence in the Pilsen community. Being Mexican American, I find it very useful to know how a group that I am a part of is educated and how that impacts our future? Does that have anything to do with the low number of Hispanics in college? All of these issues impact a community and are often overlooked, like in the Wikipedia entries that focus on transportation to Pilsen or the history, and don't focus on the issues of today.

1 comment:

  1. You are right that wikipedia does not focus on the present issues that matter to the community.

    I am really interested in ESL Teaching so I like that you are bringing up questions about how it operates in the community. I would try to research an organization in the area that may provide English language courses to the residents in Pilsen. If you contact them, I am sure they will have info about how children in the Chicago Public Schools struggle and need outside help.

    Or you may find that the children don't struggle. Language is a skill easier learned at a young age. Children who learn two languages at a young age retain it better than an adult who learns a second language (I know this because I struggle with learning a second language while my friend is fluent in two language because she learned both as a child).

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