ROMEL IBAN TORRES JIMENEZ

DAS 135 CULTURE & LANGUAGE

Monday & Wednesday
Dr. Ashley Ryan
05/01/2014

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PRISM-BASED NARRATIVE

Introduction.
The purpose of this work is to share my autobiographical narrative based on the four
dimensions of the Prism Model. I will first address my Academic dimensions. Here, I will take
into consideration my experience as a pupil. This first Dimension is vital because it remember
me where I come from, where I want to go, and what I want to do in my professional and
personal life. Subsequently, I will also address my sociocultural, linguistic, and cognitive
dimensions. These three issues are also important because they allow me take into consideration
my prior background knowledge. Eventually, through this process, I have reflected deeply about
myself as a human being and as an English Language teacher. I hope you find it interesting and
possibly significant.
ACADEMIC DIMENSIONS
Well, I would like to start by saying that I never imagined attending to a University in the
United States. Although I always wanted to study abroad, my parents did not have enough
resources for such investment. I started my primary education at the age of five. It was a public
school. I still remember the first name that my school used to have; it was La Ramada, years
later the name was changed. I had just one teacher for all my subjects and his name is Luis
Cordero. He is one of the best teachers I have dad. Now he is retired. I will not forget his
kindness and patient advices. In addition, I would like to say that I never lost an academic year.
My favorite activities at my primary school were painting and playing football.
The school brought me good and bad experiences. Now, I have learnt that if I accept the
good thinks of this life, I have to accept the bad things too, because both of them taught me
important lessons. At my secondary school, I had to confront many difficulties at my home and

academic. However I was lucky, my teachers and also my parents gave me their support and with
some effort I overcame my troubles. I always had problems at chemistry and physics; however, I
enjoyed speaking English words and numbers. Now I remember that my English teacher did not
know almost anything about this language, because he graduated as a Social Studies professor. In
addition, that happened because the government did not budget enough resources for public
education. So that, I used to learn by myself by reading and old English-Spanish dictionary.
As I stated before, I had great professors, they deal with my problems patiently, even
making an enormous effort to stand in front of 43 teenagers to teach something they were not
well prepared for. My teachers examples prompted me to choose this career. I did not want that
things like that occur again, especially now that I have two daughters, so I want they receive the
best education that I could not have in the past. I acknowledge the enormous responsibility a
teacher has especially at public schools, because most Ecuadorian students do not have enough
money to attend to private institutions.
My future seems to be clear now; I will get my TESOL certificated here at New Mexico
State University. After that, I will go back to Ecuador where I will work two years at a public
high school, although my goal is to work more than two years. I will also want to work for an
International Baccalaureate High school in my city. The Ecuadorian government wants to
establish at least three IB High Schools in each province for those students who cannot pay the
fees, which are expensive. That is the reason I am here, to be ready to work in a competitive and
demanding institution. Nevertheless, I also want to get a higher degree, a master, or a PHD
degree. Therefore, I will be back to the United States sooner than later.
I always have worked for public institutions. My last teaching experience was at Julio
Isaac High School where I worked since 2011. It is a public high school located in an urban area.

It has a great staff of educators. There, I was in charge of almost two hundred scholars. I worked
with all levels, from basic to baccalaureate students. I met many friends at my last job and I
would like to go back there because that institution has requested the IB program.
SOCIOCULTURAL DIMENSIONS
As a high school pupil, I used to have my difficulties at math and physics. Most of my
troubles were because of my daily routine. I used to live far away of my high school, so that I
had to walk more than one hour. When my school hours finished, I had to came back home
carrying a heavy backpack under the burning sun. For that reason, I always was tired and without
intention to do my homework and as a result my grades at school lowered. In additions, I did not
have a study routine at home, because I had to help my father at the farm, and sometimes I went
to school without my homework. At weekends, I used to waste valuable study time watching TV
or playing with friends, and it affected me a lot because I preferred to spend my time doing these
activities instead of studying for a test. Finally, my homes environment was always lively and
sometimes noisy because of my siblings and cousins, so I could not concentrate on my academic
activities at home. However, my parents and teacher supported me a lot with advices, feedback,
and even extra classes with private teachers. Because of my family support, I passed all the
academic years with some complications, but I succeed anyway. All those things influenced my
performance at school.
In addition to the vital role that my parents and family members played in my
performance in school, the broad community had a great influence too. First, I used to live in a
small town, where most of my relatives live closed. It helped me a lot, owing to I grew up in that
lively neighborhood and I always was involved in activities such as celebrations, birthday
parties, weddings and traditional ceremonies (First communion, baptisms and so on). In addition,

a relevant activity that supported my performance was a kind of meeting, named Minga. Every
legal representative of every students had to assist. The main purpose of this meeting was to
know each other, to talk about important events at the high school and to work for the institution
on activities like painting or repairing things. These sort of activities made me a more
participating person both in my classroom as in my community. In addition, I used to be involved
in a study group with my close neighbors. Even we only met to study for an exam at the end of
the term. It was relevant for me to overcome some difficulties. Within my community, there were
people who helped me a lot and made me the person I am now
I remember some activities that my teachers used to include my home and community
into the teaching process. At the beginning of the academic year the High school Director
assigned a Leader Teacher, one per grade. The Leader teacher of each grade convened our
parents to form an organization, so they all together voted a President and a Vice-president. The
main goal of this organization was to plan activities to get some money. At the end of the
academic year, we all together students, parents and each leader teacher used to go out to visit a
touristic place. The places we used to go was closely related to the amount of money we got.
Now I can state that this activity was a great motivation for every student to work together and
be promoted with minor complications.
Another relevant activity was through Mingas, in the meeting our parents worked
together to keep the high school working, as it should be. The second activity aimed to link the
community and the school was the students fair. The main objective of this fair was to show to
the community our jobs, experiments and small projects. In addition, our parents had to
participate in contests like the biggest pumpkin and other things related with the farm. That
was relevant and I was motivated to do my best in each work. Recreation and leisure activities

were also important during the time I was in high school. Our teachers used to organize
volleyball and soccer matches, where everyone had a good time playing with friends and
relatives. The presence of my parents at school helped me to gain confidence and security.
LINGUISTIC/LANGUAGE biography:
Through a self-analysis about my knowledge of my native language, I can state that my
level is Advance fluency. Two major backgrounds are involved in communication; grammar,
and vocabulary. My knowledge about grammar and vocabulary are good enough, so that, I am
able to express my feelings, ideas, and emotions with confidence and fluency. It is owing to I
like to read all kind of books, I also like to watch TV programs related to scientific advances in
all fields of human knowledge. In addition, my knowledge in grammar and vocabulary allows
me to talk with self-confidence.
However, my rate in English language is intermediate fluency according with the table. I
still have troubles to communicate with native speakers. My problems are related with the lack of
vocabulary, so that I cannot keep a long conversation. In addition, I still have problems with
complex grammar structures, especially with past tense and conditionals. My listening skill has
improved in a great manner, however sometimes I lose the trace of the conversation. Fortunately,
I have excellent professors here at NMSU, and I know I will overcome all this difficulties.
Communication is a vital aspect in our life. When we communicate, we share
information, opinions, feelings, etc. However, communication is more that talking and listening,
because we also need to follow the trace or the idea of the conversation, in few words, we need
to comprehend and realize what we have heard to interact accurately. We can communicate each
other by speaking (verbal) or writing (written). In verbal communications I can distinguish two
ways of interaction; formal and informal. Formal communication follows certain rules and it is

used for example among employees and their boss, or teachers with their students. Through my
own experience, I can state that this is the best way to communicate in my classroom. Formal
communication allows me to keep certain distance between my students and me. In addition, it is
more respectful and I use words like Mr. or Miss. to call my students.
By the other side, Informal communication is more natural and spontaneous. Besides,
there is no need of formalisms as to call somebody by his/her title (Doctor, Engineer, Mr. Miss,
etc.). I think Informal language can be used to talk with friends or at home, but not in the
classroom at all. Although informal communication is more flexible and fast and can improve
human relations, it also can be dangerous because the teacher could lose the control of his/her
class. To summarize, the way I communicate with my students is different that the way I
communicate with my friends. However, I always try to keep a balanced interaction in my
classroom, nor too formal and lineal nor to informal and disordered.
It is well known that English is the official international language all over the world. The
benefits for bilingual people are enormous. If somebody wants to move to an English speaking
country, he or she needs to learn the language to get involved in the community easily. I could
experiment the benefits to learn English by myself, because I used my knowledge during my
travel from Ecuador to the United States. My English knowledge level is improving day by day,
now I feel confident, and I am sure that I could travel to an English speaking country and the
language will not be an issue for me anymore. The English language opens the doors of the
world, and gives people a wide variety of new opportunities to grow as a professional and as
human being, like better job prospects, better salary and positions, etc. The direct benefit for me
is a bunch of new perspectives of self-development as an English teacher and as human being,
because now I understand that cultures and countries are different, however they share many

common things and those things in common make us equals, with the same rights and
obligations. Finally, I can state that knowing English is a synonym of success in business,
professions, and jobs in general.
In the other hand, I think there is a meaningful drawback in learning English as a second
language. The possible disadvantage for CLD students could be the Loss of Cultural Identity.
When we acquire a foreign language, we not only learn grammar and vocabulary but also
traditions, customs and even ways of thinking. The Loss of Cultural Identity in my community
can be seen in several aspects, for example, changes in customs, food, clothing, and language. In
addition, many Ecuadorians especially the youngest celebrate parties like Halloween, Carnival,
the day of the Death, etc. Adolescents are more vulnerable because sometimes they just absorb
what they receive without question.
COGNITIVE DIMENSION
Knowledge is the capacity of any human being to understand the world that surround us.
Knowledge is also the awareness or the conscious of how things work and why. We get that
knowledge through experiences or by means of formal education at school. Knowledge involves
memorizing information obtained from diverse sources like books, conversations, and
experiences. When we are able to apply our knowledge, we are talking about meaningful
learnings.
My knowledge of English in my professional life is measured in different ways. First, I as
an English teacher have to attend and approve many courses and workshops that the Ministry of
Education of Ecuador offers. Then, I have to read and understand books, pamphlets, or any
written material that The Ministry of Education gives me. In addition, I use my knowledge with
my students, I have to speak and write accurately, I also have to carry out an annual class plan

and a daily plan. Besides, my knowledge of English is measured through TOEFL or Top Notch
tests. In my professional life, I do not need to put into practice all my potential because my
students level is law.
In contrast, my knowledge of English here in New Mexico State University is measured
through placement tests. In addition, I asses my knowledge by myself in a real circumstance
where I have to interact in a genuine conversation. At NMSU, I have to listen and understand
accurately, and to speak fluently according with the topic in discussion. My teachers here at
NMSU have recently measured my progress, and now I am satisfied with the results. I have
improved a lot in skills like writing paragraphs and essays and summarizing books and articles.
My speaking skill was still measured and the results are satisfactory.
I want to start by mention some areas of diversity and the most important are; race,
gender, social status, language, culture, sexuality, age, ability, and religion. I have increased my
capacity as a critical reflective to understand all these areas, but now, I am going to focus my
attention on three of them; race, culture, and ability.
Regarding to race, now I understand that we as a global society have created boxes to
limit or separate people according with their color skin. Those boxes classify people as black,
white, latin, etc. and therefore, we automatically associate assumptions or wrong believes
according to those boxes. In other words, if I am a Latino, I am from Mexico, or I came to the
United Stated illegally. Now I can see things clearly, and I see myself doing exactly those things,
classifying my students as good or bad, shy or outgoing, based on their color skin, single stories
and wrong assumptions. We as human beings are not racist by nature; we learn to create mental
boxes to classify people, at home, at school, and through media.

Talking about the culture, now, I am able to understand that diversity is not a problem, is
an asset. Because of cultural diversity, we can get different points of view and it is not a trouble.
When we see things from a different perspective, we will see all the implications, and that is
exactly what cultural diversity does. Ecuador is a multicultural country and it is reflected in our
classrooms. We cannot change this reality, we just have to accept it, and take advantage to make
it worth. That is the way we will have the full story at last.
With regard to my students ability, now I see things clearly. The ability of my students is
related with their capacity to retain, and use the information they receive. In addition, it is related
with the manner of learning. Here at my Culture and Language classes I can see my peers
showing their abilities and capacities. Now I can stated that not all my peers nor my students in
Ecuador learn in the same way and at the same speed. With that in mind, it is obviously that the
teaching must be modified for students who already know the material or are capable of learning
the material quickly. There are great varieties of strategies, which can be used to satisfy student
needs. Grouping students within the classroom is one method. My challenge now is to apply
those techniques and strategies (Vocabulary quilt, foldable, linking language etc.) to exploit my
students abilities as assets.
As I have stated before, my whole perspective about my students have changed
dramatically. Now I can reflect critically about their sociocultural dimension, and I will consider
their academic, cognitive, and linguistic implications. Undoubtedly, I will apply my new
learnings to know my students and their families in a better manner. In addition, I will not judge
anybody based on assumptions, prejudges, and stereotypes. I definitely will take advantage of the
cultural diversity of my students in class. With my new learnings, and with patience and love, I
will make the difference in education. Without a doubt, I will find troubles in the way, but I will

overcome them because the reward will be enormous, not only to my country, my people, and
myself, but to the world too.
Conclusion.
To conclude, I want to state how relevant the Prism Model was for me. During the
learning process, I started to discover and understand more about myself. By means of critical
reflection, my whole perspective about meaningful issues like stereotypes and prejudges changed
since then. I have to recognize that I was acting and doing things wrong, because I was judging
the world based on single stories. In addition, recalling my experiences as a primary student, I
realize about how important the family support was for me. My family, teachers, and community
influenced and molded me as a person. Now I have a huge responsibility on me, to involve my
students community and family into the English Language Teaching process.
I
sincerely
thank
my
professor Dr. Ashley Ryan for
everything she did to facilitate the
development of this work, with her
guidance, advices, and suggestions I
could
accomplish
this
work
successfully.

Herrera, S. & Murry, K. (2011) Mastering ESL and Bilingual Methods Second Edition
Person Education, Inc. Boston Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon Resources for Teaching
English Learners.