'Pots and Pans' English:
The Americanization of Immigrant Women
Aneta Pavlenko
Temple University
Wednesday, April 20, 2005, 4:00 pm
1418 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Drive
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Abstract
What does it mean to be an immigrant woman making your way in a new society? What does it mean to be raising a child in a language different from your own? The goal of this talk is to highlight similarities in societal attitudes towards immigrant women during the Americanization era (1914-1924) and in the present times. I will show how the Americanization movement targeted immigrant women - and in particular mothers - for specific kinds of English instruction, namely, 'pots and pans' English. I will also argue that the movement differentiated between Eastern European and Mexican women, inviting the former but not the latter to join the ranks of middle-class. The women, in turn, resisted the patriarchal messages and opted for linguistic repertoires that would help them get ahead in the New World and join the industrial economy. This history of gendering second language education has important implications for current pedagogy and I will point to ways in which gender and diversity can be incorporated in contemporary foreign and second language classes.
This series is free and open to the public. It is made possible with generous support from the Anonymous Fund and the Schoenleber Foundation. |
