Mama Mouna went to school for a short period of time while she was growing up in Somalia. She has the ability to read and write at a basic level in Somali and also speaks some Arabic. Her Somali oral skills still play a major role in her everyday interactions, and she has been in and out of various English classes over the past 5 years.
I was able to observe Mama Mouna during some of her English classes that were held on Saturdays at the Center. One of the times I observed her I was co-teaching the class, it was a small class with about 5 women, and the director of the Center came into the classroom to check on how the class was going. From my point of view the class was going well, everyone was interacting with the lesson content, talking, and it seemed they were enjoying it. When the director came in,
Mama Mouna’s, and the other women’s demeanors changed. They became more timid and the smiles left from their faces. I remember the director started talking about Mama Mouna to me and the other teacher in English, and I said, why you don’t tell her, she will understand. The director replied something along the lines of, “no, they don’t know English”. I corrected him, and said, no, they do know enough. He told me they must just be ‘shy’ in front of him. (Field notes, April 19th,
2012). This experience and observation indicated several things to me. First, that the director had no sense of these women’s English language skills. Either he didn’t try to talk with them in English or they resisted talking with in English. In addition, this incident potentially points toward
relations of gender and power in the CoP.
Mama Mouna’s English language learning has always been critical throughout her time living in Clarkston. Her comfort level in her English classes are not very high, as she indicates in her discussion of her first ESL class below:
C: Tell me about you know, your English classes when you first came. How that journey has been.
M: It was very difficult because I’m used to Somali and Arabic, and when I came here, and, the teacher was speaking English and explaining the lessons in English. I was very
frustrated. Very difficult. Very confused. So, I was just basically it there.
I: That’s how she described. She just was it there.
C: Yeah, She just sat there (Mama Mouna, Interview 1)
Mama Mouna’s statement “I was just basically it there” represents a critical incident in her English language learning experience. She felt like an ‘it’ in her classroom, not a person, but just a thing, or a nobody. Language socialization, socialization to and through languages, requires some element of engagement, and Mama Mouna was disengaged, in her ESL class. This is not because she doesn’t want to learn English. She in fact does, and Mama Mouna sees learning English as her biggest challenge. She acknowledges that her lack of English increases her reliance on the CoP. In her own words:
getting a ride to the hospital of to the immigration or to places […] I think without the community I can’t imagine how my life or how my progress of establishing living here would have been like. The first good ESL class was provided by the Somali community. You know, Cassie. Cassie would, was helping me because I couldn’t comprehend the English classes that I was attending.
(Mama Mouna, Interview 1)
Her gratitude for the community center is evident, and although she may have been trying to flatter me, I believe that she had some preference for the English classes offered by the community (not because I was teaching) but perhaps it was offered for her and her peers by the community, in her own apartment community. I also have seen her frustration in having to rely on others to get by and not be completely independent. In her own words:
I mean there are always forms. Forms to fill it out, whether for food stamps or for my child’s security, social security forms. The community was there for me. Up until now, any time I need help, with paperwork, the community is here. From now on, we are trying to become self-sufficient, my kids are working on getting their own driver’s license. (Mama Mouna, Interview 1)
Mama Mouna indicates that documents and forms are at the center of her daily experience and often the main reason for her need for assistance. Her everyday practices are mediated by texts, and that is why she is a member of the CoP. She also shares that she and her family are trying to
become more self-sufficient. I have observed Mama Mouna in the Center, multiple times, when she requests assistance with a form. The case managers are familiar with her, so they know her
information and are able to fill out these documents for her.