Fulbright Statement of Grant Purpose

I'm going to Jordan y'all. Here's why:


STATEMENT OF GRANT PURPOSE
Maria Ramirez, Jordan, English Teaching Assistantship
Beginning my second year as a middle school Spanish teacher, I have found that teaching this language is really only a small portion of my job. Of course, in planning my lessons on Sunday evening, I make sure to align my overarching objective to the state-mandated Spanish curriculum. But once thirty little bodies walk through my classroom door, I remember that there is more than just vocabulary and verbs that I would like them to take away from class.
I am applying for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship for just this reason. Since receiving my undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and beginning my Masters of Arts in Teaching at American University, I have fallen in love with the teaching profession. The time in the classroom that I spend interacting with students keeps me coming back for more. After exploring other professions and different graduate school programs, I could not conceive of another job equally as meaningful and frankly as enjoyable as a foreign language teacher.
Working as an English language teacher in Jordan, I would employ my knowledge of linguistics and trends in teaching foreign language to create an interactive and cooperative classroom in which all students would be actively engaged in experiencing the English language and American culture. In returning to the United States, I would be able to use my experience with Jordanian students and the Jordanian education system as a foundation from which to continue to build an internationally connected classroom for my future American students. And as the United States continues to be politically involved in the Arab world without an adequate number of American Arabic speakers, teaching the Arabic language to and cultivating an interest in Arab culture in our nations’ youth greatly appeals to me as well.
Working with students who have rarely left their community, it is my vision to transform my students from citizens strictly of Maryland into citizens of the world. It is my belief that until students are exposed to the rich cultural background of the target language, they cannot truly become fluent. I realized this myself when I was thrown into Egyptian culture and society in 2006 as a recipient of the AFS Intercultural Programs and National Strategic Language Initiative- Youth language study program. Though I initially applied to study in Cairo because I wanted to be able to understand the lyrics to Amr Diab’s greatest hits, I left with a newly awakened passion for the Arabic language and a fiery interest in Middle Eastern culture and politics.
I would like to teach English in Jordan specifically because of my combined interest in education and the Arabic culture and language. I am excited for the possibility to teach in a country which pushes bilingualism at an early age and whose leaders value the institution of public education. Additionally, I am eager to continue my Arabic studies by interacting with people in and out of the classroom, focusing my studies especially on the Levantine dialect. And after countless conversations over bowls of the green and gooey molokhiyya and the latest Nancy Ajram hit humming in the background, my Jordanian friends have proven their homeland as the best place for this type of experience. Their stories about laying under the stars in Wadi Rum or sharing endless cups of cardamom-flavored coffee in a friend’s dining room have allowed me to see the Middle East outside of the limited view I gained in Cairo. And knowing that I will have adoptive friends and family upon arrival draws me in even more.
Time and time again, Jordan presents itself as a center for rich ancient culture, vast national diversity and warm, welcoming people. The more I learn about my peers’ experiences in Jordan, the more I cannot wait to hop onto a crowded bus on my way to work, greeting my new neighbors with a friendly “al-salaamu alaikum.”