Blog 2
For this interview I choose to interview a close friend of mine, Monica Medina. She was born in Houston, Texas but Spanish was her first language. Monica did not begin speaking English until she was in the fourth grade meaning she was a late bilingual. To learn a second language is a difficult task for anyone, but someone to go through the public school system for 4 years speaking Spanish then have to begin not only learning another language, but also learning in another language is a task. Lucky for Monica she is a quick learner and was able to pick up on the new language rapidly. She also had a good teacher guiding her threw her language learning process which made it easier for her to be able to pick up on her English. Though at home they mainly speaking Spanish, through interactions at school with friends and teachers she was able to the English language to her vocabulary. Wright says that "All classrooms are language environments, and language is at the heart of teaching and learning” (Wright, 29). It was necessary for Monica to have good guidance in order to learn a new language.
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Click here to watch my video
Hi Nayab,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your interview with us! I thought it was great that your friend, Monica, is a quick learner to be able to grasp English in no time. One of the supporting activities that Monica mentioned is working collaboratively with peers. I feel this helps the students learn from each other. Also, when Monica read Spanish version books that have the English words underneath the Spanish words helped her develop her literacy skills. According to Wright, “Reading aloud is one of the most important things teachers can do to help ELLs learn to read” (2015, pg. 197). It is a good thing that she practiced reading because it is a “great source of comprehensible input that promotes second language development, and it is an important vehicle for content-area learning” (Wright, 2015, pg. 196). Reading is definitely a foundation for language learners.
To add on to your opinions, I think it was also helpful for Monica that she got a lot of input of interacting with the new language, as English with her peers and her cousins. As Wright stated about input processing model, “VanPatten defines input as the language that learners hear or read and then process for meaning, he stresses that to be successful, learners must have access to input and interaction with other speakers of the second language they are learning (2015, p.54).” It was good that Monica was able to be exposed to English environment at young age. She was easy to adapt to her new language and environment by being exposed herself to English speakers, which force her to learn and use English as her primary language to communicate with her teachers and all of her friends all the time she is at school. I think it is good to let the children to expose to the new language in a positive environment, that means they will receive as much as support, help, and encourage from the teachers and their peers to adapt to the new language. Therefore, they will learn the new language quickly and effectively.
DeleteReference:
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Katherine! I believe the fact that Monica was a quick learner is the reason that she did not struggle with beginning her English Language Learning. Since she started in the fourth grade she did begin later than most typically would but her ability to pick up quickly helped her. I agree with you, I believe that students learn best not only from teacher instruction but also from peer interaction. I feel that reading books in Spanish with the English corresponding words underneath was a good method for her teacher to use to help further speed up her English speaking ability.
DeleteThanks for sharing your video. While I am not a Second Language Learner I did go to school with some students that were and I have also taught students currently during my Student Teaching. Your friend said that he would attend ESL classes to help her learn English and would also do certain exercises in class to perfect her English. Second Language Learners are becoming more and more prominent in classrooms and we as educators need to be sure that we are ready to accommodate these students to ensure they get the same education as everyone else. Stanford University published an article, “Six Key Principles for ELL Instruction” that states “Instruction focuses on providing ELLs with opportunities to engage in discipline-specific practices which are designed to build conceptual understanding and language competence in tandem.” (Stanford University, 2013)
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I really tried to do with the ELL students that were in my Student Teaching 1 semester was to create group activity that and to ensure that ELL students are put into groups with a mix of upper level and mid level students. This will provide ELL students the opportunity to engage with classmates in English, have something explained by another student instead of the instructor and also helps socialize ELL students that may feel like an outsider. A good amount of time the groups have to present the information they found or speak to the class on why they chose the answer they did. It never fails that the ELL student usually is not the speaker. When this happens I will casually ask a follow up questions so that they participate. It is this kind of attention to detail that I think will mean the difference between an ELL students simply passing a class as oppose to an ELL student excelling in the classroom.
Reference:
Stanford University.“Six Key Principles for ELL Instruction.” Six Key Principles for ELL Instruction | Understanding Language, 11 Jan. 2013, ell.stanford.edu/content/six-key-principles-ell-instruction
Hi Jerome! I am a second language learner but I did not learn it through school, so I am in the same place as you. Second Language Learned are seen more and more in classrooms today and you are right we as educators have to provide proper accommodations to ensure that students are able to learn at the same pace as those students who are not English Second Language learners. I think it is great that during your student teaching you were using group activities with the all levels of ELL learners to help them all interact amongst each other. Sometimes it is more helpful for a student to explain to a student rather than a teacher explain it.
DeleteHello Nayab! I was surprised to read that Monica started learning English in fourth grade and not sooner but luckily she was able to catch on quick. According to Wright, "students are able to take much of the content area-knowledge and literacy skills they gained in their L1 and transfer them to their L2. This ability to transfer knowledge and skills means that students who have literacy skills in their first language will likely make rapid progress in learning to read and write in English" (2015, page 55). Luckily Monica had guidance from her teacher to help with this transition to learning English. This teacher was most likely teaching for transfer. According to Wright, "effective teachers recognize and value the vast store of knowledge students have in their first language and provide instruction that enables students to draw on this knowledge" (2015, page 55). Monica's teacher knew to use Monica's strength in Spanish to help with her English.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hey Marissa I just wanted to reply to your comment. You talked about Monica being lucky that she had guidance from her teacher to help her with her English language acquisiton. Robert Linquanti from the YouTube video “Large Scale Assessment systems and ELLs” states, “When we are looking at students who are developing their English language skills that is going to significantly effect their ability to perform on academic content.” (Linquanti, 2012) This is an area that us, as instructors need to be very aware of when teaching content with ELL students. I can recall a few times that I noticeably saw that my ELL students were attempting to follow what I was teaching but did not have the adequate L2 acquistion to fully grasp the science concepts I was explaining. Working closley with ELL students and learning about their L1 fluency will only benefit an instructor when they are attempting to teach in the students L2.
DeleteReference: Cheuk, T. (2012, April 8) Robert Linquanti: Large Scale Assessment systems and ELLs. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfk4jESAtMk
Nayab, Monica's story is an excellent example of how classroom instruction paired with productive interactions with others in her environment encourages learning. Based off of Monica's interview, I would assume that if Monica had been in a school setting that focused primarily grammatical competence, and very little on the other factors of communicative competence, Monica would not have picked up English as quickly as she did (Wright 35)". However, since Monica seemed to be in a balanced learning environment that focused on all five factors of communicative competence, she learned quickly and retained all the information as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Lola. I liked how you pointed out that Monica seemed to have a balanced learning enviornment that incorporated different forms of delivering information to ensure that she understood what was being taught. Robert Linquanti from the YouTube video “Large Scale Assessment systems and ELLs” states, “there’s going to need to be a lot more collaboration between those who are really focused on student’s language development and those who are focused on their academic content developement…those kinds of disciplines and interests and pedagogical approaches are going to need to become much more integrated.” (Cheuk, 2012) I am a firm believer in attempting to incorporate as many different forms of presenting the same information to ensure that as many students as possible are given the opportunity to succeed. In one of my periods during Student Teaching 1, I had a table of ELL students that also had an aide that assisted them when they needed it. Small things like having an instructor and then also an aide is the type of colloboration that needs to be emphasized, especially with ELL students.
DeleteReference: Cheuk, T. (2012, April 8) Robert Linquanti: Large Scale Assessment systems and ELLs. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfk4jESAtMk
Hi Nayab, I realy enjoy watching your interview video with your friend Monica and reading your reflection. As listening to your conversation with Monica, I hear that she had an effective and helpful teacher who helped Monica learn her English well and achieve her academic goal. As Wright said, “teachers are to provide students with a safe and approachable learning environment to maximize comprehensible input (2015, p. 61).” I believe, as a future teacher, teachers are the first people who expose the new language to the students in the most cases. Therefore, it is important for teachers to know how much help the students want to receive form their teachers to overcome their language barrier and their struggles in order for them to learn, to develop, and to become an successful in academic performance. Like what Wright said “Teacher as agent of socialization. Students from immigrant and minority homes may find the culture of the school vastly different from the culture of their home, and the teacher may be their first contact with the social world outside the home and even, among ELLs, their first contact with English. Thus, the ways teachers organize their programs and practices help students adjust to the everyday practices, the system values and beliefs, and the means and manners of communication at school and in society. In this role, as in their role as communicators, teachers who respect their student’s home languages and cultures can be most effective in helping students make the necessary transitions without undercutting the role that parents and families must continue to play in their education and development (p.29).”
ReplyDeleteReference:
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Trinh! I found it great that Monica has such a good teacher in her classroom to ensure her success in her English Language Learning. Teachers are oftentimes the first person to expose ELL learners to a new language and it can be frightening to learn a new language but I believe that with the right teacher anything is possible. Over coming a language barrier in the beginning is a struggle but once it is crossed then the teacher is able to understand how the student may learn best and is able to use the best approaches with their ELL students.
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