Blog 1
Hi my name is Nayab Vapiwalla, I am currently a senior at the University of Houston. I grew up in a bilingual household but was not bilingual myself until I was about 12-13 years old. Being able to speak more than one language gives some people an advantage in the work force. In high school unlike a normal student, I decided to take American Sign Language, though it is not as resourceful as Spanish might have been I feel that it has helped me, and going into education it is still going to be beneficial. Learning another language is difficult, and takes quite a bit of time, especially when you do not have someone guiding you through. Since I taught myself Hindi, I understand the struggles of not having guidance in learning a new language. With English language learners you need to have ample time and patience and understand that each person learns at their own pace.
American sign language is an interesting skill to pick up on. It may not be as common as Spanish, but that does not mean it is not useful. Because it may not be as common, many people tend to avoid learning that skill. With that happening, there are students who struggle to find the aid that they need. On the other hand, learning a language on your own is also a difficult task. In our textbook, Wright phrased that our expertise comes from our experiences (Wright, 2015, p.17). From my own experiences, I learned Spanish through conversations with others. It was something I never sat down and studied, so I also believe making a language relatable helps with learning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wright that expertise comes from experiences. It is great that you were able to learn Spanish simply from conversations and interactions with others. That is how I learned my second language, Hindi. I agree that it is a difficult task, though with time and patience anything is possible. Luckily for ELL learners, Wright says that “Although limited resources and the challenges of learning English may impede opportunities to learn, ELLs can learn and reach the highest levels of academic achievement” (Wright, 15). With hard work comes results.
DeleteHello Nayab! I am amazed by the opportunity you were given to join the deaf club. I think organizations like that make students gain a bigger and better understanding of other languages. I agree with you as well when you mentioned how foreign languages are learned at a student's own pace. Every student learns differently and at a different pace. However, it is part of the teacher's job to know and adapt to each students differences to help them succeed. According to Wright, "Thus, the more the teacher knows about a student's experiences, the ore he or she can assume about the expertise that student is likely have" (2010, pg. 17).
ReplyDeleteHi Harlie, I feel that being able to join the ASL club was an amazing opportunity as you said, it opened my eyes to so many new things and gave me so many chances to interact with those who are deaf. I am glad that you agree that languages should be learned at your own pace, and you are right, it is a teachers job to adapt and assist the student in their learning. But when working with an ELL student you have to ensure that it is additive bilingualism, this is when students learn a new language without losing their home language (Wright, 21). This is to ensure that the students is gaining knowledge and not losing any.
DeleteHi Nayab! I think it is amazing that you were able to teach yourself Hindi and took a less common language to learn in high school. By teaching yourself another language you were able to go through the struggle and possibly relate to your future students. Wright (2015) advocates for students to continue to advance their home language while working on their English mastery. Your situation is actually backwards but similar. Wright also claims teachers need to know if language problems will clear up on their own and which will not and I believe with your personal experience learning, you can help determine that.
ReplyDeleteHi Veronica, I agree with you that having gone through the struggle it could potentially give me a bridge to connect with my students and to be able to help them in any way possible, but since my situation is backwards where I learned English first than Hindi after, I will not be able to make the same connect as a teacher who's seconds language was English. I will be able to understand the necessity of learning English in today's society but, it is seen that in recent school systems, students are pushed to assimilate and abandon their home language (Wright, 19). I want to ensure that my students do not feel this way because their native language should not suffer at the cost of learning English.
DeleteHello Nayab! I can relate you because even though I did not teach myself to speak Urdu, but I wanted to learn it because I wanted to be able to communicate with my parents and grandparents. I never formally learned Urdu but I learned mainly through conversations at home, and through Pakistani dramas. However, though as teachers it is up to us to understand how students acquired their skill in their native language and in their second language (Wright 2010.) I think choosing to learn sign language high school was a great idea because then you will be able to meet your students at their level and be able to relate to them. I wish when I was in school that the teacher gave my homework half in Urdu and half in English.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2010. Print. First Edition.
I taught myself Hindi in a very similar manner actually, it was primarily through conversations and watching Indian soap operas. I agree that teachers should have an understanding of how students learned their second language because that could potentially aid in their teaching method. Understanding how a student learns best could help ensure success for them. I think that is it important to remember that people often misassume English to be the language of America which it is not, there is no official language of the United States. We as educators have to make sure that we are not making our students lose their native languages.
DeleteHi Nayab!
ReplyDeleteIn your video you talked about your own struggles when teaching yourself Hindi but you learned that learning a language is a process. Wright talks about different stages that ELLs go through as they progress in their language development. Wright includes SLIC “second language instructional competence” as a stage where ELLs are able to understand instruction and work on activities independently (Wright, 2015). When learning anything you progressively build upon the content you are taught and consistent practice is needed to develop. Students have to understand this so they don’t get distracted and give up. ELLs don’t become fluent in a new language in a blink of an eye and teachers have to acknowledge that this impacts students and their motivation. Having dealt with this yourself Nayab, I think you will be a great help to ELLs. You can talk to them about your experiences and overall keep them motivated to work hard to improve the language acquisition.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching english language learners: Research, theory,
policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson Inc.
Hi Alondra! Teaching myself and learning a second language was definitely a process, it took a lot of time and practice to get to where I am now and I am still not totally fluent. Students will probably require constant motivation to ensure that they are working to the best of their abilities and that they are learning all content necessary for them to succeed. Having this experience will help me connect to my students and assist them where they may be struggling, you are right overall it is all the motivation to keep the hard work up.
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