It
has been very interesting to discover the complexities of Second Language Acquisition.
Through book discovery, I have been able to understand the different levels of
acquisition that many children have with becoming competent in a second
language. I have also been able to understand how difficult or how easily some
children are able to adapt to the languages they are exposed to. I can attest to
many of the discussed in the chapter readings because they are experiences I
have encountered myself. The first language that is spoken in my home is
Spanish and growing up that is all I knew, so when it came time for me to go to
school and learn a whole new language on my own I struggled but I was able to
learn quickly and proficiently. This became much easier to understand when I
read about theorist’s beliefs about children being able to acquire language
more quickly than adults. I learned that language acquisition stems to the
motivation each student has, the attitude he or she demonstrates, and whether
or not they are exposed to a supportive and responsive learning environment.
Taking
this class has allowed me to become more conscientious about what my students
may be going through when placed in an environment that they are new to. These
lessons will be useful in my career because I am fortunate enough live in such
a diverse city that will allow me the opportunity to work with various children
that come from different backgrounds. When working with English Language
Learners, it is important to build their confidence and self-esteem so that
they can feel comfortable to share, participate, and contribute their ideas to the
classroom so that they are given the same opportunity to be successful. A great
deal of this attainable success comes from the multiple approaches we as
teachers can take to integrate ways for ELL and ESL students to learn in the
class. These approaches relate to differentiating instruction with engaging
activities that cater to these specific student’s needs.
The
role my VBlog played in my understanding of the concepts was very limited in comparison
to what I learned from the textbooks. It was a bit tedious searching for a
person to interview each time, so much so that I even received a decline response
when asking one of my professors if I could conduct an interview with them. I
understand that the general concept of conducting interviews is to get real
world opinions from others, but sometimes it may or may not correlate as well
as it would if we were conducting these interviews with actual children who are
experiencing second language exposure and acquisition. Sometimes it is hard for
adults to recollect happenings from childhood memories, which in turn will
cause a skewed outcome. Therefore, I feel that I would have learned more from
taking my findings in the textbooks and conducting interviews to the ELL and
ESL students in my classroom so that I can have that real life current evidence.
Hi Jennifer, I know I personally learned a lot from you and my other classmates who grew up experiencing much of what we have been learning about in our textbooks. You could personally relate back to your own second language experiences in school and it made me realize the important role we as future teachers have in the life of our future ELL and non-ELL students. We must create an environment that is best for all students and creates a positive learning environment. I like the idea of having the opportunity to interview ELL students in our own classrooms and seeing the connection from their experiences and learning to what we have read about in our textbooks.
ReplyDeleteHi Devon! Thank you for your comment, I am so glad that sharing my personal experiences helped you learn more about ELL students. It is always helpful to have a real world experience or person you can relate content back to, this will account for more in depth learning to take place. I love that you mentioned the importance of environment and the role it plays in creating positive learning environments. Ortega believes that when the students have positive attitudes and interactions with their L2 learning environment, they are able to increase their motivation and work harder toward learning the second language (Ortega, 2013).
DeleteHello Jennifer, I’m glad you were also able to learn so much from this course as well! I think it is great how you were able to make connections with the information attained this semester and compared it to how you learned your L1 and L2. I would also add that a major reason why you were able to learn it so effectively is because of your determination. Ortega, mentions how self-determination construes humans as volitional beings who are growth-oriented” (2003, pg. 175). I do agree that the environment has a lot to do with growth as well and I admire how that stood out to you because based on your passion for students I can see that you will make sure to help students feel supportive in their learning.
ReplyDeleteHello Cesia, thank you for your reply. I appreciate your thorough evaluation and feedback, as a child I do remember being very determined to become competent in the English language. Ortega states that "motivation is the desire to learn something new and the effort put forth to sustain it" (Ortega, 2013). Thankfully my teachers were able to create a positive and supportive learning environment that accounted for my motivation in becoming fully competent in my second language.
DeleteHi, Jennifer!
ReplyDeleteI agree completely that this course has made me more aware of what my students may be going through in their acquisition of a second language. In student teaching, I have several ELL's in my classroom, and I feel this course has helped me understand what it is like to for these students. I can't imagine being taught a multitude of things while also having to break down the words because they weren't spoken to me in a language I am completely familiar with. It also helped me to understand that all my students are different, whether they are ELL or not. Their personalities influence the way they perceive things and they way in which they learn (Ortega, 2013). I agree that it it so important we get to know our students so we know what their life may be like outside of our class. All these interactions we go through shape who we are. I agree with Ortega that this also influences our learning.
Hi Remy, thank you for your reply! I am so happy to hear that this course has allowed you to become more knowledgeable of the acquisition that students in your classroom may have. I agree with your beliefs about getting to know our students in order to understand what their life may be like outside of class. Ortega believes that high quality instruction is necessary to best support ELLs in the classroom (Ortega, 2013). This is important because it will build a positive learning environment.
DeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your journey through this course. I love that you mentioned how you actually experienced all of this as a child and are now seeing the connections to different processes you went through. For example, learning your second language at a younger age. Ortega (2013) attests to this by stating how learning a language at a younger age can have many benefits that sometimes result with the learner acquiring native like tendencies (p.19). This definitely seems to have been a result for you when you learned English at a young age. I also think that if we interviewed actual ELL students the information gathered could have been quite interesting to note and research. That would be really beneficial for future classes to participate in if possible.
Hi Emily, thank you for the feedback. I am glad to hear that sharing my own experiences has helped you to take connections to different processes of learning. Ortega states, “motivation is usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to sustain it” (Ortega, 2013). I agree with this because as a child I found more motivation to stick to learning the language because I had a positive environment in which I could equally practice both languages.
ReplyDelete