Entry 3
https://youtu.be/gW_6KcywSEI Blog 3 The educator that I interviewed has taught a bilingual class, specifically during the summer for elementary age children. I felt that we had a very good dialogue about a few different topics in regard to the topic of acquiring a second language and what that can entail. One of the questions that I asked was if she thought that children who acquire a second language at a younger age are at an advantage. Her reply was yes, she came to this conclusion from mainly from her personal experience of acquiring another language. “Children acquiring their first language complete the feat within a biological window of four to six years of age. By contrast, the ages at which different L2 learners may begin learning the new language range wildly. Thus, age emerges as a remarkable site of difference between L2 and L1 acquisition” (Ortega, pg.12). In her experience she said th...
Hola Breanna,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed listening and watching your video. It was very neat to me that the woman you where interviewing got a degree in bilingual education and she also was a bilingual student in school. She talked of how when she was young she struggle to fit in sometimes because it was harder to communicate with monolingual students or students who only spoke English. "The capacity to attend to the language code can be internally or externally fostered. Instances of noticing can be driven from within the learner, as when she struggles to put a sentence together and express her thoughts and in the process discovers something new"(Ortega, P. 63) It is very hard to have a total understanding of the structure of a new language because it is different for every language. People who can speak more then one language always amaze me. What did you find most interesting about the woman that you interviewed?
Hola Elizabeth,
DeleteI found my subject to be quite interesting overall. However, I found that her getting her degree in bilingual education to be thought provoking. I wonder how much of her own experience of being an ESL student in elementary school influenced her decision. I also wonder how much of her own experience affects her own teaching style and teaching philosophy.
Very interesting video BreAnna! I can understand where she is wanting to spell everything with the way it sounded to her when learning English because that is a common thing that younger students do because they have not developed their sense of phonemic awareness. Not receiving the same language support at home, Ortega states that, “Pre-existing knowledge of the mother tongue influences interlanguage developing by accelerating or delaying the progress learners make along the natural, developmental pathways”. (Ortega, 2011, Pg. 53). I can understand the struggle that she had growing up when she had to perform and learn English all day at school and then was receiving no support at home because her family only spoke Spanish.
ReplyDeleteHello Sara,
DeleteThank you for your positive feedback. I agree with your observation. Not having that support at home must have made it more difficult for her to understand this new language. This could have possibly delayed her progress as a English Language Learner. This is a very complex relationship to consider.
Hi BreAnna! I really enjoyed your video and your reflection as well. It was interesting learning that she had difficulties learning the English language. I can see many students, even the ESL ones I have right now in the class I am student teaching in, have a hard time fitting in because of their lack of English. Ortega also talks about how with learning two languages there cam be some confusions between the two language (Ortega, 2013, p. 52). Seeing how she struggled with the difference of the two language, it could be by confusion. Thank you and your interviewee so much for sharing such an interesting experience.
ReplyDeleteHello Julie,
DeleteI'm so glad that yo enjoyed my video. This concept can be really complex. "The influence of the mother tongue cannot explain all phenomena in interlanguage development, because universal influences that operate in all natural languages exercise a powerful effect also on L2 development" (Ortega, 20213, p.53).
Hello Breanna, thank you for sharing Adrianna’s story with us! Your video was very interesting. I think it is really cool that you interviewed a teacher that has taught bilingual classes. Her viewpoint was very interesting to listen to! Adrianna mentioned that she had trouble learning English because of all the rules and things that apply to the language. I have had many Spanish speaking individuals mention that Spanish words are spelled how they sound. Ortega (2011) states that “Pre-existing knowledge of the mother tongue influences interlanguage development by accelerating or delaying the progress learners make along the natural, developmental pathways (pg. 53). It seems that Adrianna may have had the trouble she did because of this pre-existing knowledge of her native language. This idea of “transfer” that Ortega speaks of “cannot radically alter the root of L2 acquisition but can impact the rate of learner’s progress.” It seems that her progress was slightly impacted but she was able to overcome it in the end.
ReplyDeleteHello Alyssa,
DeleteI think Adrianna's experience is thought provoking. This is considering that Ortega said, "Knowledge of two (or more) languages can accelerate the learning of an additional one, and all previously known languages can influence knowledge of and performance in an L3." Obviously that was not the case for her.
Breanna, Interesting point to bring up! That is so interesting how different people can experience things differently and how some things may work for some but not for others. In this case, Adrianna having trouble because of her pre-existing knowledge of her L1.
DeleteHello BreAnna!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this interview, I really enjoyed listening to your interview I thought she
explained her story very well on how she acquired her Second Language. One thing she said
that caught my attention and I find interesting that many of us do when learning a second
language is getting this confusion of writing things just as the sound and I totally agree with her
on that, I think everyone of us has done that. Also, having taught a bilingual class must mean
she is proficient in both languages, many contributions such as learning Spanish at home and
English at school had its effects in order to master both languages, according to Ortega
"learners learn their L2 through informal opportunities in multicultural neighborhoods,
workplace, and school," (Ortega, pg. 6).
Hello Diana,
DeleteThank you for your very nice comment. The ways that ELL's can learn are vast but Ortega put it simply when he said... "Consciously or unconsciously, learners seem to operate on the basis of two complementary principles: ‘what works in the L1 may work in the L2 because human languages are fundamentally alike’ but ‘if it sounds too L1-like, it will probably not work in the L2’." (Ortega, pg.53)
Hi there Breanna! I noticed that your interviewee, Adrianna and my interviewee both unknowingly agree that speaking two languages is beneficial and for you it has given you a lot of job opportunities. Being bilingual allows you to be able to help international customers that speak Spanish and bilingual speakers are extremely beneficial in customer service. Ortega mentions that “The details of people’s L2 learning histories can vary greatly, depending on where their studies, their families, their jobs and careers, and wider economic and political world events, take them.” (Ortega, 2009, pg.1) The person I interviewed mentioned that she wants to teach her future children Spanish at home and English in school. You also want your future children to be bilingual. Since your parents and in-laws both speak English and Spanish then I don’t doubt that your future offspring will definitely learn both lingos. Also, since their preferred language is Spanish, then they will also play a big role into teaching your kids to speak Spanish. For instance, if you don’t know what a word means in Spanish then you can always ask your parents or in-laws. My mom still corrects me if I pronounce a word in Spanish incorrect and this benefits me in the long run. Thank you for sharing your interview!
ReplyDelete