Entry 3
https://youtu.be/gW_6KcywSEI
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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 that since she was so young she was able to
learn not only two languages but three.
Of course there are other factors that can progress the learning of a
second language but this factor is a major one.
“The idea that there may be an optimal, maybe even
critical, age period for the
acquisition of language
entered SLA research through the work in neurolinguistics
of Penfield and Roberts
(1959) and Lenneberg (1967)” (Ortega,pg.13).
Researchers have done multiple studies on this specific topic, it
started with animals and they moved on to babies. This research led to the conclusion that
there are critical and sensitive periods in develpment.
Hi BreAnna, your interviewee's experiences with teaching an L2 were similar to those of my interviewee concerning the age of acquisition. Ortega (2013) discusses the negative correlation between age of acquisition and L2 acquisition. Although in some of the studies he details in Chapter 2 prove the possibility of a successful second language acquisition with older L2 learners, Ortega concludes that initially, "older children enjoy an initial
ReplyDeleteadvantage over young children", but "early starters catch up and are better than late starters in
second language contexts" after five years (Ortega, 2013, pg. 28). It was interesting how the information in the textbook matched the experiences Mr. Kim and your interviewee had with their own students.
Hello Yaeji,
DeleteThank you very much for your comment. I agree with your statement about how the research matched up to real experiences. I think it gives more meaning to the context of certain topics discussed by Ortega.
Hello BreAnna! First of all, thank you for sharing this interview with us and allowing us to expand or knowledge of second language acquisition. Since we discussed about motivation last week in class, do you think that younger students have more innate motivation to learn a new language since, according to your interview, younger students learn better than older students? According to Ortega (2009), children learning implicitly while adults learn explicitly (p.158). Could this be another reason why children learn easier than adults? While I think theory is great and provide us with general information. I like to believe that it isn't impossible for adult to learn or have the motivation to learn a new language like children. I plan on learning new languages in the future and looking at theory can be very discouraging as an adult.
ReplyDeleteHello Hao,
DeleteI agree with your statement. I do think that this theory can be discouraging to adults who hope to learn another language. However I do think that desire as well as many other aspects can be factored in as well. "Motivation is usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to sustain it. We can measure different aspects and dimensions of motivation reliably through questionnaires, by focusing on motivational quantity (e.g. Gardner’s AMTB), motivational quality (e.g.
Noels and colleagues’ LLOS) and antecedents of motivation such as orientations and attitudes" (Ortega, pg.189).
Hey BreAnna, I enjoyed your interview! I found it interesting that your interviewee mentioned that when learning a second language, it becomes a part of a learner's survival. They need to know how to communicate with the others around them and in their community. This relates to our Ortega (2009) readings when she mentions motivation of L2 learners could be in order to integrate themselves into their new L2 community, in order to travel to different and foreign places, or in order to become friends with people whose native tongue is their L2 (p. 173). There are many great ways to get your students motivated to learn a second language. One could be to remind them that they will need to be able to communicate to people who don't speak their native tongue. If you move to a foreign place, you will need to be able to communicate to survive and thrive.
ReplyDeleteHi Haley,
DeleteThank you so much for your comment. Ortega did state that one reason for learning another language is, "for integrative reasons related to identification with the target culture and a genuine desire to become more like members of the L2 group" (Ortega, pg.173). So I agree with your sentiment. Learner's survival is a real thing and it really can impact an individual's learning.
Thank you for your reply, BreAnna! Another reason for learning a second language could be for instrumental purposes such as getting a better job or pursuing an education (Ortega, 2013, p.173). As future teachers, we will most likely have students who have traveled to the U.S. to receive a better education. Therefore, they are learning English in order to not only integrate themselves into the English-speaking community, but also to be successful in school and hopefully move on to college after high school.
DeleteI enjoyed watching your video. I thought it was incredible that your interviewee spoke three languages. I particularly agreed with your interviewee’s point of view on naturalistic setting. Ortega mentions that naturalistic can be any informal opportunities such as learning in your neighborhood to learning from TV (Ortega, 2013, p. 6). Though she seemed to firmly think naturalistic learning is the way to go, I wonder what she thinks about learning grammar and proper language usage in a naturalistic environment.
ReplyDeleteHello Tara,
DeleteThank you for your comment. I think that your comment relates to the idea of learner's survival like Haley mentioned. Someone's orientation is based on a true need to communicate their motivation to learn will be increased. As for proper grammar and language usage, I think that depends on the environment.