Post 2- Interview with Kenia
Reflection:
I have known Kenia for around two years,
after many late nights up studying this semester, I thought I knew her very well. That being said this interview with her taught me many things that I
would not have known otherwise. While I did know that Kenia was bilingual and
that her L1 was Spanish I did not know how she came about learning her L2.
During my interview with Kenia I learned that she came to know Spanish at a
very young age. Using the knowledge provided by our textbook, I know that Kenia
acquired Spanish, that is she gained her knowledge about Spanish subconsciously
without her trying to formally learn the language (Wright, 2015, p. 51). However,
she learned English since this occurred in a formal instructed way, though
school (Wright, 2015, p. 51). Another interesting take away that I learned
though my interview with Kenia is that she feels more confident reading and writing
in English, her second language, as appose to her first language Spanish. Wayne
E. Wright explains this progression of learning a language in page 40. Here he
explains that, “it takes 5 years or longer for ELLs to catch up to proficient English
speakers” in other words it takes a new language learner longer to acquire
academic language proficiency (Wright, 2015, p. 40). This interesting as it seems that Kenia was able
to “catch up” and become proficient in English. In Kenia’s case, since she was
constantly surrounded by more English speakers at a young age her focus was
solely on learning English, she lost some of the fluency she had in Spanish and this may be why Kenia is more comfortable speaking, reading and writing in
English. To conclude, I found my interview with Kenia to be eye opening and
informative. I thought it was interesting that even though Kenia and I are from
different counties our experiences learning English were quite similar.
Hey Karen!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your video and listening to Kenia’s story. I too find it eye opening, as you put it in your reflection. Something that I enjoyed was hearing the difference from Kenia learning English in an ESL classroom and my friend Chayanne. Kenia mentions that her ESL teacher also could speak Spanish and help them communicate like that. My friend Chayanne’s ESL teacher did not speak very much Spanish. Based on that do you think it would be more beneficial for the ESL Teacher to be fluent in both Spanish and English? According to Wright, "historically, the U.S. education system has done an inadequate job in providing equitable educational opportunities to poor and minority student" (2010, page 13). Kenia seemed to have a very well educated instructor and given proper instruction that seems like something that would be a blessing compared to others who slightly struggle because their instructor could not communicate with the parents and students.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Kayla! I would definitely say that it would be more beneficial for an ESL teacher to be able to speak at least a little bit of their students native language. In this way the teacher can do what what Wayne E. Wright calls translanguaging or encouraging students to use their first language in the classroom in conjunction with English (p. 39, 2015). I think using a student’s first language to bridge the gap and help them learn English is also a great way to differentiate in the classroom.
DeleteAccording to Wright (2015, p. 29), "teachers who respect their students' 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 lay in their education and development." I think that respecting students primary language is key in their development of their L2. Using a students first language, like you all mentioned, can be an effective way to make the connections between both languages and facilitate their learning of their L2.
DeleteHi Karen, I enjoyed watching your interview with Kenia. I thought it was relatable how Kenia felt more comfortable with speaking and writing English because I felt the same way. Although my first language was Vietnamese, I grew more comfortable with English because I spent years in school learning it. As a result, I ended up losing some of my fluency in Vietnamese. I could relate to Kenia because it seems like she was slightly affected by subtractive bilingualism, causing her to lose some of her fluency in Spanish (Wright, 2015, p. 21).
ReplyDeleteWright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
HI Angela! I also related to Kenia in that I find I am more confident in my second language, English, than in my native language, Spanish. However, one of the last things that I snuggled with when learning English was spelling. I did what Wayne E. Wright calls, invented spelling, that is, “to approximate the spelling using [the] knowledge of sound-symbol correspondence” (p. 229, 2015). In other words, I would try to spell words but would essentially make up the spelling based on the sound. Now that I have had years of practice writing English I will still sometimes second guess my self!
DeleteHi Karen! I enjoyed watching your interview. There are a couple things I noticed that were some similarities between your interviewee and mine! Both ELLs had an older sibling that was able to assist in their English language learning outside of the classroom yet still remain speaking Spanish as the primary language when at home. Kenia was lucky to have a teacher who could speak to her in Spanish as a last resort of communicating and it seems like that advantage was not abused. Due to the demographics of the school she attended, I can infer she didn't feel alone or isolated. Unlike Kenia's teacher, you mentioned that your teacher didn't value your native language. According to Wright (2015), teachers should embrace student's native language and view it as a strength when learning English.
ReplyDeleteHi Anicia! It was very disappointing looking back now at how my ESL teacher did not value my native language in the same way that Kenia's did. I cannot express how important it is for a teacher to be as open minded as possible especially when in a multicultural school. I was reminded of what Wayne E. Wright describes as effective primary language support. Wright states that effective primary language support is best when the teacher or paraprofessional is able to speak the students home language, as they are able to communicate quickly and effectively with their student (2015, p 299).
DeleteGoing off of what you said, Wright also mentions (2015), “Educators who work with ELLs must be aware of the linguistic diversity in their schools and surrounding communities”. Once they are aware of the diversity, then they could find ways to embrace that. If I'm ever in a situation where I am not sure of embracing someone's culture, I would ask an effective teacher that I know for support or assistance and it's unfortunate that many don't end up doing that. The learning involved in this course has really made me aware of what could possibly happen in the near future and to start planning for these scenarios based on the knowledge from this course.
DeleteHello Karen! I enjoyed watching your video! I thought it was awesome that Kenia had a Spanish speaking teacher. I feel like that helps the students not only through their learning but it makes them feel more comfortable. Comfortable in the sense that they know that if they are confused on something their teacher can explain in their native language. I do that now sometimes with some of my students. Mostly with vocabulary, like if they don't understand the definition of a word I will tell them it in Spanish. Sometimes just hearing it in Spanish makes everything click for them. I really do not understand why teachers prevent students from speaking their native language in their bilingual classroom. I think its important to let students express themselves every now and then in their language. Wright (2015) talked about subtractive and additive bilingualism in Chapter 1 and I think as teachers we should reach for additive with our students. In a world where there are so many ways to communicate why would we not want our students to keep their native language. Like Wright (2015, p. 21) said this "should be the goal of all school language programs" to have students continue to develop their language while becoming fluent in another.
ReplyDeleteWright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi Alessandra! I could not agree more! I wish my ELA teacher had been more open mined to the benefits of being bilingual and developing two languages hand-in-hand. I think that ELL teachers can use what students know about learning one language to learn another. In other words teachers can do what Wayne E. Wright describes scaffolding as, “temporarily used to build something and removed once the building is completed” (p. 57, 2015). In this way teachers are encouraging the use of the native language while also developing the second language.
DeleteAllessandra,
DeleteYou made such great points in your comment. I believe that maintaining a native language is extremely important to do so while acquiring another language. There is no reason why teacher's should have had students neglect their primary language, instead they should have embraced it! I have heard many say that they were placed in a traditional classroom with no support and that is just cruel. According to Wright (2015), this is called submersion, “the sink or swim approach, where ELLs are placed in mainstream classroom where there is no ESL instruction, no sheltered instruction, and no PLS. Furthermore, the teachers are not certified to teach ELLs". I always tend to think of my student teaching experience currently and how we have a student who has only been in the U.S. since the summer. I mentioned to him that sometimes he will come across words that look the same when being spelled in Spanish which are cognates. For many assignments, we have materials and activities translated in Spanish so that he feels more comfortable with the learning environment and actually engaged.