Entry 2 Interview
ELL Interview
For my entry 2, I interviewed my friend Baldemor. He is from Mexico and moved to the United states around the age of 9. It was interesting discussing his journey of English acquisition. Ortega states that children who are immersed in a new language at an early age can easily acquire the new language more naturally and faster than those who are older in age. Ortega refers to this time period as the "critical/sensitive periods" of language acquisition. My interviewee even mentioned this from his own personal observations without having any educational background. However, while he still feel like he successfully learn English easily, there are still some short- comings in his mastery of the language. He discusses how he can talk in English very well, and communicate with others without any problem. But, he still has trouble writing and sometimes reading in English. I believe this is because he learned English through a more naturalistic setting, instead of a classroom setting. Stephen Krashen states in his video interview that there are two types of learning involved when learning a language. You have language acquisition and language learning. I believe that Baldemor had very strong language acquisition but had very weak language learning. This is not bad, because it allows full understanding for and communication. But, it can hinder other aspects that involve language learning, such as reading and writing. After further discussion, he informed me that he felt that if you are placed in a new environment with a new language at a very early age, then you will always learn the language. I find this to be true, but we have to go back and refer back to Ortega where he states that you must have intrinsic motivation, because if you are not intrinsically motivated then it will be harder for you to connect and learn the new language. I hope you enjoy my video. Thanks class!
For my entry 2, I interviewed my friend Baldemor. He is from Mexico and moved to the United states around the age of 9. It was interesting discussing his journey of English acquisition. Ortega states that children who are immersed in a new language at an early age can easily acquire the new language more naturally and faster than those who are older in age. Ortega refers to this time period as the "critical/sensitive periods" of language acquisition. My interviewee even mentioned this from his own personal observations without having any educational background. However, while he still feel like he successfully learn English easily, there are still some short- comings in his mastery of the language. He discusses how he can talk in English very well, and communicate with others without any problem. But, he still has trouble writing and sometimes reading in English. I believe this is because he learned English through a more naturalistic setting, instead of a classroom setting. Stephen Krashen states in his video interview that there are two types of learning involved when learning a language. You have language acquisition and language learning. I believe that Baldemor had very strong language acquisition but had very weak language learning. This is not bad, because it allows full understanding for and communication. But, it can hinder other aspects that involve language learning, such as reading and writing. After further discussion, he informed me that he felt that if you are placed in a new environment with a new language at a very early age, then you will always learn the language. I find this to be true, but we have to go back and refer back to Ortega where he states that you must have intrinsic motivation, because if you are not intrinsically motivated then it will be harder for you to connect and learn the new language. I hope you enjoy my video. Thanks class!
Hi Lawence,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your interview. My cousin-in-law also moved to the United States at the age of 9. It was really interesting to hear that Baldemor thought it was easy to learn English since he learned it at a young age. However, it may be hard for him to practice reading and writing because though he may be doing it every day, he may not have the time to specifically practice learning the basics and moving his way up. According to Wright (2015), “teaching ‘English’ to ELLs includes teaching students how to use language appropriately in face-to-face classroom interaction,” (p. 40). Though he liked naturalistic setting, being in a classroom setting may also improve his reading and writing.
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
On the contrary, he did not do it everyday and that is why he suffers to this day. He did not read and write a lot in his ELL classes. He expressed to me that they did write on assessments, but mainly communicated through speech at the school he attended. After my interview with him, I reflected and came to the conclusion that his school probably did not grade him and his classmates on mispelled words or grammer. I know the area he grew up in, and it wasn't the richest neighborhood around. So staff probably couldn't provide the students with everything they needed. Wright states that, "Schools serving poor, minority, and ELLs usually have the least experienced teachers and the fewest resources." They main focus was more than likely just understanding and comprehension.
DeleteHi Lawrence,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your video interview with Baldemor. I found it most interesting that he came at a pretty older age than most of the persons I know. The age my friends came to the United States was before 5 years of age mostly. So it's pretty cool that Baldemor was able to learn English decently fast for his age in the United States. His teacher Mr. Peralta was able to help Baldemor learn English to the point where he would teach him one to one writing and reading it seems. Baldemor was able to stay fluent in Spanish while learning English, Encouraging ELL's to maintain and develop their home language while they develop proficiency in English benefits the individual ELL. (Wright, 2015, p.23)
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hi Lawrence,
ReplyDeleteYour interview provided a lot of information for me to use while I am in the classroom. Through my time in student teaching I have noticed that there are many students that do not struggling speaking to me on a fifth grade level, but because students are not able to read at home, they are often falling behind in reading and reading comprehension. The method of language acquisition that the teacher seemed to us in this case was a naturalistic setting (Wright, 2015). This could mean that while Boldemor was learning the language it was in a comfortable environment that encouraged learning over time but the teacher might have had neglected some of the reading and writing aspects of learning a second language.
Hey Andrew, you are right on!!
DeleteBalde recieved all the comprehension and naturalistic learnig he needed to thrive in speaking and comprehending the English lnguage, but failed to get the reading and writing aspect down. Yvonne Freeman speaks about this in her video about her textbook Between Worlds 3rd Edition. She states that teachers need to reflect on giving students meaningful work in which they can understand, read, write, and talk about. I think my friend only recieved assessments he could understand and talk about.
Hi Lawrence, its a shame that your friend only received the comprehension aspect of English and its sad to hear that has affected him to this day. I agree that teachers need to be able to reflect on the assessments that give meaning to learning a new language through understanding, reading, writing, and oral communication. Wright explains, “The stated purpose of the Title I is to ensure that all children have a fair equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and State academic assessments" (Wright, 2015).
DeleteWright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon.
That is really cool that they tested him on movies and cars. I have never been in an ESL class and I wondered if they tried involving American cultural and generalized learning that you typically don't see in schools, such as cars. It would make a lot of sense that if you can reach a child with something they find very interesting then they would have more of a desire to learn the language just to get to the information. Wright (2015, p.268) points this out "teachers can use thematic teaching, selecting a theme that can be explored through all content areas. For younger children the theme might be a topic, such as Butterflies or Ocean Life."
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Ye Eric, they tried to involve the students in the American culture but I feel like that hindered the students even more. I learned from Yvonne Freeman that we can't just give students things we feel are good for them. Instead, we have to give students things, spoken in English, that align with their culture and interest. Balde talked about watching Romeo and Juliet which is spoken in Olde English, but I'm an English language speaker and don't even know what they are saying on that movie. So, just imagine what he was feeling when watching it. We have to remember Eric that "when ESL and content instruction in English pressure students to replace or demote their home language , subtractive bilingualism may occur." (Wright 2015)
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