Reflection

The content in this course, Acquisition, as well as Second Language Methodology have given me a little more insight into teaching and advocating for English Language Learners. My experience being in a military family and then joining the military myself, has given me a good amount of perspective when dealing with individuals who do not speak English as their native language. These skills along with the content provided in this course will ensure that my future English Language Learner students will be provided the most efficient and effective education possible.

One particular area that I was surprised by when taking this course was the concept of the actual complexity of this topic. With the Methodology course, it did not make me realize what actually goes into the cognitive process of learning an additional language. This course really dived into not only the cognitive aspect of learning another language but also environmental factors that may affect the learning process. Simple concepts like the fact that adults and older children initially have an advantage over younger children when learning another language but after roughly 5 years the younger children are better at learning their L2 than older children and adults. (Ortega, 2011) Through research we as educators are able to learn certain aspects of Second Language Acquisition and therefore incorporate specific teaching strategies to accommodate L2 learners more effectively

                Going into my first year of Student Teaching I have already had a good amount of L2 learners and think that I will do well identifying where they are struggling and why. I would hope that the knowledge that I ascertain from this course will aid in my teaching career by providing skills to one of, if not the largest growing demographic in our school systems. I think that courses such as these are necessary for future educators to ensure that no student is left behind simply because their L2 acquisition is not as strong as their L1.    

                In regards to the course, I think it was partially my fault in not getting everything that I was hoping to get out of this course. A good amount of the material was concepts that I had already had a good idea about but now I have a technical term for these concepts. I feel as well that because it was a summer course the material was considerably rushed and I do not feel that I got as much time to really soak in the information as I would have liked. I understand that it is a summer course, I should have taken it during the fall, however, graduation is in December and I had no choice but to take the class this summer. I was not that impressed with the formatting of the tests with audio and video clips. I felt that watching videos, one being an hour and half, and uploading audio files is not the most conducive to a testing environment.  

Reference:

Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge

2 - Interview with a Second Language Learner

    
     I had the opportunity to interview Karin Frazier who was born in Germany and raised in the United States. She initially learned English and German at the same time when she was young classifying her as a simultaneous bilingual learner. She was exposed to English more so than German because of her schooling on military bases but at home she would speak German. Therefore her heritage language began suffering because the dominant language, English, is what she was exposed to more. She moved to the United States at the age of five and immediately transitioned into an English only environment.


     Off camera she made a comment about regretting not being able to still speak German and regretting not taking additional classes when she was younger. In the YouTube video “How Do Kids Learn a Second Language? Part 1” by EducationRoundTable is hosted by Aggie Sung Tang. One of the speakers Dr. Alejandro Brice states that “50-80 percent of most populations are bilingual.” He goes on saying that having enough input in both languages and incorporating the same amount of time learning the language is key to bilingualism. I still do not understand why in the United States some people believe only English should be spoken when a good majority of the world speaks multiple languages. As if knowing another language is a bad thing. In order to really have bilingual or multilingual students thrive we need to encourage not only learning English but also taking the time to nurture a student’s heritage language.   


     A good amount of students in the US would be categorized as sequential bilingual learners because they usually speak a language at home until they start school and then learn English. This is not always the case but is prominent. Dr. Mahchid Namazi from the YouTube video “How Do Kids Learn a Second Language? Part 1” by EducationRoundTable states that “sequential bilingualism is different from simultaneous bilingualism because the exposure is different to the two languages.” Which makes sense, a person learning in naturalistic setting is going to have more exposure and in a more meaningful way to the person. As oppose to learning in a more rigid instructed environment like a classroom.


    I actually found it a little sad that Karin had lost her ability to speak German. Even though she lives in a society where it is not necessary for her to know German it is not like knowing another language is a bad thing. 


Reference:


 EducationRoundTable. "How Do Kids Learn a Second Language? Part 1". Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Jun. 2018.

1 - Introduction

I will say that I have had a considerable amount of experience with non-native English speakers. They ranged from individuals who knew absolutely no English to individuals who were efficient speakers. With teaching I believe that Math is probably the easiest to teach to English Language Learners because numbers are universal and Math concepts are universal. I plan on teaching Science which does involve a lot of reading and vocabulary comprehension. This will be a challenge for non-native speakers because there are going to be a lot of Science terms that are unfamiliar.

Ortega (2011) mentions that it is hotly debated whether students should be taught grammar and vocabulary directly or approximate in the “natural language meaning-making process” (p. 8) while in the classroom. I had ELL students in my Student Teaching 1 semester and noticed that all of them are different in their learning. I had the luxury of having an aide specifically for special needs and ELL students which really helped when I was going over more complex concepts. When I would engage with the ELL students and explain to them a concept, I would use the appropriate vocabulary in English but also ask them what the equivalent was in their language. This not only gives them a mental recognition of the vocabulary but also shows them I am trying to meet them halfway which will encourage them to progress. I have dealt with a good amount of non-English speakers so I am very patient with ELL students and speak slowly so they have time to translate in their heads. I look forward to sharpening these skills through this course.