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
Hi Jerome, I enjoyed reading about your overall experience in this course. I agree that concepts such as how age impacts language acquisition rate and success are interesting, yet more complex than I had anticipated (Ortega, 2013, p. 14). I most definitely agree with you on your point about the rushed feeling of the course. I felt that the readings and assignments were plentiful and dense and therefore I did not have the opportunity to take the time to focus on particular topics of personal interest to further my learning. However, I know that I still learned a great deal about second language acquisition because I can into this course with minimal background knowledge of the topic. I wish you the best of luck in your teaching endeavors and I believe your personal experience combined with the knowledge you have obtained from this course will greatly benefit you in the future!
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I agree with you on how complex everything is with SLA. I never truly understood how complex it all was, or how much effort was needed to make the classroom smooth and successful for all students. I also did not realize how many different forms of second language learning there are: “naturalistic and formal language acquisition in second, foreign and heritage learning contexts. It seeks to understand universal, individual and social forces that influence what gets acquired, how fast, and how well, by different people under different learning circumstances“ (Ortega, 2013, p. 10). I agree that everything was so dense, but we took in as much of the information as possible, and all did the best we could!
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Jerome! After reading your reflection, I really tell that you care about giving your students the best opportunities possible, and that you are going to do amazing things with your ELLs. Before taking this course, I had no clue about the age difference either. It boggles my mind that there are so many critical and sensitive periods that children will go through when learning a new language (Ortega, 2013). I think you will do amazing with being able to tell the differences between what each child needs, and how to help them. I definitely agree with you about not getting as much out of the course as I was hoping. The material did not have as much time to sink in and be processed before moving onto the next topic. But I plan on making sure that I spend more time with this material after the course so that I can understand the concepts for the next course we will be taking.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Jerome!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement on how uploading audio files during an exam was not as flexible as I thought. Taking my exams through a U of H computer somehow did not allow me to upload an audio, however I did appreciate how the professor allowed us to correct our exam and gave us multiple opportunities to correct our tests. As well, I wish I would have taken this course in the fall to indulge myself with more knowledge about second language learning. One of my favorite statements from the Second Language Acquisition book is that “research considers motivation [where] learning takes place” (Gass p.447).
References:
Gass, Susan M. Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. Routledge, 2013.
Jerome,
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to know that you feel the efficiency and effectiveness of your teaching will positively impact your future middle-school science students with the help of the knowledge you attained with this course. Of the many, many objectives, topics and subtopics we learned throughout this four-week course, I was most moved by the acknowledgment of many taboo topics. Typically, anxiety and lack of motivation within the classroom are not discussions that are being held. As a teacher candidate with a learning disability and anxiety, I was pleased to read such thoroughly written text detailing the various types and triggers for anxiety. Ortega explains anxiety to be intense feelings of apprehension, tension and fear when they THINK about foreign language (Ortega,2013).
I agree with your perspective regarding the demands of this course. Though I can appreciate the academic push of summer school, the amount of content acquired in this course often times felt excessive.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.