Video: https://youtu.be/62Y4RiIgKb0
Hello everyone,For this week Vlog assignment, I got to interview my classmate, Jeanette Nguyen. She was born and raised in the United States, but her first language was Vietnamese. As she grew older, English became her first language. Jeanette mentioned in the video that she started learning English in preschool, and she was lucky enough to have a Vietnamese teacher to translate for her. According to Ortega, “Naturalistic learners learn the L2 through informal opportunities in multicultural neighborhoods, school, and workplaces…” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 6) and “Instructed learners learn additional languages through formal study in school or university, through private lessons and so on.” (Ortega, 2013. Pg. 6). Jeanette would fit into both the categories because she first learned English in her preschool class continued to develop more English words/phrases through social involvement.
During the conversation, Jeanette said as she grew older, English eventually developed into her first language, and she would only speak Vietnamese to her mom since her mom does not speak English. But when she talks to her dad, she would speak both English and Vietnamese. Ortega stated that"the bilingual speakers switch and alternate between their two (or more) languages, depending on a range of communicative needs and desires."(Ortega, 2013, pg. 4) For Jeanette, she can easily switch back and forth between the two languages.
During my interview with Jeanette, I was able to make many learning connections with her, such as having the experience of learning a new language. Those learning experiences gave us great opportunities to help our future English learner students.
Refrences:
Ortega, L.(2013)Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Routledge
Hello Lori,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching you interview Jeanette. After watching the video, I learned that many of her experiences were similar to mine. Jeanette mentioned in the video that she began learning her L2 when she started pre-school. I, as well, began learning English at a very young age (5 years). I also noticed that Jeanette said she was very talkative during school and therefore she learned from her peers. Ortega states that "Knowing about the language benefits afforded by the environment is thus important for achieving a good understanding of how people learn additional languages" (Ortega, 2013, p. 55). I believe this is very true in Jeanette's case because like she said, picking up the words and the language was fairly easy for her because of her peers and she was socializing a lot. I believe that this can be very beneficial to anybody learning a new language because the more exposure you get, the more you're able to practice and learn.
You mentioned that you were a bilingual as well, I would love to know about your story because I noticed in the interview, some words you pronounced incorrectly in English and I could also tell that you have an accent.
References: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print
DeleteHi Kenia
My Story is a little similar to mine, I moved to the United States when I was 10 and that the first time I start to-learn English. I was not a talkative or social kid when I was a young child, so I had a very hard time learning English. My dominant language is still Chinese, and that is the language I still predominantly speak at home with my family. Therefore, I did not have much practice speaking English other than in a school environment. According to Ortega, “Languages are almost always learned with and for others, and these others generate linguistic evidence, rich or poor, abundant or scarce, that surrounds learners” (Ortega, 2013, p. 55). I still struggle with properly using correct grammar in both my writing and speaking, but I practice when I can.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 20111. Print
Hi Lori,
DeleteCorrect me if I am wrong, but it seems that your conservativness/shyness caused you to miss on high levels of morphology and syntax. I am hypothesizing that even when you came here at 10, your lack of interaction with the native language caused you to have a longer period of time to struggle with English. Ortega states that children over the age of 12 will usually not develop in L2 phonology as in L2 morphosyntax. It is not impossible (although it is admittedly rare) to attain native-like levels. It may not be too late. Simply immerse yourself in the language and began to hold more and more dialogue IN English.
Oretga p. 23
Replied Kenia under Lori Zhao,
ReplyDeleteJeanette began her L2 acquisition at a very young age. You said that she was very talkative and that helped her learn by practicing with her peers. I have seen it mentioned in one of our readings that young children are not afraid of like making language mistakes, therefore they feel free to use their developing language more than perhaps some middle age children or adults. Ortega also mentions that, “In terms of L2 ultimate attainment, most learners who begin acquiring the L2 before a certain age, typically before puberty, will develop levels of morphosyntactic and phonological competence that are very close to those of native speakers of the language,” (Ortega, 2011, p.28). With all this research, it is a wonder why we do not introduce second languages in elementary school instead of waiting until middle school and high school.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 20111. Print.
I agree that it is a shame the U.S. does not invest in having young children learn a second language. Instead, for children who know a language that is not English living here, some states would rather invest in "sink-or-swim educational policies that attempt to reduce or even completely withdraw the first and second language support that is to be provided to language minority students" (Ortega, 2009, p. 28). There seems to be this unfounded fear that people who speak another language in this country and continue to do so are un-American and that America will lose its identity if mandatory English-only policies are not enacted. Then, older children and young adults are told that knowing more than one language is ideal for resumes when looking for a job or career. Knowing more than one language is more beneficial than not, and sometimes it feels like that children are being robbed of an opportunity.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Hi Stacey
DeleteI agree with what you mentioned how " young children are not afraid of like making language mistakes". I have those experience with my self as a child, when there were time I was afraid to speak up or communicate with others due to someone Constantly correcting my grammar and I was embarrassed every time this happened too me. No child should ever fell this way in a positive learning environment.
Hello Lori,
ReplyDeleteWatching your video made me realize she has alot of similarites as my mom,which is the person I interviwed.Jeanette says that speaks only Vietnamese to her mom and throws in a little bit of english here and there, but it is hard to write it in words words. Ortega states "The first new thread of evidence pertains to the realization that age effects maybe present in additional language acquisition much earlier than previously thought, perhaps by age four". Whenever you stop speaking your first language that you were born with or not using it as much you will always loose some of the concepts.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 20111. Print
Hi Katiana
DeleteI believe English has also become your mom's dominant language, Since dominant bilingual is defined as “someone with greater proficiency in one of his or her languages and uses it significantly more than the other languages” (Gass and Selinker, 2008, p. 27). For me, my dominant language is still Chinese, and that is the language I still predominantly speak at home with my family.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 20111. Print
Hello Lori,
ReplyDeleteIt says in the textbook that "details of people's L2 learning histories can vary greatly, depending on where their studies, their families, their jobs and careers..." (Ortega, 2013, pg. 1) Referring to the textbook, your friend had a very interesting language learning journey because of how her Vietnamese wasn't fully learned and English came into her life. From my understanding, she seemed to learned both Vietnamese and English growing up and she has a good understanding of both languages with how she can so easily interchange from Vietnamese and English when she speaks to her father. I can relate to this as well because I grew up learning Korean and English growing up, Korean so I may communicate with my parents because that is all they spoke and English due to going to school and living here. Now, I can easily switch back from Korean to English when talking or translating things for my parents. "Thus, bilingualism and SLA can overlap in early years, making it at times difficult to draw boundaries between the two fields." (Ortega, 2013, pg. 4) Referring to what Ortega said, people may be confused to whether your friend is bilingualism or SLA, but your friend may more fit in the bilingualism category because of how young she was when she was learning both languages.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Hi Lori,
ReplyDeleteI think you made a good call when categorizing your friend as a naturalistic learner, and an instructional learner. I think it is important to remember that there is not a black and white label when dealing with students. There is always a spectrum on which a student learns.
Your friend also seems to be an early bilingual since she learned both of her languages fairly close to each other, and before she learned grammer and schooling in her L1 (Gass and Selinker, 2013).
Would an L2 "turn" into an L1 just because you use one more often than your original L1?
Jeanette shared that her first language is Vietnamese. She starting learning English, when she began school at the age of four. She stated that English was easy for her to learn, because she was a very talkative and inquisitive child. Ortega (2009) ventures to point out that Schmidt recognized that this type of strategic competence was very useful for second language acquisition while studying Wes. “Strategic competence to solve communication problems developed rapidly, as he availed himself of heuristics that helped him solve immediate meaning-making needs, driven as he was by his intense social and conversational will to communicate” (p. 58). Like Wes, I believe that Jeanette’s will to communicate strengthened her second language acquisition. Jeanette also commented that the more English she learns, the more Vietnamese she forgets. However, I believe, that since her mother only speaks Vietnamese, she will continue to practice and retain that knowledge.
ReplyDeleteLori, it was interesting hearing about your friend mentioning that the more she learns English, the less Vietnamese she knows. Although she speaks Vietnamese in the home setting fluently, she has regressed in the area of writing. The regression hypothesis is referred to by Gass (2008) as “according to which the child uses the language skills used in first language acquisition with L2 data but “at a very primitive and rudimentary level” (p. 124). Your friend seems to have used this kind of method with her language learning, due to her regression in L2.
ReplyDeleteReferences: Gass, S. M. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.