Video: https://youtu.be/MVoM5zKiwns
"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, pg. 55). Language learning emerges through environments and from social interaction. The environment that language learners grow up in will heavily affect how well and how quickly they learn to speak and communicate.
This past week, I had the opportunity to interview Ms. De la Mora. She is a fourth-grade language teacher who learned Spanish as her second language. We talked about how the environment helps her students use their first language to assist them in learning their second language. She discussed with me how she has to be patient with her students and explain to them in both English and Spanish so that they can make connections between the two languages. She later goes into detail about how the languages are not structured the same when people have conversations with each other. For example, “Instead of saying Ms. De la Mora's book, we have to say the book of Ms. De la Mora.” These are grammar and speaking strategies that must be taken into consideration when educating a child and the connections/differences between languages. I later asked Ms. De la Mora how cultural background influences second language acquisition. She went into detail about how a major focus is to avoid segregation. Many of these students are labeled as “the Spanish kids”, which she is very against. Ms. De la Mora never refers to her students with any label. Instead, she simply says that her students are in a bilingual classroom, which helps the students feel welcomed in a public school environment and will continue to motivate them to excel in the English language. Ms. De la Mora also often refers back to her ELPS flip book as a resource regarding her lessons that she delivers to her students. The book is simple and effective. It gives the teacher many great ideas on what to incorporate into a student’s academic development regarding their different levels of learning.
Ms. De la mora emphasized that students need “oral interaction with one or more interlocutors” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 60). Her ELPS flip book supports this quote in the sense that it gives strategies on how to improve the students’ oral communication. As an educator, we must understand why it is so important to find materials that are beneficial to our students and relevant to them because it motivates the learning process and acquisition of language.
In conclusion, the data I collected from the interview with Ms.De la mora and using what I learned in this course helped me to understand how to help facilitate and model a positive attitude towards students learning a new language. I must also ensure students are acquitted to the new language and vocabulary that comes with it. Second language learning is essential for ensuring our students to feel successful in a dominant language environment.
Ortega, L.(2013)Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Routledge
