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
Hello Lori, your video made great connections to the theories we have been learning in the course. Ms. De La Mora mentions that something the students sometimes struggle with is the cross linguistic transfer from their first language to English. She specifically mentions that the structure of many languages and English differ and that this can be troublesome for ELL students. Ortega states, “With time and increasing proficiency, the tendency to transfer the information structure of the L1 in order to frame ideas in the L2 may gradually diminish, but the process may be rather slow, (2013, pg.46). Although students may begin struggling because they want to transfer the structure of their first language to English our text says that those students will eventually, even if it is slowly, stop trying to transfer the structure of one language to the next.
ReplyDeleteHi Christine,
DeleteIt seems Lori’s interviewee has great knowledge about second language acquisistion theories. You mention how Ortega talks about ELL students structure of their L1 framiign ideas for their L2 diminishing. According to Ortega (2013), “...sometimes certain L1 - L2 similarities do not seem to help…” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 32) ELLs structure with the L2. Enlgish can be a complex language which, like you mentioned, can create a slow process for students to develope the structure of the L2.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Hello Rachel, I like the point you made from our text. Yes, not all L1 and L2 similarities are helpful. Ortega states, “…that not only differences, but even more often misleading similarities between the L1 and the L2 are at the root of attested learning difficulties,” (2013, pg. 32). I find this interesting because I would have otherwise believed language differences made it harder to learn an L2 and that language similarities made it easier to learn an L2. As Ortega states, this is not always the case.
DeleteHi, Christine and Rachel. Ms. De La Mora had great input and information about teaching ELL students. Ortega states, “With time and increasing proficiency, the tendency to transfer the information structure of the L1 in order to frame ideas in the L2 may gradually diminish, but the process may be rather slow” (2013, pg.46). This quote correlates with Ms. De La Mora in the sense that she emphasized to me during the interview that it takes time for the ELL students to grasp concepts during lessons, so we must be patient with them when delivering information.
DeleteChristine Gadbois,
ReplyDeleteI like the point you made about cross linguistic transfer. This process is slow and overtime happened at a quicker rate. Learning an L2 is not an automatic process. It depends on effort and cognition. When L2 to learning is taking place, time is spent on what is learned and then how to relate the new information in the L2. According to Ortega and the automatization process, “This transformation happens through relevant practice over many trials which enables controlled processes gradually to be withdrawn during performance and automatic processes to take over the same performance,” (Ortega, 2011, p .84). So, practice overtime shortens the time it takes for students learning a new language to respond to questions.
Hello Stacey, from my own language learning experience I fully support that practice effects language learning. Ortega states, “This transformation happens through relevant practice over many trials, which enables controlled processes gradually to be withdrawn during performance and automatic processes to take over the same performance,” (2013, pg. 84). I noticed that for myself, anything I practiced consistently became easier and more automatic. I think for ELL students it is key that they have ample opportunities to speak and practice their English in order for it to become more automatic.
DeleteEven though your MT spoke a lot about methodology, I was able to hang on to one statement she made about her classroom and how her it is collaborative in nature. She stated that she uses lots of pictures for her 4th Grade ELL’s to work with and she encourages interaction between them. I bring this up because this is a point made in Ortega (p.65) which quotes a study by Alison Mackey as being the first to “report positive findings for the link between interaction and acquisition”.
ReplyDeleteThe important point here is that the communication between the students or the “negotiated interaction” sets the stage for the L2 learner to focus on better ways to establish conversation (Ortega, 65)
Hi, John. I definitely love the fact that Ms. De La Mora uses plenty of pictures for her 4th grade ELL students. Ortega states, “report positive findings for the link between interaction and acquisition.” (2013, pg. 65). According to this quote, the pictures that Ms. De La Mora uses provides for great visuals for the students because they are given the opportunity to make connections of what they see in the real world.
DeleteLori,
ReplyDeleteIn your reflection you mention the importance of environment and how setting up the proper environment can ultimately help and facilitate when students are working to learn their second language. “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, pg. 55). Like Ortega states, being aware of the benefits of an area will allow you to utilize the environment to its fullest potential, maximizing learning. In addition, it is important to be aware of learning styles and this also plays a role in how much and effectively you utilize the environment itself. For example, kinesthetic learners may require the full use of an environment, whereas a visual learner may just require the use of part of the environment. As the teacher, it is important to be aware to your students’ environmental needs in order to meet them.
Thank you for sharing! I enjoyed watching your video!
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Hi, Melissa. I’m glad the importance of environment and how setting up the proper environment can ultimately help and facilitate when students learning stood out for you. Ortega states, “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, pg. 55). It is so essential for students to be comfortable in the environment they are learning in, especially if they are learning a second language (which can be highly difficult at a young age).
DeleteHello Lori,
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you were able to interview an ELL teacher that actually learned Spanish as her L2! She poses a great point when she says that creating an environment of learning is important to the progression of teaching and learning for both the teacher and the students in the classroom. By being able to speak both English and Spanish, Ms. De la Mora is able to create a language rich environment by of course using more English, but bringing her Spanish when needed as well.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Hello Lori
ReplyDeleteYou noted that language is a socially learned activity, I would also like to point out that the social support system that students have around them also effects their language learning experience as well as their own motivation. Ortega states that “in today’s communicative classrooms, comes to learners in the midst of oral interaction with one or more interlocutors, rather than as exposure to monologist spoken or written discourse” (Ortega, 2013, p60). The verbal interaction that students have with their peers as well as their instructors plays a key part in their language learning experience. Promoting students’ interactions with each other within the classroom, through whole and small group activities, allows the students to build a community of learners that support one another.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.