Methodology Entry 1
Click here to watch my first vlog!
Methodology Entry 2
Click here to view my interview with an ELL. Welcome back to my blog! I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael T. He is an U.S. born English language learner. (Wright, 2015). His parents migrated from Tamaulipas, Mexico in search of the American dream about 45 years ago. During Michael’s early school years, his parents spoke little English, enough to get by. Michael and his older sister are about 7 years apart so he learned English through socializing with her prior to being enrolled in the United State’s public school system. His parents, mostly his mother, chose to have him placed in a traditional classroom opposed to a bilingual classroom so that he could excel in learning English and eventually transition to speak primarily that language. Michael's experiences were very much fortunate in the classroom. He remembers having extremely effective educators who made use of music, movements, and visuals. Michael believes he didn't struggle as much as he could’ve had due to...
It is so cool that you can speak two languages and even tried to learn a third. It is also so interesting that you can go from being fluent as a child then learn to speak English fluently and now get confused with some Spanish words that you should know. I’m very interested about bilingual people and what languages they dream in. You will be a very good teacher for bilingual students because you will be able to translate for them from Spanish to English. A luxury I will not be able to do.
ReplyDeleteHi Anicia,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that you really have a love for language and new cultures. Throughout your life, you seem to have been introduced and have become quite knowledgeable to many new languages, even though you feel you haven´t mastered them. Knowing them and understanding the dynamics of the language is half the battle. My language acquisition class has taught me that after learning two languages, learning a third and a fourth one becomes rather easy. The reason behind this theory is based on the fact that most languages originated from the same places of origin. Do you feel that languages have this interconnected relationship amongst them, or all they all totally different in their own way?
Oh, I definitely feel that languages have interconnected relationships. In fact, for that same reason is why I was intrinsically motivated to learn Portuguese. From watching a few of Cristiano Ronaldo's interviews, I was able to recognize that knowing how to speak Spanish would definitely help me acquire this third language easier than someone who doesn't know Spanish. I recall watching a Buzzfeed video on a few words in Spanish that are similar to Arabic, so I see how all languages have commonalities with one another. Being able to realize this could spark motivation in many educators to really step outside of their normal responsibilities of an educator and step it up notch to help these ELL students who need all of the support and resources available because if not then students are going to feel unworthy or disadvantaged.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnica,
ReplyDeleteMy brothers also struggle with using “El” and “La” so no worries you are not alone. Even I mix them up and shake my head when I catch myself lol. My parents tried teaching them Spanish, but because they talked only English in school, they did not pick up on speaking the language very well. According to the text they would fall under the Native U.S.-born ELL group. Growing up they spoke Spanish and the few English words my parents knew. It wasn’t until they got to school that they lost the little Spanish they learned growing up and adopted the English language as their main form of communication. I think it is really cool that you are definitely helping Jose out! I was once in his shoes so I know it must mean the world to him! The highlighter method sounds pretty legit! That would be a method I would use with my future ELL students!
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.
Thank you for making me feel less embarrassed about my mistakes! I know I am not perfect but it's just such an awful feeling when someone corrects me with such disgrace in their eyes since I am Hispanic. It's happened to me many times before especially with older people. Our generation, in my opinion, seem to be way more sincere and understanding of things. Another positive thing is that I am glad that UH is teaching us how to be such supportive and understanding educators. In my past experiences, I've only had a few teachers show that they truly cared about their students. I know that this class is definitely going to help shape us into educators that will cater to our ELLs in all of the ways possible that we are going to learn in this course. Thank you for such a kind response to my vlog!
DeleteAnica, I enjoyed your video a lot! I can really related to your struggle with mastering Spanish. Even now, I still mess up sometimes or I get nervous and I'll say something wrong. There for a while, I was struggling with both languages because I was trying to learn and maintain both at the same time but it was a lot to take on. Wrights states, "it takes 1 to 2 years for ELLs to develop conversational fluency in English but it takes 5 years or longer for ELLs to catch up to proficient English speakers in academic language proficiency" (2015, p. 40) So growing up, I was speaking Spanish very frequently at home only and at school, I would speak English. Because I spent so much time at school though and not as much time at home, I eventually got better at English than I did Spanish over the years.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanette,
DeleteThank you for watching my vlog. Don't sweat it, that definitely happens to the majority of us. It is so hard to balance knowing two languages when you're engaging in more conversations/authentic experiences in one language and not the other. At my age now, I try my best to continue speaking Spanish to my friends, family, and peers that do know Spanish so that I am not forgetting it. At times, my family likes to challenge each other to see how long we can go with speaking only Spanish in a day. It's quite the struggle, but the practice is needed!