Entry 2
Reflection:
The interviewee is a former ESL who graduated from the state public school system. They have chosen to stay anonymous during this interview. The interview was conducted based on questions found in Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice, 2015.
Teachers are definitely “agents of socialization” as they are often the ones introducing a social structure outside the culture of their home (p 29, 2015). Indeed, language is at the heart of teaching and learning as students must be able “to use language to convey meaning” (CCSS, p.51, 2010). I believe the interviewee benefited greatly from having an early childhood educator that recognized the importance of the role because it clearly impacts our interviewee in a positive way.
English can be an obstacle for some and others find it easy. I believe phonology has a lot to do with this polarization. Although they pronounced English as an easier language they did admit to phonology being the most challenging part of mastering the language. Simply put he was referring to the (ll) Spanish character versus the English lowercase (L), but similar issues do exist when it comes to word that have triple meanings within a tight phonology grouping.
Teachers have to advocate more for the prospecting ELL students, policy is not and historically has not provided enough for ELL students so the burden falls on local and state programs to help bluster the lacking federal support (pg. 309, 2015). As a teacher I know playing a good social model means being engaged in the community and I hope to support my community by advocating on behalf of better support to ELL/ESL students.
Hello Tametria,
ReplyDeleteI thought your interviewee had some unique ideas about the English language. He does not say when he started to learn the language, but it was interesting that he views Spanish and English as two nearly identical languages. As Wright (2015) suggests, it is possible that he was acquiring English at the same time he was learning his native language, and that could be why he finds English easy to interpret. Wright (2015) says encouraging ELLs to maintain and develop their home languages while they develop proficiency in English benefits the individual ELL. It seems that he practiced the language with his neighbors, peers, and coworkers. When you asked him if he ever felt shy, or embarrassed, to ask for help because of a language barrier, he was exemplified confidence in his knowledge of the English language.
Hi Tametria! I really liked your interview. Your interviewee had such a positive outlook. I love that he said that his neighborhood and family were encouraging and very supportive. In my opinion, that and supportive teachers are some the most important things. I can relate to being confused by the phonology when first learning the language. In Spanish, the vowels are pretty basic as opposed to having different sounds here. According to Wright (2015), a lot of the difficulties students have are due to the home language not having as many phonemes (pg. 31). I also remember being shocked because there was no ‘ll’, ‘ch’, ‘rr’, ‘ñ’. I am pretty old, so when I came from Mexico in the early 90s, these were still considered part of the alphabet.
ReplyDeleteHey Mayra, I agree that it was interesting what the interviewee said about his environment. I also think that since Spanish is the most common language spoken across the country in 2011 it makes it easier for teachers to accommodate. (Wright, 2015, p8). Since there are so many Spanish speakers the demand for accommodation would be greater, thus resulting in creation of courses and resources teachers can use to help their Spanish speaking ELL students.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (Second ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon.
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ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that teachers are "agents of socialization". As a teacher not only do you have to introduce new language material to your students but you also have to let them be social with each other. A great way to let your students interact with each other is "role play". According to Wright (2015) students "role plays should try to mirror real - life situations the students are likely to find themselves in" (pg. 173). To me, this means that letting students pretend to be doctors and nurses, chefs or cashiers, or teachers can aid in the learning of a new language. One of the benefits of role playing means that students are working independently to carry on a conversation and therefore learn from each other through communication and socialization. This can help students be successful in the real world linguistically.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is important for both the teacher and the student to learn through social skills. One reason is because according to Wright (2015) we can't let our students fall into "submersion" (pg. 1110. Not only is it "illegal" (pg. 111) but students are placed into those type of classrooms more often than they should and they either "sink or swim" (pg. 111) their way out of a class. Submersion is when you place an ELL student in a main stream classroom with no bilingual support at all. That means no role playing. This is very detrimental for students academic success and if there is a student who is being "submerged" we as teachers or future teachers should let students have social interactions with each other to learn something new everyday.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (Second ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon.