Hello everyone, welcome back to my Vblog!
For my interview, I called my old friend Frank from high school who has been teaching fifth-grade math in the Austin area for 2 years. He has not been in the classroom for a long time, but he has had experience with a couple of ELL students in his short time as a teacher. The common second language in his area is Spanish.
For my interview, I called my old friend Frank from high school who has been teaching fifth-grade math in the Austin area for 2 years. He has not been in the classroom for a long time, but he has had experience with a couple of ELL students in his short time as a teacher. The common second language in his area is Spanish.
During the interview, Frank mentioned that every ELL student is different. There is a
quote from Understanding Child Language Acquisition that supports this: “there is no doubt that some children learn two languages more successfully than others” (Rowland, 2014, p.189). I believe this applies to every child as well; nobody learns the exact same way. Some ELL students may pick up their new language quickly, and it may take longer for others. It all depends on their experiences.
In Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course, the concept of foreigner talk is introduced. This is “speech directed toward linguistically deficient NNSs” (Gass & Selinker, 2008, p.305). The book goes on to list some of the important features of foreigner talk; such as “slow speech rate, loud speech, long pauses, simple vocabulary…, repetitions and elaborations, and paucity of slang” (Gass & Selinker, 2008, p.307). Frank stated that he talks slower with his ELL students and pulls them aside to work with them one-on-one as much as possible. He also talked about using translating apps to help him with more complex ideas when foreigner talk does not work.
The link to my video is here. (Sorry about the tapping noises in the background, my dog was running around and playing on the hard wood.)
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.
Rowland, Caroline. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. London; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014.
Hello Lauren! Thank you for sharing your video with us. I really enjoyed watching it! Your friend, Frank, mentioned that every ELL student is different. I definitely agree with him. Ortega states that “given what we know about the plasticity of the brain, any age-related differences in brain location and neural activity patterns may be as much a result of the brain’s architecture shaping how subsequent linguistic experience is processed and used for L2 learning, as it could be the result of the brain having been shaped by previous experience” (2013, p. 22) In other words, every brain is different. I believe this is why differentiation is so important in the classroom. All students have different learning styles, and as teacher we need to accommodate to that. This is how our students will reach success.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Carina! I really agree with what you said about differences in the brain. Every learner, whether they are an ELL student or not, learns differently. Every brain is different and every learner is different. Differentiation is so important in the classroom. It helps support the unique differences in learners and can help make their learning experience more valuable . If students feel that they are being supported, they will have a higher motivation. According to Ortega (2013), "Equally or more important in understanding language learning motivation, however, is to explain what variables contribute to increases or decreases in
Deletemotivational quantity" (p.170). If students are not given different ways to show their learning, they will not feel as motivated to do their best.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hi Carina, thank you for watching my interview and commenting on my blog. I am very passionate about differentiation. As I stated in my reflection, both bilingual and monolingual students require individualized support in order to successfully learn. However, as Rowland states, “bilingualism is considered a risk factor for poor academic achievement in the US” (Rowland, 2014, p.189). Due to this fact, ESL and bilingual teachers must include personalized learning and differentiation into their classrooms to support their students who are developing an L2.
DeleteRowland, Caroline. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. London; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014.
Hi Rachel, thank you for commenting on my blog. I also agree that every brain is different and each student must be motivated in order to learn. Without motivation, there is no drive to work hard. Learning a new language is difficult, and the student must be willing to work hard in order to succeed. “Integrativeness is..defined as ‘a genuine interest in learning the second language in order to come closer to the other language community’” (Ortega, 2013, p.170). If teachers incorporate the three dimensions of integrativeness into their classrooms, they will foster a motivational environment for their L2 learners.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge
DeleteHi girls! I love that we all can agree that every students learns and will require a different plan to be successful in the classroom. This is what differentiating is all about! I think that the rate at which student learns also has to do with other motivating factors and how comfortable they feel learning, as well as “somewhat depending on both the variety of activities and tasks occurring” (Ortega, 2013, p.197) in the classroom. All of these things can effect how or what rate a student learns.