Interview with Isaac
Blog Entry 2 CUIN 4361
Youtube video link: https://youtu.be/l8y7oTyEZp4
Isaac moved
to the United States and began to learn English around the ages of five or six.
He is one of the many that make up what Wright (2015) says is the 80% of ESL
students (p.8) in America. He believes one of the things that was helpful in
becoming a proficient English speaker was the way in which his speakers spoke
to him. By being understanding and patient he was able to learn English at a
much more rapid pace. Once he developed the basis of language such as phonemes
and was able to comprehend language he was moved to an immersive learning
environment. On page 15, Wright recognizes that the learning environment is an
important factor for ELL when considering special education placement (2015). By
remaining in ELL classes until he was well-prepared, the teachers and
administrator lowered his chances of SPED placement. Isaac also said, “take
home vocabulary games” that his teachers assigned were helpful not only to him,
but his parents as well. While interviewing Isaac, I noticed that the classroom
was covered in vocabulary cards with Spanish-to-English translations. The
teacher also encourages her students to use reflective journals to write the
things they are struggling with for tutorials. Being that his teacher was aware
of multiple cultures in the classroom she has created a comfortable learning
space for both minority and majority language population students to succeed
(Wright, 2015, p.19). The final connection that I was able to make was Isaac’s
struggle with the morphological elements of language. Wright defines morphology
as “the study of the structure of words” (2015, p.32). He said that one of his
greatest struggles was switching the tense of his words because it often
included the change in syllables. This was an assignment that I really enjoyed
doing because we could observe students and learn from the perspective of an ELL
student.
Hello Nadia Richardson,
ReplyDeleteI think Isaac was a wonderful English Language Learner student to interview, since he has been learning English for the past four years. Isaac explained how his favorite part of learning English has been making new friends. Learning a second language helps ELL students to further their socializing skills and to further their communication skills in learning a second language. (Wright, 2015). Isaac explained how before he only had friends who spoke Spanish, but later when he started learning and speaking English, he made more friends. According to Wright (2015), “as students learn the new language, they gain knowledge about how to use the language in sociocultural contexts and construct their social identities through their participation in language mediated-activities” (p. 58).
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
While reviewing the notes, I noticed that the way in which he learned language fulfilled the principle of language socialization. Wright (2015), defines the language socialization as the process by which an individual acquires knowledge and practices to participate in the language community (p.58). After acquiring a sufficient amount of language capabilities in English he was able to participate in the English language community. I believe the principle of language socialization is the reason Isaac was able to interact and make friends with his peers.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHello Nadia,
ReplyDeleteIsaac sounds like such a fluent English speaker! It seems like he had a great support system with teachers helping him not only in school, but also giving him resources to use outside of the classroom. In addition, it’s great that he had support from his family as well, as not all students are this fortunate. It’s awesome that Isaac had the opportunity to make friends through this experience. Wright wrote, “language and cultural learning are considered inseparable” (2015, pg. 58). Like Isaac said, he already had friends, but learning English helped him make more friends. Learning a new language helps individuals learn more about a culture as a whole.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Isaac really was an awesome kid. He was very open about any struggles he had and i was able to watch him interact with his peers prior to interviewing him. Something I think his teachers did well was make adjustments to the lessons in order to help him learn English proficiently. On page 29, Wright (2015) emphasizes the functions of a teacher. One of those functions is an educator. This means that his teachers were able to modify the instructional approaches to make the content more comprehensible. By doing vocabulary with his parents and taking home games his teachers, not only included his family, but also found that it was a way he would learn vocabulary best.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
DeleteNadia,
DeleteIt’s great Isaac’s teachers really make an effort to help their ELL students have the most quality educational experience possible, as every teacher should. Making adjustments to lessons seems very minor to teachers, but it makes and immense difference to students learning a new language. You make a great point! Isaac’s teachers found a way to include his family and help him improve his vocabulary. He seems to have awesome teachers!
Hi Nadia!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting watch because I feel like most students have a negative output about learning another language. Isaac was able to socialize while learning a new language and was also able to help his parents out as well. I also liked how his teacher allowed him to use a reflective journal to write down what he is struggling with. “Teachers can use their knowledge of how words are structured to help students understand how to change verb tenses; how to make compound words…” (2015, pg. 32). Isaac mentioned that he struggled with switching tenses so by expressing his troubles with the learning process the teacher is able to help him and these are one of the reasons why Isaac is a successful ELL student!
Thank you for sharing!
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Thank you Taylor for your comment! I think the methods that his teachers used were the most helpful for his language development. By using reflective journal and being able to do activities at home with his parents I think it contributed to his development of additive bilingualism. Wright (2015) explains additive bilingualism as "developing proficiency in in a new language without losing his or her home language" (p.21). Wright also explains that morphology is challenging to teach because it differs across languages (2015, p.32). I think Isaac is an excellent ELL student and he has improved in stride over a course of 4 years.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
DeleteHello Nadia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your lovely interview with Isaac. Isaac is really fortunate that he had the right instructor and resources to help him learn English. I can relate to Isaac because I came from a family that speaks only Spanish and it is certainly different when we change a word from a past to present tense. It is wonderful that Isaac learned English at an early age, seems like the help from his teachers really helped him in his learning "Teachers can use their knowledge structured to help students understand” (Wright, 2015, pg. 32). He really had an instructor that understood that learning a new language was difficult for young students assessing his needs. The instructor provided games and allowed Isaac to learn properly with the help of parents and instructors. I am glad that Isaac made new friends, I can relate to him because once you learn another language you get to double the interaction with both cultures. Gaining new social interaction communication skills and knowledge “As students learn a new language, they gain knowledge about the use of the language in sociocultural contexts” (Wright, 2015, pg. 58).
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Thank you Luz for your important. I loved my time with Isaac. He truly is a sweetheart!
DeleteI am glad you addressed the fact that he is more of aware of how to use language in sociocultural context. Wright (2015), credits teachers as an agent of socialization (p.29). His teachers were able to fuse his culture at home with his process of learning language, which made learning easier and more fluid. By giving him assignments he could do at home with his parents they avoided uprooting his home culture and undercutting his parents role in learning language.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
DeleteI appreciate how supportive his teachers were in his process of acquiring English as a second language. I can tell that Isaac benefitted greatly from the amount of support he received during language learning. This is imperative to someone learning a new language because they need to be comfortable in order to thoroughly understand the dynamics of the desired language. I think Isaac's environmental factors played a critical role in his second language acquisition.
DeleteHello, Nadia. I enjoyed watching your interview with Isaac. He is very articulate and his pronunciation skills are excellent. I noticed that he said that English was not his first language and when he began his acquisition process he stated that pronunciation was an issue for him. However, it is evident that he had a positive experience learning English as a second language because of the support of his teachers. According to Ortega, this is very important because for one to successfully learn a new language they must be comfortable, approach the task with a low anxiety level and realize "the L2 environment engenders in learners certain attitudes that have affective and social–psychological bases and that must be considered if we want to understand L2 learning" (Ortega, 2013, p.58).
ReplyDelete