` Hello and thank you all for coming to my second blog post for SLA. For my interview, I sat down with my resident Christian who is from Vietnam. He started learning English while he was in first grade living in Vietnam, but he did not truly begin to practice consistently until he moved to the United States during high school. According to Ortega (2013), Christian would be classified as a mixture. Being that he started learning English in a formal setting he is an instructed learner, he also learned through interactions with his environment in Vietnam and in the states, he is also a natural learner (p.6).
Parents also have an impact on a child’s ability to acquire language because they are one of the largest agents of socializations. As Christian had explained, his parents began learning English, but they never completely mastered the language. Although his parents had an initial advantage, it proves that younger students have the advantage in the long run (Ortega, 2013, p. 16). After reading the literature and speaking with an ESL student, I was able to make the connection in the literature. I think Christian had different motivations in learning English since he moved to the states; he was aware that it needs to be able to make friends and communicate with his peers regularly. Although Christian may feel that he displays avoidance, omission of errors, with regard to literary text such as British Lit and 1930s American Lit, I think that is actually quite normal for native and nonnatives alike (Ortega, 2013, p.40). I never truly identify any forms of avoidance, if anything, he tends to attempt to use all tenses and grammatical structures despite the difficulty.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge
I find it interesting how determined Christian is to learning the language and how comfortable he is expressing his thoughts despite the fact that English is his second language. Christian would be identified as an instructed learner, which means he learned a second language in a formal setting such as a classroom (Ortega, 2013, p.6). His parents also made an attempt to learn English, but they did not stick with the language. Christian had to depend on his classmates and teacher so that he could have the opportunity to practice his English. Although he does present a bit of an accent, he is not deficient in his comprehension.
ReplyDeleteHi Kimberly,
DeleteI have to agree with Nadia that Christian is both a naturalistic and instructed learner. According to Ortega (2013), “most people, therefore, learn additional languages from a mixture of both naturalistic and instructed experiences” (Ortega, 2013, p. 6). Although he did learn some of the basics of English in Vietnam in a school setting, I do feel that he may lean more toward the naturalistic learner. The majority of his English language attainment was after he moved to America, and it was necessary to learn to communicate with his peers.
References
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York: Routledge.
I believe that Christian began as an instructed learner, but that he is ultimately a mixture. Ortega (2013) defines a mixture learner as someone who learns through both naturalistic and instructed learning (p.6). Although he developed his main understanding of the language in the classroom, he never really had the opportunity to get genuine input or give output until he was in the United States and practicing with his peers. Ortega (2013) credits interactions and output as one of the 4 ingredients to successful learning, which is what he was able to do in natural environments, once he moved to the states (p.58). It was also good that he began to learn the basics in the first grade because as Christian had stated it is easier to learn at a younger age. Ortega (2013) explains how neurolinguistic data supports the natural predisposition of L2 acquisition for children because higher amounts of plasticity in their brains.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge
Hi Nadia! Thank you for sharing your blog entry 2 with us, I really enjoyed listening to Christian’s story. I can only imagine how hard it is to learn English in high school versus elementary, it must have really helped him learn English by instructed learning and mixing with naturalistic learning. By having a mixture of these two learning styles, it really gives ELL learners plenty of practice with their second language.
ReplyDelete