Interview with a Second language learner
Blog 2 composition
For my Second blog entry, I am interviewing my girlfriend.
Her name is Mandy Yang. Her first language is Chinese, and she was born in a
small village in China. She first started learning English at around age five. Mandy
says that the way she began learning English was from her elementary school,
where she was placed in a separate class to learn English one hour a day. In Ortega’s
book, Languages in school may experience as little as 540 hours of actual
instructional L2 exposure in a course of five years. (Ortega, 2011, p. 17). During her elementary
years, Mandy says that she did not speak or participate as much and had a silent
period for as long as 3-4 years. With the level of exposure to classroom
setting and learning, she may not have learned English as well as she did if
she was learning it without being immersed in the language. However, because
she is being exposed to English every day, she was able to pick up on the
grammar and words that she recognized. One of the biggest factor that affected the
efficiency of acquiring her L2 was that her parents didn’t speak any English. In
her bilingual program, Mandy says that it didn’t really help her much and her
grammar is still not as good as a native speaker. Instead she accredits her
speaking capabilities to her childhood shows and friends that she talked to
growing up. These experiences and informal situations are what sped up the
immersion process for her. (Ortega, 2011).
Rowland says that one of “the success of bilingualism
concerns the attitude, beliefs and behavior of the people around the child, as
well as the attitude and beliefs of the child herself.” (p.196). Mandy’s family
is very reserved and a big influence on her Language development was the people
around her. Mandy says that she speaks “Chinglish” which is common but what was
very interesting to me was that her speech pattern mirrored the people she was
closest to which were her friends. The environment that she is exposed to was a
big factor in her L2 development.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London:
Routledge,
2011. Print.
Rowland, Caroline. Understanding Child Language Acquisition.
New York: Routledge, 2014
Hi Joseph,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed getting to know your girlfriend and her experience of learning English. Like Mandy, students are commonly pulled out of class, also called the “pull-out” method, to get the extra support to learn a second language. I found it interesting that they pulled her into an ESL type class but she was the only student in there. Does that mean she was the only ESL student in her school? Mandy made mention she didn’t speak much because she was worried about sounding different. Just like Mandy, most ESL students are insecure with how they will sound to others so they are quiet and only speak mainly when spoken to or they have to. That was something Yesica, my friend I interviewed, struggled with also. Since both your girlfriend and my friend Yesica were quiet due to the feeling of nonacceptance, that qualifies them as Introjected Regulations. According to Ortega, “Introjected regulation happens when people ‘buy into’ the external pressure, by developing feelings of guilt or shame that then can only be avoided via compliance with the expected behavior (as in ‘I would feel ashamed if I couldn’t speak to my friends from the second language community in their native tongue.) (Ortega, 2011. Pg. 176). I think the pull out method can be beneficial for ESL students to a certain extent. Yes, they are receiving the additional one on one support, but they are also missing critical instructional information within the class. Does Mandy feel like the being pulled out of class for the hour or so was beneficial to her?
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hi Jessica,
DeleteYes, Mandy did like going to the extra classes to read and learn English. She actually enjoyed reading more and eventually getting better at it. The support she had when she first came over to America was probably her teachers. The teachers are the ones that spend a lot of time with her one on one and for the most part, other students didn't really talk to Mandy all that much. I'm not sure if she was the only ESL in the school but i find that unlikely. She was probably the only ESL of her class at that time.
Joseph,
DeleteIt is said that we as teachers spend more time with children than parents do, so I agree with you that her support more came from her teachers. Ortega mentions “a students’ attitude toward motivation was the case with young children studying a target language in a national milieu of social and political conflict is all the more hopeful and places tremendous responsibility on teachers and curriculum developers”. (Ortega, 2011. Pg. 183). It is important that we as teachers are able to give students the drive or motivation to want to learn. This is important with all curriculum, not only ESL.
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hello Joseph, thank you for sharing this insightful video interview into the language history of your girlfriend. It is unfortunate that a lot of times children may have their fair share of struggles learning another language especially if they are not properly exposed to it. It is stated in the text that “Cognitive and learning styles are neither good nor bad, but simply bipolar dimensions, with potential strengths and weaknesses on both extremes, and sometimes with mixed characteristics on sub-dimensions along multiple style continua” (Ortega). There is no universal way of learning a second language because every person is different which means there are circumstances that may benefit one more than another.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hey Bryan,
DeleteI understand what you mean. There are many circumstances for children that learn languages. Some learn better because of the level exposure, resources, wealth, personality, attitude ect. All these factor come into play with the development of a child. I learned English from an early start and I was born here while Mandy was born in China and didn't learn English till she was five. Not to mention the difference in family values.
Joseph,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your interview. After listening to the interview, it really seems that it was tough that it was tough for Mandy as a child. I know the feeling of also being the only one taken out of a class and being put into an ESL class. It seems that the ESL program was not that great. Listening to Mandy speak, I would not have assumed she was not born here. Kudos to her to being able to full speak English and retaining the Chinese language. Trips to Syria have, just like her trips to China, have benefited me so much in the language my parents speak. In the interview Mandy mentions her parents cannot speak English that well till this day. In general, do you think adults who are learning a new language feel embarrassed or feel like it's a shot to their ego when they cannot speak it "the right way" as Ortega (2011) mentions? It seems adults care about or are more conscious of what people might think of them than even children who are learning a new language. It seems that we need to be more encouraging of our adults, and there should be more programs or ways that adults can pick up a language, just like how it is for children. Adults, in the end, do not need to attend school. Great interview!
I do think that adults do have a harder time learning another language. But there are numerous factors that hinder acquisition. In the case of Mandy's parents, they have been here for 20 + years but their English is really insufficient. They see and hear English everywhere but they secluded their work to Chinese speaking locations only. They can hear words and sentences and can understand the gist of it but can't formulate the sentences themselves. I think the level of interaction with actual native English speakers were really low because they seclude themselves to only their language even though they live here.
DeleteJoseph, I think it is really sweet you interviewed your girlfriend. I think it was a good way for us to learn a little bit about her experiences as an ELL. Most of us interviewed teachers and all the responses are similar so it was nice to hear from someone that has gone through the process of learning English, it is nice to hear about this from a different view. I do find it sort of strange that she was the only student working with an ESL specialist. I wonder if she was the only ESL student in the school, or maybe just her grade level. I am wondering if the elementary school she attended wasn’t here in Texas because I feel like it is so unlikely for only one student to be in the ESL program (here in Texas). I also wonder if the teachers were also doing guided reading with her or they were only having her read independently. I bet she doesn’t remember but I really hope they were doing guided reading. Research has shown that guided reading provides high-quality literacy education and it benefits ELL students (2012).
ReplyDeleteReferences
Fountas, & Pinnell. (2012). Guided Reading: The Romance and the Reality.