Hello! Welcome to my vblog #2.
For this vblog, I interviewed one
of my friends Ben Alverez. Ben was born and grew up in Venezuela until the age
of six. When he turned six, his family decided to move to the United States and
start a life here. When Ben was put in school he had started off in a full English-speaking
class. This is where he and his parents realized that class was not the best
fit for him due to the fact that he spoke and had no knowledge of English.
As I was interviewing Ben, he was
telling me how at first, he first started to learn English. Since his parents
also did not speak English, he learned first from his teacher in class. Then,
it moved to family friends starting to help him. Ben was saying that with the
family friends he in a sort copied the way they would speak and how they spoke.
This process reminded me of the text in which Gass (2008) says that “one-way
internalization occurs is through imitation, which can be both immediate and
intentional” (p. 284)
As ESL’s learn English or any new
language, having them interact with peers is a helpful tool in progressing
their learning. The more interaction the child gets from other children their
age or near their age not just helps their speaking, but it also lets the
children get more comfortable being/talking around others. As Gass (2008)
states, “learning a language involved imitation as its primary mechanism, the
language that surrounded learners was of crucial importance” (p. 304). The more
interaction that children have with their peers and even adults plays a position
that is inherent to their learning development.
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kIVmhShi-r3asFiI3Xuu9ht9sQGzddaK
Hey Caroline! I really enjoyed your interview with your friend Ben! I appreciated his honesty when he talked about his journey of learning English as a second language, especially when he shared his struggle with being put into an all-English speaking class. I know it must have been hard to admit that being put into an all-English speaking classroom was not the best fit for him, however the fact he pushed through only shows how persistent and motivated he was to learn his second language. I also really loved hearing about his continuous support not only at school with his teachers, but also from his friends and family. Ortega (2013) provides a table of main antecedents that were investigated in L2 motivation; one in particular that stood out was “social support” which states “Support from significant others (including parents, siblings, peers and teachers), since believing that they want one to learn the language creates rewards and reinforcements that may be important in boosting motivation.” (p. 172) Your friend’s case only proved this to be true, having that social support really allowed him to achieve.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, Lourdes. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London:
Routledge.
Hi Joanna, thank you for looking at my post and taking the time to comment. I agree with what you have said about how with it working out for Ben when he had the social support to help him. I feel as though it is easier when one is engaging with others to while learning English. One point that Rowland (2014) points out is that “word learning is clearly much better if words are heard and practiced often”. (p. 50) It has always been said that “practice makes perfect”. With learning a new language, that is the key part to becoming more fluent.
DeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
ReplyDeleteHi Caroline!
I enjoyed watching and listening to your interview. Something I’ve noticed after watching a few of these 2nd blog interviews is that many of the second language learners consistently mention that one of the things that benefited their ability to learn English was through their interaction with and observation of native speakers. In Understanding Child Language Acquisition, Rowland emphasizes the importance and role of input on second language learning through input. Furthermore, she firmly believes that the amount and type of input one hears directly affects one’s ability to learn and develop their language (Rowland, 2014, P.193).
Furthermore, I liked that you asked Ben to discuss his transition from an ESL classroom into a regular classroom, and that he emphasized that not everyone learns at the same rate or pace. According to Gass and Selinker, aptitude or the ability to learn another language is an important predictor associated with language learning (Gass & Selinker, 2008, P. 417).
Reference:
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hi Anayvette, thank you for commenting on my second post. You mentioned that you kept hearing about the interactions that some of the interviewees had when learning English. I think that is a good thing to hear. As humans, we learn from other and we can take habits from one another. That is why the more that students are around others their age who are fluent in English, the better it is. As Rowland (2014) states, “the more language a child hears, the quicker she will develop language”. (p. 193)
DeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
Hi Caroline! Thank you for your response.
DeleteIn the past few weeks, I’ve learned so much about the value of interaction when it comes to second language acquisition. In Understanding Child Language Acquisition, Rowland states, “[…] [T]here is evidence that bilingual acquisition is affected by the type of input children hear, as well as the amount of input. Hoff and Place (2012) found that the rate of vocabulary development (though not grammar development) was predicted by the number of different speakers the child hear and the percentage of the input that was provided by native speakers” (P. 194). Therefore, I think that one’s success and second language rate depends on their environment. If one consistently surrounds themselves with rich language and fluent speakers, it is much more likely they’ll pick it up, especially at a young age.
Reference:
Rowland, C. (2014). Understanding Child Language Acquisition. New York: NY: Routledge.
Hello Caroline, thank you for sharing your friends experience on learning english. WOW it is amazing that Ben was able to pick up on english in only a year of being in a bilingual class. According to Rowland, “children learn words impressively fast, so fast that Pinker famously called them “lexical vacuum cleaners” (Pinker, 1994, p. 151). By the time children reach young adulthood they will understand thousands of words and some children start this learning task very early.” I believe that your friend proved this statement true! He picked up on language so quickly that he was moved to all english classroom with no accommodations. Just like Rowland said, Ben definitely was a child who learned words impressively fast.
ReplyDeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
Hi Payton, I’m glad you came across my vlog and thank you for commenting. After my interview with Ben he did describe how he was quick to grasp the English language. Since he was in kindergarten I have seen that children that age are able to learn a new language quicker than if they were older. In the reading by Rowland (2014), she referred about there being “evidence that children are capable of learning a word after only hearing it once or twice; an ability that is called fast mapping”. (p. 50) With younger children, they at times do not need the repetition that others need to learn something. This is also why I feel that Ben had an ease to learning English.
DeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
Hi Payton,
DeleteI like the way you commented about Ben learning so quickly. I also think his age contributed to his second language acquisition as well. According to Ortega (2013), adults may initially learn a second language much quicker than a child, but “after five years, however, early starters catch up and are better than late starters in second language contexts” (Ortega, 2013, p. 28). This makes me believe that in the long run, children are more adaptable when it comes to learning a new language, and Ben’s quick attainment of English certainly provides evidence of that.
References
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York: Routledge.
Hi Caroline! Thank you for sharing your post and your video. I really enjoyed listening to your interview with Ben. He was able to overcome multiples obstacles that were in his way. For some reason, the part where he started talking about how he was placed in a General ED classes. At a young age I was placed in a bilingual classroom based off of assumptions. So, I do remember the way it felt when you had no idea what was going on. Ben mentioned that he was taken out, however first needed to talk with someone. Perhaps the teacher assumed he spoke perfect English, rather than being able to actually comprehend. According to the text, there are more effective ways to get a clear picture of a students. Such as receiving some signal that the interlocutor needs some help in order to fully understand the message"(Ortega, pg. 61). Although he was able to move on and continue his lesson, there were aspects that could have been avoided.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hi Valerie, thank you for looking at my post and leaving a comment. I do agree that there are better ways to get a better idea about students. However, not all teachers may know what way the best way is. A line that stuck out to me in the text by Rowland (2014) was that a “variable that teachers cannot even agree on how best to teach language; different methods wax and wane in popularity every year”. (p. 219) It seems as though every year there is a new procedure or rule to adhere by or to possible include. However, with how constant methods are being introduced the struggle is “Which would be best?”.
ReplyDeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
Hi Caroline! I really appreciate being able to listen to your blog 2, I really enjoyed listening to Ben’s story. Although, Ben did not have any knowledge about English, I believe that coming to the US at such a young age makes a huge difference when learning a second language. I agree that is difficult to start learning a second language when you are in a fully English instructed classroom. Its great that he had such a good learning environment which most likely helped him learn his second language more efficiently.
ReplyDeleteHello Caroline. I believe it is very important for a student to be motivated to learn a new language as well as be in a supportive environment to do so. One challenge that some if not many ELL's face is the fact that some people in society have decided to push anti-immigrant platforms under the thought that ELL's refuse to learn second languages. Platforms such as these can undermine students should policies reflecting these ideas be implemented. Ultimate attainment, or absolute potential, is what what teachers hope their students achieve in their L2 (Ortega, 2013, pg. 7). Counterarguments made against these anti-immigrant platforms state that by implementing policies and creating environments that do not support L2 learners, L2 learners do not even have a chance to reach their full potential and therefore should be supported.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.