Hello, welcome to my third video blog. For this entry blog,
I interviewed Mr. Ortega. I had a nice interview with Mr. Ortega. There are
often times where male elementary teachers are not seen. Therefore, to have
been able to interview him, it was refreshing to get a male’s perspective on
how he goes about with teaching. During our discussion, Mr. Ortega talked about
how when teaching his ELL he tends to use a lot of visual aid to assist in
their learning. The use of word walls around the classroom is what I have seen
in multiple classrooms. From what Mr. Ortega talked about, he tries to help his
students in the best way possible when learning a new language. According to
Rowland (2014), “children who are exposed to two languages in childhood can
achieve native-like competence in both languages, even if they have not been
exposed to both from birth”. (p. 190) As the interview went on, the talk of
community involvement came in. Mr. Ortega talked about for where he is, the
school ties to have a lot of participation. Often it is thought that for a student
to succeed in school they just need the support from their family. However,
having the communities support is also key to achievement. From reading the
text, I found that Rowland (2014) says how “language creation requires children
to be interacting with a community”. (p. 249) Children are always exposed to
some form of learning and with their community, the children can gain extra
assistance.
Rowland, C. (2014)
Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
Hi Caroline! I really enjoyed watching your VBlog 3! I thought it was great to hear Mr.Ortega's different strategies that he uses in order to teach his ELL students.I myself agree that providing ELL students with a ton of visuals, definitely impacts the students' learning in a positive way. I also like how you pointed out that even though there is a misconception about students only needing support from their families, there is plenty of research that shows that students not only need social support from family members, but the social support can also include peers and teachers, and even members from the community. (Ortega, 2013, pg.172)
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Joann, thank you for commenting on my vlog. It was good to hear form Mr. Ortega and how he goes about helping his students succeed in the classroom. What I had also thought was good was how he had mentioned the involvement from the community. It is often misconceived that children only need support from their families. However, it is just how Ortega (2013) says that, "support from parents, siblings, peers and teachers creates rewards and reinforcements that may be important in boosting motivation". (p. 172.) These peers can be from neighbors, members at their church, or other communities as well that show support.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Mr. Ortega shared his thoughts on his perspective of learning a new language at a young age. Rowland (2014) also shared his input by stating that “children who are exposed to two languages in childhood can achieve native-like competence in both languages, even if they have not been exposed to both from birth” (Rowland, 2014, p.190). I have personal experienced this because of my own upbringing. I grew up learning two languages at such a young age. To this day, I use them as two separate languages rather than knowing one and figuring out the translation for another. I believe that should be the goal for our students.
ReplyDeleteHi Kimberly, thank you for looking at my vlog and leaving a comment on it. I know that when learning a second language while growing up is much easier than learning when older. I think that it would be easier to learn two languages growing up because you’re able to take more in. As Ortega (2013) says in the text, “repeated practice changes the knowledge representation itself by making the stored knowledge become more elaborated and well specified”. (p.85) The repeated practice that the children get when learning the two languages at a young age are taken in more which also allows to become stored.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Caroline,
ReplyDeleteI noticed that your teacher, among many others, use different teaching styles to help students better understand language. I feel that this trend has helped ELL students significantly in the classroom, but it may not account for all concerns. One such concern would be anxiety that students feel in the classroom. According to Ortega, "High-anxiety foreign language students exhibit many symptoms, but the most common ones are two: freezing up when asked to say something in the L2 in front of the class, and blanking on the right answers during a language test despite having studied hard and even knowing the answers." (Ortega, 2013, pg. 200). That said, with a community as strongly involve as your teacher claims, a more welcoming and understanding environment can help to calm a great portion of students' potential anxiety and allow students the opportunity to be more focused in an otherwise positive learning environment.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Lee, thank you for reviewing my vblog and for leaving a comment. Mr. Ortega does try to go about using as many strategies as he can. He had told me before the interview that he likes collaborating and bouncing off various teaching strategies with other teachers. I know how you mentioned how ELL’s can often freeze up when asked a question due to the anxiety of getting it wrong. However, the more that the children practice and use the human language the better they will get. Rowland (2014) states that “in human languages, words are not simply associated with objects, they actually symbolize the object itself. Because words are symbols, we can use them flexibly to talk about objects in a variety of situations”. (p. 9) With more practice comes more confidence which can lead the children to having a variety of conversations with no fear.
DeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
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DeleteHello Caroline,
DeleteYour point that practice leads to more confidence is completely valid. It is also true that confidence must be built up in order for students to rid themselves of hurdles such as anxiety in order to become proficient L2 linguists. (Ortega, 2013, pg. 204). Working with students and building relationships will help build confident second language learners in the long run.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Caroline, I really enjoyed your interview with Mr. Ortega, what I found most interesting in the interview you had with him was the question you posed on him what was his lecture style to ELL or new comers. Personally, I found Mr. Ortega’s answer to be very interesting, him pairing the kids together who are wanting to learn the language was very similar to what chapter 8, motivation, from Ortega’s book had to say. This was about students or L2 learners are motivated to learn the language in order to communicate with other individuals. Ortega, speaks on some L2 learners wanting to learn French and wanting to have that sense or ability to communicate with other individuals. “French is important to me because it will allow me to meet and converse with more and varied people” (Ortega, 2013, Pg. 171). I instantly thought about how kids and especially teenagers want to fit in with their peers and create friends when they are in a classroom or in public. Since they can’t communicate thoroughly that ultimately pushes them to try and learn the second language with excitement and a sense of urgency.
ReplyDeleteHello Mr. Flores, thank you for commenting on my vblog. I do understand your view on how children may/do feel the need to learn English quickly to feel more comfortable with their peers and in the classroom. From what Ortega (2013) states, “most successful learners use a variety of modalities in learning. In this way they can accommodate to the various modes in which incoming information is processed”. (p. 437) I took this as children who want to learn and succeed will do what they need to do to learn. Children who are learning a new language may not always have the resources needed to help them. However, if they can use what they have and construct that into a positive learning technique, they will strive to succeed.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Caroline,
DeleteYes, I totally agree students will definitely do whatever they can in order to accommodate themselves to their environment. Especially if they are in a supportive environment this can give them even more of a motivate and attitude to learn a language. Ortega speaks on students needing an environment as well that appraises them in their small accomplishments or victories on their road to obtaining a second language. This environment also needs to provide an appropriate attitude to have towards the second language and this stems all from their environment. “ In addition to the reasons that cause people to want to learn an L2, attitudes towards the L2 and its speakers will contribute to increased or diminished L2 motivation. These attitudes come from the collective values, beliefs, attitudes and even behaviors that are rewarded and modeled for the learner in the communities in which he or she participates, be it a classroom, the family or the wider environment of neighborhoods and institutions.” (Ortega, 2013, Pg. 174)
Hi Caroline! Thank you for sharing your interview with Mr. Ortega. It’s nice to see a male teachers perspective and listen to his story. It seems that visual aids are very common for ELL classrooms. My mentor teacher also uses this technique as well for her students. Using pictures to represent objects are great visuals to help students build vocabulary and use for comparison. Rowland states,” In human languages, words are not simply associated with objects, they actually symbolize the object itself. Because words are symbols, we can use them flexibly to talk about objects in a variety of situations” (Rowland, 2014). This is a great technique that educators use in the classroom especially with ELL students.
ReplyDeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge
Hi Nicole, I appreciate you watching my vblog and leaving a comment. I agree with what you said about how it is helpful to use pictures to represent the actual object to help students learn. I feel as though once the student can grasp the concept of symbol with object they need to learn how to interpret the way it’s used. As Rowland (2014) says in the text, “successful communication requires that the child learns both to interpret a sentence’s literal meaning and to interpret a speaker’s intended meaning by drawing on her knowledge of the situation, the real world and the mental state of the speaker”. (p. 171) Children can have a hard time recognizing the interpretation of what an adult is trying to convey. Therefore, the more children interact with their peers, the better social skills they learn.
DeleteRowland, C. (2014) Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge