Blog 2
Hey Everyone! The link to my video is here!
Q1. What are some of the particular things that teachers should do to address each students needs?
Q2. between phonology (study of sound), morphology (study of structure), syntax (the rules), semantics (study of the meaning of words), and pragmatics (study of language) which was the most challenging for you? Why?
Q3. What strategies did your teacher use to help with syntax and semantics?
Q4. What kind of activities, techniques, and materials did your teacher to help you learn the English language in school?
Q5. Do you think they were effective in helping you learn the English language?
Q6. What do you think would have been more effective, or what do you wish would have been done differently?
Q7. Do you think common core state standards or no child left behind act were things that were helpful when learning a new language, or would it have been better to not have the policies like these?
Q1. What are some of the particular things that teachers should do to address each students needs?
Q2. between phonology (study of sound), morphology (study of structure), syntax (the rules), semantics (study of the meaning of words), and pragmatics (study of language) which was the most challenging for you? Why?
Q3. What strategies did your teacher use to help with syntax and semantics?
Q4. What kind of activities, techniques, and materials did your teacher to help you learn the English language in school?
Q5. Do you think they were effective in helping you learn the English language?
Q6. What do you think would have been more effective, or what do you wish would have been done differently?
Q7. Do you think common core state standards or no child left behind act were things that were helpful when learning a new language, or would it have been better to not have the policies like these?
Hey everyone! For my second blog, I
interviewed Kristen. Prior knowledge I have about Kristen is that she has ADHD,
so her focus and attention, especially when she was younger, is not at the same
level as other people learning a new language. Kristen learned the English
language at a fairly young age. She learned it when she was around 7 years old.
Her mom, dad, older sister, and her moved here and shortly after her and her
sister really started to pursue learning the language. Now, her main and only
language really spoken is English. She can still understand Spanish, but it is
not the main form of communication for her or her family. In this situation,
her family fell into the group of subtractive bilinguals which happens when a
speakers second language passes their home or original language (Wright, 2015).
Her family wanted the best for her, so moving to the United States was the best
decision for them to make.
After
doing this interview, it really helped open my eyes to different stories on why
people learn a new language, and how they learned it. There are so many
different ways that people can be taught, and I think it is so interesting that
what might work for one person will not work for another. Hearing what worked
best for Kristen I found really interesting.
Not
only that, but the background on different state standards was interesting to me.
Common Core State Standards are so important for students because it really gives
the teacher the freedom they best see fit but makes sure that they are aligning
with what actually needs to be taught (Wright, 2015). Kristen not knowing a
whole lot about the CCSS was interesting, because for me it felt like something
that everyone knew because they are so prominent within the classrooms. Getting
this opportunity to learn more about her journey and getting to see what we’ve
been learning brought into a real-life situation was really cool.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language
Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon,
2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Tobi! I enjoyed watching your interview with your friend Kristen. One thing that really stood out to me from watching your video, is Kristen’s answer to your question of “what do you wish would have been done differently?” Kristen responded to your question by stating that although reading was the most common strategy used by her teacher, she was only really required to read in English. She goes on to say that she wishes that the books would have had an English and Spanish translation, because what she most struggled with was grammar and comprehension. She felt that if there had been a Spanish translation as well, she would have been able to easily comprehend what was going on in the story. I feel like this is a very valid point, because as an ESL student myself, I know that the grammar rules in Spanish are very different to the grammar rules in English. According to Wright (2015) “For ELLs, producing grammatically correct phrases and sentences can be a major challenge because the rules for syntax vary across languages.” (Pg.33)
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Joanna!
DeleteIn the English language the grammar rules and comprehension are really important. I personally have not struggled due to English being my first language but the other way around with being Spanish as my second language. But in Kristen’s case I feel that having communication with her peers and teachers made it easier on her to grasp the language. Wright stated “that is one of the best ways to learn English is through a more natural method (2015, p.170)”.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Joanna! Thank you for taking the time to come to my blog and watch the video! I definitely agree, especially for Kristen because she struggled a lot in that area. It would have been good for her if they would have done activities like acting out stories, class discussions, or even giving her a buddy to read with so that she would be able to understand and comprehend what she was being taught (wright, 2015). Differentiating instruction is so critical, and for ELL and ESL students, it is so important for them to get the proper help that they need.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Toby!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching your interview video with your friend Kristen. Yes, the English language is difficult to learn with all the phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics rules. Especially on the way the sentenced is used each word and pronunciation is different. Wright explains, “knowledge of phonology helps teachers understand issues related to pronunciation, accents, and regional varieties of English,” (2015, pg.31). I like the fact that if she would have done it differently by reading a book in English and read one sentence at a time and have the Spanish translated next to it to see the difference and similarities between both languages.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Linda, I feel like you brought up a very valid point. I agree that English can be a difficult language to learn, with so many rules (phonology, syntax, semantics, etc.) Wright (2015) talks about how “For ELLs at the beginning levels teachers should slow down their rate of speech, enunciate clearly, and use a simple sentence structure, avoiding long sentences with complicated syntax.” (pg.157) I feel like not only should teachers use those strategies when speaking, but also when writing things, and choosing content to teach with (in this case the books) since Kristen wishes that her books would have included both an English and Spanish translation.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Linda! I totally agree with you! Like Wright says, eliminating the heritage language and just focusing on the language that she would be tested on is not helpful for her to truly learn the language (2015, p. 136). If there would have been something as simple as what you said for her to go and actually learn the language it would have been even easier for her to learn the language. Every child is different, and we cannot forget that.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Tobi! Your interview was so great. I loved how Kristen was so aware of the things that happened throughout her education and even aware of things that she could have done differently throughout her English as a Second Language education. I also really like that she touched on a specific thing that she could have done differently, which is very big of her to be able to recognize. I also found the approach that her teacher took was interesting because it did not follow any traditional method of language learning gone over in chapter three (Wright, 2015). She focused on reading as the way of acquiring the language and I find that that might not have been the most beneficial way to learn.
ReplyDeleteHello Noor!
DeleteI agree that reading is not a beneficial way to learn any language because you may have to first learn the pronunciations and the grammars. The best way to grasp a language is through hands on activities and learning with your peers. Little kids love to play teacher and they would gladly help their classmates on any tasks provided. Wright states that, “children’s language develops primarily from interactions (conversations) in social settings, especially in a supportive interactive environment” (2015, pg. 57).
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hey Noor! Thank you so much! I know, and I love that too, because I think it is so important for everyone to be aware of what is going on around them and really being able to reflect on how you were taught and seeing that things could be done differently. Self-reflection is so important, especially in education, because she was/is able to grow from that experience and make sure that she works hard to keep progressing, because even learning the language from the start, there is always more that you can learn. I definitely think her language socialization, how she learned the language, helped her grow into who she is now (Wright, 2015, p. 58).
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hello Tobi Thanks for sharing their interview with your friend! I enjoyed seeing her different view on English learning in schools here in the US. I found it very interesting that our people we interviewed made same points about the syntax being the hardest part of learning the new language. This seems to be common since in our book states that “according to the syntactic word rules in Spanish, the adjective generally follows the noun it modifies.” (Wright 2015.32) which is very different from the English language. This seems to be one of the largest struggles they go through while learning so focusing on overcoming that difference is a must in our ESL education courses.
ReplyDeleteHey Gabby! I noticed that too, I think this is because syntax can be so confusing for new learners of the English language. The English language is one of the most confusing languages, so I can see why it is so difficult for someone, especially when they are older, to learn the language and actually keep the knowledge. There are so many different rules, and if you are not motivated and focused on learning the language, it makes it that much harder for someone to learn like Kristen. Like Wright says, syntax can really mess up an ELL when trying to come up with grammatically correct phrases (2015, p. 33).
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hey Tobi! I enjoyed your interview because it really show the reality of ELL in the classroom and general students in the classroom. Just like those of us who understand the English language as our first language and struggle in class, its up to the teacher to understand where we struggle and to see what they could do to help us understand the content and succeed. So teachers differentiate instruction and do whatever it takes to help the student, well the same concept goes with ELL. IF they are not understanding what is being taught to them one particular way, then we need to realize that they most likely are not progressing and we need to do something to help them understand the content. "Teachers also need to adjust the way they talk with their ELLs to ensure that their speech provides comprehensible input." (Wright, Pg.157)
ReplyDelete