Entry 3: Interview with Mr. Guest
For this entry, I decided to interview a first grade teacher at the school I am student teaching at: Mr. Guest. Mr. Guest is a first grade teacher at Austin Parkway Elementary who has ELL students as well as native English speaking students. His class is considered a self-contained class meaning he teaches all subjects, ELA, math, science and social studies.
One thing that I did leave out with this interview was stating that Mr. Guest is monolingual and he is ESL certified. In the interview, Mr. Guest states that his ELL students have difficulty with academic level words. For example, words like data, bar graph, collection and more of the higher level words. According to the Bryan Brown: Full Interview on How Language, Identity, and Cognition Impact Students' learning, Mr. Brown states that "....rich parallels between the way students understand ideas and the way they can communicate them" (Brown, 2014). I believe that Mr. Guests students might be understanding the new vocabulary, especially if he is slowing down for them and using basic words within the new vocabulary, but when it comes to explaining the new vocabulary using correct terminology, that is where his students get stuck. They might be able to understand the new concept/vocabulary, but the way they present it might be interpreted as incorrect.
In the interview, Mr. Guest states that he thought that his ELL students would pick up more on concrete motivational items but to his surprise, just a simple "good job" goes a long way. Mr. Guest also stated that he also gives the students a thumbs up in order for them to understand that they did a great job or they did something right. Unfortunately, this was not the response that I was looking for. I must admit that after asking Mr. Guest "What type of motivation is most noticeable among your ELL's?" I could have definitely followed up with the different types of motivation that Ortega states. Ortega states that "...SLA work on motivation draws heavily on theories and methods from social psychology" (Ortega, 2013, p. 168). Based on the wording and the response that Mr. Guest gave me, I have concluded that he was not aware of the concept because his answer was based on what he does as a teacher to motivate his students.
Mr. Guest stated that many of his students tend to learn the material very quickly because they constantly have interactions among their peers just in daily language exposure. Gass & Selinker state that "The idea is that if the child has target language peers, there is a great social context where the child learns the L2 rules as if the L2 were an L1, with no language transfer occurring" (Gass and Selinker, 2008, p. 123-124). Interacting and conversing with their peers, helps Mr. Guest's students and gives them the practice they need in order to learn their L2.
References:
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
In the interview, Mr. Guest states that he thought that his ELL students would pick up more on concrete motivational items but to his surprise, just a simple "good job" goes a long way. Mr. Guest also stated that he also gives the students a thumbs up in order for them to understand that they did a great job or they did something right. Unfortunately, this was not the response that I was looking for. I must admit that after asking Mr. Guest "What type of motivation is most noticeable among your ELL's?" I could have definitely followed up with the different types of motivation that Ortega states. Ortega states that "...SLA work on motivation draws heavily on theories and methods from social psychology" (Ortega, 2013, p. 168). Based on the wording and the response that Mr. Guest gave me, I have concluded that he was not aware of the concept because his answer was based on what he does as a teacher to motivate his students.
Mr. Guest stated that many of his students tend to learn the material very quickly because they constantly have interactions among their peers just in daily language exposure. Gass & Selinker state that "The idea is that if the child has target language peers, there is a great social context where the child learns the L2 rules as if the L2 were an L1, with no language transfer occurring" (Gass and Selinker, 2008, p. 123-124). Interacting and conversing with their peers, helps Mr. Guest's students and gives them the practice they need in order to learn their L2.
References:
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Gass,
S., & Selinker, L. (2013). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. New York:
Routledge.
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ReplyDeleteKenia Reyes
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I interviewed is also a monolingual teacher with ESL students. She is currently teaching kindergarten and says that many of her monolingual students make similar mistakes as her ELL because they have not had a lot of practice with proper oral English speaking. My teacher, like yours, also believes in the use of positive feedback to help encourage her students. She shared that her students seem to be motivated and encouraged in low-risk situations where they feel free to make mistakes while learning the language. She tries to create a comfortable environment where students practice their language formally during actual lesson time and informally during center time and recess. Ortega echoes this when he says,” … Being motivated nurtures more successful L2 learning, but, conversely, experiencing L2 learning success also boost motivation to even higher levels…” (Ortega, 2011, p. 189). Dornyei addresses this same idea in the video when he speaks about engaging students. He mentions that teachers have not changed nearly as much as students have and that todays teachers have to really work on how to motivate their students so that they will participate during the school day to become not only a successful ELL, but also successful students.
Stacey,
DeleteI like that you mentioned that your interviewee also creates a comfortable environment. Creating a comfortable and respectful environment can boost the students' motivation. Ortega states that "Gardener (2001) believed the highest and most facilitative form of motivation is what he called the integrative motivation, which is attained only when three conditions are met.....(3) attitude towards the learing situation (teachers, curriculum) are positive (Ortega, 2013, p. 171). By creating a comfortable and respectful environment, you are essentially coming in to teach with a positive attitude. Doing so, you are meeting the conditions in order to increase their motivation.
References: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print
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ReplyDeleteHey Kenia!
Your interviewee seems very knowledgeable about English language learners. I think Mr. Guest is absolutely right about ELL students learning material quickly through interaction with peers and daily exposure to their second language. ELL students must learn their second language and master it to fully understand it. In other words, it must be placed in their long-term memory. “Long-term memory is about representations and it is unlimited; it can be explicit-declarative (the facts and events we know and can talk about) or implicit-procedural (knowledge we do not know we hold, but which affects our behavior and supports our skills, habits and performance).” (Ortega, 2013, p. 106). Once students learn their L2 and it is in their long-term memory, they will be able to speak the language out of habit.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
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ReplyDeleteHi Kenia,
ReplyDeleteBased on your video, it seems what some of (not all) Mr. Guest's English Language Learners' struggle with the most is those lower level frequency words. According to Ortega this can be due to some ELL's lack of having that "build competence in both languages (Ortega, 2013, p. 89)." In other words, L2 words have fewer meanings represented in their entries than L1 words, that is, L2 lexical representations are conceptually less elaborated and analyzed (Ortega, 2013, p. 89)." So, without that comprehension across both languages, in makes it more difficulty for ELL's to make those connections of what those lower level frequency words mean. Which is completely understandable because they are still in the process of learning another language on top of their L1. As for native English speakers, like Mr. Guest had stated, even though the word may be new to them as well, they already have that comprehension in the language in which helps them make those connections and inferences of what the word could actually mean. This idea kind of makes me wonder if teachers not only put up a word wall in their classroom to help their students learn new vocabulary, but to also assist their students who are English language learners. Most likely could be the case.
Great Video!
Priscilla Sambrano
References: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Priscilla, I agree with you that it sounds like Mr. Guests may be struggling because they are trying to develop competence in two languages at the same time. You realized that because his students are learning two languages simultaneously, it was impacting their rate and progress in their school work (Ortega, 2013, p. 34). In this case, their school work is the lower level frequency words. It is very difficult for students to learn words in their L2 that they have not yet mastered in their L1. I think it is difficult because without knowledge of the word in their L1 they have no prior knowledge to refer back to when trying to learn the word in their L2.
DeletePriscilla,
DeleteI completely agree that ELL's can have a harder time than native speaking students because they are learning two languages. We often hear that that students' L1 can influence their L2. "This being so, the mother tongue universally influences the process and outcomes of L2 learning" (Ortega, 2013, p. 53). Unfortunately, the influence may not always be positive and could make it more difficult. Ortega states that "....Transfer is highly complex phenomenon. It can be caused by perceived L1-L2 similarities as well as by large differences, and it goes well beyond strident calques and awkward transliterations from the L2" (Ortega, 2013, p.53). The key word here is awkward. The student may use their L1 to help learn their L2, but it may become awkward, and therefore, confusing.
References: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print
Hi, Kenia. After reading your reflection and watching your video, I was able to connect much of what we are learning in this course to what you and Mr. Guest discussed. I agree with Mr. Guest how "his ELL students have difficulty with academic level words" as an ELL as myself, I offend struggle with high academic vocabulary word that I don't use it daily and that is not regularly used in our daily life. According to Ortega (2013), “Vocabulary knowledge strength concerns the relative ability to use a given known word productively or to recognize it passively” (p. 88). Because learning the vocabulary words is dominant in language acquisition, I believe vocabulary knowledge in language plays a strong role for learners in acquiring a language.
ReplyDeleteLori,
DeleteI liked that you mentioned that you often struggle with high academic vocabulary due to not using it daily. Ortega states that "Because vocabulary knowledge is one of the best-studies areas of long-term memory in SLA..." (Ortega, 2013, p. 88). Since you are not using the certain high academic vocabulary, it is therefore not transferring into your long-term memory. To prove this, Ortega also states that "What does it mean to remember a word? At a fundamental level, a word is established in long-term memory when the link between form and its meaning is made". Although Ortega begins to talk about knowing a word means a lot more, it does indeed help if it is ingrained in your long-term memory.
References: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Hi, Kenia. I’m glad me mentioning about struggling with high academic vocabulary due to not using it daily stood out for you. “Vocabulary knowledge strength concerns the relative ability to use a given known word productively or to recognize it passively” (p. 88). I am fortunate that I am able to use my own experience to help myself properly educate ELL students. I understand how important it is to frequently use vocabulary in daily speaking when learning a second language.
DeleteHi Kenia,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching your interview and reading your reflection! My interviewee talks about how social interaction can benefit an English Language Learner throughout their process of learning their L2. Since students want to interact with their peers and other people in their community and places around them, they have a lot of motivation to learn the new language. Ortega states, “motivation is usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to learn it” (Ortega, 2011, p.188). Since they have the desire to interact with others, this then causes them to have a high level of motivation to do so.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Mackenzie,
DeleteI agree that having social interactions whether it being in an academic setting or on the playground, can have a great impact on learning the L2. I like that you mentioned that students have the desire to interact with others. As young students, they generally want to be like their friends and do certain things that they're friends do. If a student sees that all of his/her friends speak English, he/she will eventually grow the desire to learn English as well. According to Ortega, this would be considered the integrative orientation reason to learn the L2. Ortega define integrative orientation as "for integrative reasons related to identification with the target culture and a genuine desire to become more like members of the L2 group" (Ortega, 2013, p. 173).
References: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Hi Kenia and Mackenzie,
DeleteI believe you two are absolutely correct in your thoughts on motivation. Any student in an "English speaking school" will be motivated to learn English. However, I am currently doing my student teaching at a predominantly Hispanic school, and the culture of the school is to speak Spanish outside the classroom (in the classroom as well if given the opportunity). This has forced me to believe that motivation to learn English is not the same for all students being taught in different environments. I have students who do not want to learn English because it seems difficult, and it does not help them in their conversations with peers who are speaking Spanish in the hallway. English is something they see as something that will cause more work and create communication with the teacher. As educators we must find ways to open the door to intrinsic motivation, rather than extrinsic.
Hello Kenia,
ReplyDeleteBased on your video, Your interviewee seems like he has the same struggles with his ELL students as many of us which is academic words. Because ELL students are use to speaking there native language when they try to learn their L2 they have difficulties.According to Ortega, "In terms of L2 ultimate attainment, most learners who begin acquiring the L2 before a certain age, typically before puberty, will develop levels of morphosyntactic and phonological competence that are very close to those of native speakers of that language". Age can also have a affect on the students learning ability .