Vlog Entry 2: Interview with an English Language Leaner
Hello! As stated in the video above, I am only able to require an audio version of the interview. The mp3 should be in decent quality to listen to, but just in case, please turn your volume up for it.
> Interview link <
For this Vlog entry, I decided to
interview one of my fifth-grade students, Zaif. As he stated in the audio clip,
Zaif has only been learning English for one year. For the majority of his life,
he has been speaking and reading in Urdu. When I asked him what the hardest
part of learning English for him was, he stated that it was writing. I find
this to be understandable, as compared to reading or listening, writing requires
people to create words from their own knowledge. He has trouble with spelling
or putting things into his own words. However, he says that socializing with
his friends and peers allows him to learn new words that he can put to use in
his every day life. I believe that Zaif
learns the most English when socializing with his peers. According to Ortega, “second
language socialization studies have further revealed that learning outcomes can
be greatly improved when L2 learners are not construed as deļ¬nitional novices
and instead their invisible expertise is made visible during socializing event”
(pg. 238). When Zaif talks with his friends, he isn’t afraid that he’ll say the
wrong thing to his friends, and they in turn are not looking to make fun of his
English or constantly correct him. As he talked about in the recording, when Zaif
is with his friends, he learns to use phrases and words that he in turn can use
in his every day life. By doing so, his English becomes stronger and becomes more
confident with learning English. I also asked how the content he learns from Mrs.
Siems, the science and math teacher, helps him build his English. By paying
attention and learning from Mrs. Siems, he learns vocabulary that he doesn’t
use in every day life. Math and science terms may be something new to him that
he does not get through socializing with his friends.
Another thing that I learned from
Zaif was that he tends to avoid spelling or using other people’s names. Names,
being unique and different from one another can be difficult to spell, and
because of this, he is wary of using them in his writing. This also causes him
to have a slight aversion to social studies because of all the names of the
people that are being taught.
I believe that Zaif has made astounding
progress with his English, especially because he has only been learning it for
one year. Throughout the rest of my student teaching, I look forward to seeing
him grow even more!
References:
Ortega, L. (2014). Understanding second language
acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Sophia! I really enjoyed your interview and getting the perspective of a young student. While listening to your interview with Zaif I never would have guessed that he had barely learned most of his English a year ago. It seems that he is taking great strides to learn it. During the interview he made mention that if he was five it may have been easier for him to learn English rather than later in life. Ortega states, “Age effects on L2 learning are pervasive and undisputed” (p. 25). While it may have been easier for Zaif if he began learning at five it is still good that he is young and is able to learn, retain, and practice English as he does. I hope you can do another interview or update with him to show his progress, would love to see how he is doing or feels about English at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2014). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Victoria! Thanks for listening to my interview. I was very surprised myself when I first learned that he had only been learning English for about a year. Despite all the difficulties, he's made great progress! I agree that he is able to retain concepts and practice more at the young age he is at. Hopefully, if I get the chance, I'd love to talk to him about how he feels about English at the end of student teaching!
DeleteHi Victoria,
DeleteI think that is very true about learning a new language it is better when you are young. I think it is because student are able to retain more info at such a young age. That is amazing that he did get to learn it over a year, that shows how hard he worked to learn a language in a short amount of time.
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ReplyDeleteHello Sophia, I believe that even though Zaif and I didn’t learn English at similar times of our lives I still think we can relate on many topics. The main topic being the subject that we struggle with which is writing. Writing can be very tricky there are many different tricks as to why words are spelled a certain way and then pronouncing a word sometimes doesn’t help because the way you pronounce a word isn’t the proper way to spell it. I am impressed on how fluently he speaks even though he’s only been speaking English for a year. Giving these circumstances and his description of his English learning experience we can go ahead an assume that his environment has played a positive impact in his L2 learning experience. Ortega states, “A number of environmental and socio-affective factors may mutually interact and become important predictors of success at earlier as well as later starting ages” (Ortega, 2013, p. 27).
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge
Hello Yesenia, I agree with what you say about writing. The English language has so many exceptions in its grammar and spelling, and it requires you to have a greater vocabulary to write what you want to write. Not to mention that learning the alphabet requires learning all the symbols as well. This is similar to when I learned Chinese as well, because even if I knew how to say something, I may not have been able to write it! It's really frustrating. I'm sure that the school environment and interacting with his peers definitely has a positive effect on his learning experience.
DeleteHey Sophia!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching your interview and I can relate to your interviewee in multiple ways! Although I learned English at a younger age than your student Zaif, I still found it hard to transition between Urdu and English. Ortega mentioned that some L2 learners learn “through informal opportunities in multicultural neighborhoods, schools and workplaces, without ever receiving any organized instruction on the workings of the language they are learning" (Ortega, 2013, pg. 6). I agree with this because just like Zaif discussed, it was easy to practice English with peers because of no pressure of speaking it fluently. Having daily conversations and interactions also helped me learn the phrases and words that are commonly spoken in English. I am sure that with time, Zaif will be completely fluent in English!
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge
Hey Kani and Sophia! That's a great point you make, Kani, about learning through those informal opportunities because we never want to forget how important social interactions and communication out of the classroom setting can be for our ELL students. One of our books points out that "in family we are socialized and we learn how to behave and what to aspect from our environment," but I think that's such a critical thing to remember when we have these students in our classrooms as well (Gass & Selinker, 2008, p. 116). For a lot of them, they are very intimidated by the process of learning a new language that is unfamiliar and we have to approach the situation of helping them learn and grow through this family socialization lens. They have to be socialized in the school environment with this new English language and through interactions will begin to learn what to expect from their environment, and the proper ways to behave and speak.
DeleteGass, S., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Hi Kani! Thanks for enjoying my interview! It must've been a challenge growing up and having to transition between two different languages. I'm really happy for Zaif because he doesn't feel awkward about interacting in the classroom with his classmates. I feel like as I got older, I get really shy about talking in a different language that I am not fluent in, so I'm happy he has the opportunity to practice. Just like you, I'm sure that Zaif will improve his English greatly and be fluent! I'm cheering him on!
DeleteHi Sophia! Your video was great! I enjoyed reading your comment that came along with it too because it came with a lot of insight. At first, I had to look up what his native language is because I have never heard of it before. I also think it's great that his friends help him as they correct his english because that's the best way to learn. His friends let him practice it, and they help him out without thinking about it. With a lot of practice, Zaif will be more confident to write and spell anything he wants to! Zaif seems like a very confident kid, and with his attitude he will be able to master anything!
ReplyDelete