Entry 2: ELL Student Interview
Hi everyone!
For the ELL Student Interview, I interviewed Howard. Howard was born in Vietnam. He and his family moved from Vietnam to America when he was four years old. Howard is fluent in both English and Vietnamese, but his fluency in Vietnamese is only with speaking. He cannot fluently read or write words in Vietnamese. When Howard was in the public-school system, he was enrolled in an ESL program. In the program, they taught him English by referring to his native language Vietnamese. Howard was in the ESL program for three years before he was able to exit.
For Howard, the most challenging thing when he was learning English was getting used to America. Howard went to America with no knowledge of English whatsoever, so it was terrifying for him to be in a place where he could not understand anything. He felt that learning how to speak English was the most difficult because it was hard for his tongue to get used to speaking English. As a result, Howard did not feel confident in his communicative competence, his ability to communicate effectively in English (Wright, 2015, p. 36). The letters in the Vietnamese alphabet are similar to the English alphabet, but the letters are pronounced differently. The sound systems of the two languages are different, so Howard had trouble with phonology (Wright, 2015, p. 31). Since he was used to speaking Vietnamese, it took a while before he was able to get used to speaking English and pronouncing words in the proper manner. Howard mentioned that his teachers helped him with his speaking skills by having him repeat words and imitate how the teachers were pronouncing words. However, he also mentioned that he wished his teachers could have been more proactive in communicating with his parents. Howard’s parents were not aware of what he was learning in school other than the fact that he was learning English. Howard felt that he would have been more motivated and better able to learn English if his parents knew what he was learning.
I thought it was quite interesting how Howard’s teachers taught him English by referring to his home language, Vietnamese. I thought that those programs were only available for Spanish speakers. Since Howard continued to use and speak Vietnamese throughout his years, he did not lose his fluency in Vietnamese as he was learning English. Therefore, Howard is an example of additive bilingualism because he was able to learn English without losing his home language (Wright, 2015, p. 21). Overall, it was nice to hear about Howard’s experience with learning English. Unfortunately, Howard’s teachers were not that proactive in communicating with his parents. However, in the future when I have my own classroom, I want to try my best to proactively talk and build relationships with the parents of my students to better help them in their learning.
Here is the link to my video!
Wright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Wright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi Angela!
ReplyDeleteI thought your video was very interesting and relatable. Like Howard, I think a lot of us that grow up in a different culture or migrate over to the United States struggle with adjustment issues. "ELL's, however, may experience a cultural and linguistic mismatch between the culture and language of their home and the school's culture and language" (Wright, 2015). It is very difficult to feel confident when you are so unfamiliar with a new lifestyle and language. I think it is great that Howard is now able to adjust and speak the language. Although he struggled and didn't have the best help from teachers, I'm glad that he is still able to speak both languages and develop. I also think it's admirable that you take his experience are ready to apply it when it comes to your future career.
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hi Simrah, thank you for your kind words! According to Wright (2015, p. 15), there are factors that influence English language learners. “These include the learning environment, personal and family issues, physical and psychological development, previous schooling, social and academic language development in the first and second language, academic achievement in both languages, and cultural differences.” In Howard’s case, his motivation was the desire to learn the language so that he could make friends and not get teased for his pronunciation. Through his hard work and dedication as well as his teachers’ support, he was able to become fluent in English. He also retained his fluency in Vietnamese due to his family’s influence.
DeleteWright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
I admire Howard for finding motivation in learning a new language and lifestyle. Not all languages have the same parts of speech. Wright wrote, “For ELLs, producing grammatically correct phrases and sentences can be a major challenge because of the rules for syntax vary across languages (Wright, 2015). For instance, many languages have postpositions rather than prepositions.
DeleteHi Angela! I also thought it was very interesting how Howard’s ESL program worked by teaching him English though his native language. I have never heard of that before and that’s really cool! Our text states that learners may have learning strategies they developed in the first language that will help them as they learn a second language. With the program teaching students in their native language,I believe this is done to make it easier for students to make connections between words. I also believe that this strategy helped Howard with his additive bilingualism in practicing two different languages.
ReplyDeleteHi Angela!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your video interview with Howard. I found it interesting that Howard could only speak Vietnamese I was expecting him to know how to write/read it as well. "Immigrants and their children can adapt to the new language and culture without having to sacrifice their own" (Wright, 2015). Howard seemed to have the same experience I had when I was learning English for the first time. It was all confusing trying to understand a new language for the first time. It's great that Howard pushed through and was able to learn the language to communicate effectively.
Wright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi Angela! I enjoyed watching your video! I interviewed a friend who also talked about the accent issue. She said how when she would read sometimes people would laugh as well which can make it difficult for students to want to participate. They want to learn but not at the cost of being made fun of. I grew up learning English and Spanish at the same time. However, like Howard I was only able to speak Spanish until I started taking Spanish classes in middle school. I did know a little bit how to read and write but it still needed work. I found it interesting that his teachers did not involve his parents seeing as they must have spoken Vietnamese to have taught him the way they did. Maybe they were worried that their help could harm his pronunciation but even then there must have been other ways for his parents to help him practice. It made me happy to hear that they taught him using his native language! We often just hear about bilingual classrooms with Spanish speaking teachers. There is nothing wrong with that but I feel we need teachers who speak other languages as well to help students the same way Howard was helped. You mentioned in your reflection communicative competence and I think it reflects exactly his experience. Wright (2015, p.37) mentions how "cultural differences can cause miscommunication" and "can pose serious challenges to ELLs ". I wonder if Howard would have the fluency of English if he had not been taught using his native language. I don't know very much about the Vietnamese culture or the language, so if I were his teacher I would not know how to best help him understand the differences. I may not even know what the differences are, so I think as teachers if we get in a situation like this it is important to learn for the benefit of our students.
ReplyDeleteWright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hello, that makes sense that he did not have much trouble learning English if he was given an opportunity to be around the English language at such a young age. I wonder if there are some methods ESL teachers could use in order to help students with enunciation . Having the students repeating the words over and over again could become frustrating. It's interesting that his parents were more encouraged with his English learning from the school. I would think learning a new language would required help from the home. Wright (2015, p.21) discusses the cultural challenges that are brought on by the parents "Rather than fully adopts "American" culture, or adopt their parents' idealized notions of the native culture, many children of immigrants forge a style of cultural identity that is neither one nor the other".
ReplyDeleteWright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi, Angela! I actually have known a few people that were taught English in their native language in a school setting just like Howard was. I think it really helped them and allowed them to feel more comfortable learning and practicing. Wright states, “Immigrants and their children can adapt to the new language and culture without having to sacrifice their own” (2015). I think that learning English in their native language really helped them to still keep that language intact while learning a whole new one. I also think that since Howard was taught in his native language it allowed him to pick up the similarities as well as the differences between English and Vietnamese.
ReplyDelete