Vblog Entry 3



     Today I had the honor of interviewing a great teacher and family friend of mine, Karen McGee. She has had a lot of experience with English Language Learners, so I knew she would be just the right person to talk to over this topic. According to Rowland, "In other families, the parents only speak one language, so the child only hears the second language outside the home. This is the case for many immigrant families" (2014, pg. 176). Karen had mentioned something during the interview that went to agree with Rowlands statement. She mentioned that most of her ELLs speak only Spanish at home. I found interesting though when she mentioned that once the student becomes fluent in English, they often do not care to speak Spanish anymore. However, she helps them realize how beneficial it is to be bilingual and how that will soon come to their advantage.  
     According to Rowland, "At this stage (1), the children had very few translation equivalent words; which means that if they had a word in one language they tended to not have a word with a similar meaning in their other language" (2014. Pg. 177). Karen mentioned how she was a ELA teacher, so she gets to help ELLs learn most of their English through reading, writing and speaking. She mentions how she starts with basic vocabulary words and works up from there. I can imagine from the interview, that she faces similar situations as what Rowland described. Teaching ELLs is not an easy task to do, but interviewing Karen made me even more excited to get to teach ELLs. The happiness of the ELL when accomplishing something new is something that I strive to do and work for.  

Reference: 
Rowland, Caroline. Understanding Child Language Acquistion. New York: Routledge, 2014.

Comments

  1. Yazmin MendezJune 22, 2018 at 10:27 PM

    Interesting interview, Harlie! Your interviewee, Ms. McGee, mentioned some of the difficulties that her students have, of which include trouble with basic vocabulary, understanding the meaning of words and context in sentences. Gass (2013) mentioned that “children often overextend the meanings of words they know” (p. 34). This can be seen when students use words incorrectly in general, or when they apply it to other things of a similar category. Opposite to overextension, underextension is when “children use words with more restricted meanings than the word has” (Gass, 2013, p. 34). This can be seen when students fail to use a word correctly, even though they have used it correctly in a different context. Overextension and underextension seem to span through most, if not all, of the three categories Ms. McGee mentioned her students have trouble with and I wonder if this is something she has encountered.

    References:
    Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownJune 23, 2018 at 8:48 PM

      Hello Yazmin! I feel like you could be right on those statements of Gass and Selinker compared to the experiences Mrs. McGee was discussing during the interview. Children do sometimes add on more meaning to a word, but they also can make mistakes in their speech. According to Gass and Selinker, "This shows that children can perceive a difference, although they do not make the difference in their own speech" (2013, pg. 34). So while meaning of words is difficult for children to understand, the change of how a word is pronounced is also difficult. The meaning and the speech could both be easily mistaken for each other.

      Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.

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    2. Yazmin MendezJune 26, 2018 at 9:01 PM

      You make an interesting point, Harlie. Just because second language learners are not understood, does not mean it is because they do not know how to communicate properly. As you stated, it may be the form of communication that can fail them. This is where negotiation of meaning, “those instances in conversation when participants need to interrupt the flow of the conversation in order for both parties to understand what the conversation is about” (Gass, 2013, p. 318), comes in handy. In stopping the conversation to clear up a misunderstanding, one can identify the specific problem the ELL is having and help them advance.

      References:
      Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.

      Delete
  2. Alexander IglesiasJune 25, 2018 at 7:41 AM

    Hey there, Harile! Your interview with Ms.McGee was very informative and I really enjoyed watching it. What really caught my attention were the methods Ms.McGee uses to strengthen her ELL’s learning abilities. She mentions that she uses dictionaries and context clues, which according to a study conducted by Richard Schmidt are great ways to foster long-term learning. In other words Ms.McGee uses the “kinds of strategy that would foster longer-term learning, such as consulting a dictionary or asking interlocutors metalinguistic questions about subtle differences or idiomatic appropriacy” (Ortega, 2013, p.58). The main reason this really caught my interest was because as an ESL student myself, I was always supplied with a dictionary all times. It interesting that the reason this was, wasn’t because my teachers just wanted me to carry a huge book around, but because it really benefits second language acquisition.

    References
    Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownJune 25, 2018 at 8:56 AM

      Hello Alexander! I was also very impressed and attentive with Mrs. McGee's interview. I felt like she was a very good teacher to have interviewed and got opinions from! I was shocked though with using the method of a dictionary. Now I understand the reasoning behind that method, but it is nice to see how you being an ESL student, helped you learn English as well. Along with the dictionary, students should also be attempting to speak and use the terms in correct sentences. Ortega states, "Evidence of the greatest strength and improvement was found in the area of oral discourse competence" (2011, pg. 56).

      Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.

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    2. Alexander IglesiasJune 27, 2018 at 7:46 AM

      I completely agree with your comment! Although the dictionaries did help me comprehend certain messages and words, it also very essential for any ESL student to be attempting to speak. Like you mention, it necessary for learners to learn correct sentence structure and grammar when speaking. Ortega even mentions that “learners engage by necessity not only in comprehending and negotiating messages but also in making meaning and producing messages” (Ortega, 2013, p.62). This makes it clear that ELL’s should also be seen in perfecting their output, allowing them to be able to make conversation with native speakers. It is interesting to see that all this plays together, that is the dictionaries and the output and much more, to allow someone to acquire a second language.

      References
      Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.

      Delete
  3. Nayab VapiwallaJune 25, 2018 at 8:39 PM

    Hi Harlie! I feel that vocabulary is one of the more difficult things to learn when you are learning a new language. I think it is great that Karen provides her English Language Learners with basic vocabulary work as well as assisting them with using a dictionary. I feel these are two good methods to use in the classroom. I love that she tries to learn their language aside from teaching them English, I believe that is a great motivating factor. It is said "language is a form of communication" (Gass and Selinker, 31). So when you have that communication barrier it makes teaching slightly more difficult, but as the ELLs vocabulary expands communication becomes easier, and knows the ELLs native language can help bridge the language barrier.

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  4. UnknownJune 27, 2018 at 11:04 AM

    Hey Harlie. I really enjoyed listening to the interview you had with Karen. I found it really interesting to listening to her views on this topic, and hearing what it was like from a 5th grade English teacher. When she was talking about how she teaches her students English, it reminded me of something Gass and Selinker said. They said, “Knowledge of the sound system (phonology) of our native language is complex. Minimally, it entails knowing what sounds are possible and what sounds are not possible in the language.” (Gass & Selinker, 2013, p. 8). So, having to take the language step-by-step must have been a challenge. The English language is so tricky, but it sounds like she has really found a way to help her students understand the language even more.
    References:
    Gass, S. and Selinker, L. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. Routledge.

    ReplyDelete

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