This course helped me understand
what individuals experience when learning a second or additional language. As an
educator, it is important to understand this process of learning, so you can give
the language learner the best experience in your classroom. I was able to
understand the motivating factors that the language learner may experience, but
also learn about the struggles they may face. ESL teachers must recognize signs
of struggle or apprehension, such as foreign language anxiety, and they must
also be familiar with positive reinforcement and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
I have been able to apply
terminology and theory learned in this course to my current experience in
pre-service teaching by having my own student to evaluate in my class. I was
fortunate to have a student in my classroom, the only ESL student, that has a
home language of Vietnamese and speaks English at school. Speech is her only area
keeping her from exiting the ESL program. I have been able to make connections
to why she may be solving problems a particular way. When I was given a cognitive
interview assignment for my math coursework, I specifically chose this student
so I could also assess her communication and explanation of math. In this
interview, she said, “Oh, it’s 6! Because, you can do this by subtract.” I connected
this to the concept of underuse and overuse as explained in Ortega (2013). In
my student’s case, she would be exhibiting underuse, the failure to use a suffix. I felt rewarded when I was able to connect the content in the textbook to experiences with my ESL student.
I found it important for
teachers to know about the anxiety children may face with acquiring another
language, whether it be a student learning English or a student learning another
language academically. This is especially the case for teachers who have not experienced
learning another language. Often, I have seen individuals become upset with ELLs
because they have trouble understanding them. If a teacher responds negatively
or shows frustration with communication with the ELL, it could affect their communicative
self-confidence. Ortega (2013) states, “attitudes towards the L2 and its
speakers will contribute to increased or diminished L2 motivation. These
attitudes come from the collective values, beliefs, attitudes and even
behaviours that are rewarded and modelled for the learner in the communities in
which he or she participates” (p.174). It is so critical for educators to be
mindful of how they are interacting with L2 learners when it so strongly
affects their motivation and ultimately their rate and accuracy of second language
acquisition.
Creating a vBlog has allowed me
to apply my learning of second language acquisition by using a different medium.
Instead of simply writing, I was tasked with making a video in addition to a written
reflection. By using the video format for my interviews in vBlog 2 and 3, I was
able to create an engaging media piece for others to learn from and for myself
to experience. I could not imagine reading a simple transcript from the
interviews that took place between myself and my peers. Hearing many of the
interviews supplemented my learning experience. Given the task of citing in APA
for every assignment, I feel like over time, I have experienced great
improvement with appropriately citing and making connections to cited material.
This is an asset to have in higher education.
References:
Ortega, L.
(2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Brianna, I think it is so awesome that you’re able to connect the topics and theories we learned in class to your own personal experience with a student. I think that’s really important, because you get to really use your knowledge and implement actions based on what we’ve learned to better help students.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is interesting how you mentioned ESL teachers need to notice anxiety in students, especially since that doesn’t seem to be something is that tangible. I mean that in the way that you would have to really be observant and look for signs that conclude a student in feeling anxious, because they will not always communicate that to you. Ortega states that “affective variables of foreign language anxiety and communicative self-confidence are also considered key in predicting motivation,” meaning that in order to positively motivate our students to learn we must know what is making them feel anxious and confident. By understanding the things that make them feel anxious and being able to connect it to what makes them feel confident or not confident, we can provide means that will promote self-efficacy. That will, in the end, help them acquire their L2.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Lam, you did a great job zooming in on the topic I briefly covered of teachers being mindful of possible anxiety in students. Students can self-regulate to control their emotions that may set them back in the process of acquiring an L2 and we can facilitate this in the classroom. Ortega (2013) mentions that “the relevance of self-regulation theory to SLA and individual differences is clear: learning another language poses a high-anxiety and complex challenge that demands cognitive as well as affective self-regulation, and individuals differ in their capacity to self-regulate” (p. 211).
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
I agree with your statement on how we as educators need to be mindful on how we interact with students. Just today in one of our class a group of us were split into small study groups to teach a Social Studies lesson. The was one group of teachers whom showed their annoyance when being asked alot of questions. I think as educators you have to be able to put those emotions away when teaching. These students ask questions because they are confused. I didn't see why they these student teachers showed annoyance and frustration when the class asked questions.
ReplyDeleteThom,
DeleteWhen I read this, I automatically visualized students that may be English language learners experiencing this kind of attitude from a teacher. Ortega (2013) states, “an individual’s affective negative predispositions towards the target language and its members […] may conspire to create what he characterized as a bad learning situation that causes learners to stagnate […] in their grammar, without inflections or mature syntax” (p. 59). Sometimes we encounter individuals who do not understand a culture’s attitude, humor, or mannerisms. It would be very unfortunate if repetitive negative attitudes from a teacher would ultimately lead them to negative predispositions towards the English language. Attitude is a powerful thing and it is important to recognize that.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Thom,
ReplyDeleteThat bothers me greatly to hear that teachers were getting annoyed by questions. Answering questions is part of their job and should never let their emotions get in the way of doing their job how it should be done. As educators, we must remind ourselves what these students are going through. There is confusion, anxiety and fear. According to Ortega, “High-anxiety foreign language students exhibit symptoms…the most common are…freezing up when asked to say something in the L2 in front of the class, and blanking on the right answers during a language test despite having studied hard and even knowing the answers” (Ortega, 2011, p.59). Imagine being an ELL and having a questions during a time like that mentioned from Ortega and your teacher shows annoyance towards you… As a future educator, that pains me to read.
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Hi Mackenzie,
DeleteI am also bothered to hear of the annoyance when it comes to students. Anxiety is a learning factor that not many people take into consideration. We must be prepared to help those students and do the best we can to provide a loving, supportive learning environment for them. "...anxiety feelings reach debilitating levels only when anxious students engage in self-deprecatory and negative thoughts..."(Ortega, 2011, pg. 202) They already have fears of speaking and talking to others and if we do not encourage them to work past these thoughts we are doing them a disservice.
Hello Brianna,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that as an educator we should understand the process of learning a second language. As future teachers we need to be able to connect with all of our students, so therefore this class did allow us to put ourselves in a L2 student position and to show us how it is learning a new language.
Katiana, yes -- teachers are beyond responsible for being experienced in the process of any kind of dispositions their students may have, because we are changing the world one student at a time (no pressure.) Learning a second language is also relative to changing the social world. “If the project of learning an additional language is itself about transforming social worlds, shouldn’t educators who serve L2 learners, and researchers who study them, support them in their transformative efforts?” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 251).
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Brianna,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your point when you think about the children and understand that they can feel anxious about learning a new language. Ortega even has a section in the textbook that talks about foreign language anxiety and says that "this propensity to feel anxious is specific to foreign language learning." (Ortega, pg. 200) I think it's a common misunderstanding that when a student doesn't know the answer or cannot give an answer back to the teacher, it is out of anxiety and not because the student doesn't know the answer at all. Ortega gives examples of this: "...freezing up when asked to say something in L2 in front of the class, and blanking on the right answers during a language test despite having studied hard and even knowing the answers." (Ortega, pg. 200) Teachers can do their best to lower this type of anxiety by showing great respect to the student and having other students show the same respect and not ridicule them when they are trying to speak the L2.
Joseph,
DeleteOn the topic of being mindful of how we respond to students to prevent fostering a climate for anxiety, it could be important to also consider being familiar with negative feedback and how to appropriately distribute it. Ortega (2013) states, “Many language teachers and students believe the provision of negative feedback by the teacher in speaking and writing is a staple of good classroom instruction” (p. 72). Students may feel less anxious to answer a question when they know they will be supported with appropriate negative feedback.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.