Here is a link to the interview:
Sunday, February 11, 2018
ENTRY 2: INTERVIEW WITH MOTHER
I found out more about my mom’s upbringing and her transition to living in America than I knew before. It was an eye-opener to hear that she felt like she needed more support in the classroom. Maybe it was because of the school she was at, but maybe back then, teachers did not have the resources or research to help support English Language Learners. She expanded on the fact that English grammar rules are really hard to learn as a child. When connecting this theory to research, “Japanese college students would learn an English grammar rule better without or with rules,” which shows that you can learn English grammar more through immersion of the language (Ortega, 2009, p. 100). This applies my mom’s experience with learning the English language. She also mentioned that she thinks casual conversations helped her learn more than being in the classroom. Her experience going to school was negative, and she spent most of the time simply listening and observing to help her. She paid attention to body language and facial expressions. I can only imagine how confusing it would have been for her. Maybe if she used the strategy of talking to American born Vietnamese peers who “share the same ethnic background,” it would have helped her more (Ortega, 2009, p. 249). This is because having the same ethnic background and sharing a common ground can help someone feel more comfortable speaking another language. We also discussed how we thought that learning another language as an adult was harder, when Ortega says that it is actually easier. It was interesting getting to understand my mom’s second language acquisition.
Here is a link to the interview:
Here is a link to the interview:
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Shelly,
ReplyDeleteI think it was neat you being able to interview your mom and learn more about her and how she learned English upon arriving to the United States. You mentioned how your mother felt the school system could have been a lot better in helping her make the transition from Japanese to English and honestly I couldn’t agree with you more. Seeing as though my interviewee experienced the school system within the last 5-10 years and he speaks about only one teacher being able to connect with him; I can only image your mother’s hardship and challenges she faced. Ortega states, “newcomers to the society……grammar and vocabulary incorporate the natural language meaning process” (Ortega, 2011, Pg. 8) Meaning, because she wasn’t given the opportunity to fully learn in school she basically had to teach herself. She truly is very wise and determined because I know that is hard work. Is your mother completely fluent in English with reading, writing, and speaking? Did she lose any of her Japanese transitioning?
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print
Thanks for your comment Jolie! My mother actually transitioned from speaking Vietnamese to English, not Japanese to English, but as far as answering your question, I have noticed that she has lost maybe speaking grammatically correct in Vietnamese, but not the understanding or oral communication aspect. Her transitional state, as said in Ortega's book, was always towards her learning goal and she has achieved proficiency in English.
DeleteHi Shelly,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your video and learning more about your mom and her upbringing! I found it interesting when your mom talks about how grammar was hard for her when learning English. I think if she was fully immersed in a setting where she was forced to speak English more frequently she might have learned the rules at a faster pace. In the video title How Do Kids Learn a Second Language (Part 1), it is said that true immersion, which means being immersed in an environment were the L2 is used regularly, will help students really grasp the L2. I was wondering, if you were your mom’s teacher what would you do to help her learn English better? Overall, I really enjoyed your video!
I agree if she was fully immersed where she got to speak more English, the grammatical aspect would have been easier to attain. If I were my mom's teacher, I would have definitely included her in more daily classroom conversation. I believe that is a great step in helping an ELL student become more safe and comfortable in the environment and in turn they will pick up the English language easier.
DeleteHi Shelly,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your interview video with your mom. The person I interviewed had a completely different experience. This may have been because of the time period or just the teacher/school. One thing that was similar between your mother and the person I interviewed and that was learning through casual conversations. It was sad to hear how your mother felt like the school system failed her in a way. According to Ortega “Language teachers across institutions all over the world hotly debate whether students in their classrooms need to be directly taught grammar and vocabulary in order to get the basic building blocks of a language first, or whether it is better to somehow approximate in their classroom the richness of natural language meaning-making processes. (Ortega 8)”. From this I can assume that this may have been an issue that your mother’s teacher faced.
Almira, thank you for that quote from Ortega, as it does help me better understand what my mom went through. I feel as though the school system has changed for the better since my mom was in school when it comes to ELL students, which is why I believe a course like this is so important for future educators to take.
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ReplyDeleteHi Shelly!
ReplyDeleteI think it is really admirable that your mother was able to learn English without having any ESL support. Ortega (pg. 59, 2013) discusses that immigrants are often surrounded by the majority language and that eventually it helps them learn the language better because they are so closely immersed in it. They learn from mimicking the language and social cues. This is something that is shown from your mom because she had to listen to and mimick those around her to understand and learn the language. Even hearing your mother now I would consider her to have the skills of a native speaker. This tells me that people can learn a language and its grammar rules through conversation by hearing and speaking with other native speakers. Do you think that your mom would have learned the language faster had she been taught a separate formal English class?
Developing social skills is very important when learning a new language. When it comes to my mom's situation, I think it depends on her instructor and their care for her. If she was in a separate formal English class with a teacher who created a safe and positive environment for her, I do believe she would have learned English faster and more efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI also think that would have helped with the efficiency of how much faster she could have learned English. Although, her English sounds great! With deep conversations and high levels of engagement, I can see the difference in actual immersion versus formal learning. My parents who have been here for 25 years have worked mainly in the China town area hasn't really had stable interaction with everyday English speakers and I think as a result have a lower level of grammar accuracy.
DeleteAt the time you were learning to speak, how skilled was your mother in English? Did she speak to you in English or her native language? I ask this because I wonder if her language skills had any impact on you during your sensitive period of learning which Ortega (2013) states on page 13 is the early time in life where the brain is specifically able to be shaped and molded in different ways, such as learning language.
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