For my interview I had the pleasure of
speaking to my mentor teacher, Amy Baxter. When we spoke, Mrs. Baxter had much
to say about her experiences with ESL students. By listening to her speak about
their desire and motivation to learn, the obstacles they face, and the methods
she uses in her classroom to facilitate their learning—it was clear to see how
much Mrs. Baxter enjoys teaching her ESL students.
During our discussion,
Mrs. Baxter spoke about how one of the things she enjoys most about teaching
ESL students is their strong desire to learn. Motivation plays a huge role in
learning a second language, and Susan Gass covers that in her text. She states:
“A social-psychological factor frequently used to account for differential
success in learning a second language is motivation. This has an intuitive
appeal. It makes sense that individuals who are motivated will learn another
language faster and to a greater degree” (Gass, 2013). Although there are times
when students struggle with their second language, I have also noticed that
their desire to learn is what keeps them going.
One of the other questions I asked Mrs. Baxter was
about the challenges that her ESL students face. She answered by saying
generally, most students struggle with comprehension. She made it a point to
say that even though their computation skills might be great, when they are
presented word problems in math they tend to struggle. According to Krashen,
comprehensible input is “language which learners process for meaning and which
contains something to be learned…” (Ortega, 2013). After reading about Krashen
and comprehensible input, I would say that it would be necessary for teachers
to speak in the same way that the content is presented to students. For
example, since Mrs. Baxter notices that her students struggle with math word
problems it might benefit the students if she uses the same language that is in
those problems while she is teaching and speaking to the students. In addition
to the visual support she provides, I believe this would yield success for her
ESL students.
References:
Gass,
S. M. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York,
NY: Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition.
Routledge.
Dani, I have noticed from several of our classmates' interviews that a reoccurring theme is motivation and communication! Unsurprising, seeing as Ortega mentions the importance of peer-groups and a solid foundation of community among students for them to achieve success. Additionally, it seems that the written language is the most difficult for second-language learners to grasp. Would you say this is due to humanity's ease with imitation versus comprehension? Specifically, do you think that students can still learn effectively if they simply imitate for long enough versus trying to fully comprehend the rules as early as possible?
ReplyDeleteHi Ila, thank you for your reply.
ReplyDeleteI believe motivation is certainly a huge factor in one’s ability to learn anything, whether you’re learning a second language or something else. As far as written language goes, I think it’s probably more difficult for second language learners to grasp because, yes, imitation plays a large factor in learning also. For our second blog post, there were several interviews where people said that they learned a lot through socialization. Ortega states, “…we also need to account for human intentions, goals, plans, and commitments. These are conative influences that at the broadest level include volition and motivation, and they can make language learners succeed or fail” (Ortega, 2013). I think people, especially children, tend to be more motivated to learn when placed in interactive situations. When people interact with people, they come to imitate behavior, like you mentioned. But I don’t think imitation alone yields an understanding of a language, therefore the learning isn’t completely effective.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
I absolutely love that you mentioned Ortega's point on socialization and second-language acquisition having strong connections to one another (2011). I also like your point on student motivation being tied to interactive sources - such as peer groups or conversational studies. I agree that imitation cannot develop the proper understanding of a language, as imitation fails to derive meaning behind the language as well as fails to grasp the culture of the language itself.
DeleteHi Ila! So, since we both agree that imitation alone isn't enough to instill a true understanding of a second language, what types of methods do you suggest we as teachers should use? Furthermore, since motivation plays such a huge factor and some students don't naturally have the intrinsic motivation Ortega speaks about, how can we help build that? In chapter 8, Ortega mentions that "“In particular, positive attitudes towards the learning context as well as the L2 community and culture (developed through prior positive learning experiences) and current satisfaction with teachers and instruction can boost motivation considerably" (Ortega, 2013). In my video, I mentioned to Mrs. Baxter that there was a time during one of our parent-teacher conferences that a translator sat in so that the student's mother who didn't speak English felt comfortable and could understand/ask questions about what was being said. Although the father did speak English, I can imagine the effort on Mrs. Baxter's part didn't go unnoticed and that the family and student felt comfortable and trusting in that situation.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Mrs. Baxter talked about some of the challenges that she notices her ELLs face, one being comfort and confidence in their English-speaking abilities. Ortega talks about how confidence is linked to motivation, which is an important component in second language learning. He explains that, “foreign language anxiety and communicative self-confidence are considered key in predicting motivation” (2013, p.173). Mrs. Baxter mentioned some of the practices that she uses in her classroom to give students opportunities to strengthen their confidence. She uses a turn and talk method which allows students to not only practice speaking but also listening to others and learning how native speakers converse.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Baxter seems to have a very positive attitude towards her ELLs, and her interview was very informative as I am an aspiring math/science educator. The use of visuals and hands on manipulatives to support math and science instruction is something that I could see benefitting ELLs. Supplementing word problems with counters or pictorial models is a technique that benefits all students, especially students learning a second language.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Morgan, thank you for your reply! Mrs. Baxter’s positive attitude radiates in her classroom and I admire that about her. Mrs. Baxter goes above and beyond for her students, and a big part of that is in her differentiating instruction and just making overall accommodations to her students. Ortega talks about how an English Language Learner’s positive attitude affects their motivation (Ortega, 2013). Furthermore, he states, “…motivational changes, including changes for the better that can be planned and orchestrated in the curriculum, are at the reach of teachers and educators” (Ortega, 2013). I plan on using many of the strategies and aids that Mrs. Baxter uses in her classroom also, and continue to think about what else I can do to help English Language Learners succeed.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Dani, thank you for sharing your reflection! Yes, I completely agree, motivation is a key factor. Much like your comment regarding Susan Gass's statement, Ortega mentions something very similar. Ortega discusses universal influences that help shape the nature, pace, route and finish line in the path towards learning a L2. Essential factors that help explain individual differences within the ELL's consist of language aptitude and motivation (Ortega, 2013, p.9). In addition, I too agree comprehension is vital for our ELL's. Thank you for sharing one of the strategies that Ms. Baxter uses in her classroom. Ortega states that in addition to comprehensible input, acculturated attitudes, attention, negotiated interaction and pushed output are also essential ingredients needed for optimal L2 learning (Ortega, 2013, p.63).
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hi Amanda, thank you for your reply! I’m glad that you agree comprehension is also vital for our ELL’s and I found an interesting piece of information in Rowland’s text. Rowland states, “…successful communication requires that the child learns both to interpret a sentence’s literal meaning and to interpret a speaker’s intended meaning by drawing on her knowledge of the situation, the real world and the mental state of the speaker” (Rowland, 2014). When reading Ortega, for some reason my idea of “comprehension” became limited to comprehension of written words. But when interacting with people, one also has to know how to comprehend actions as well, as Rowland discusses in chapter 6. To me, it’s amazing how many factors are taken into account when learning another language.
DeleteRowland, Caroline. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge.
Danielle, thank you for sharing your interview with Mrs. Baxter. I found Mrs. Baxter’s and your view of the most challenging aspect for ESL students very interesting. When looking at these students and seeing that they struggle with word problems, most people, including myself, would think that they are just unable to read the words in the problem. Therefore, assuming that these students are struggling with vocabulary. I never would have thought about comprehension. As you mentioned, Krashen is referenced by Ortega, stating that comprehensible input is where learners process meaning (Ortega 2011, pg. 59). To me this means that comprehension is when someone reads a word, and finds the meaning of the word in the long-term memory, then being able to understand what they are reading. A teacher could have ELLs in their class that can easily be able to sound out a word, therefore being able to read the problem given. That does not mean that they understand, or comprehend what they are reading, in turn not being able to complete the problem. It is a whole new view on the matter for me, and I appreciate the insight.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.