Entry 1: Course Introduction
Selena Rodriguez's Blog
Hello! Welcome to my very first blog. My name is Selena Rodriguez, and I am a junior at the University of Houston. I am currently majoring in Teaching & Learning with an EC-6 certification, in hopes of becoming an elementary school teacher. The grade levels I would like to teach are grades Pre-K through 2nd grade.
As my video plays, you will discover that I have encountered people from all over the world. I am not fluent in any language besides English. I can speak a few words and phrases in Japanese, French, German, and Spanish. I know a few ASL signs as well.
As my video plays, you will discover that I have encountered people from all over the world. I am not fluent in any language besides English. I can speak a few words and phrases in Japanese, French, German, and Spanish. I know a few ASL signs as well.
Although I am Hispanic,
I am not able to read, write, or speak Spanish fluently like many of my family members.
In the textbook “Second Language
Acquisition: An Introductory Course”, by Gass and Selinker, the text mentions
how during “interactions with speakers of another language/culture, we have
certain expectations and we often produce stereotyped reactions” (Gass & Selinker, 2008, p.4). This
is something I deal with daily at my workplace. As many guest at the restaurant
I work at only speak Spanish, and expect me to be able to speak Spanish without
even attempting to ask if I am able to speak Spanish. These guest quickly
become annoyed when all they get from me is English. Both of my parents speak Spanish, but neither
of them had the time to teach me to speak Spanish as well. I can still get by,
but I hope to become a fluent Spanish speaker in the near future.
Growing up it was difficult
for me to feel that I belonged into the Hispanic community, when I did not possess
the ability to read, write or speak Spanish fluently. Often I would be shamed
for not being bilingual. In Ortega’s book for example, Ortega mentions how “children
acquiring their first language complete the feat within a biological window of
four to six years of age” (Ortega, 2013, p. 12). I believed this to
be true from a young age, as I saw many of my younger relatives being fluent in
Spanish compared to me. However, I have met many older adults who have told
that they themselves did not become fluent in other languages until they were
older. I have high hopes to become a fluent Spanish speaker in the future.
I'm really excited
about this course, and I hope this course will help me to become a better
teacher as I interact with my future ESL students.
References:
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2009). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course(3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2008). Understanding second language acquisition(1st ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Hi Selena,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story with us. I think working at the airport is a pretty cool job, you get to interact with many people who speak different languages. I also think that technology has brought us closer to other cultures, for example, you using Google translate with your customers. I know you mentioned that you speak German, is there another language that you would like to learn? If so which one and why? Ortega states that you can speak a language better if you are "actively and consistently using it in daily activities" (p19). Do you speak German on a daily basis? Or how do you practice the language?
References:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Ms. Karla Martinez, it’s nice to meet you. I took a German language class a while back, so my German is not as good as it once was, because I don’t speak to a lot of German people daily. It is my goal to learn Japanese in the near future, because it is my dream to move to Japan one day. Although many people in Japan speak English, I would love to learn to become fluent in Japanese. As Ortega states “we take it for granted that all humans have the potential to accomplish all of these amazing feats in whatever language(s) they happen to grow up with” (Ortega, 2013, p. 4). I could just as easily decide to speak English while living in Japan, but I find it more appropriate to learn Japanese to better communicate and be respectful of my elders. Currently I am learning how to properly greet people in Japanese.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hello Selena Rodriguez! I thoroughly enjoyed watching your video blog, and reading your communications with the other classmates! I have had a love for the German language for a long time now, and I have attempted to learn the language for about two years now! I hope that one day I can actually sit down and hold a whole conversation in it! As Rowland (2014) states, “multilingualism is necessary if they are to communicate effectively” (p. 175). I feel like it is a personal goal to learn a second language so I can communicate effectively with my ELL students.
DeleteRowland, C. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Selena, thank you for sharing your video! I see your goal is to learn Japanese. I took Japanese for three years in high school and loved it, and one of my port-calls in the military was in Osaka, Japan. It was SO fun, and I recommend you go when you can! I still know how to write Hiragana and Kanji (I hope you know what those are). I am in the process of learning Vietnamese, because just like you, I feel left out in my family because I cannot read, write, or speak Vietnamese fluently, but I am trying. Ortega puts it plainly, "speech has a special status when it comes to critical periods because pronunciation is the only part of language which is directly physical and which demands neuromuscular programming" (p.22). The more we practice, the better we get.
DeleteWhat made you want to live in Japan? Is it the culture? The food? The people? These would be the main reasons why I would live in Japan, also...I am a HUGE car fanatic.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Ms. Megan Wright. I love German as well. My loved developed from an early age when in middle school, I came across a wonderful German band called Tokio Hotel. I did not understand the language, but after going online I was able to find out that their songs were sung in English as well. I still love to listen to them when they sing in German. I hope to continue expanding my knowledge of other languages besides English. As Ortega has said, “many of them, indeed, will begin acquiring their L2 after many years of being able users of another language” (Ortega, 2013, p. 31).
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hello Mr. Chris Lees. It is very nice to meet you. I have plans on going to Japan when I have graduated from school. I know what Hiragana and Kanji are, but I have not gotten into the written portion of Japanese yet. Growing up I felt isolated from my Hispanic community due to the fact that I could not speak Spanish. I began to spend my time in isolation reading manga (Japanese comics) and watching anime (Asian cartoons). I loved the artwork and the stories from the Asian artwork I was reading and watching. I even attend as many Asian festivals as I can here is Houston, San Francisco, and New York as I can. My dream is to move to Japan and live there once I retire. As Ortega said, “motivation is usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to sustain it” (Ortega, 2013, p. 168).
References:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hello Selena,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching your video. I find it very interesting how you learned math through something you loved to do which was baking. I also find it even more interesting how you were able to learn how to speak, read and write German, it’s a language I wish to one day speak and understand. I really like your goal of becoming more multilingual in the future and that unlike many people don’t see your age being an issue because like Ortega said, “Some adult starters can achieve native-like levels in their L2, or at least extremely high levels that are near-native” (Ortega, 2013, p. 29).
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge
Hello Ms. Yesenia Alberto. Thank you for noticing my love for baking. I find that mixing school subjects with things that interest children help them to become more focused in school and motivated to learn. I am not as fluent as I once was in German, but I still love the language, culture, history, and food from Germany. Based on my own experiences of learning different languages at an older age, I believe that adults have just as much of a chance to learn new languages as children do. Just as Ortega said, there is more of an “advantage for adults over children” (Ortega, 2013, p. 16) to learn a new language.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hello Selena, I think it is great that you work at the airport and get experience communicating with people from other countries. I find it really cool that you know German. If I may ask what made you decide to learn German? I found it interesting that Ortega states that age-related differences exist in how a skill or ability is learned (Ortega, 2013, 24). Don’t give up hope if you do decide to learn Spanish. I am sure you will be great at it if you keep at it, it will take a lot of practice but nothing is impossible.
ReplyDeleteHello Engracia Martinez. My love for German developed from an early age when in middle school, I came across a wonderful German band called Tokio Hotel. I did not understand the language, but after going online I was able to find out that their songs were sung in English as well. As I have stated in my video, I am not a fluent Spanish speaker. My mother did not wish to teach my siblings and I the Spanish language. I find it irritating and sad that I cannot communicate with my own family because of this. However, I find that I receive continuous support from my family to continue in my efforts to learn Spanish. As Ortega says, “support from significant others (including parents, siblings, peers and teachers), since believing that they want one to learn the language creates rewards and reinforcements that may be important in boosting motivation”(Ortega, 2013, p. 172).I hope to one day become fluent in Spanish to better help my ESL students in the future.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
Hello Selena! It’s interesting to know these facts about you. I also like how you meet so many people at your job. I also loved the fact you spoke on those you met that speak in American Sign Language. It is quite norm to grow up learning and mainly speaking English even though those around you speak other languages like Spanish. I can also understand how people would assume you would know Spanish. Spanish was very difficult for me in school, but I would love to learn it. You can too. Ortega stated, adults can use cognitive and metacognitive abilities and strategies to learn many aspects of another language faster (Ortega 2013). You still have time!
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Routledge