Entry 2: Interview with An ELL
This is defiantly an experience
that I have never had until now. The person I have chosen to interview is Mrs.
Eva Rodriguez, who is a second grade bilingual teacher, and has worked in HISD for
15 years. I first met Mrs. Rodriguez in the year 2017, when I volunteered at
the school she worked at. As I got to know Mrs. Rodriguez, she told me of how
she and her family were not originally from the US, but were in fact from Guanajuato,
Mexico. She lived in Mexico as a child, and suddenly moved to the US with her
family when she was five. As Ortega states, “children acquiring their first
language complete the feat within a biological window of four to six years of
age” (Ortega, 2013, p.12). During this time, Mrs. Rodriguez’s native language
is Spanish. She and her family struggled at first, but eventually they adjusted
to living in the US after a few years.
Growing up Mrs. Rodriguez saw how
her teachers tried their best to include ELL students. Her teachers were
sensitive to her culture and would include culturally sensitive materials such
as books by Hispanic writers to help her feel included and encouraged. Mrs. Rodriguez
has told me many times before this interview took place, that if a student does
not feel like they are included in the classroom then they will not learn
and grow.
As a teacher and bilingual person
herself, I have seen Mrs. Rodriguez work hard to help her students learn and grow.
During her instruction, she speaks to the students in their native language, but
she also encourages them to improve their English by getting them to orally
respond to her in English. When she puts pictures and vocabulary up, she puts English
and Spanish words up as well. Mrs. Rodriguez also uses information that is culturally
appropriate, such as English-to Spanish dictionaries, to help her students better
understand English. Mrs. Rodriguez does her best to help her students through
their struggles, because she herself went through similar struggles. She is an amazing teacher, and I can only hope
that one day I can be just as great as a bilingual teacher as she is.
Please watch the video and hear
Mrs. Rodriguez answer questions I ask her.
Reference
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language
acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello Selena, I enjoyed watching your interview video. My family and I can relate in many aspects to Mrs. Rodriguez. We are also from Guanajuato, Mexico and moved to US. My sister was four years old, my brother was seven and I was twelve. I interviewed my brother and found many similarities to Mrs. Rodriguez. He also believes that knowing Spanish help him to learn English because he as well would translate English words he did not know to Spanish and vise-verse. "Thus, previous language knowledge is an important source of influence on L2 acquisition, and this holds universally true of all L2 learners" (Ortega, 2013, p. 31). I also believe that previous languages contribute a lot to the second language and might make the transition a little bit smoother. I think that is great that she speaks to her students in their native language but at the same time encourage students to practice their English. Great Interview!
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hi Karla! What a small world! I cannot believe that you and your family come from Guanajuato, Mexico as well. Mrs. Rodriguez and her family had a challenging time transitioning into the US. Still, she and her family were able to make it, by all of them working together. Mrs. Rodriguez believes that involving her students’ family and culture into her lesson will inspire her students to build their L2 skills. Mrs. Rodriguez makes her lessons fun and relatable, which motivate her bilingual students to build their L2 skills. As Ortega states that “reasons that cause people to want to learn an L2, attitudes towards the L2 and its speakers will contribute to increased or diminished L2” (Ortega, 2013, p. 174). Mrs. Rodriguez is a great bilingual teacher, who inspires her students to build their L2 skills as well.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hi Karla, I enjoyed reading your comment. I like the quote you used from page 31 of Ortega, about how knowledge of previous languages can influence the acquisition of a new language. This reminded me of what Ortega said in chapter 3, “knowledge of two (or more) languages can accelerate the learning of an additional one” (Ortega, 2013, p.48). I think this relates because you and your siblings’ knowledge of Spanish probably helped you guys learn English faster than others because of the similarities between Spanish and English.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hi Selena, thanks for sharing your video. Ortega also talks about cognates in chapter 3 of Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Cognates are defined as “words that have a common origin and therefore have similar form and meaning in the two related languages (e.g. redundant in English and redundante in Spanish)” (Ortega, 2013, p.48). As Mrs. Rodriguez talked about in her interview, identifying cognates helps students learn their new language as well as the content of the lesson. When she was a student, she used cognates to help her understand the content of the lesson.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, Lourdes. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge
Hi Lauren, nice to meet you. When Mrs. Rodriguez first starting learning English after moving to Houston, Texas, she had a difficult time grasping the language. However, with the help of words such as cognates, she was able to better translate these words because of their common origin. As you have said, it is much easier for ELLs to understand their second language, when there are cognates that help ELLs due to their common origin. As Ortega states, “accumulating from a number of diverse perspectives strongly supports the conclusion that not only the L1, but all previously learned languages, can influence additional language learning.” (Ortega, 2013, p.48). By ELLs using their native language to relate to their foreign language, they will be better able to build their L2 language skills.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge
Hi Selena, thank you for replying to my comment! It’s understandable that Mrs. Rodriguez had difficulty when she first moved to Houston and began learning English. It may take some time to become comfortable in your new environment, especially after moving to a new country. In chapter 3 of Understanding Second Language Acquisition, Ortega also talks about how the “knowledge of two (or more) languages can accelerate the learning of an additional one” (Ortega, 2013, p.48). So the fact that Mrs. Rodriguez already knew Spanish helped her in learning English as her second language, such as using cognates to help her understand content in the classroom.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.