Entry 3: 2nd Grade ESL Teacher: Spanish/English Language Arts
Hi everyone, welcome back to my blog!
One of my main goals as a future teacher is to be a
certified ESL teacher. My goal is to teach English as a second language to
students across the globe. Mrs. Rodriguez has been an ESL teacher for many
years and has experience of dealing with young ESL students. From what she
has told me, ESLs have a better time listening and speaking than reading and writing.
However, their motivation drives these students to improve their reading and
writing skills in English. ESL students are self-motivated to learning English
to improve their second language skills. ESL students further their English
language skills by doing simple things. ESLs improve their skills by speaking
to their friends. Communicating to their friends in English gives ESLs opportunities
to improve their English language skills. Speaking to their families in English
motivates ESLs even more, because not only are they improving their own English
skills but they are also hoping to improve their families English language
skills as well. Whenever people are trying to improve themselves, whether it is
to lose weight or start healthy habits, social supports are what motivate
people to change and improve themselves. Just as I have seen in ESL elementary
classes and school events, friends and family motivate students to improve
their English language skills. Ortega mentions how social support from significant
others (including parents, siblings, peers and teachers) boosts motivation in
learning a new language (Ortega, pg. 172). Social support is the strongest
support in motivation for learning a new language.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language
acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Selena! Thank you for sharing your video with us. I really like how you said that your goal is to teach English as a second language to students across the globe. Mrs. Rodriguez provided some great answers for the questions you asked her! I can definitely agree with some of the point she made. I am currently in a writing classroom and I have seen ELL students struggle when it comes to getting their thoughts on paper. We are constantly telling them that writing is just like talking, which makes them feel better. ELL definitely improve their skills by talking to their friends. The group of ELL students that I have are very talkative but at the same time I feel like it’s good for them to communicate with one another. Ortega discusses how when people deliberately apply themselves to learning a new language, they learn that language faster and better than people who passively learn the language (p. 95) My bilingual class is learning the language together which can be a motivation for them.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Carina Alcantara, it’s nice to meet you. It is my dream to travel the world teaching English to students across the globe. I would especially like to teach English in Japan. I also have noticed in the classes I volunteer in, that many young ESL students struggle to put their thoughts on paper when it comes to writing English. Still, my students do their best with the help of their family and friends to learn and develop their second language. Ortega mentions how language is “involved in all others, including consciousness, sociality and culture” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 1). The more students work with their loved ones and friends, then the better their mastery of the second language will become.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Selena! Your video was very interesting to watch! In the video, Mrs. Rodriguez said that writing and comprehension are things that students struggle with. I can agree with that, especially with comprehension. Writing and comprehending are similar in the case that both requires not only knowledge but also understanding of the language. Because of this, it may be more of a struggle. According to Ortega, "During comprehension (e.g. when children read textbooks and listen to teacher explanations in school), it is possible to get the gist of messages by relying on key content words aided by knowledge of the world, contextual clues, and guessing" (page 62). I think that encouraging students to use context clues and schema is a great way to help ELLs comprehend the material. By teaching the strategies that use these things, it may help them improve!
ReplyDeleteReference:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge
Hello Sophia, it’s nice to meet you. I also agree that writing and comprehension is something most ESLs struggle with the most. Whenever I am observing ESL students, I notice that most are really poor at spelling. The teacher will go over vocabulary a lot with students. What I notice helps students the most, is when students work together and take risks. Ortega mentions how “by encouraging risk-full attempts by the learner to handle complex content beyond current competence, such conditions of language use may drive learning (Ortega, 2013, pg. 63). As future teachers, we must drive our students to take risks outside of their comfort zone and improve their language learning.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Selena, I truly enjoyed watching your video! I love that you mentioned your students going home and speaking English to their families. I think it is so important for ELL’s to practice a new language in and out of school. It develops a better vocabulary system and self-motivation. Ortega defines it as learning a second language "Through informal opportunities in multicultural neighborhoods, schools and workplaces, without ever receiving any organized instruction on the workings of the language they are learning" (Ortega, 2013, pg. 6). This not only helps the students but the families at home when speaking a new language and communicating in general.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Ms. Shelly Garza, it’s nice to meet you. I also agree that it is very important for families to be involved in their children’s education. Students tend to do better in school when a parent is involved. If a parent takes the opportunity to teach their child a second language at home, then the child will improve greatly in school. Even if the parent doesn’t understand the second language, then the child will have an opportunity to teach their family the second language and improve their understanding of the language. Ortega mentions how “the details of people’s L2 learning histories can vary greatly, depending on where their studies, their families, their jobs and careers, and wider economic and political world events, take them (Ortega, 2013, pg. 18). Depending on how much and how well a parent influences their children’s second language, their child’s second language may improve.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Selena! Thanks so much for sharing your interview with us. I like how you ladies emphasized on how social support plays a huge role in helping these children learn English. No matter what you are doing in life, any kid of support helps! I know in my classroom I have a student who is an ELL and he usually adapts to his friends that are Hispanic like him just because he is more confident in speaking English with him than with other friends. As much as I would like for that student to branch out socially, I like the fact that he has someone whom he is comfortable to talk to in English. "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." (Pg. 172) With that being said, I know my student sees me as that teacher in the classroom to go to more than my mentor and so I am happy to be a part of his growth and support. I find it very rewarding when my students are so comfortable to ask me anything or come to me over other people. It shows me the kind of impact I am making on their lives.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Ms. Kirstie Eadeh, it’s nice to meet you. Yes, both the teacher who I interviewed and I agree that social supports are crucial for students to grow their language skills. Students tend to do better at improving their language skills when they have someone to help improve their skills with. Such as when students play and work together, the more interaction they have with one another, then the faster their language skills will improve. Ortega mentions how ESL students can acquire second language in both naturalistic and instructed contexts. Through informal opportunities in multicultural neighborhoods, schools and workplaces, or through formal study in school or university, through private lessons and so on (Ortega, 2013, pg. 6). Learning a second language can be acquired formally or informally with the help of social supports.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Selena, I really enjoyed watching your video. I also liked hearing how passionate your are about ELLs students and about how much you wait to help them. I have no doubt you are going to be amazing ESL teacher. I glad your students practice speaking English at home with their families, that is a great help for them to learn English faster. When ELL student get that support from home and anywhere outside of school they are able to learn their knew language easier. Like Ortega mention in his book, "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).
ReplyDelete