Vlog 3- ELL Teacher Interview

                                         


                                          Link if necessary: https://youtu.be/GG6ZYq76Ipw


In this interview of Ms. Sarah, a Kindergarten teacher in HISD, provides insight to some of the strategies used in her classroom which contains a handful of ELL students which happen to all be from Spanish speaking households. Her classroom most closely resembles an In-Class English as a Second Language Instruction classroom.
     Ms. Sarah, a certified ELL teacher, is able to directly help ELL students by providing tailored content objectives of the students' sheltered content areas of instruction to appropriate levels which is a strategy found in classrooms such as these. The methods used by Ms. Sarah are slightly different than many classrooms however as she mentioned in the interview. The students that come to her classroom are still learning how to speak which allows her the opportunity to teach English at a time where language development is still at its peak. That said, it is also true that "Children who are exposed to two languages in childhood can achieve native-like competence in both languages (Rowland,2014). This helps students because by being exposed at such an early age, the foundation they build can be used in both languages. For example, all students, ELL's included, are learning the very basic phonology which is the study of the sound systems of languages.
     While the classroom may not be the most ideal bilingual program such as Dual-Language or Heritage Language programs, some of the most ideal classroom environments to allow for students to learn a second language, the fact that she is able to work with students at such a critical time allows them to grow up with a vital English language. 
Rowland, C. (2014). Understanding Child Language Acquisition. Routledge






Comments

  1. Chronicles of a Millennial EducatorApril 9, 2019 at 9:58 AM

    Hey Moriah and thank you to you and Mrs. Green for your blog post. When listening to your post a question that I had was about monolingual and bilingual? When she said bilinguals absorb language better than monolinguals, were the monolinguals she was referencing L1 Spanish or English? Another thing that I appreciated that she brought up was utilizing incidental instruction. Ortega (2013) defines this as learning without intention while doing something. My question is, how can a teacher do this in a mixed classroom? My final point is that I agreed with her point that children have a better capacity to learn language. I have found that this is easier based on my experience.

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  2. Minh NguyenApril 13, 2019 at 10:36 AM

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  3. Minh NguyenApril 13, 2019 at 10:37 AM

    Hello, Lee Anthony!

    Your interview with Ms. Sarah was very informative! I also believe that students who learned English at a very young age will pick up on the language faster than students who learned in at later ages. This is also supported by researches that found: “Children who start learning a second language later in childhood may find it difficult to acquire the sound patterns of their new language.” (Rowland, 2014, p. 191). I learned English when I was 9 and I remember having a hard with pronunciation. Even as an adult who is able to speak English fluently, there are still few words that I still can’t pronounce correctly. I still have a slight accent when speaking as well. My dad, who learned English during his mid-20s, has a thicker accent than mine. I also have friends who learned English at a much younger age than I did. Their pronunciation is a lot more fluent and you wouldn’t think that English was their second language. Therefore, I believe age plays a big role accelerating English learning.

    Rowland, C. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.

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    Replies
    1. Lee AnthonyApril 21, 2019 at 2:33 PM

      Hello Mia,
      When children begin to learn a new language, especially at an older age, they do end up facing many challenges in regards to proficiency at first, though this is not necessarily the end all, be all. That said, according to Ortega, learning a second language at an older age makes for better speakers initially, but it not as fluent long term in comparison to someone who learns a second language at a younger age (Ortega, 2013, pg. 16). My thought is that older speakers are better able to understand the mechanics and grammar of a new language is easier for them to compare to their native language, but it takes significantly more effort to "program" the rules and vocabulary of the first language out. It is an interesting concept to consider.

      Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, New York. Routledge.

      Delete
  4. Kimberly OchoaApril 13, 2019 at 8:29 PM

    Ms. Sarah has experience teaching children a new language at such a young age. In her case, she is basically teaching students who have a fairly empty plate when it comes to the English language. Rowland (2014) has mentions how infant bilingual students are capable to recognizing rhythmic patterns within a new language (Rowland, 2014, p.188). In Ms. Sarah’s case, he students are still going through the process of picking up the basic patterns of the English language. It will not be difficult for them to pick up, but the teacher needs to provide the proper assistance to make that possible.

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    Replies
    1. Lee AnthonyApril 21, 2019 at 8:07 PM

      Hello Kim,
      This was one thing that she highlighted. She noticed the fact that being able to teach English as a first language greatly benefited their proficiency in the language. This is further evidenced by "the time of study may be central to the task of gauging age effects." (Ortega, 2013, pg. 26). Working with children at a young age can greatly benefit their proficiency, but this is also an opportunity for them to learn to be fluent in both almost as if both languages were native.

      Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, New York. Routledge.

      Delete
  5. Caroline LopezApril 14, 2019 at 7:19 PM

    Hi Lee, I enjoyed watching your interview with Ms. Sarah. It was nice to hear from a kindergarten teacher. I find it interesting because with an ELL kinder teacher, it is as though the students are learning two languages at once. This is instead of already knowing one and then learning a second one. As Rowland (2014) states, “Children who start learning a second language later in childhood may find it difficult to acquire the sound patterns of their new language.”. (p. 191) With Ms. Sarah’s students being so young, their minds are still very sponge like. This is good because the children can take in a lot more, much more and easier than they would at an older age.

    Rowland, C. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lee AnthonyApril 21, 2019 at 8:15 PM

      Hello Caroline,
      It may also have something to do with the fact that much of what the students are learning at this age can translate into long-term memory which is memory that will be utilized for long periods of time, but it may also have to do with the strength of the fluency of the language. Strength in this case is "the relative ability to use a given known word productively or to recognize it passively." (Ortega, 2013, pg. 88). Ensuring that these are developed at a young age can create some very proficient L2 Speakers in the classroom.

      Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, New York. Routledge.

      Delete

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