VBlog Entry 4
Hello everyone! I have learned so much in this Second Language Acquisition course this semester. This class informed me of what SLA is as well as the different factors and their impact. One of the biggest things I have come to realize is the influence of age. This is probably the topic I found the most interesting, as well as motivation. Ortega states, “in terms of L2 ultimate attainment, most learners who begin acquiring the L2 before a certain age, typically before puberty, will develop levels of morphosyntactic and phonological competence that are very close to those of native speakers of that language. Post-pubertal learners, however, are not likely to perform in the native speaker range, and this holds true regardless of the number of years they have resided in the L2 environment” (2011, page 28). Just from my experiences with my friends and family I believed this statement to be true but after I interviewed an English Language Learner for the second VBlog it really validated this information for me and allowed me to make a connection to the text. Motivation as I mentioned was also an interest to me. According to Ortega, “motivation is usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to sustain it, and in lay terms we all understand it to be a matter of quantity, as in the everyday observation that some learners are highly motivated and others have little or no motivation” (2011, page 168). Motivation is something that helps to explain L2 learning so I find it very important that teachers try their best to help their students find their motivation and remind them of the importance of it.
This class has reminded me of all the factors that will impact my students’ second language acquisition. I see the importance of knowing your students well enough to help stop the negative impacts that some of these factors can have on their learning. Creating this vblog and interacting with my classmates has really helped me make connections to the texts by seeing their different interviews and hearing their opinions on the different topics. The vblog contributed to my learning of the content of this class because of the discussions being so informational. I really have felt a sense of community throughout this course and have been able to find things very relatable since we are all future educators. I never realized the importance of SLA but this course and the coursework has definitely prepared me for my future classroom. The amount of research done over the years in regards to second language acquisition fascinates me because of how significant I find the topic for future teachers like myself. I cannot wait to have English Language Learners in my classroom because of the preparedness this class has provided. I feel confident to teach every single student that comes into my classroom because of the knowledge I was able to obtain throughout this semester. Thank you so much for reading!
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Hello Marissa! I learned so much in this course that I had no idea went along with teaching ELLs. I truly believe that it is important for teachers to know all of these factors we learned about and know them all about each of our students. I also can say and agree that age was one of the most important factors that I learned about. According to Ortega, "understanding the relationship between age and L2 acquisition has been a central goal since the inception of the field of SLA" (2011, pg. 12). I feel like this is an important goal to understand but it also could be different for each student even if they are all within in the same age.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Hi Harlie! You make a great point since "two issues are hotly debated. One pertains to the possibility that a biological schedule may operate, after which the processes and outcomes of L2 acquisition are fundamentally and irreversibly changed. The other issue relates to the possibility that there may be a ceiling to L2 learning, in a sense that it may be impossible to develop levels of L2 competence that are isomorphic to the competence all humans possess in their own mother tongue" (Ortega, 2011, page 12). As you mentioned it is important for us to understand this and remind ourselves that the findings can still be hard to interpret but all students are different even when it comes to age.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Hi Marissa, I loved reading and learning from your experience in this course! I also found age and its impact on second language acquisition to be particularly interesting (Ortega, 2013, p. 14). Going into that chapter, I assumed I already knew pretty much everything, but Ortega proved me wrong. There is so much more to the topic than I had realized such as the type of language environment the learner is in and how long they have been in that environment.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I share some of the same beliefs about this course and the assignments in terms of the Vblogs. While at times I struggled to understand certain concepts, I was able to received clarifications by reading my classmates responses and conversations. I particularly enjoyed watching my peers' interviews with other teachers because I was able to learn so much from them.
Hi Morgan! I also struggled sometimes with certain topics but the interactions with you all really helped me gain a greater understanding of the material we were learning, which is important since we are future teachers. We pretty have read about "how humans learn languages after they learn their first" (Ortega, 2011, page 1). This knowledge we have gained will truly help us in our future classrooms and with our ELLs so they can be successful throughout their schooling as well as their future jobs and careers.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Marissa, this class has definitely taught me a lot of new and useful information that I will be able to apply to my classroom in many ways. Overall, Ortega has shared with us an overview of the field of second language acquisition which is very complex and incorporates many other established sciences (Ortega, 2013, p. 2). Not only have I learned a lot about this subject, I have also strengthened my academic skills as a student.
DeleteI agree Morgan! This class has been very informational for our future as educators. Ortega states, "language is one of the most uniquely human capacities that our species possesses, and one that is involved in all others, including consciousness, sociality and culture. We employ the symbolic system of language to make meaning and communicate with other fellow humans" (2011, page 1). This is something I will keep with me throughout my teaching career because I'm sure it will not always be easy teaching ELLs but it definitely important to remind myself how fascinating language truly is.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Marissa, you are so right! Like Ortega states, language is so fascinating to learn about (Ortega, 2013, p. 1). I agree that it will not always be easy and we will run into obstacles as educators when we are teaching second language learners. Therefore, the most important thing we can do is to stay positive and have patience with our students. Also, we can continue to test new teaching strategies or methodologies until we find success.
DeleteHi Marissa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your reflection with us. It was enjoyable to read your thoughts and ideas. I believe the teachers’ motivation always play a key in the students’ learning success. Without the teachers’ help, support, and motivation, the ESL students will not be able to overcome their struggles on their own, especially when they first move to a new environment with complete different culture and language. It is important for teachers to understand the ESL students’ difficulties in order to provide effective and appropriate teaching methods and strategies, assistance and support that best benefit their needs. By having the assistance and motivation from the teachers, the ESL students will be able to overcome their difficulties in learning, they will become more comfortable and enjoyable in learning the new language and content-area, and they will have a positive attitude in learning and achieve better academic performance. This is similar to what Ortega said, “The association between motivation and behavior changes as well as L2 learning success has always been viewed as reciprocal, not causal: being motivated nurtures more successful L2 learning, but, conversely, experiencing L2 learning success also boosts motivation to even higher levels, in a reinforcing cycle (2013, p. 188-189).”
References:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hi Trinh! I agree especially since I was always more motivated when my teachers provided support in the classroom. Ortega states, "motivation is usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to sustain it" (2011, page 189). While this has to do with the student, the help and support educators as well as parents provide to their students plays a significant role in their motivation to learn.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Hi Marrisa,
DeleteThank you for your reply. I experienced as an ESL student myself when I first moved to the USA during high school, I understand the importance of how my teachers’ motivation had the impact on my learning success. With their assistance, support and motivation, I was able to overcome my language barrier and become more motivated to learn and perform my academic achievement better. This is true as Ortega said, “this quality of motivation (intrinsic) is considered optimal because it has been experimentally shown to be consistently associated to higher levels of achievement” (2013, p.176).”
References:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hey Marissa! I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I also found motivation to be interesting, I think that motivation is very important for second language learners. According to Ortega, one reason that second language learners could be motivated is friendship “fostering general friendship with members of the target language” (Ortega 2015, pg. 173). This is a factor for children, which is ideal because interactions with native speakers are important for nonnative speakers to learn the second language. I think as a teacher it will be part of my job to make sure that all of my students feel comfortable interacting with each other.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Ortega, L. (2015). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Samantha! You make a great point. I definitely plan on encouraging my students to interact with each other for their benefit, ELL or not. Encouragement requires that the students feel comfortable in the classroom environment so it is important that we make sure our classrooms are a welcoming place. Ortega mentions three central antecedents of motivation including "integrativeness, orientations (that is, reasons for learning the L2) and attitudes (both towards the L2 community and its speakers and curriculum in the instructional setting)" (2011, page 173). We should strive for our students to have positive attitudes regarding school so these interactions can occur.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Samantha, I could not help. but reply to your comment. I love your point about friendship! It is one that I had not given careful consideration when thinking about motivation for language learning. I agree with Ortega (2013) that friendship is an important aspect of motivation. Not only will building friendships help students with their language learning, it also has many social benefits as well. I will be sure to keep this in mind as a teacher.
DeleteHi Marissa! I completely agree with you, I have gained so much knowledge from this course! You are right, throughout this course I learned about several factors that go into Second Language Acquisition, and age is definitely a big one. "There is evidence that the age at which a child is first exposed to a language affects how the brain processes that language." (Rowland, 2014, p.16) Knowing your students is also very vital, because as you pointed out it can help prevent negative factors that go into the learning process.
ReplyDelete