Entry 2: Interview with a Second Language Learner
For this interview I interviewed Joe Hernandez who grew up speaking Spanish and attended HISD public school. In the interview Joe discussed the impact Television and English speaking shows had on his journey to acquire English as a language. Wright includes Krashen’s input (comprehension) hypothesis which identifies acquiring a language when one is able to understand what we hear or read (Wright, 2015). This connected to Joe’s experiences as he heard and read character interactions on the TV, because the more he listened and watched the more he understood. Wright adds to Krashen’s hypothesis by including Swain’s comprehensible output hypothesis, that focuses on the person’s response and their ability to get there message across (Wright, 2015). Although Joe was able to understand English, he mentioned how he struggled speaking English because the sounds of letters in Spanish and English are so different. Swain concluded that Comprehension input was not enough to acquire a language as it was missing comprehensible output (Wright, 2015). Although Joe was able to understand English, he wasn’t confident in his speaking since he did not have a two-way interaction with the English language. He heard English but was not required to speak it often until the 5th grade. WIDA mentions in their guiding principles of language development, the influence of home, school, and community on language development (WIDA, 2012). Joe’s home environment had a big influence on his language development as his parents only spoke Spanish, but he had older siblings who spoke English as well as watched TV. Through his experiences he was able to not feel overwhelmed transitioning from being taught in Spanish to being emerged completely into English. Through this interview I was able to connect experiences Joe went through to the research that was presented by Wright and WIDA.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching english language learners: Research, theory,
policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson Inc.
WIDA. (2012). The cornerstone of the WIDA standards: guiding principles of language development. WIDA Boar of Regents of The University of Wisconsin System. Www.wida.us
Hello Alondra! Great interview. I found it interesting how Jose mentions that he could not hear any similarities between Spanish and English since research states that there are commonalities among most languages. In addition, the fact that Jose was not required to use English as a whole until he was in fifth grade I found to be a bit disappointing since his school should have taken measures to help him and other students like him develop his second language to the level of “academic language proficiency” as mentioned by Wright (2015, p.40). This way, Jose would have been taken measures to practice English not only through televised entertainment and his siblings but also at school where his teachers could have emphasized not only on his written skills but also his communication skills.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, theory,
policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson Inc.
Hi Nancy!
DeleteThe fact that Joe wasn’t tested or taught completely in English until the 5th grade, he most likely experienced challenges. Wright discusses silent period and wait time which ELLs may go through when they begin to learn a new language (Wright, 2015). Joe mentioned that he struggled speaking, so he could have had a silent period where he spoke very little because he wasn’t confident in his words. I hope teachers are aware of Silent period and wait time for ELLs students, because students might need extra time and understanding. ELLs might be quieter but that doesn’t always mean they are not learning.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching english language learners: Research, theory,
policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson Inc.
Hi Alondra! Great Interview! I found it interesting that you pointed out that due to Joe’s use of television to help him acquire the English language, that he would fall under Krashen’s input (comprehension) hypothesis. I have to say that I agree with this, wright also mentions that “Krashen argues that we acquire language and develop literacy by understanding messages, not by consciously learning about language and not by memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary (Wright, 2010,p.52).” Joe mentions that having heard English on the TV is what helped him learn English the most, which I find incredibly interesting. What I found to be concerning was that he had no sort of ESL program until the 5th grade. As Joe mentions, I feel as though a program like the duel language program where they “aim to develop bilingualism and biliteracy, academic achievement in two languages and cross cultural understanding (Wright, 2010, p.101)” would have been beneficial to his learning of English.
ReplyDeleteHey Alexis! I agree that it seems as though the comprehensible input hypothesis had a rather large impact on Joe’s language learning. The idea behind this hypothesis is that, “people acquire second languages only if they obtain comprehensible input and if their affective filters are low enough to allow the input in.” (Wright, 2015, page 52) By listening to the interactions between characters and using the context of their messages Joe was able to make sense of what was being said.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hey Alexis!
DeleteJoe could not recall taking ESL classes before 5th grade because they did not have an impact on him at all. Even though he had ESL classes, he didn’t feel like he learned anything from ESL classes. Wright talks about Language Proficiency Testing and how students are tested to be placed in appropriate ELL programs (Wright, 2015). Testing students to assess their language proficiency, I feel is needed to help students like Joe. He did not receive very good instruction in acquiring a second language and future teachers and schools knowing this, can better help ELLs.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching english language learners: Research, theory,
policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson Inc.