Chapters 2 &3
Levi - Creative Connector
The first connection I found between the reading (Chapters 2 and 3) and my life has to do with the speed at which children learn second languages. Valdés et al. (2011) states "The expectation underlying the proposition [Proposition 227] was that students would acquire sufficient English to succeed in mainstream classes after one year, based on the assumption that children acquire second languages quickly and with ease." (p. 44). While working at a preschool I interacted with a Turkish student ("M") who was a complete beginner in learning English. Turkish was the language spoken at home and all of his friends spoke Turkish. Throughout the school year we worked extensively with M to develop the language that would prepare him for Kindergarten. At the end of the year M had learned very little "content language". However, because M had friends that spoke Turkish he already had social skills. This was a great advantage to his time at school. M was able to quickly develop language to interact with the other students in order to express his self ("no", "me too", "my turn", "stop", etc.). By the end of the year M was able to use short sentences when interacting with teachers and peers.
The use of books, games, and puzzles as a way to connect with students (Valdés et al. 2011) is my second point of connection. When working with M I often used the same resources. I would work on identifying furniture, vehicles, household objects, animals, colors, and numbers. His favorite book, and the one he responded best to, was a Sesame Street book that had flaps that you would lift up to reveal an object (e.g., there was a picture of an apartment building; you would lift the flap that was a window in the building to find a picture of a shower). This book used a lot of fun colorful pictures to help engage the learner. It also used the flaps to create an added layer of fun. M often took this book home to "read" with his parents.
The last point of connection is not to myself, but to how I view our current level of understanding second language acquisition (SLA). Valdés et al. (2011) provide a transcript of an interaction between one of the volunteers and Selena. In this interaction the volunteer insists that Selena repeat everything the volunteer says in order for Selena to become and English speaker. The repetitions are broken and disjointed, and it is obvious that Selena is not learning English from the volunteer. I believe that our current system of education English language learners (ELLs) is as flawed as this volunteers ideas of how to teach Selena to speak English. Repetition is important, but if you push the student to the point where they are completely lost and have no idea what they are uttering, you are not teaching that student anything.
I do not know much about teaching ELLs or the process of SLA, but from the number of "failed" studies that have been conducted it is obvious that the process is very complex. Many of the schools that have high percentages of ELLs are very low income schools. Why has the government not put more money into providing these schools with the resources they need to best serve their students?
I agree with your thoughts on the complexity of ELL and SLA; more research, thought and founding needs to be allocated. I agree with the idea that repetition without understanding is useless. I like your connection to the reading with student “M” we see in this experience “M” was culturally assimilated by having friends who spoke Turkish. I wonder, however, what about the student to does not have the cultural or linguistic connection with students in the class that makes learning the language more accessible?
ReplyDeleteSome of the funding that goes to schools is determined by the school taxes based on the schools demographics. Unfortunately if you have a not so well off neighborhood (e.g. Rochester, NY), the homeowners in the neighborhood won't be able to pay high school taxes. On the other end if you have a well to do neighborhood (e.g. Pittsford, NY), their homeowners can afford to pay more, making their schools well funded. It's sad that it works out that way. It is up to the ESOL teachers to make an impact on their students, with or without the proper funding.
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