Second Language Acquisition

Blog Entry 1 Oct 5^th  First Student

My student is young and full of life in this meeting.  She seems excited to play games and learn all that she can.  She is 8 years old and a native of Mexico.  This is her second year here in the United States, and she seems to be absorbing the language well. Her parents speak Spanish in the home only.  This helps her to keep and grow her native language skills while learning a new language in school.  I have noticed that when she gets excited trying to explain something she will start speaking in English, but will quickly go back to Spanish.  Sometimes she catches herself and then laughs because she knows that I do not speak Spanish.  This meeting was very basic and she demonstrated a couple of songs she has learned in class.  She seems to like to sing a lot and is very excitable.  Maybe it is just me as I am getting a little older and my personal children are older, but I feel that she may have a touch of ADD.  After learning about students and their quietness, she does not fit that norm of an ESL student.  I am told she is a fast learner and real excited about learning anything.  Games with pictures help her with associations to words.

Blog Entry 2 Oct 12^th  First Student

This is our second meeting and I have noticed a totally different child.  She seems very quiet and withdrawn.  She does not want to talk or play any games.  As I investigate I find out that she is scared as she is moving to northern Arkansas.  Being upset she cannot express herself in English very well.  Friday will be her last day in class, and then she is going to be placed in a different school. 

Unfortunately, this is common with a low income family that does not speak the language.  Jobs can be hard to come by, and if the parents are here illegally then moving around would be even more frequent.  The students are then transferred to a new school and each schools program’s can be different.  Plus, each classroom can be in a different area of their learning. Just a basic transfer for an English student can create setbacks, so the student that does not speak the language fluently will have even more difficulties.  Luckily, this student is moving to NW Arkansas so accents of English slang will be similar to what she has been exposed to here in Little Rock.  Then, some schools have better ESL programs then others.  This creates setbacks for the student to try and follow certain rules as well as making new friends.  Friends either in an English student or an ESL student can make a difference in the student’s learning ability.

Blog Entry 3 10/12/11  1^st Meeting

I noticed right off the bat as I met my ESL student that as he spoke, the grammar was good but he would get quieter as he kept speaking.  The uncertainty of the words became apparent.  This is a college student who received a scholarship to play sports for the college.  He is from Columbia and   it has been only a year since he came to America.  He has many obstacles to overcome.  Not only does he have a language barrier, he also has to keep pace with being a college student along with all of the distractions.  Luckily, being in the athletic department, they help to keep him on tract with his studies.  The meeting was a real eye opener to the different obstacles there are for a student who does not  speak the language at all, and then they are handed paperwork in a foreign language to them and not only are they expected to read the paperwork, but also to write answers in English as well.  Motivation and drive is something that has to be there for success. 

Since my student is an older student and was never exposed to English until he was being recruited for college his language set is already established in Spanish.  The section of the brain specifically for language set is not there anymore. The brain must create an area for learning a second language which can make it more difficult to learn the second language then someone prior to the age of puberty.  This does not mean that he cannot learn a new language; it just means that it is a little harder for him now that he is older.  I do feel that he is going to be able to overcome this obstacle since he is totally immersed in the English language and culture.  Being totally immersed in the language helps him as he is constantly exposed to English.

Blog Entry 4 Second Meeting :10/18/11

This is a tutor session for me to help the ESL college student.  As the student works with a worksheet, I noticed that he had an extra obstacle to overcome.  This worksheet and reading assignment dealt with computers.  English is a language that is hard enough to learn and yet he also has to learn about computers.  This is a language in itself. Plus, back in his home country he did not have a lot of exposure to computers.  Many adults that live here in the USA have a hard time learning computer lingo.  He is motivated to learn the language and the shorthand that comes with texting people on a cell phone.  It seems that his coaches and a couple of his better  friends try to be patient with him and when they type a text message they will put the abbreviations along with the words to show him what they are trying to say.  Having a support group such as this will help him learn the lingo much quicker than if he was to try and just figure it out by himself. 

As we worked through the assignment sheet utilizing pictures to help explain ideas made things a little easier.  We finally came to a word in the computer lingo that was a little harder to explain and there is no picture to explain what “spam” is.  This word became a slight challenge. After some time and relating the word to other words he finally understood that spam was a trash type email. 

Blog Entry 5 3^rd Meeting Oct 25th

My students sample writing is as follows:

“Why ere we going to te house? My frend is lier. Thy tells storys. Do not say right things. Not goud friend.  Always you makin things up. Crazy.”

Looking at Jon’s writing sample there are many syntax errors that occur.  The first error is when Jon writes ere instead of are.  When Jon pronounces “are” he is not completely sure of the sounds each vowel makes and uses the “e” sound instead of an “a” due to the similar phonological sounds both letters can make. Jon makes this error quite a bit while working on his homework.  As I worked with Jon during the last couple of weeks he has begun to catch this error, but only after it is written down.  Even after changing the spelling of the word, Jon still pronounces are with the e sound. Phonologically, he has difficulty with a very common word that is used in many instances of speech and writing. 

Jon has no family here in the United States, and it seems most of his parental advice comes from his coaches.  Family is very important to Jon, and he feels that his friends do not understand this.  “They talk of things they do not know about.” Jon states.  Jon is referring to family being close and being able to talk to them whenever they want to. He is struggling with these factors that the people do not understand what he is going through.  I believe he has some serious frustrations that he knows he cannot act upon, but also feels he has no outlet as he has no family here.  His family at home is his balance that keeps him whole; being as far away as he is communication is limited with his family.  Jon feels he came from another world and does not understand some of the attitudes toward him as an athlete.  All of these different things affect the way Jon learns English. Jon has told me that the only reason he is here is to help his family by getting a good education to make them proud.  His family values education and are happy he is here to get that education, and I have noticed that this is the only driving force that seems to keep him here at times. 

With Jon’s writing there are many syntactical mistakes.  One of his most common mistakes is with leaving out some words.  “My friend is liar.”  Not placing “a” before liar has been a common mistake.  In one of his homework assignments Jon saw a/an___________ . From a syntax point of view this confused Jon as to why both of these words were there.  We discussed when to use “a” and when /to use “an”, but Jon seemed to associate this in the form of feminine and masculine from his native language.  I can understand this due to his native language.  In some ways this may help Jon as he does have something to associate this new knowledge with.  Many times Jon drifts out of concentration, so anything that I can do to keep his interest or relate the subject to help him, will be a great benefit to Jon. 

Blog Entry 6 4^th Meeting Nov 1

A phonological problem that I have noticed in Jon’s writing is in his verbs.  Jon tends to pluralize verbs at the wrong time.  His speaks the sentence out as he writes it, and many times this leads to this type of situation.  This is part of his growing knowledge of the language.  He is placing the correct words in the sentences that he speaks, just making simple errors shows that he is more secure in speaking English.  He feels more fluent saying “tells” instead of “tell”.  Being new to the language Jon does not realize when the language he is saying is wrong.  His uncertainty shows when he looks up at me for assurance.  Many times when he speaks, he his annunciations are more if he is asking a question then making a statement.  He looks for reassurance that what he says is correct. 

As we have progressed over the past few weeks Jon has shown some signs of improvement. Just having someone around to help him stay focused with his work is a big plus.  Sometimes I feel I am more of a bouncing board for Jon.  The growth I have noticed is that when Jon speaks, his sentences do not trail off as much.  It seems as though he is more secure in what he is saying.

Blog Entry 7 5^th Meeting Nov 8^th
 

This meeting was quick as Jon did not have any homework that he needed help with.  I noticed he did not want to really spend the time with me to have a meeting.  He seemed to be glad that he has his homework done so there is no reason to meet with me.  I try to engage him in basic conversation, but his mind is elsewhere.  He asks a couple of simple questions about spelling a couple of words while texting someone.  The text messages come faster than he can send them out.  This frustrates him, as he is trying to get these messages out, but he is getting faster at sending messages then when we first met.  I believe when I first met Jon he was still in his quiet mode, but was being forced to talk as there is no one around to speak to him in his native language.  Plus, being an athlete, communication is a must.  This forced Jon to communicate even when he wanted to just sit quietly and absorb the language.  He does seem to be coming out of his quiet phase and opening up a little more.  Being an athlete also makes him a celebrity a little bit on campus, so more people want to talk to him as well.  All of these things seem to be helping to open Jon up.

Blog Entry 8 6th Meeting Nov 15th 

Jon stated that he did not have any homework that he needed help with.  His English actually seemed better then from when I first began with him.  It seems that as I have worked with Jon his emotions help his language.  I find this interesting because usually this is the opposite.  As anger or other high emotions enter the picture the concentration goes away and a more natural language comes out.  With Jon this did not happen.  He seems to be upset and yet his English has become a little more clear.   Since SLL learning is connected to general human learning and intelligence there is a connection to why Jon is able to acquire the skills he has with regards to learning English.  This shows that Jon has came to a point of automatic learning.  This is where the language learner is wanting to be and the learning is more efficient.  This is a great fact for Jon in his development of learning the English language even in small parts.  Basic conversations are coming more  naturally.  There however is some fossilization with regards to his greetings and basic speech.  This does not mean that what he is saying is wrong, it is that he has developed certain habits with regards to his language and they have become consistent. This has also probably developed from his natural language and from their typical greetings.  He seems to have placed the same speech in his English translations.

Blog Entry 9 7th Meeting Nov 22nd

I felt bad as I could not meet with my student this week.    My son is sick in the hospital and I cannot be in two places at the same time.  Even though these are social type meeting with no true obligations, I still feel as though I need to meet with the student to help him with his tasks.  Helping Jon with his English / homework is just as much a learning experience for me as well as Jon.  I have enjoyed seeing Jon grow with his language barriers and the coaches seem to enjoy having me around to help Jon out.


Blog Entry 10 Meeting Nov 29th

Understanding the difference from mistakes and errors is a big factor.  Since Jon and I am working with his homework, I understand that I can correct his errors.  There are some time when we are having small talk as I am showing up and leaving in which I do not correct his errors.  I do not want Jon to feel that I am always correcting everything that he says.  Whenever we are just chatting about his cell phone and friends I let the mistakes slide.  There are times when Jon corrects himself or even asks for help when he seems to forget the words he wants to say. This means that Jon has made great strides within his speech.  In the beginning of our meetings Jon would trail off his speech as he would not be as sure of what to say or if he was saying it correctly. So his speech would become softer and softer almost trailing off to mumbling and every now and then a strong word would pop out of it all.  Now, with our meetings he still gets a little softer while talking, but I believe it is more to the fact that it is his style of talking.  I also believe that it may be due to his culture as he is very respectable to anyone older then him or in an authoritative position.  Even though his speech is a little softer while he is talking to me he does correct his speech or asks on certain words for pronunciation.  This shows that Jon is aware of the errors that he is making and shows a lot of progress to being proficient in the English language.

Final Entry

Over time Jon began to grow and learn.  I believe with Jon he had a lot more support then he realized.  His coaches really wanted to see him excel and make it.  They were always coaching him and helping him to grow with his education.  Jon does not have any family here in the United States and that seemed to be a barrier with regards to his learning.  As he began to learn he found out that the coaches and instructors were all here to help him with anything that he needs.  Once the trust from the faculty came about, Jon seemed to try a little harder.  There was a time right at the beginning when Jon was actually failing his ELL class.  Jon had seemed to get a little distracted by all that the college life had to offer.  The coaches create a rigid schedule to help avoid these type of problems, but in the end these students are adults and can easily get distracted.  When Jon began to notice that by taking the time to sit and do the work, with another student and have the ability to ask questions without ridicule he seemed to grow.  I believe to some extent that Jon was also afraid to talk to his teachers as he was an athlete that is in the star light.  His pride had seemed to be getting in his own way and could have ended his career all together.  He does not want to disappoint his family back home too.  Family is a big deal to Jon and to fail school would be a huge disappointment back at home for him and all of his family.  His family has sacrificed a lot for Jon to be here in Arkansas.  Realizing that there is a lot of support here at college, Jon begins to dig in and get caught up on his work that he is behind on.  As time goes on, he begins to have his work completed and is working on his English every day. It is nice to see him grow over time and learn more while understanding the growth that happens and why it happens.