2.17

             I found many of the facts about ESL and NES students writing to be factual and similar to what I have observed with my ESL students in the clinical I am in. My students depend on illustrations in the books we are reading and other texts to figure out words they do not know. Many times they just look at me and expect me to tell them what the word is because they do not know. When my students are given assignments, they also rely heavily on background texts and information, so they have a clearer understanding of what they are going to do an assignment on or reading.

            Another thing I have observed from my students is how they struggle with vocabulary while they are writing and while they are reading. Many of my students struggle with vocabulary because they do not know what some words means in English, but are able to say it in Spanish; that becomes a barrier with them and me because I do not speak Spanish and I’m not able to help them translate. When they are writing something or creatively writing, it is difficult to help them come up with an English word when they only know it in Spanish. They become very resourceful and use each other for help because some have a bigger vocabulary than others. However, when they are reading something to me I am able to help describe a word they do not understand, so they can put a description and picture to the word.    

            According to the Silva article, they believed that ESL writing was simpler in the eyes of the NES judges. They struggle from having a smaller vocabulary than an NES student and they tend to not revise and reread what they have written. I have found that my students struggle mostly with writing because of the language barrier and they cannot think of how to say a word in English. However, they are capable of writing good, complete sentences. I think ESL learners would have a better “reputation” if they were taught the skills to revise their work and good writing skills. 

Kang & a step from heaven

2 questions for Dr. Kang:

1.    How did you work with your son at home on learning both languages?

2.    Is your son stronger in one language over the other? If so, do you know why that is based on your research?

Kang’s article talked about how Spanish-speaking English language learning students do not need to be spoken to in English at home to acquire the English language, but to stay proficient in Spanish, they needed to speak it at home and at school. I found this really interested and I have observed it myself in a classroom. My current clinical classroom is a kindergarten ELL classroom and I was just talking to my cooperating teacher about this subject. Some of my students are not spoken to in English at home because their parents or families do not know or speak English, but are still fully capable of speaking it at school. However, my teacher allows them to speak in Spanish at school because they need to continue using their native language in order for it to stay with them. Most of them time, they use Spanish when they do not know how to say the English word for it. Even though they are not spoken to in English at home, they are spoken to in English almost 100% of the time they are in their school/classroom which is 7 hours out of their day, five days a week.

      It is interesting to read about whether families decide to keep their cultures alive with their children or not. Especially when it comes to language, it is difficult to decide and figure out what language they will speak at home and at school. It is a difficult decision to make for a child and for a family because you as a family have to work on the child’s language acquisition with them no matter what language they are going to use. You want to be a supportive parent and help your child acquire two languages when it comes down to a situation where your native language is not the primary language spoken in the country you live in. I think there are many important factors families have to think about when becoming a bilingual home. 

Norton & Pavlenko

               I was not too surprised by what the researchers found from their studies, but I was interested to read about what they found at the end of their study. One thing they found out about language learners was that language teachers need to help them claim the right to speak outside of the classroom. Many students struggle to use their second language outside the classroom because they are nervous to mess up, they do not feel comfortable using it outside the classroom yet; the list goes on and on. It is important for the teacher to help the students feel comfortable to use their target language outside of the classroom. Obviously most of the student’s goals are to use the language in the community so they can communicate with everyone, but they need to get to the point where they are comfortable to do so; and that is where the teacher can come in and help.

            One article talked about the classroom-based social research, which engages the students social identities that will help them use and improve on their target language outside the classroom. Second language learners are able to do this with support from their language teacher. Especially with second language learners, teachers have to play a huge role in motivating and helping the students move forward with their target language. However, in the second article they found that motivation does not translate good language learning. I was interested to read that because usually motivation is a huge factor of language learning. 

Hinkel, Kumar, Wintergerst

           I really liked how the beginning of Kumar’s article started. It started with some quotes that got me thinking about what culture is and how it is viewed differently amongst everyone. I liked the quote from Mary Catherine Bateson, “…cultural gap between members of different generations within the same family…” (Kumar, 8). I have found this statement to be very within my own family. Everyone in my family believes in our religion and cultural background, but there is definitely a gap between the generations. My grandparents have very different views on what should be practiced than do my parents than do my siblings and I. Although it sometimes causes conflicts within the family, when it comes down to it, we all believe in many of the same things within our culture and share all of our traditions together.

            It is a teacher’s job and it is important to apply what the kids have learned in the classroom to their lives outside the classroom. I liked learning about the different techniques to help students reduce stress with cultural adjustments. I think it is important to help students learn different cultures that are being practiced by other students or where they currently live, but it is extremely important to let the students keep their culture and identity with them. You as a teacher do not want your students to lose their identity especially when they are new to the area. You want your students to feel comfortable in your classroom and making them comfortable with their own culture and everyone else’s culture will make them feel that much more comfortable. 

Morgan Articles

            This article really put culture into perspective for me. I have never heard of the five dimensions of culture, but they perfectly described the different aspects of what culture is. As I was reading through the different dimensions, I thought about my own culture and how it relates to me. I thought about all the different artifacts that my family and people in my religion have taken in because we are members of our culture. There are many different practices we partake in as a culture and that is a huge part of who we are. The different ceremonies, events, parties, celebrations, holidays, etc. are all part of the practices and traditions we partake in every year. The perspectives of a culture are all the beliefs and values the community has towards their culture. The community is the group of people that carry on the cultural practices and passes them on from generation to generation. The community is what makes the culture stay alive and it is how the traditions are passed on from generation to generation. The persons are the individual members of the culture. I am a person that keeps my culture going because I believe in everything my religion and culture is about.

            The articles talked about how language is everywhere, but when it comes to the classroom setting, language and culture need to be treated separately otherwise it becomes too complex. When you are learning a language, students learn the culture along with it, but not at the same time. It is not wise to teach the culture while teaching the language. Culture is something that can be picked up or understood quickly once you are learning the language. It is smart for teachers to use language in order for the students to learn the culture that goes with it. I think students, especially young ones, can quickly pick up on language and as long as they can do that, I believe culture comes right along with it.