Entry 2: Interview with an ELL
Entry 2: Interview someone that learned English as a second language.
Watch my interview with Bao by clicking here!
Bao learned English as a second language when he came to the United States at the age of 7 years old. He was born in Vietnam and came to the US, not knowing any English. He explained in this interview he speaks about his path to learning English and how school helped him. He said he felt support from teachers and the school community. Bao caught on to the language really quick and by the end of second grade, he was able to speak and read English. According to Ortega, "Naturalistic learners learn the L2 through informal opportunities in multicultural neighborhoods, schools and workplaces, without ever receiving any organized instruction on the workings of the language they are learning" (2013, p. 6). I believe that Bao learned a lot of his English through informal learning experiences like many of us ELL.
I found it interesting to hear how his journey to learning a second language differed from mine. Although he learned English at a later age than me, we had our similarities and differences. The main difference I saw that that Bao was placed in an ESL classroom because of the age he was when he came to the United States. I compared it to myself, having learned at the age of 4-5 and how that made a difference. I was amazed at how fast he was able to learn English even at the age of 7. From our readings, the optimal age is 4-6 and he was just a year out of the time frame that studies show facilitates language acquisition. This did not affect his language acquisition that much, he was still able to learn within a year.
Watch my interview with Bao by clicking here!
For this
entry, I decided to interview my coworker Bao Bui. Bao has worked with me the
at The Home Depot for about a year. I knew that he spoke Vietnamese from
working together. We had previously discussed his experiences with learning
English long before this interview but this gave me an opportunity to further
learn some more about his language acquisition experience.
Bao learned English as a second language when he came to the United States at the age of 7 years old. He was born in Vietnam and came to the US, not knowing any English. He explained in this interview he speaks about his path to learning English and how school helped him. He said he felt support from teachers and the school community. Bao caught on to the language really quick and by the end of second grade, he was able to speak and read English. According to Ortega, "Naturalistic learners learn the L2 through informal opportunities in multicultural neighborhoods, schools and workplaces, without ever receiving any organized instruction on the workings of the language they are learning" (2013, p. 6). I believe that Bao learned a lot of his English through informal learning experiences like many of us ELL.
I found it interesting to hear how his journey to learning a second language differed from mine. Although he learned English at a later age than me, we had our similarities and differences. The main difference I saw that that Bao was placed in an ESL classroom because of the age he was when he came to the United States. I compared it to myself, having learned at the age of 4-5 and how that made a difference. I was amazed at how fast he was able to learn English even at the age of 7. From our readings, the optimal age is 4-6 and he was just a year out of the time frame that studies show facilitates language acquisition. This did not affect his language acquisition that much, he was still able to learn within a year.
Hi Joselyn, it was enjoyable to listen to your interview with your coworker Bao. I thought it was interesting how Bao did not feel disadvantaged and was quickly able to pick up the English language. I know of some people who came to America at the ages of four to five but still struggled with learning English. Since Bao’s teachers were very patient and supportive of him, he was able to learn English quickly and exit out of the ESL program. According to Wright (2015, p. 29), “teachers who respect their students’ home languages and cultures can be most effective in helping students make the necessary transitions without undercutting the role that parents and families must continue to lay in their education and development.” With his teachers’ support, Bao was able to successfully become fluent in English.
ReplyDeleteWright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi Angela!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with that. It is so important to respect our students home languages. This creates a welcoming environment in which the student feels comfortable learning in. I think that this helped Bao in feeling supported throughout his learning experience. I think teachers and students attitudes towards their L1 makes a huge impact on their learning. Bao was eventually able to become fluent in English as shown by this interview and he attributed a lot of this success to the supportiveness and patience that his teachers had with him.
Wright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi Joselyn, I really enjoyed watching your interview with your friend! I really liked hearing about the differences and similarities in yalls journeys in learning english. It blows my mind that by beginning to learn a different language at a young age can affect how you learn a language. Im really glad that Bao was able to learn english so quickly. Wright states, "teachers who respect their students' home languages and cultures can be most effective in helping students make the necessary transitions without undercutting the role that parents and families must continue to lay in their education and development" (Wright, 2015. pg. 29). With the help of his family, classmates, and teachers, Bao was able to become successful in learning english.
ReplyDeleteWright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon.