Hello my name is Elyse, I am a senior at the University of Houston. I am student teaching a kindergarten class in cyfair ISD. I am very excited for this year and the learning experience. I want to welcome you all to my blog and wish you the best of luck this year! :)
As I was watching your video I could relate to your experiences, I grew up speaking Spanish but as time went on I slowly lost it. It's sad when Spanish speakers forget the language when they go to school to learn English. In the textbook they talk about the ELL's that learn English but forget Spanish but they also introduce an idea that I liked, "additive bilingualism occurs when a student develops proficiency in a new language without losing his or her home language, this form should be the goal of all school language programs" (Wright, 2015, 21). If schools promoted their first language as much as English more people would know their home language, when I'm a teacher I will encourage my students to never forget their first language.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Thanks for replying to my post. Yes, I agree it is sad to see any second language lost. The statement that you found that states that learning a new language with losing his or her home language should be a goal. I agree with you school shouldn’t push English on children to the point where they lose their first language. As a teacher I will make sure I do not shame another language and make sure to help students not forget it either.
As I was watching your video I noticed you said you spoke both English and Spanish in your household. According to Ortega "In many parts of the globe, most children grow up speaking two or more languages simultaneously. These cases are in fact the majority in our species. We use the term ‘bilingual acquisition’ or ‘multilingual acquisition’ to refer to the process of learning two or more languages relatively simultaneously during early childhood – that is, before the age of four" (Ortega, 2013, p.4). You are a bilingual speaker and that is a great thing to have on your side and being able to speak both. "That a child learns from parents, siblings and caretakers during the critical years of development, from the womb up to about four years of age" (Ortega, 2013, p.5). Since your household was speaking both spanish and english you where exposed when you where younger and it became natural to you.
Hey Taylor, after watching Elyse's vlog and reading your comment, I think it's so great that you pointed out the part of the text where Wright says many children around the world grow up speaking two or more languages at the same time, which I remembering reading and thinking how shocking that was, especially being someone that has only known English my entire life. It's so cool that Elyse grew up in a household that embraced both languages. I remember reading and seeing that Wright pointed out how bilingual students can be used as a great resource in the classroom and it made me think how I would go about doing that in my future classrooms, like when we are learning new vocabulary or having a multicultural week. We should always remember diverse backgrounds like that should always be embraced. It's so great when students are exposed to more than one language at an early age, I hope to be bilingual one day because that's such a valuable thing.
Thanks for replying to my post. I read the statement that you posted saying that "That a child learns from parents, siblings and caretakers during the critical years of development, from the womb up to about four years of age" (Ortega, 2013, p.5). I agree with this like I mentioned in my video learning a second language is the easiest when you are young you tent to soak in everything much quicker. Yes, it did come natural to me because it was what I was exposed to.
Hey there Elyse, watching your video I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between our childhoods. I also learned Spanish from my grandmother since I actually My pre-K year with her instead of in school. My parents also spoke English to me while at home. I think it’s important for teachers to acknowledge that we cannot "pressure students to replace or demote the home language because that can lead to subtraction of bilingualism." (Wright, 2015, pg.22) It’s important for teachers to help students be proficient in English but a;so maintain their bilingualism since it has cognitive benefits and can be helpful for their futures.I also agree with you that students learn languages best in the early stages of their life. This is when their brains are forming and they are very sponge like and are more prone to observing information such as new languages.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015.Print. Second Edition
Thank you for replying to my post. That is great that you learned Spanish from your grandmother, our grandmas are awesome for that. I agree with you, teachers should help students learn the English language, but still practice on the original language they grew up speaking. It is sad to me when the second language is lost due to school because I think being bilingual is a great advantage.
Hi Elyse, I honestly believe it is extremely sad when the students lose their skills at one language because they were so focused on learning the English language. I feel like our parents or grandparents help us tremendously when teaching us our origin language and that being stripped away is hard for them to see. As educators we need to remember that it is important to balance the languages the students may know because it will benefit them in their future. It may also bring problems in their house hold if with time the students forget that first language learned at home and that may have been the only way to communicate with their inner or outer family comfortably.
Elyse and Shelly, I also think that it is sad when a first language is lost due to school. I got to see that almost happen with my younger brother. We grew up with Spanish as our L1 but by that time my parents had already learned some English so he sometime spoke English to them, and he had me and our older brother speaking English to him, and he spoke only English at school so he lost some of his L1. By the time he was in 1st grade his Spanish was very broken and he struggled to find the words to say in Spanish. We ended up spending a summer in Mexico and he had no other choice than to speak Spanish to communicate with our family and it improved very much since then.
Thank you for sharing your video. I think it is cool how your family knows both English and Spanish. My mom understands a little English but is more proficient in Spanish. My grandmas and grandpas never learned English, so Spanish was their primary language as well. I agree that a language is better learned at a young age. Wright (2015) includes that Cummins (2012) “argues that it takes about 1 to 2 years for ELLs to develop conversational fluency in English but that it takes 5 years or longer for ELLs to catch up to proficient English speakers.” (p. 40) so yes, I do believe it is easier for a younger person to learn a second language because it does get harder once you are older.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015.Print. Second Edition
Thanks for replying to my post. Yes, my family know both English and Spanish and I’m glad I come from a bilingual family. I always had a feeling that it was easier to learn a second language when you are younger without having to look anything up. Now, that you have provided evidence to show that is true it just helps me back up that thought. The brain is still developing at a young age so it able to soak in much more.
Hello Elyse! I really enjoyed watching your video, and learning more about you. I find it so cool to hear how you grew up learning both languages. Would you say that being a bilingual before going to school helped you with your schooling and learning more in the languages? Learning a language when you are younger is so much easier because there minds have so much room to absorb the knowledge. I also feel like as a teacher, it is so important to use the receptive and productive language functions to help the ELL students learn the language (Wright, 2015). Using those functions to help build a connection between the languages is so important for the students. Personally I feel like the teachers you have impacts how much you will learn especially new languages.
Wright, Wayne. (2015). Foundations for teaching english language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon. Print. Second Edition
Thank you for replying to my post. To answer your question, I honestly don’t remember learning English too much, I guess it just came natural to me and it was not much of a struggle to learn it because my parents always spoke to me in English. If anything I think it was a struggle to remember my Spanish since I only spoke it with my grandmother. Yes you are right about learning a second language when you are younger because the brain does have the room for the knowledge.
Thank you for sharing so much information about your linguistic lineage, Elyse. What you shared about your upbringing and the environments of your paternal grandparents’ and parents’ homes reflect the attributes of simultaneous bilingualism. These bilingual individuals can grow “up in homes where varieties of English and one or more other languages are used” (Wright, 2015, p.5). In your vlog, you also mentioned that although you were once fluent in Spanish and English equally, you now understand Spanish much better than you are able to speak it. This outcome is aligned with a principle outlined by Krashen (1985). He qualifies, “speaking is a result of acquisition and not its cause. Speech cannot be taught directly but ‘emerges’ on its own as a result of building competence via comprehensible input” (Wright, 2015, p. 52). With regards to this theory, it would make sense that your speaking of Spanish is secondary/complementary to your understating and knowledge of the language. Your diminished speaking ability could simply be a result of Spanish being overshadowed by the exponential increase of comprehensible input opportunities received in English at school and your primary home environment. The method with which your eighth grade Spanish teacher facilitated his/her class, solely in the target language, pays homage to Terrell and Krashen’s “natural approach”, emphasizing the use of comprehensible input through meaningful communication in the classroom (Wright, 2015).
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Hi Elyse!
ReplyDeleteAs I was watching your video I could relate to your experiences, I grew up speaking Spanish but as time went on I slowly lost it. It's sad when Spanish speakers forget the language when they go to school to learn English. In the textbook they talk about the ELL's that learn English but forget Spanish but they also introduce an idea that I liked, "additive bilingualism occurs when a student develops proficiency in a new language without losing his or her home language, this form should be the goal of all school language programs" (Wright, 2015, 21). If schools promoted their first language as much as English more people would know their home language, when I'm a teacher I will encourage my students to never forget their first language.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Laura,
DeleteThanks for replying to my post. Yes, I agree it is sad to see any second language lost. The statement that you found that states that learning a new language with losing his or her home language should be a goal. I agree with you school shouldn’t push English on children to the point where they lose their first language. As a teacher I will make sure I do not shame another language and make sure to help students not forget it either.
Hello Elyse!
ReplyDeleteAs I was watching your video I noticed you said you spoke both English and Spanish in your household. According to Ortega "In many parts of the globe, most children grow up speaking two or more languages simultaneously. These cases are in fact the majority in our species. We
use the term ‘bilingual acquisition’ or ‘multilingual acquisition’ to refer to the
process of learning two or more languages relatively simultaneously during early
childhood – that is, before the age of four" (Ortega, 2013, p.4). You are a bilingual speaker and that is a great thing to have on your side and being able to speak both. "That
a child learns from parents, siblings and caretakers during the critical years of
development, from the womb up to about four years of age" (Ortega, 2013, p.5). Since your household was speaking both spanish and english you where exposed when you where younger and it became natural to you.
Hey Taylor, after watching Elyse's vlog and reading your comment, I think it's so great that you pointed out the part of the text where Wright says many children around the world grow up speaking two or more languages at the same time, which I remembering reading and thinking how shocking that was, especially being someone that has only known English my entire life. It's so cool that Elyse grew up in a household that embraced both languages. I remember reading and seeing that Wright pointed out how bilingual students can be used as a great resource in the classroom and it made me think how I would go about doing that in my future classrooms, like when we are learning new vocabulary or having a multicultural week. We should always remember diverse backgrounds like that should always be embraced. It's so great when students are exposed to more than one language at an early age, I hope to be bilingual one day because that's such a valuable thing.
DeleteHi Taylor,
DeleteThanks for replying to my post. I read the statement that you posted saying that "That
a child learns from parents, siblings and caretakers during the critical years of
development, from the womb up to about four years of age" (Ortega, 2013, p.5). I agree with this like I mentioned in my video learning a second language is the easiest when you are young you tent to soak in everything much quicker. Yes, it did come natural to me because it was what I was exposed to.
Hey there Elyse, watching your video I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between our childhoods. I also learned Spanish from my grandmother since I actually My pre-K year with her instead of in school. My parents also spoke English to me while at home. I think it’s important for teachers to acknowledge that we cannot "pressure students to replace or demote the home language because that can lead to subtraction of bilingualism." (Wright, 2015, pg.22) It’s important for teachers to help students be proficient in English but a;so maintain their bilingualism since it has cognitive benefits and can be helpful for their futures.I also agree with you that students learn languages best in the early stages of their life. This is when their brains are forming and they are very sponge like and are more prone to observing information such as new languages.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015.Print. Second Edition
Hi Vivanne,
DeleteThank you for replying to my post. That is great that you learned Spanish from your grandmother, our grandmas are awesome for that. I agree with you, teachers should help students learn the English language, but still practice on the original language they grew up speaking. It is sad to me when the second language is lost due to school because I think being bilingual is a great advantage.
Hi Elyse, I honestly believe it is extremely sad when the students lose their skills at one language because they were so focused on learning the English language. I feel like our parents or grandparents help us tremendously when teaching us our origin language and that being stripped away is hard for them to see. As educators we need to remember that it is important to balance the languages the students may know because it will benefit them in their future. It may also bring problems in their house hold if with time the students forget that first language learned at home and that may have been the only way to communicate with their inner or outer family comfortably.
DeleteElyse and Shelly, I also think that it is sad when a first language is lost due to school. I got to see that almost happen with my younger brother. We grew up with Spanish as our L1 but by that time my parents had already learned some English so he sometime spoke English to them, and he had me and our older brother speaking English to him, and he spoke only English at school so he lost some of his L1. By the time he was in 1st grade his Spanish was very broken and he struggled to find the words to say in Spanish. We ended up spending a summer in Mexico and he had no other choice than to speak Spanish to communicate with our family and it improved very much since then.
DeleteHi Elyse!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your video. I think it is cool how your family knows both English and Spanish. My mom understands a little English but is more proficient in Spanish. My grandmas and grandpas never learned English, so Spanish was their primary language as well. I agree that a language is better learned at a young age. Wright (2015) includes that Cummins (2012) “argues that it takes about 1 to 2 years for ELLs to develop conversational fluency in English but that it takes 5 years or longer for ELLs to catch up to proficient English speakers.” (p. 40) so yes, I do believe it is easier for a younger person to learn a second language because it does get harder once you are older.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015.Print. Second Edition
Hi Melissa,
DeleteThanks for replying to my post. Yes, my family know both English and Spanish and I’m glad I come from a bilingual family. I always had a feeling that it was easier to learn a second language when you are younger without having to look anything up. Now, that you have provided evidence to show that is true it just helps me back up that thought. The brain is still developing at a young age so it able to soak in much more.
Hello Elyse!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your video, and learning more about you. I find it so cool to hear how you grew up learning both languages. Would you say that being a bilingual before going to school helped you with your schooling and learning more in the languages? Learning a language when you are younger is so much easier because there minds have so much room to absorb the knowledge. I also feel like as a teacher, it is so important to use the receptive and productive language functions to help the ELL students learn the language (Wright, 2015). Using those functions to help build a connection between the languages is so important for the students. Personally I feel like the teachers you have impacts how much you will learn especially new languages.
Wright, Wayne. (2015). Foundations for teaching english language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon. Print. Second Edition
Hi Tobi,
DeleteThank you for replying to my post. To answer your question, I honestly don’t remember learning English too much, I guess it just came natural to me and it was not much of a struggle to learn it because my parents always spoke to me in English. If anything I think it was a struggle to remember my Spanish since I only spoke it with my grandmother. Yes you are right about learning a second language when you are younger because the brain does have the room for the knowledge.
Thank you for sharing so much information about your linguistic lineage, Elyse. What you shared about your upbringing and the environments of your paternal grandparents’ and parents’ homes reflect the attributes of simultaneous bilingualism. These bilingual individuals can grow “up in homes where varieties of English and one or more other languages are used” (Wright, 2015, p.5). In your vlog, you also mentioned that although you were once fluent in Spanish and English equally, you now understand Spanish much better than you are able to speak it. This outcome is aligned with a principle outlined by Krashen (1985). He qualifies, “speaking is a result of acquisition and not its cause. Speech cannot be taught directly but ‘emerges’ on its own as a result of building competence via comprehensible input” (Wright, 2015, p. 52). With regards to this theory, it would make sense that your speaking of Spanish is secondary/complementary to your understating and knowledge of the language. Your diminished speaking ability could simply be a result of Spanish being overshadowed by the exponential increase of comprehensible input opportunities received in English at school and your primary home environment. The method with which your eighth grade Spanish teacher facilitated his/her class, solely in the target language, pays homage to Terrell and Krashen’s “natural approach”, emphasizing the use of comprehensible input through meaningful communication in the classroom (Wright, 2015).
ReplyDeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.