Reflection
Taking this course over
the summer has definitely been hectic. Nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed learning
about what second language acquisition is and actually begin to understand
second language acquisition a bit more. Before this course, all I knew was that
I am bilingual due to the fact that I am able to understand two languages; I am
able to read, speak, and write in both Spanish and English. However, I never
really sat down to think about what my learning process was like with learning
my second language until now. Throughout this course I got to learn more about
actual influential factors that are involved in an individual’s learning
process with a second language. I have learned about factors such as, age,
crosslinguistics, cognition, and motivation to name a few. At first I found age
to be an obvious factor since I have always thought that of course those who
learn a second language at an early age will have better language proficiency
than those who start later in life. To my surprise, I was intrigued with the
idea presented in Ortega’s book, in which it explains that there are cases in
which adults can actually build as much proficiency in their second language as
an individual who learned their second language earlier in life (2013). In
addition, I also found intriguing the idea that crosslinguistics can influence
the learning process. This really made me think that this idea is true, I was
able to connect this with my past experience learning French and the fact that I
did find similarities between English, Spanish, and French in the syntax. This
idea meant that because I am able to comprehend proper sentence structure in my
first language, then I am able to apply those grammatical rules with a second
and/or third language. Lastly, I was interested in the effects of motivation on
the learning process. I agree that there is both an intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation within everyone. There are those who enjoy the study of new language
and perhaps those who want to belong to their new community and therefore want
to learn the new language. Then, there are those who are not as excited to learn
a new language, but still learn it because they have to in order to communicate
with others in their community.
As
for the course it self, I found the assignments very interesting even though
they were highly time consuming. I really liked that we got to go out there and
interview those who learned a second language to get an insight on their personal
experiences with the learning process of their second language. As well,
interviewing a teacher was pretty insightful since I enjoy listening to what teachers
have experience with students and what their opinions are on the topic. All in
all, I found the assignments to be helpful when connecting real life
experiences to what is being mentioned in the text. Being able to interact with
classmates through video blogs was a plus since I had the opportunity to
express my opinions to others and view others’ points of view on the given
topic.
References:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language
acquisition. Routledge.
Nancy, I can definitely cosign to this summer schedule being extremely hectic! Despite the anxiety built around the fast-pace nature of this course, I also grew to appreciate the interviewing nature of the course. Additionally, I was introduced to a perspective I had never given too much of my attention to before- English Language Learners. Collectively, I think all of our classmates can agree that the processing procedures of ELLs was an area that we learned to recognize and cater to. Our book discusses various types of motivation. You mentioned above that you learned about intrinsic, self-initiated behavior, and extrinsic motivation. Where the latter type of motivation is typically where I found myself during the earlier years of college. Only learning particular subject matter to earn a grade. Nancy, do you tend to get motivated intrinsically or extrinsically?
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Traci, thanks for your comment! Ortega mentions "Motivation is usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to sustain it" (2013, p.168). On the other hand, I've never felt that desire to learn anything since elementary, for me it has always been about getting the grade and staying on top. Therefore, I would consider myself to be extrinsically motivated, which come to think of it is sad. See, in schools from elementary to high school there is always this form of reward systems, and at least for me it has always been about getting the reward, but nowadays I am actually trying more to learn and not just get the grade.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Nancy, I really appreciate your honesty! Sadly, I believe many of our peers are extrinsically motivated. To be frank, I even found myself participating in athletics at an intense level due to extrinsic motivation. In junior-high and high-school I competed in track and field, and I would try to win only to receive the social accolades. Ironically, I recently had the conversation about the similarities between personality and motivation. Our book defines personality as "stable traits or qualities in a person, or even as
Deletepredispositions that have been learned through social experience" (2013, p.193). Socially, I learned that my athletic ability gave me a lot perks, thus motivating me when I didn't or couldn't motivate myself. Have you experienced such things and do you think there are similarities between motivation and personality?
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge
Could you please take a moment and visit my blog? https://mstraciadams.blogspot.com/
Hi Traci! I think you made a great point. I too have found myself extrinsically motivated my entire life, until very recently that I started my Education courses. After I found that passion in teaching, and i started to learn all of this great knowledge from our program, I started wanting to know more and recognized a different thirst for knowledge that I have never had before. I started to read more and more books on Education on my own time, and found that this was the first time in my life that I have felt so intrinsically motivated.
DeleteAleena, I am truly excited that you find so much satisfaction and fulfillment learning in your college of education courses. I too have thoroughly enjoyed the courses I have taken in the College of Education. I tend to appreciate courses more that are student-led and focus on teachers giving my classmates and I practical, reasonable and seemingly valuable everyday instructional approaches. Sadly, overall, my motivation has still been very extrinsically geared. Graduation is the blaring light at the end of the long tunnel! Honestly, I believe after I receive my degree in December and begin teaching, I will enjoy learning about the field of education again.
DeleteI find it remarkable that this course has enlightened you about your own process of learning a second language. I believe that many of us expected to learn how to acquire a second language, but instead, we were taught how a second language is acquired. As you stated, there are influential factors that come to play. Age, multilingual language acquisition, and the linguistic environment (Ortega, 2011) are also some factors that affect the way a language is learned. Through this course, we had some of our views challenged, such as the case of Julie, in which she was a successful late L2 learner (Ortega, 2011, p. 14), which was the exception rather than the rule of unsuccessful late L2 learners that did not achieve native like status. Besides the example you mentioned, what were other instances in which you were surprised by research?
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hi Yazmin, thanks for your comment! To answer your question, from recent readings I've come to be interested in the idea that anxiety has an influential role in second language learning. Ortega states that "some individuals report experiencing intense feelings of apprehension, tension, and even fear" (2013, p.200). I find this is going to be inevitable with the majority of ELLs, and so I believe that in order for anxiety to decrease, as educators we have to provide students with a safe learning environment so that they feel less scared and more willing to learn and practice the new language.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
To add on to your statement, by providing a safe learning environment we can also motivate students to learn. “Attitudes towards learning the L2, which we can see as probing how much enjoyment people report feeling when they learn the language” (Ortega, 2011, p. 170), is just one of the many ways that we can help students. As you stated, in doing this they will be less scared and more willing to learn, so their attitudes towards the L2 will become positive. By making their attitudes positive, they will be intrinsically motivated to learn (Ortega, 2011).
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Nancy, your experiences were interesting to hear about, and I feel that I have gained a deeper understanding of what you value as both a future teacher and a person. Ortega's views on challenging L2 learners, and the importance of a stable, encouraging environment are things that you seem especially passionate about. I also found the interviews hard to complete, yet highly rewarding as they contained so much valuable information for us as teachers in training.
ReplyDeleteHi Ila, thanks for your comment! Indeed, I find that it is highly crucial that as educators we find ways to encourage students to keep going on with their second language learning process. Kaboody states that “the role that teachers play in L2 classes are initiator, facilitator, motivator, ideal model of the target language speaker, mentor, consultant, and mental supporter" (2013, p.48). Therefore, I believe that teachers are to play at least one of the roles previously mentioned so that students can know that someone cares about their language and academic success.
DeleteReferences:
Kaboody, M. (2013). Second Language Motivation; The Role of Teachers in Learners’ Motivation. Journal of Academic and Applied Studies, Vol. 3(4), pp.45-54.
I also agree that the roles Kaboody mentions a teacher must uphold and embody are vital to the success of our students (2013). Encouragement and productivity are important to my own teaching style, so I am glad that others prioritize these traits as well. However, I feel that we should strive to be all of these roles, not just one. Being a supporter for our students is probably the most important in my opinion, however, the other roles are also easy to fulfill and excel in as we have such dramatic influence on our students.
DeleteHi Nancy! It is interesting reading your point of view since you are bilingual. Although I am not bilingual I have also always assumed that if you learn a language at a younger age it will be easier than learning it later on in life. I assumed this because of my bilingual friends being so successful in both English and Spanish, while someone like myself who took Spanish in middle school and high school has not been very successful with my Spanish skills. So it made sense to me when I read, "most learners who begin acquiring the L2 before a certain age, typically before puberty, will develop levels of morphosyntactic and phonological competence that are very close to those of native speakers of that language" (Ortega, 2011, page 28). If you were to speak with my bilingual friends you would not be able to tell that Spanish was their first language. It was also great the read that there are exceptions, "some adult starters can achieve native-like levels in their L2, or at least extremely high levels that are near-native" (Ortega, 2011, page 29). It really just depends how dedicated and motivated the person is to learn the second language.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Hi Marissa, thanks for your comment! I also believe that the learning process has a lot to do with motivation. Ortega mentions that in learning a second language, desire comes to play an important role (2013). Therefore, with the right motivation, learners can achieve confidence and competence in their second language and continue to maintain the language throughout the years. Even though sometimes I believe that providing students with the right motivation can be challenging, it is still possible to accomplish.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Nancy! We would hope that all of our students have a desire to learn but that is not always the case. Ortega states that a desire to learn "can be generally understood as how much personal investment in succeeding in the language people claim for themselves" (2011, page 170). We should encourage students to have positive attitudes towards learning the L2 as well as a general interest so they can be motivated individuals.
DeleteOrtega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Hey Nancy! I enjoyed reading you blog post. I agree that motivation is important, I found it interesting that interactions with native speakers is related to motivation. According to Ortega, one reason that second language learners could be motivated is friendship “fostering general friendship with members of the target language” (Ortega 2015, pg. 173). If second language learners are motivated by friendship, they are interacting with native speakers, this to me shows how motivation and interaction could be related. I think that friendship as motivation is particularly important when discussing second language learners that are children, as most of the interaction that they will be having with native speakers will be occurring in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Nancy, I feel like I can relate to your experience in this class a lot. I had very similar ideas about Second Language Acquisition as you did prior to taking this course. I too gained a better perspective on what kind of bilingual I am. It helped me have a different view of my self in fact. I was proud of myself for being a bilingual. Also, as you mentioned, I had the same notion about how students of a younger age acquire a second language more efficiently, but was very taken aback by how there were numerous scenarios in which adults were able to learn a second language just as proficiently as a child. Overall, the course was very intriguing to me and I found myself discussing it from time to time with people around me. I also very much enjoyed the videos and getting to do interviews for the course!
ReplyDelete