Lawrence Ekeke VBLOG
The introduction chapter of Ortega simplifies a lot of factors for me that pertain to not only speaking a second language, but the level of difficulty that it could come with. The most universal influence in which individuals learn a L2 is their, age, mother tongue, environment, and cognition (Ortega, p.9). This made perfect sense to me because it always amazes me to see Hispanic children flowing easily from Spanish to English. Sometimes I would even see young children being interpreters for their parents. I would ask myself, "Why can't the parents just simply learn to speak English like their child?" Well, it was not clear until after this reading. The underlying issue could be age and environment. If I was in an environment where I had a personal translator at all times, then I would not feel so inclined to learn an entirely new language. At the same time Ortega stated "the process of acquiring language is essentially completed by all healthy children by the age of four, in terms of abstract syntax, and by age five or six for most other "basics" of language (Ortega, p.4). So not only are they spoiled with an in-home interpreter, but their mature cognition will not allow them past that barrier to properly grasp the second language.
Growing up I never had a passion to learn a new language. I was fine with being monolingual. I went to predominantly African schools, so I never really had a passion to learn another language. The first time I was officially introduced to Spanish was my freshmen year of high school. This was the year I took Spanish 1 and 2. It was a good course because I passed; however, it did not truly connect me to the language. We learned basic vocabulary words like lapiz (pencil) and libro (book), but nothing outside of everyday classroom vocabulary words. I could not say a full sentence in Spanish besides short elementary phrases such as "Yo tengo lapiz" or "Yo tengo libro," so communication in my L2 was almost impossible. I do not understand why schools do not demand you to learn a second language once you have been introduced to it. They just let you take the introductory classes, and once you pass, Spanish is gone never to be seen again.
Now that I am older, I find myself trying to learn Spanish more and more. I find myself sitting with a Hispanic friend and allowing him to teach me small phrases that connect me to people. Living in Texas, I feel learning Spanish is very important to a person's success in any field. There is such a a large Latino population in Houston, that not learning Spanish can even become a disservice in many cases. Even knowing simple phrases can go a long way.
My parent mother language is Igbo, which is a Nigerian dialect spoken in southern Nigeria. They were raised speaking Igbo and English so they were bilingual. When my siblings and I were born, they decided not to teach us Igbo. They still spoke it to friends and family members who were from Nigeria, but they spoke to us strictly in English. I resented that because I really wanted to learn my native language. These days I find myself intensely listening to their conversations trying to break down the words and deciphering them the best I can.
I really want to gain knowledge about Spanish and learning the language. I hope this class equips me with the knowledge necessary to do so. I also would like to gain knowledge about the Igbo dialect and find literature that will further help me understand it.
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Hola Lawrence.
ReplyDeleteNo sabía que tenías raíces originales a tu país. Espero que puedas aprender tu lengua natural, aunque sea para poder entenderla. Me fascina que quieres aprender español, si quieres yo te ayudo lo más que pueda.
The comment you made on body language has stuck with me, I had not thought to think of it's importance until you brought it up in your comment, and the more I think about it the more I realize it is extremely valuable to know, assess and act on the ability to read this language.
Yes John,
DeleteI have come to learn that body language is a universal language. You don't have to speak Spanish to see that an ELL student is struggling. His mannerisms will tell you, if you are paying close attention. This is why so many children are struggling. Teachers are not reading their students body language and continue teaching without reaching everyone. If you have a student who is loud in the hallway with friends, speaking happily to teachers when walking in the class, and are always bright eyed and attentive, then you must recognize his quietness and shyness when lost in a subject. If he begans to look timid during an exercise or tries to dissappear into his own world. Then you can see this student needs help. His natural personality is to be loud and noticed, so something must be wrong if he is hiding behind the students sitting in front of him. In elementary, I couldn't see the board but was afraid to tell my teacher I couldn't see from where I was sitting. I would just sit there a fade into my thoughts or try an look on my neighbor's paper. Luckily I had a great teacher who read our faces as she taught. She called me out in a very polite way, and said if you can't see just come and sit right up here. She did a great job reading my bodily language and put me in a position to be successful.
Hola, John, qué quiere decir con lengua natural?
DeleteI think the reason that the younger the child is the easier it is for them to pick up on a second language is because at that age their brain is rapidly growing, meaning that they absorb information at a very fast pace. The rate of children learning language is predictable because it has been studied and restudied over and over again (Ortega 2011,pg 4). Since a lot of bilingual children grow up learning multiple languages at a time, the basic rules and fundamental logics of language is embedded in them, making it second nature for them to code switch easily. As to why children are not forced to learn and master another language, I think that may be due to interest. Just as how not all children grow up to me engineers or doctors, not all children want to go up to be a linguist. Though there are benefits to being multilingual, freedom of choice and lack of interest is often the case when children learn another language but never continue after their requirements are met.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, Lourdes, Second Language Acquisition, London: Routledge, 2011. Print.
I agree, younger children are afforded that brain plasticity (Ortega, 2013, p. 12) that adults have long lost and allows them to more easily pick up another language. I think that having children starting anything important at a young age usually gives them an advantage at said anything, such as attaining another language or physical flexibility or maybe even musical prowess because they are just so malleable at that age. Like you said, students grow and have their own interests, so may choose to not pursue other languages but I personally do not understand purposely depriving your child the potential to speak their native language.
DeleteReferences: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print
Lawrence,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that knowing Spanish is very important. There are many students in my class who came to meet-the-teacher and they had to translate for their parents what we were saying. I was able to help the parents who only spoke Spanish, but I was not able to help the family who only spoke Arabic which is unfortunate. According to Ortega, the family who only spoke Arabic are monolingual and Arabic is their L1. For my student who is bilingual, English would be their L2 (Ortega, 2011).
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ReplyDeleteHello, Lawrence. I recognize you from our Monday morning CUIN 4344 class. I appreciated getting to know more about you from watching your video. As a fellow Houstonian, I too recognize the large role Spanish plays in our city’s culture. I also have witnessed students performing as translators for their guardians and parents, especially when interacting with teachers at school. I believe that the answers to your questions, unpacking this phenomenon as to why some parents do not appear to simply learn English, can be found in this class. Gass & Selinker (2009) states, “A major goal of second language acquisition research is the determination of linguistic constraints on the formation of second language grammars” (p. 2). These types of interactions with nonnative speakers of English are to be expected. “Interactions involving nonnative speakers of a language are undoubtedly highly frequent in the broader context of the world’s interactions” (Gass & Selinker, 2009, p. 6). Just as your parents immigrated from Nigeria, my father immigrated here as well, in 1980. I too wish he had taught me, my heritage language, his native language, Igbo. It is so cool that you coach AAU basketball, and your knowledge of being able to read students’ nonverbal forms of communication, including body language, will definitely come in handy, when you become a classroom teacher.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2009). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
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DeleteHola Audrey,
ReplyDeleteSo if I understand the statement you pulled from Gass and Selinker correctly, teaching an adult to speak a totally new language can be very difficult and can become quickly dissappointing for them. Correct? Most adults find it hard to learn a new language due to the formation of the letters and and the sounds they make. That makes sense because as I try to learn spanish, I find myself almost always getting tongue twisted. The sounds can be very different and must be practiced to get right. And yes, we need to learn our heritage language. I think it will come easy because that is our heritage language.
Hi Lawrence,
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned in your reflection about seeing how some children had to translate for their parents, it brought back memories of when my mother and I used to go to open house and I had to translate to her what the teachers were saying. I am glad that I kept my mother tongue because that way I was able to help my mother with translating. It is hard for older people to learn a new language. My mom till this day still struggles with speaking English. Also, I agree with you that Spanish classes don’t equip you with the necessary learning that will allow you to retain the language and phrases other than “Mi nombre es” or “Hola”.