Blog Entry 2
Hi! Thanks for viewing my second CUIN 4361 blog post! I interviewed my friend Lucas Gonzalez. He and his family moved from Avellaneda, Argentina to Richmond, Texas when Lucas was six years old. His household was a Spanish speaking household, but both his parents could speak English. Lucas’s journey to learn the English language in the American education system was typical of its time. Meaning that there was not much support in place for students entering school who did not already speak English. Yes, there were policy and strategies put in place, but I think that often the policy did not meet practice. Lucas intimated that in his first classroom experience all instruction was taught in English without any consideration to his native language. Wright (2015) calls this, “A submersion approach by placing an ELL in a mainstream classroom where there is no ESL instruction, no sheltered instruction, and no PLS” (p. 111). I can understand how he must have felt. He was in a new country where he had to make new friends, learn a new language, and all the while learn a new language. Lucas explained that in the beginning he had a difficult time socially because of his inability to communicate and his lack of self-confidence in speaking English. He also said that collaborative work was what helped him learn English the most. Lucas’s belief can be best explained by the sociocultural theory. Wright (2015) explains, that through socialization children learn new language and in the process, learn how to use the language in social situations, thus building their “social identities” (Wright, 2015, p. 58). Once Lucas learned the English language, he did not enjoy speaking his native language, and was essentially embarrassed by it. I wonder if his first-grade teacher had been more supportive of his culture and language, would he have felt the same way about speaking Spanish?
Thank you for sharing with our class Jauclene. I thought Lucas' story was interesting partial because I have never heard of Avellaneda, Argentina. I can relate to the struggle that he had with syntax because I think that is one of the most difficult parts of learning language. Wright (2015) defines syntax as "the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences" (p. 33). This is difficult because the rules of syntax vary from places. According to the affective filter hypothesis things such as self-esteem and anxiety affect the amount the speakers ability maximize the input they receive from others (Wright, 2015).
ReplyDeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing
Nadia, thank you for your reply! Yes, my friends background is interesting! Avellaneda is Near Buenos Aires I think. His dad worked in oil and gas. The most unfortunate part to me about this is that he lost his native language! Wright (2015) describes this as “subtractive bilingualism” because the first language is replaced by the second language. (p.21). If there would have been a more positive support of his culture in school and society, maybe this would not have happened.
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing
Hi Jauclene!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your interview! It's so unfortunate that Lucas doesn't enjoy speaking his language and was embarrassed by it. We have all been there and it's normal because we felt different, I felt the same way with Arabic. According to Wright (2015), there have been waves of linguistic restrictionism, where policies were placed to limit the use of languages other than English (pg. 70). Lucas had to experience some of these unfortunate events in schools where there was no support or encouragement for students who didn't speak English, I can't even imagine how hard that was. I do believe his teacher negatively influenced his perspective on speaking Spanish. That must have been traumatizing as a little kid. He would have felt differently had he received encouragement and support from her.