Introduction
Hello y’all, my name is Franklin Hoang Anh Nguyen. I am a senior at the University of Houston currently in student teaching 2. This will be my last semester at UH, and I will be graduating with a bachelors of science in teaching in learning with a certification in mathematics for 4th through 8th grade. While I was born and raised in Houston, my family immigrated from Vietnam with little understanding to English. Growing up in this family allowed me the opportunity to better relate to ELLs.
I grew up learning Vietnamese and English simultaneously. My English is fluent and much better than my Vietnamese, but I still fumble sometimes switching between languages and cultures. I can imagine how hard it would be for ELLs to struggle in a foreign classroom having to learn core subjects while learning English. As noted by Wright (2015), “Educators who work with ELLs must be aware of the linguistic diversity in their schools and surrounding communities” (6). My knowledge and awareness of other cultures and languages is limited, but the least I can do as an educator for ELLs is to be open and understanding. As an educator, I should encourage learning opportunities and experience the local communities. This will allow me to better know what my students will need in the classroom.
I hope to be able to support all my students to grow into their best selves. Though I was born in America and English is one of my first languages, I still struggle with the different cultures. “[ELLs] are disadvantaged when schools do not recognize, value, and incorporate these differences” (Wright 2015, p. 16). It is important for schools to recognize the cultural differences, and it is my responsibility as an educator to implement this practice. Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
I grew up learning Vietnamese and English simultaneously. My English is fluent and much better than my Vietnamese, but I still fumble sometimes switching between languages and cultures. I can imagine how hard it would be for ELLs to struggle in a foreign classroom having to learn core subjects while learning English. As noted by Wright (2015), “Educators who work with ELLs must be aware of the linguistic diversity in their schools and surrounding communities” (6). My knowledge and awareness of other cultures and languages is limited, but the least I can do as an educator for ELLs is to be open and understanding. As an educator, I should encourage learning opportunities and experience the local communities. This will allow me to better know what my students will need in the classroom.
I hope to be able to support all my students to grow into their best selves. Though I was born in America and English is one of my first languages, I still struggle with the different cultures. “[ELLs] are disadvantaged when schools do not recognize, value, and incorporate these differences” (Wright 2015, p. 16). It is important for schools to recognize the cultural differences, and it is my responsibility as an educator to implement this practice. Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Xin chao fellow Vietnamese! Congrats on your upcoming graduation! Like you, I also to aim to learn more about Spanish. I think most of the ELL population is Spanish-speaking students. By learning Spanish, you’ll not only connect with your community, but you’ll also be able to communicate with your ELL students who speak Spanish. Therefore, I hope that you keep learning Spanish as I will be doing the same! I’m extremely glad that you brought up math as an example. According to Wright, academic language proficiency includes “being able to communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies” (2015, p. 42). It’s very common to associate language with English/Literature classes, but I think it is equally important that educators incorporate language in all content areas. Surrounding students will this learning environment will help them improve the new language faster.
ReplyDeleteWright, W.E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy and practice. (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Calson.
Nice to meet you Mia, I hope a content based instruction approach to second language teaching could be very beneficial for learning. SLA through mathematics would help students practice academic vocabulary and words with different meanings in math, for example: plane, mean, and product. Learning Spanish will only enhance the effectiveness of this approach in the classroom. Since you were learning Spanish, I wonder what practices seemed most useful for you?
DeleteHi Franklin. I enjoyed listening to your video and reading your entry. You made various good points in your entry and in your video. Something that really got my attention in your video, is whenever you mentioned math can sometimes only be viewed learning through numbers. You mentioned that is not correct, that students should be able to read and write when it comes to math as well. I definitely agree with that statement. In a math classroom we shouldn't only be focusing in numbers but also in math terminology. Wright (2015) states, vocabulary developmental is essential but the type of learning needed for academic success goes beyond just learning new words. We should encourage and allow students to expand their vocabulary but also still focus on how the students learn.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Right, learners should have the opportunity to practice their second language acquisition in a safe environment that supports it. Now that you bring it up, learners also need to be able to practicing speaking the language in a variety of context like math. This is where learning more about the communicative language teaching approach could be very helpful in the classroom. Students would practice authentic communication in content-based contexts which supports their overall SLA.
DeleteIt is commendable that you grew up bilingual and that you have tried to keep it. It is more difficult for us, bilinguals and multilinguals, to find the right word due to a larger linguistic repertoire. We need to take more time to find the right word but it shows that our brain is working harder. I wonder why your French is so limited and your Spanish as well. What happened in those classes that you have not retained much of it. We say "Me llamo Franklyn" not "me llamo es" and that shows that there was not much interactions in class where you had to use the sentence correctly and it became part of your linguistic knowledge. I think the key element is interaction.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, the interactions in most of the classes were not strong. I also do not have people in my environment for interactions outside of the class, at least not like I did back in high school. I used to be able to have a natural approach to learning Spanish by asking my Spanish speaking friends in school. My retention beyond high school was affected by a lack of support in my environment and practice.
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