Entry 1: Self Introduction
My name is Celester Horton and I am currently a junior at the University of Houston (Sugar Land Campus). I am majoring in Teaching and Learning in hopes to becoming a 2nd grade teacher. I hope taking this class aids me in understanding my future ESL students and accommodating ways to assist them in their learning. Click here to learn more about me.
-Celester Horton
Hi Celester! I absolutely love your passion and enthusiasm that you dedicated for your church and community! Keep up the great work! Just like you, I took French classes during my high school years. However, my teacher did not make the learning experience comparable to yours with the singing, drawing pictures, and watching video. It is great that you learned both Spanish and French! Ortega mentioned in the book, "as children grow older and their life circumstances diversify, different adolescents and adults will embark on very different kind of literacy practice and use language for widely differing needs" (Ortega, 2009, pg. 4). You will be able to use these languages when you need to communicate. I have a question: would you like to learn more of the Spanish and/or French language in the future? I agree with you that when we have the best teachers, it is such an inspiration to become like them to our future students to have an impact on them. I wish you the best of luck this semester!
ReplyDelete- Katherine Nguyen
Hi Katherine, thank you so much for reading my blog. I would definitely want to learn more Spanish. I am actually inquiring about getting enrolled in Spanish classes in the near future. I do admit that since my elementary and high school years, I am not a familiarized with the various terms like I use to. "Although the advantage of the older learners diminishing after ten months or so, the findings were surprising because they flatly contradict assumed critical period effects". (Ortega. 2011. Pg. 16). Once I familiarize my self with the Spanish language and its content, I would like to utilize it the classroom with my fellow ELL's.
DeleteHi Celester, that would be amazing if you do consider building onto your Spanish language. That will definitely benefit your ELL students. Like Roland mentioned in the text that the type of language learners we are called is sequential multilingualism, where we "start to learn one language first and then learn another later in life" (Roland, 2014, pg. 175). Just like how you want to take Spanish classes, I want to take Vietnamese classes to improve and learn how to write and read so that way I could become a bilingual teacher maybe later in the future after getting settle into teaching for a few years before trying something different. With us taking those extra classes, the goal of ELL students in our mind to help them.
DeleteHello Celester,
ReplyDeleteI loved listening and watching your video! I think it’s incredible you learned two languages additional to knowing English! That’s truly admirable and talent. I guess in a way we are alike in that I’m studying ASL right now and learned Spanish throughout my childhood and high school time. Granted you actually have already learned both the languages, I am still studying and practicing daily to try and become a fluent ASL and Spanish speaker. Thankfully I have both my mom who speaks Spanish and my sister who is an ASL interpreter to help guide and school me along the way. How often do you continue to practice French? According to Ortega, it is important to realize that in SLA the term ‘second’ (or ‘L2’) is often used to mean ‘either a second or a foreign language’ and often ‘both’," (Ortega, 2009, p. 6). Do you consider French and Spanish a second or foreign language or both? And Why?
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print
Hi Jolie,
DeleteIt’s great to meet you again. Thank you for viewing my video. Unfortunately, I haven’t practice my French in years, so many of the content I’ve forgotten. However many phrases and introductions I can still recall. I guess I would consider Spanish and French both a second and foreign language. This is because the language you’re acquiring can be common in ones environment while another language can be foreign and not spoken in that area.
Hi Celester,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is great that you have been exposed to different languages even though you grew up speaking only English. In your video I know you mentioned learning French in school. Do you think that learning a language in a classroom setting is a way to fully understand a foreign language? According to Ortega, the term L2 means " the process of learning additional languages" (Ortega 2009, pg. 5). L2's are typically languages learned after the age of four. Would you consider French as a second language for you? Are you still able to speak French? I believe this class will be a great tool in helping future teachers help their ELL students.
Ortega, L. (2009). Second language acquisition. London: Hodder education.
Hi Almira,
DeleteThank you so much for watching my video. I do think that learning a second language in the classroom is beneficial, but I do not think it is the best way to fully understand a foreign language. According to psychiatrist Norman Doidge, the only way to truly acquire a new language is to immerse yourself in it. He explains that the more you are around a language, the more you begin to pick up that language and forget your native language. I defiantly agree with his statement since i haven't spoke French in several years and forgotten most of the language. With me taking French in high school, I do see it as a foreign language. I think that with the help of this class, I can better help me assist my future ELL students.
Hey Celester ,
ReplyDeleteI really find your blog very interesting . I really loved that statement your wrote " I hope taking this class aids me in understanding my future ESL students and accommodating ways to assist them in their learning ." Well I hope this class teach more about working with students that are label ESL . Right now , I'm currently doing my student teaching at Pilgrim Academy . This school is populated with high number of ESL students . I deal with enormous amount of ESL students on a daily basis . Everyday it seems challenging but I'm getting use to it . I researched some effective strategies online to help me . I hope after taking this course I will be more an effective teacher when working with this type of kids . I saw that you learned how to speak French . What was your motivation for learning French ? According to Ortega , there things can influence a human to acquire new language ( Ortega ,2013 ,pg 9 ) . Do you think learning the vocabulary really help ? I myself took Spanish class , I think vocabulary really has help me learn Spanish better .
Hi Emmanuel,
DeleteI am glad you enjoyed my blog. I guess my motivation for French started around high school. I had a best friend who was from Senegal and spoke a little bit of French. Although she was born in the states, she wanted to learn more about the language and so did I. We ended up taking French classes together and learning bits and pieces of the language. As time went by, she started to speak the language at home while i continued to speak English around my family and back to French in the classroom. I realized that if I was a little more self-motivated to practice my French outside the classroom, I would be more fluent in the language.
Enchanté Celester. I wonder why after two years of instruction you only learned a few sentences. Do you think that your motivation towards the language impacted your learning? Was the methodology not the appropriate one to facilitate instructed learning? This course you will help you understand the factors that play a key role in the learning of a second/foreign language and you will be able to better understand your process and that of your future ELLs.
ReplyDeleteHi Prof. Avellaneda,
DeleteI do think that my motivation for the class really impacted my learning of the language. I can rememeber , back in high school, when I came home I did not continue the material as much as I should have. I simply exchange a few words in French with my family and that was it. I think if I had more determination to truly retain the language, I would be fluent at it. I do think that some parts of the methodology for the course were useful, such as the songs and creative approaches to assignments. However, there were some parts that could have been done differently. I am very optimistic about this course and how it will help in the future.