¡Bienvenidos! Greetings!
Click here to watch my video.
As stated in my video, the first language that I learned was Spanish. Ortega (2013, p. 8) mentioned that “the age of onset of acquisition, or how early or late in life one should start to learn an additional language after the mother language” was hotly debated by parents, and I saw this happen firsthand with my own parents. I took bilingual classes for most of my elementary school years in which I learned English alongside Spanish. However, my younger sister took purely monolingual English classes for most of those early years. Because of this difference, she has a stronger foundation in her second language both compared to my second language foundation and compared to her first language which is also Spanish.
With this being said, although Spanish is my first language, it is not the language that I am most fluent in. I find this interesting about myself considering that Ortega mentions that “as children grow older and their life circumstances diversify, different adolescents and adults will embark on different kinds of literacy practice and use language for widely differing needs” (2013, p. 4). Personally, as I became more involved in academics, my need to speak English would increase while my need to speak Spanish would decrease, which could explain the difference in language proficiencies. To further elaborate, after elementary school I took two year round Spanish courses for native speakers but the rest of my classes were in English. Thus, I would have an abundance of practice in the English language which in turn made it stronger, while it made my proficiency in Spanish weaker. In order to practice my Spanish more often, as I only speak it at home, I try to make yearly visits to Mexico to see my family. By being in an environment that “forces me” to speak the language, I am more motivated to use it continually and learn new phrases that I may have missed out on in my early years.
References:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey there, Yazmin! Upon reading your post there is so much I can relate with you. For starters, I too witnessed my parents debate on when it was a good time to officially start learning my L2, English. To my parents, it was a big decision on when to take me out of bilingual classes. This being said, I was in bilingual until 4th grade, where my parents thought would be a good year to focus only on English. In chapter one, Ortega mentions how there are a “number of universal influences that help shape the nature, pace, route and finish line in the path towards learning a second language” (Ortega, 2013, p. 9). I believe that for both of us our parents and our school systems were a major influence in us “finishing” the route in learning English. In other words, if it was not for them, or for our schools offering bilingual classes we wouldn’t be at the comfort level that we have in English today. So much so, that we tend to be more comfortable in our L2 now, rather than our native L1. I also believe this has to deal with our environment being solely in English. We live in this country where it is said we don’t have an official language, but yet everyone is expected to know and speak English. This too could be considered another universal influence that Ortega mentions in the textbook. After seeing blogs form other classmates, it is apparent that this is a similar outcome to those who come from Spanish speaking households.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi, Alexander! You made some keen observations regarding major influences in how we learned English. You pointed out that one of the possible reasons we are more comfortable in our L2, English, is because the environment in which we grew up in was only comprised of the English language. I believe that is what Gass (2013) referred to as second language acquisition, in which “the learning of a non native language [occurs] in the environment in which that language is spoken” (p. 7). However, it can be difficult to put such a strict label on that learning, considering that “heritage language learners have knowledge of two languages (the home language and the language of the environment/ school), and they are usually dominant in the second language” (Gass, 2013, p. 23). Regardless of what label best fits our acquisition of another language, we are not monolingual and that is without doubt.
DeleteReferences:
Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Hi Yazmin! I find your experience very intriguing. The fact that Spanish is your first language, but because of your experiences growing up, you became more fluent in English. However, I think it is great that you make the effort to try to speak in Spanish as much as possible. Also, it seems as though you embody the student who learned her second language through a mixture of both naturalistic and instructed experiences, since you learned Spanish both through the interactions of family members as well as through the courses you took in junior high (Ortega, 6).
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2015). Understanding second language acquisition. Place of publication not identified: Routledge.
Hi Aleena! Thank you for your input. I think one of the reasons that my English is more advanced than my Spanish, besides receiving more instruction in that language, is that it did not receive the time it needed to fully develop. Ortega (2011) states that “children acquiring their first language complete the feat within a biological window of four to six years of age” (p.12). However, during that time frame, I took bilingual classes and was learning two languages simultaneously. In other words, I was learning two languages at once rather than acquiring them one at a time, and that may have slowed down my advancement in my first language.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hi Yazmin! I am glad that we will be sharing another class this semester as you always have great insights! You bring up some interesting points of Ortega's, specifically, the idea that language is not a one-size-fits-all, but rather a tool people use for their own needs (2013). Would you say that, as future teachers, we should be creating a singular need for language, or should we let students have free reign in terms of second-language acquisition? Personally, I believe it might be better to have students cultivate a universal need for a specific language, however, I suppose it might not be necessary so much as an opportunity we can provide.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ila! I would like to begin by saying that I am not quite sure I understand your question, but I will do my best to answer accordingly. As future teachers, I believe we should be advocates of having our students be bilinguals or multilinguals. Seeing as “bilinguals, living in a world of regular language monitoring, often show greater sensitivity to the communicative needs of others,” (Gass, 2013, p. 28) this can help our students not only communicate with a wider range of people, but can also teach them to be understanding of the difficulties certain people face due to language. In other words, our students should know more than one language in order to benefit not just themselves, but others as well, through their own actions and understanding. Also, I understand your stance on the “universal need for a specific language,” however, I personally do not agree. Gass mentioned that “fossilized or stabilized interlanguages exist no matter what learners do in terms of further exposure to the TL,” (2013, p. 14) meaning that eventually students would plateau and not reach their full potential.
DeleteReferences:
Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Gass definitely makes a good point when it comes to diversifying our student population (2013). And sorry about the awkward wording! I agree with you, learning more than one language will certainly help our students become more well-rounded people. And I can see your point about students lacking the drive or ability to reach newer heights due to language constraints. I only meant that we should help to teach students at least one language that they can use in any situation - though that is far too unrealistic. It was more of a hope than n actual idea, seeing as there is no such thing as "Earthian", the language of people from Earth. Ha ha. If there was, I doubt there would be so many easily defused conflicts as language barriers would be virtually nonexistent.
DeleteHi Yazmin,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy watching your video and reading your blog. It is great for you that you can speak both English and Spanish. As you learn English as the second language from school and spend your majority of time speaking English outside of home similar to what Ortega stated that most people learn additional languages from a mixture of both naturalistic and instructed experiences (p.6). I think it is good and helpful to improve your Spanish when you use Spanish to communicate with your family members and others. This way may help you improve your Spanish more fluently in the future.
References:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Yazmin! I find it interesting that you pointed out that your practice of the English language made your English stronger and your Spanish weaker. I too have experienced this in my language skills. While I learned Spanish alongside learning English, not using Spanish regularly makes it difficult to keep up the language. Especially when the dominant language around you is English. Gass and Selinker would describe this type of bilingualism as “recessive bilingual” which is “someone who begins to feel some difficulty in either understanding or expressing him or herself with ease, due to lack of use (Gass & Selinker, p. 28).”
ReplyDelete