Interviewer: Jenny Tran (self)
Interviewee: Mrs. Hernandez
Interview Questions:
1)
What age were you when you began learning
English?
2)
Were you taught instructionally, or naturally? (If
instructional, how often were you taught the language? Hours/days a week?; If
naturally, in what ways did you learn – tv, social gatherings, work, etc. and
how often were you exposed to the language daily?)
3)
How long did it take you to learn the English language
proficiently?
4)
Do you think it would have been easier to learn
at a younger age or an older age?
5)
Did your knowledge of the Spanish language help
you when you started to learn English?
6)
Do you speak English or Spanish at home?
Reflection:
In this
interview, Mrs. Hernandez speaks about how she learned the English language. When
she was taught instructionally (in her elementary years), she was taught very
basic grammar and vocabulary. These classes hardly focused on oral delivery, or
conversation that was authentic. From the Second Language Methodology class, I
can derive from this information that she learned through the Grammar
Translation Method (Brown & Lee, 2015, pg. 18). She explained that once she
had stopped her English studies, she hadn’t spoken the language again until
after college. She had lost all of the language, and had to start again from
scratch. She then learned instructionally for about 10 months, and continued to
further her education on her own by studying in her spare time. It took her
about 5 years to fully grasp the language in all contexts, and on an
intellectual level. I asked her opinion on learning at a younger age versus an
older age, and she responded younger was easier. She explained it is easier
because children absorb the language much quicker and they are not shy to
express, to communicate and to make mistakes. I agree with her statement and I
also support it in that I think children do learn faster because their minds
act as sponges and they absorb everything. This period of time in adolescence
is known as the critical period in
which “the brain exhibits a special propensity to attend to certain experiences
in the environment (for example, language) and learn from them (Ortega, 2013,
pg. 12). When I asked her if her first language (L1 – Spanish) had helped her
learn the second language (L2 – English), she responded yes because the foundation
she had in Spanish made it easier for her to transfer from one language to the
next. I mentioned the negations and how in English, it comes before the verb,
but in Spanish it is the opposite. I asked if this confused her, or if it was
difficult when transferring languages, but she responded no. She went on to
explain that compacting her sentences in English was the hardest thing because
in Spanish, sentences are very long and descriptive; on the other hand, in
English, sentences are very short and to the point with only 1 or 2 adjectives.
Based on her statement, she matched the studies found in which there were no
certain differences in language that supported learning difficulties based on a
symmetrical or bidirectional quality (Ortega, 2013, pg. 32). I found it very
interesting that it took her some time to slow down her speech in English
because as of now, her English is great and she has such a vast vocabulary for
one having learned the L2 so late in her life. I think this is a great example
of an exceptionally successful late L2 learner.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny,
I really liked your video and how you interviewed a teacher. I found it interesting that your teacher had to stop learning English for a period and then picked it back up. The fact that she felt like she had to start from the beginning when relearning English was probably because she was not truly immersed in the environment so it made it even more harder. According to the video titled Why is Learning a New Language Harder After Childhood, a person is can learn L2 better if they are in true immersion. This means that people are exposed to this language on a regular/daily basis. This was shown when Ortega (2013), brought up Julie and how she moved to Egypt and learned the language because she was exposed to it everyday. Since your teacher left that environment she was not exposed to English anymore so that brought down everything she learned. Do you think your teacher could have still learned English even if she wasn’t in that environment anymore? Overall, great video!
Hi Axa,
DeleteI also found it interesting that my teacher had such a big gap in her English language learning. I think although she felt it was harder to relearn when she was older, I do believe she was totally immersed in the language during this time. She had moved to the states, and was seeking her degree in Education. She knew that she had to learn how to speak the language for her professional career, as well as her new social life in the states. According to her interview, I would say she learned through a mix of naturalistic and instructional manner. I would say it was naturalistic because she learned "through informal opportunities in multicultural neighbourhoods, schools and workplaces." I would say it was somewhat instructional because she taught herself, rather than via a formal study in school; but nonetheless, she did instruct herself formally and didn't just rely on naturalistic ways (Ortega, 2013, pg. 6).
Hello Jenny,
ReplyDeleteYour interview with Mrs. Hernandez was very interesting. The first thing that stood out to me about this video was that she had a pretty obvious accent that told me her native language was Spanish, however she spoke very well in English and her accent did not take away from my understanding of her speech. I also found it very interesting that she had learned some English growing up, and lost the language once she got older. She did not consider herself to actually learn English after college. It was not until she came to the United States and took English classes. Even after taking her classes it took extra self-teaching and practice on her part. Although she learned enough English to be hired as a teacher, it took her a few years still to feel fully comfortable with the language. According to Ortega (pg. 17, 2013), adults start with an advantage in learning by using cognitive strategies to learn the language however, children always catch up and surpass the adult learners in skills and ultimate attainment. Mrs. Hernandez agrees that if she would have learned as a child she would have caught on much quicker instead of taking years and years to finally feel comfortable using the language. I also consider her to be a successful second language learner like Laura from Ortega (pg. 15, 2013) who learned to speak Arabic by instruction rather than naturalistic, and she also taught the language of basic Arabic which allowed her to acquire the language as well as a native speaker. Mrs. Hernandez was able to do so by becoming a teacher in English. Do you think that had Mrs. Hernandez learned English without being immersed in the language through her career, would she still have been able to gain a full and deep understanding?
Hi Amber,
DeleteI also agree with you that although her Spanish accent is apparent, her English language and vocabulary is quite excellent! To answer your question about whether or not Mrs. Hernandez would have been able to learn English so well if she had not been completely immersed in the language, I would say no. I think that through her career, she fully motivated herself to learn the language and this probably would not have been the case had it not been mandatory for her job. She could have learned enough English to get by, but not to fully gain a deep understanding for the language. It is said in the book, Understanding Second Language Acquisition, that there “may be a ceiling to L2 learning, in the sense that it may be impossible to develop levels of L2 competence that are isomorphic to the competence all humans possess in their own mother tongue” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 12). I disagree with this idea because Mrs. Hernandez truly grasps and understands the language and there is not a word or phrase I have spoken to her that she has not understood. I do not think she has any difficulties or incompetence in the English language.
Hey Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI am really surprised at how late Mrs. Hernandez learned English. She came to the U.S. when she was 27 and learned English from classes. From the videos we watched about transfer of languages. Mrs. Hernandez speaks about how her first language helped her transfer her language and try to translate what she already knew into English. This is very common in a lot of languages and how we would try to translate another language the only way we would know how. The phonetics of how English and Spanish sounds and the pronunciation is clearly evident in the accent that I noticed from Mrs. Hernandez. The sounds produced by English and Spanish are difficult for L2 learners because it is something that is part of the English grammar Ortega (2013).
Hi Joseph,
DeleteI was also surprised at how late Mrs. Hernandez learned the English language because I interact with her every day, and her English is so superb! Mrs. Hernandez was able to transfer her Spanish language into the English language because she was able to make an interlingual identification which is defined as, “the judgment that something in the native language and something in the target language are similar” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 33). Being a bilingual speaker myself who learned English as a second language, I totally relate to this topic of the transfer of languages! Thanks for watching!
Joseph,
DeleteI appreciate that you brought up the videos. I think that Mrs. Hernandez is an exemplary example of how this concept works. She had to take what she knew from her L1 and try to apply to English in the best way she knew how. I feel that transferring Spanish to English would be more difficult than English to Spanish since so many words in the English language don’t always follow our phonetic systems. We have homographs that are spelled the same way but have multiple definitions. I am always saying in my 4th grade writing class, “English is hard because a lot of what is correct comes from ‘Does that sound right?’” This kind of language is always going to be more difficult to acquire.
Hi Jenny. I identify a bit with your interviewee’s elementary education in learning English with how I learnt Spanish in school. It was the basic cramming of verbs and tenses in every class, every semester, with little focus on the oral components. I certainly agree that younger children are able to gasp a new language fast. I was also a bit concerned with my English and Spanish classes in terms of negations being confusing. Ortega (2011) points out that it is apparent that sometimes-certain L1-L2 similarities do not seem to help, as in the case of negations. However, I like that she found no learning difficulties in learning her different languages. With all of this in mind, I see that she is an exceptional L2 learner. Great post.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
DeleteI also identify with you and Mrs. Hernandez as well with the method of which we were taught a second language. It was through the grammar translation method, in which the instruction was mainly focused on grammar and vocabulary, with very little focus on oral components such as authentic conversation. I think that although we all agree that learning a new language at a younger age is best, it is apparent that there are cases in which late learners are successful. This was the case for Julie and Laura, and also Mrs. Hernandez. It is said that, “they account for as much as 5 percent to 25 percent of best-scenario learning cases” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 28).
Hello Keyerra,
ReplyDeleteI think so many other classmates also agree with you (and myself) that it is so surprising how fluent Mrs. Hernandez is even after learning at such a late age in life! I think given the fact that she was not completely immersed in the language, nor did she have to use it on the daily, was the reason why she lost the language. I agree that she was able to learn the language so well and quickly because she was in constant full formal and informal interactions with parents of students, peers, colleagues, friends, and so on and so forth. I also think that it was because she was so highly motivated and also enjoyed high-quality instructional experiences (Ortega, 2013, pg. 28).
Hey Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI really like the questions you asked during your interview. Your questions really helped me see and determine exactly how the person you interviewed learned their language. I also like the point that you made about learning the L2 and speaking. Stating that speaking the L2 and communicating will make learning the language a lot easier. Great post.