Vlog #2: Interview with Ana Padrón
It was a pleasure interviewing Ana and learning about her language learning experience. She was born in and moved to Canada at the age of 5, where she first began learning English. Ana, along with her parents, completely immersed themselves in the English language, watching television in English, taking English classes and incorporated English into their home lives. It was an English learning journey Ana and her family took together.
Ana credits her rapid English learning to her teachers and her positive parents. She mentioned in her interview that learning in a safe environment allowed her to feel comfortable participating in class and making mistakes. It was through these mistakes that crucial learning was done. Ana felt comfortable enough with her teachers to actively explore new English words and test her speaking skills with her teachers, without fear of judgment for her mistakes. (Wright, 2015, pg.49)
Ana attended 5 elementary schools after movie from Venezuela, one in Canada, two in Georgia and two in Texas. Ana says that while she believes that could have been a negative influence in her learning the English language, she was very lucky to have teachers that took interest in her culture and tried to relate to her in that way. This further helped Ana and her parents form meaningful bonds with her teachers and established a open line of communication between all parties. This also meant her teachers could effectively scaffold Ana’s learning because of the communication between said teacher, Ana’s parents and Ana herself, regarding her past learning. (Wright, 2015, pg. 57)
Hi Vivianne! I found it very interesting to know that your interviewee, Ana, lived in Canada for some years. Since her dad already knew English, I am sure he was a huge help when learning the language. She mentioned that going out to the grocery stores and running errands was also a big help for her. Wright states that, “social activity and knowledge is constructed through interaction and collaboration with others” (p. 57) So, by going out and being exposed to a new language is a way to develop social activity. She stated that she did not learn proper English until she started school which I think is great because that means that the public-school system actually helped her. She attended a total of 5 elementary schools, which to me is crazy, you’re only there for a total of 7 years if you count prekindergarten but I am glad that she had a positive experience in all the schools.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Carina, I thought the exact same thing when I hear Ana had attended 7 elementary schools. I have heard from many teachers and professors that switching school is like losing a year’s worth of material so ya increíble to me that Ana was academically successful and also thrived. I truly credit that to all of the support she had growing up.
DeleteHi Vivianne! I really enjoyed listening to your interview with Ana and her experience moving from Venezuela to Canada and so on. Being so young and moving to all those places really must’ve been tough for her. I’m glad to know that she had really great teachers who took interest in her culture and tried their best to help her learn English. It sounds like all the interaction and communication she received really impacted her language learning experience in a more positive way. Wright explains, “researchers have argued that interaction is essential for SLA to occur, and thus they have studied the way in which speakers modify their speech and their interaction patterns to help learners participate in conversation,” (2015, pg.53). The more an educator tries to interact and relate with their language learners, the more practice their student receives. I believe conversation is a major part of learning a language, because it allows both parties to learn about each other at the same time. It sounds like Ana’s teachers interacted with her so that they could see which areas she needed help with the most. Wright also elaborates that,” all these corrections are made within the natural flow of the conversation,” (2015,pg.53). This makes sense because the student receives immediate attention while talking to their educators rather than waiting to see on paper what they are struggling with the most. It’s great that her teachers really helped scaffold her learning experience and provided as much communication with her as possible. I hope that other educators try their best to do the same with English language learners.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hey Noor! Thanks for your feedback. I know Ana personally and just brought her speech you would have never known that English is her second language but also when she speaks Spanish you would never know she also speaks English. She reads, writes and speak perfectly in both languages which I find so interesting. I think a huge part in that had to do with how encouraging and supportive her teachers were when it came to keeping her native language alive at home and helping her English grow at school.
DeleteHi Vivianne! I feel that because she had such different experiences learning the same language in so many different ways, so much of her education must have been through just regular conversation and interaction with others (Wright, 2015, p.53). In order to have understood the language in the best way possible, jumping from school to school the way that she did must have been hard to maintain that language acquisition. She does not seem to have an accent though, which is amazing. And her understanding of both languages is impressive!
DeleteHello Vivianne! I love how you explored so much of Ana’s past in this interview. It is crazy to me that she experienced five different elementary schools, and in such different areas. I wonder if the different dialects of English that each of those areas affected Ana’s language acquisition abilities. I also like how you noted that her learning was very scaffolded, which is so important in any type of new information being brought into a person’s life, especially so when it comes to language and all of the social interactions that came with the formal education (Wright, 2015, p.57). This was such an interesting interview and experience to be able to share with someone.
ReplyDeleteHey Noor! Thanks for your feedback. I know Ana personally and just brought her speech you would have never known that English is her second language but also when she speaks Spanish you would never know she also speaks English. She reads, writes and speak perfectly in both languages which I find so interesting. I think a huge part in that had to do with how encouraging and supportive her teachers were when it came to keeping her native language alive at home and helping her English grow at school.
DeleteHi Vivianne!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching your interview video with your friend Anna. I really enjoyed that Anna didn’t have to go through learning a second language by herself, that her family was also trying to learn with her. As she was moving around and still having trouble to grasp the English language her teachers were always there to support her on her journey. I liked the part where she said that she had mistakes but with her communication with her teacher helped her to overcome them. Wright also elaborates that,” all these corrections are made within the natural flow of the conversation,” (2015, pg.53). At the end of the day teachers will always be there for the students when they need it the most!
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition
Hi Linda! I thought it was really special that Ana and her family got to experience the journey of learning a new language together also! It made for an easy and fun environment at home for both Ana and her parents. Anas dad had extra practice learning and speaking English at work but her mother really self taught herself English and really looked to ana to help her practice her English while Ana was home from school. I found it really interesting and neat how they maintained both dialects at home and continued to grow in both languages!
DeleteHi Linda and Vivianne!
DeleteI find it so interesting that her family was so eager to learn English as well. It reminds me greatly of my boyfriend's family. His parents moved his older sister and brother around a lot when they were younger and they went to schools around the world, but everyone still learned English. His parents accepted English and watched English TV a lot around the kids and learned as best as they could as adults. His parents learned a lot of English from all of their children as their children attended school, but they were supportive in making sure that their children knew Spanish and English. I find it so amazing that they had such wonderful support systems in their homes who were eager and willing to learn.
Hello, Vivianne. Your friend, Ana, shared that she was born in Venezuela. She moved to Canada at the age of five and has been living in the United States for the past fifteen years. She moved frequently in her childhood and subsequently changed schools. Although her family benefitted from learning English together, Ana did not mention receiving any language support from her elementary schools. It may be presumptuous, but she most likely either experienced submersion or sheltered instruction. “Sheltered instruction refers to grade-level content-area instruction that is provided in English but in a manner that makes it comprehensible to ELLs while promoting their English language development” (Wright, 2015, p. 92). She may have received sheltered instruction, but from how she described her ease with learning English and no mention of language interventions, it is most likely that she was submersed. “Submersion means placing an ELL in a mainstream classroom where there is no ESL instruction, no sheltered instruction, and no PLS” (Wright, 2015, p. 111).
ReplyDelete
DeleteHi Audrey! Thank you for all of your feedback. I think your absolutely right when you say ana experience both sheltered and submersion instruction. The fact that Ana moved around to many different elementary schools meant she had a lot of different experiences when learning English. I think the common factor was that everyone was willing and ready to help her learn English throughout this process.