Reflection # 9

Discuss the role of emotional language in your L1 and L2. Which language is emotionally richer. As your learners acquire (participate?) in their new speech communities do you see a change in their emotional language behavior. Reflect on the notion of (re)construction of delf in your own L2 or L3 learning experiences.

I feel that I have two emotional languages, in which I can convey my emotions fully. I would have to attribute that to growing up in a bilingual home. Through the years I have attended church services in Spanish, and feel more emotionally connected to expressing religous feelings in Spanish. On the other hand, politically I have always read articles, and journal in English, and feel more comfortable expressing my political views in English. My experience so far has shown me that students do to some extent try to participate emotionally in their second language, but depend on L1 to express fully their feelings. As a bilingual teacher I will try to always take that into consideration, facilitating students to express feelings without hindering language learning. I recall several instances in which friend of mine who were learning Spanish were so intrigued with the language and culture they wanted to be part of. I remember them trying to change their names to sound more Spanish like. I could see a transformation of their self, as they grew closer to the Spanish culture, and its language.

Reflection # 8

I would have to say that a combination of both form-focused, and communicative approaches are appropriate for instruction in the classroom. In reading Study 37 (pg. 174), the students were given the opportunity to use the second language through dialogue, and correct grammatical errors. I thought that the teaching approach was very effective in using both form-focused, and communicative methods to get students engaged. " The researchers concluded that the multiple opportunities for the learners to engage in collaborative talk on the language feature in question led them to greater understanding of their correct use". I feel that the students were able to improve their c0mmunicative competence, and their grammatical understanding through this activities. As discussed in our classroom discussion, it is important that both forms be implemented to some degree, and it is our responsibility to find that balance between the two.

Reflection # 7

I apologize for not making sure that my blog got posted, I thought it got posted last week. I know everyone is dying to know what I think (ha,ha). I think that the affective filter that I have seen prevelant among the students taht I have observed is anxiety. The chidren at times are afraid to make mistakes, which will draw negative feedback from others. I believe that anxiety becomes a factor with older children that are wanting to get postive feedback from their peers. I have also noticed that some children get bored really easily during class instruction. I feel that to a great extent teachers can do much more to keep class instruction more interesting. I think that as an instructor it is important to really understand why individuals are wanting to learn a new language. Some times the teacher beliefs about language learnning do not align with the students motives to learn a second language. If teacher and student beliefs can be understood, affective filters can be minimized in the classroom. I remember that my favorite teachers in school were those who truly took into account each individuals efforts, and made everyone feel validated. I can see that students are propensed to give a more concerted effort in the classroom. In regards to motivation, I think that teachers can have a powerful impact on the motivations that students have about language learning. As teachers we can share with our students all the benefits one can have in learning a new language, both instrinsic and extrinsic achievements.

Reflection # 6

As a translator for the past 5 years, I have had a great deal of opportunities to see how languages can differ in relating information. I remember recently translating for a presentor who only spoke English to a group of individuals who speak Spanish. At times throughout the presentation the speaker would say something that would take me longer to translate due to more word usage. I have found that when translating from English to Spanish that I need to use more words to translate what is being said. I know that I have to really be on top of my game and not skip a beat inorder to not get behind. Often times I find myself not giving literal translations, but trying to give the meaning or ideas being said. I really enjoy being able to give people the oppportunity to understand in their native language what is being said, even though at times it may be difficult. As a future educator I feel that recognizing and celebrating cultures should go beyond the holiday celebration. The way on should go about that can vary, but should be an important priority in our classroom. I would like to each student to share what they like about their culture, and why. I would make a concerted effort that each student learn about another culture through an research project. I would have the children go beyond learning about foods or holidays. I would give students the opportunity to share where there last name came from.

What is CAH and what are the differences between it and CLI? How can some of the concepts talked about in the Chpater (Brown ch 9) be used in the classroom, e.g., error analysis, CLI, Stages of learner language development, fossilization.

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis and Cross linguistic Influence are different in that CAH predicts the interference that is caused between L1 on the target language. On the other hand Cross Linguistic Influence suggest that we accept interference as a learning tool to understand errors, but does not depend on predictability. The concepts of error analysis can be useful in understanding why certain errors occur, and how they can be corrected. Mistakes will be made through the process of learning a first and second language. We as educators must understand the principles of language learning in order not to over correct learners to the point they feel unable to progress. In considering the Form Focused Instruction, I believe that to some extent it is useful in the classroom in helping children understand the true form of the language at hand. I feel that at the appropiate times that feedback is merited in order for the learner to grasp grammatical concepts better. We definately do not want learners to learn incorreclty the language due to not having corrective feedback. I remember working with missionaries in California, and they would apply the corrective feedback that I would offer them. I think that they felt I was trying to help them, and for no other reason. I feel that as educators working with second language learners we must create a comfortable condition for appropiate feedback to be given. Many questions still arise as to how much feedback is appropiate in the classroom inorder not to hinder the communication rendered. I feel it will be a work in progress for every educator to figure out.

I just recently took a brain based seminar in which the presenter clearly stated that our brain are contstantly changing. Having that in mind the Critical Period Hypothesis claims that their is a biological timetable for language aquistion. I was able to serve a Spanish speaking mission in California for two years in which I encountered missionaries learning Spanish for the first time, and achieveing Spanish accents. As the theoriest elude to the fact that hemispheric lateralization dooms for language learning. Scovel proposes that the brain plasticity lets children learn a first and second language with a native accent before lateralization. Moyers and Scovel studies concluded that there could be a critical period on accents, but not on language as a whole. Logically it could be said that an adult should have the capacity to learn a new language far more better or faster that a child. As I remember talking to the missionaries who were learning Spanish they made the same mistakes small children made. That helps me know that language can be aquired after certain neurobiological stages are past.

Reflection # 3-Learning styles

"Seeing is believing", I have always been a visual learner for as long as I can remember. I have always need visual representation of new information. I can also consider myself a kinesthetic learner to some degree, which plays hand in hand with visuals representations. I can make more concrete connections with information by physically performing examples. As far as I can remember I don't recall taking a learning style inventory. As an educator it is important that we know what are the learning styles that exist among our students. I also think that it is important that we try to expose our students to a variety of learning styles. I can recall one occasion in which a parent was not sure to keep their child in a dual language program. Her concern was that they were not learning english fast enough. The model that the school is implementing is a 90/10. Its great that parents want their children to learn english, but it would be more beneficial that their children be bilingually proficient. Often times parents just need to be explained that second language aquistion proficiency is not achieved in a few years. Research shows that language proficiency is achieved in 4 to 7 years. As discussed in our reading there are different motivations for children learning a second language. It would be important to really make a connection with students and their parents to really understand their motivation. For example, the motivation for students to be culturally connected trough their home language.