Second Language Methodology touches on the many concepts, strategies, and experiences to be had as a teacher in today’s growingly diverse society. I have learned that there are many factors that a teacher must consider when planning how to effectively teach, assess, and support English Language Learners in his or her learning.
Students come into our classroom with a wide range of experience, exposure, knowledge and skills. As teachers we need to consider these differences and use them as tools for scaffolding new information that will eventually lead to the learning of English.
Learning about student’s cultures is also a vital part of understanding how to effectively teach a second language. Using a student’s culture in a positive and constructive manner allows for students to feel welcomed, proud, and engaged in the material being put forth. This also means a teacher needs to be aware of cultural differences and make sure lines aren’t crossed to prevent misunderstandings, discrimination, and hostile teaching environments.
I have also learned that English Language Learners are among the most tested students in the American school system. This being said, as a teacher, I need to be able to use these assessments in order to better instruct, plan interventions, assume mastery and weaknesses and provide support to students according to assessment results.
I really felt as though the emphasis on celebrating a student’s culture and using their prior knowledge to integrate and enhance learning was a topic that future teachers need more focus on. From my experience, there is nothing worse than feeling isolated, unappreciated, or “different” from my peers. Seeing more examples of engaging integration of a variety of student cultures would be helpful in preparing for this as a teacher. I do not feel there are any concepts that requires less coverage.
Every course I take brings me some new insight to where I stand when asking the essential question about what kind of teacher I want to be for my students. As a future special education teacher, I am very familiar with the many ways I can differentiate instruction and provide interventions where a weakness lay. However, this course provides a more in depth look at how to differentiate linguistically. It also helps to me integrate the consciousness of how to support my English Language Learning students into my philosophy.
The use of technology in this course was prevalent. Vlogs, although can be time consuming, truly does provide a thorough and collaborative experience—especially when the Vlogs involve interviewing other English Learners and educators. I do feel it made a difference in my learning process since I had to take the material I learned from the text or videos and apply them directly to real life scenarios such as when discussing the type of bilingual program is taking place in one of the ESL classes in my school. I do feel there were some drawback in some of the prompts for the Vlogs. For example, having to plan time out to record a teacher from my field placement to discuss English Language Learners and how to teach them. Since there is little to no time to waste as a teacher it can be challenging to arrange interviews such as the one asked for on Vlog 3.
Ultimately, Second Language Methodology provides teachers with the necessary tools needed to support ELLs and bring them to their highest potential of learning.
Hello Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI like that you mentioned that as teachers we have to see the different cultures in our classroom as something positive and not a hinderance or something that is not important to our teachings. It is mentioned in earlier chapters that Hamayan describes culture as far as music, food, art, and dresses as just “the tip of the iceberg” (pg. 17). Culture has to do with the way people act towards each other linguistically and body language. This can affect how competitive students are, or if they like to collaborate together with others. It also might affect how they problem solve and make sense of the world around them (Wright, pg. 17, 2015). Learning about how broad of a subject culture is something that I will always keep in mind when working with ELL students.
Hello Mayra,
DeleteI completely agree! Fostering acculturation and making sure students' diversity is celebrated is something Wright (2015) mentions profusely. As teachers we can use what we learn about our students to help engage them in learning and adapt their learning styles accordingly. As you mentioned, culture is far deeper than music and food. It goes so deep as roles the students take on in their families, oral communication traditions and things of the like. Being aware of this and taking the time out to learn about student's cultures help create a sense of community among teachers, students, and families.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.