I was raised in an entirely English-speaking home. My only exposure to learning a second language was two years of high school Spanish classes (between the ages of 16 & 17) and two semesters of college Spanish (between the ages of 18 and 19). Obviously, that has been many years ago. Currently, I do not claim to be proficient in Spanish; nor do I have regular opportunities to converse using it. However, I am able to recognize quite a few words (tenses totally escape me) and speak just enough to communicate if/when the need arises.
In addition, much of my work history includes typing medical documents for more than 20 years by transcribing audio recordings from physicians, many of whom spoke English as a second or even third language. Surprisingly, much of my experience with SLA physician speakers is that they oftentimes cared more about syntax than did physicians who spoke only English. My hope is that by taking this course, I will learn more about how to recognize and address problems my future ELL students may be facing as they endeavor to learn how to both read and write in English.
I hope you enjoy my introductory video!
Una de las mejores cosas de la educación y es que la mayoría de las personas que se dedican a ella son grandes seres humanos y este video da testimonio del gran ser humano que eres. Muchas gracias por compartir tu vida.
ReplyDeleteIt is a privilege to be your professor and I am so happy to see that many students will be so fortunate to have a great teacher who has so much to give and teach. I would like to know more about your language learning and whether you are a bilingual or second language learner of Spanish. Ortega (2010, p. 4) states that SLA is the field that investigates the human capacity to learn languages once the first language has been established and this class will help you understand the process that we have followed to add languages. How was your process with Spanish? What motivation did you have to learn this language? Are your kids bilingual?
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement, Dr. Avellaneda. I am definitely a second language learner of Spanish, and a very rusty one at that. When Dr. Doidge described why it is so difficult for SLL’s to learn another language, I can totally relate. My mother tongue (English) has definitely impeded my recollection of the Spanish I once knew. I was required to take at least two years of a foreign language in order to receive my high school diploma and was motivated to take Spanish because I had several friends who were bilingual. My high school experience with learning Spanish was very forgettable at best. We spent a lot of time conjugating verbs, completing worksheets, learning tenses, and speaking one-word phrases. My college classes experience was much better. My professor encouraged the class to speak conversationally and taught extensive reading, writing and translating from English to Spanish and vice versa. Looking back on that experience I would say that I was probably 50-60% proficient in Spanish. Neither of my children are bilingual, although they have both taken several years of high school and college language classes – my daughter Spanish and my son German and French.
DeleteYour inspiration to teach pretty much stems from mine! I was also inspired by another teacher, and seeing how they were able to touch so many students, I am aiming to do the same! Hearing about your dream of teaching is what every aspiring teacher should have. Your vision truly seems like it will come true. Furthermore, your character is amazing! I like that you strive to be outdoors and focus strongly on your health! It is always good to be outdoors and explore your environment, especially when our textbook mentions that, “Among these, the most important and well-studied sources of universal influence are age, mother tongue, environment and cognition” (Ortega 21). Judging from your video, it already sounds like you will make an amazing teacher in the future! I hope for the best in your future endeavors, and that you are able to achieve the teaching degree you so hope for!
ReplyDeleteDavid, thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my video. It has been a long journey for me toward becoming a teacher. I hope that by taking time to focus on my health and staying active outdoors, I will continue to enjoy good health. I am only a little over one year from graduating with my certification in 4-8 ELA & Reading. After that, my husband and I are hoping to become a teaching team on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. Hopefully, this class will give me more insight into how to understand and teach children who speak various Filipino dialects, including Tagalog. I really do appreciate your well wishes. I wish you the very best in your future as well.
DeleteI was inspired by another teacher, as well. I love how she was very passionate about her subject and how she encouraged questions. I see that your are receiving you certification in ELA. I am currently student teaching in a ELA classroom, and I love it. I admire how you have plans to teach in the Philippines, because it is such a gift to share your knowledge with others. Best wishes to you and your success as a life long educator.
DeleteI think it is great that although you are not fluent in Spanish, you do know enough of the language to get by. Being in Texas where the Hispanic population is so high, I am sure that your knowledge will be useful to your students in the classroom! I also admire your reasons for teaching and helping student with finding themselves.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Emerald! I am really hoping that before I reach the classroom I will have developed a better working knowledge of Spanish. With that said, I am not completely sure whether or not I will be staying in Texas after graduation. It has recently been placed on my husband and mine’s hearts to possibly one-day teach in a small school on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. He is already an educator. Therefore, we are just waiting until I finish school to determine exactly where we will be teaching. Good luck in your future endeavors!
DeleteHey Susie! I really enjoyed watching your video and learning more about you! Although you don't have much exposure to another language, I believe you have the capability to assist your future students who are acquiring English as a second language. You said you have learned some Spanish in high school and college. Those skills learned will definitely help you assist ELL learners, especially Spanish speaking students. I think you will acquire a lot of Spanish as an educator because you will be surrounded by it on a daily basis in your classroom! As Ortega (2013) mentioned, we learn another language from being exposed to it at home, school, and work. I'm actually hoping I can learn more Spanish from my students because I would love to be able to communicate with Spanish speakers and this opportunity will greatly help me learn! You will be a great teacher!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words and encouragement, Farah! I know that I am in no way fluent in Spanish. However, as you mentioned it is possible that I will be able to pick up enough Spanish through my work experience to communicate with students who may be struggling with their English proficiency. If my husband and I stay in Texas after I graduate in the fall of 2018, I will undoubtedly encounter plenty of opportunities to “brush up” on my Spanish-speaking skills. Best of luck to you in your student teaching this semester!
DeleteI think it is very inspiring that you decided to decided to pursue teaching even all these years since dropping out of college. Even though circumstances forced you to work full time to support yourself instead of going to college, years later you still have the dedication to continue your college career. I feel like since ESL students speaking Spanish as their first language has become so prevalent, its great that you have some experience with the language. Going to a private religious school where they only taught Arabic, I was not given an opportunity to learn it. However, I would love to learn it in future to further help me work with ESL students who will be in my classroom.
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