Entry 1 Oct 5th First Student
My student is young and full of life in this meeting. She seems excited to play games and learn all
that she can. She is 8 years old and a
native of Mexico. This is her second
year here in the United States, and she seems to be absorbing the language
well. Her parents speak Spanish in the home only. This helps her to keep and grow her native
language skills while learning a new language in school. I have noticed that when she gets excited
trying to explain something she will start speaking in English, but will quickly
go back to Spanish. Sometimes she catches
herself and then laughs because she knows that I do not speak Spanish. This meeting was very basic and she demonstrated
a couple of songs she has learned in class.
She seems to like to sing a lot and is very excitable. Maybe it is just me as I am getting a little
older and my personal children are older, but I feel that she may have a touch
of ADD. After learning about students
and their quietness, she does not fit that norm of an ESL student. I am told she is a fast learner and real
excited about learning anything. Games
with pictures help her with associations to words.
Entry 2 Oct 12th First Student
This is our second meeting and I have noticed a totally
different child. She seems very quiet
and withdrawn. She does not want to talk
or play any games. As I investigate I find
out that she is scared as she is moving to northern Arkansas. Being upset she cannot express herself in
English very well. Friday will be her
last day in class, and then she is going to be placed in a different
school.
Unfortunately, this is common with a low income family that
does not speak the language. Jobs can be
hard to come by, and if the parents are here illegally then moving around would
be even more frequent. The students are
then transferred to a new school and each schools program’s can be different. Plus, each classroom can be in a different
area of their learning. Just a basic transfer for an English student can create
setbacks, so the student that does not speak the language fluently will have
even more difficulties. Luckily, this
student is moving to NW Arkansas so accents of English slang will be similar to
what she has been exposed to here in Little Rock. Then, some schools have better ESL programs
then others. This creates setbacks for
the student to try and follow certain rules as well as making new friends. Friends either in an English student or an
ESL student can make a difference in the student’s learning ability.
Entry 3 10/12/11
1st Meeting
I noticed right off the bat as I met my ESL student that as
he spoke, the grammar was good but he would get quieter as he kept
speaking. The uncertainty of the words
became apparent. This is a college
student who received a scholarship to play sports for the college. He is from Columbia and it has been only a year since he came to
America. He has many obstacles to
overcome. Not only does he have a
language barrier, he also has to keep pace with being a college student along
with all of the distractions. Luckily,
being in the athletic department, they help to keep him on tract with his
studies. The meeting was a real eye
opener to the different obstacles there are for a student who does not speak the language at all, and then they are
handed paperwork in a foreign language to them and not only are they expected
to read the paperwork, but also to write answers in English as well. Motivation and drive is something that has to
be there for success.
Since my student is an older student and was never exposed
to English until he was being recruited for college his language set is already
established in Spanish. The section of
the brain specifically for language set is not there anymore. The brain must
create an area for learning a second language which can make it more difficult
to learn the second language then someone prior to the age of puberty. This does not mean that he cannot learn a new
language; it just means that it is a little harder for him now that he is
older. I do feel that he is going to be
able to overcome this obstacle since he is totally immersed in the English
language and culture. Being totally
immersed in the language helps him as he is constantly exposed to English.
Blog Entry 4 Second Meeting :10/18/11
This is a tutor session for me to help the ESL college
student. As the student works with a
worksheet, I noticed that he had an extra obstacle to overcome. This worksheet and reading assignment dealt
with computers. English is a language
that is hard enough to learn and yet he also has to learn about computers. This is a language in itself. Plus, back in
his home country he did not have a lot of exposure to computers. Many adults that live here in the USA have a
hard time learning computer lingo. He is
motivated to learn the language and the shorthand that comes with texting
people on a cell phone. It seems that
his coaches and a couple of his better
friends try to be patient with him and when they type a text message
they will put the abbreviations along with the words to show him what they are
trying to say. Having a support group
such as this will help him learn the lingo much quicker than if he was to try
and just figure it out by himself.
As we worked through the assignment sheet utilizing pictures
to help explain ideas made things a little easier. We finally came to a word in the computer
lingo that was a little harder to explain and there is no picture to explain
what “spam” is. This word became a
slight challenge. After some time and relating the word to other words he
finally understood that spam was a trash type email.
Entry 5 3rd Meeting Oct 25th
My students sample writing is as follows:
“Why ere we going to te house? My frend is lier. Thy tells
storys. Do not say right things. Not goud friend. Always you makin things up. Crazy.”
Looking at Jon’s writing sample there are many syntax errors
that occur. The first error is when Jon
writes ere instead of are. When Jon
pronounces “are” he is not completely sure of the sounds each vowel makes and
uses the “e” sound instead of an “a” due to the similar phonological sounds
both letters can make. Jon makes this error quite a bit while working on his homework. As I worked with Jon during the last couple
of weeks he has begun to catch this error, but only after it is written
down. Even after changing the spelling
of the word, Jon still pronounces are with the e sound. Phonologically, he has
difficulty with a very common word that is used in many instances of speech and
writing.
Jon has no family here in the United States, and it seems
most of his parental advice comes from his coaches. Family is very important to Jon, and he feels
that his friends do not understand this.
“They talk of things they do not know about.” Jon states. Jon is referring to family being close and
being able to talk to them whenever they want to. He is struggling with these
factors that the people do not understand what he is going through. I believe he has some serious frustrations
that he knows he cannot act upon, but also feels he has no outlet as he has no
family here. His family at home is his
balance that keeps him whole; being as far away as he is communication is
limited with his family. Jon feels he
came from another world and does not understand some of the attitudes toward
him as an athlete. All of these
different things affect the way Jon learns English. Jon has told me that the
only reason he is here is to help his family by getting a good education to
make them proud. His family values
education and are happy he is here to get that education, and I have noticed
that this is the only driving force that seems to keep him here at times.
With Jon’s writing there are many syntactical mistakes. One of his most common mistakes is with
leaving out some words. “My friend is
liar.” Not placing “a” before liar has
been a common mistake. In one of his
homework assignments Jon saw a/an___________ . From a syntax point of view this
confused Jon as to why both of these words were there. We discussed when to use “a” and when /to use
“an”, but Jon seemed to associate this in the form of feminine and masculine
from his native language. I can
understand this due to his native language.
In some ways this may help Jon as he does have something to associate
this new knowledge with. Many times Jon
drifts out of concentration, so anything that I can do to keep his interest or
relate the subject to help him, will be a great benefit to Jon.
Entry 6 4th Meeting Nov 1
A phonological problem that I have noticed in Jon’s writing
is in his verbs. Jon tends to pluralize
verbs at the wrong time. His speaks the
sentence out as he writes it, and many times this leads to this type of
situation. This is part of his growing
knowledge of the language. He is placing
the correct words in the sentences that he speaks, just making simple errors
shows that he is more secure in speaking English. He feels more fluent saying “tells” instead
of “tell”. Being new to the language Jon
does not realize when the language he is saying is wrong. His uncertainty shows when he looks up at me
for assurance. Many times when he
speaks, he his annunciations are more if he is asking a question then making a
statement. He looks for reassurance that
what he says is correct.
As we have progressed over the past few weeks Jon has shown
some signs of improvement. Just having someone around to help him stay focused
with his work is a big plus. Sometimes I
feel I am more of a bouncing board for Jon.
The growth I have noticed is that when Jon speaks, his sentences do not
trail off as much. It seems as though he
is more secure in what he is saying.
Entry 7 5th Meeting Nov 8th
This meeting was quick as Jon did not have any homework that
he needed help with. I noticed he did
not want to really spend the time with me to have a meeting. He seemed to be glad that he has his homework
done so there is no reason to meet with me.
I try to engage him in basic conversation, but his mind is
elsewhere. He asks a couple of simple
questions about spelling a couple of words while texting someone. The text messages come faster than he can
send them out. This frustrates him, as
he is trying to get these messages out, but he is getting faster at sending
messages then when we first met. I believe
when I first met Jon he was still in his quiet mode, but was being forced to
talk as there is no one around to speak to him in his native language. Plus, being an athlete, communication is a
must. This forced Jon to communicate
even when he wanted to just sit quietly and absorb the language. He does seem to be coming out of his quiet
phase and opening up a little more.
Being an athlete also makes him a celebrity a little bit on campus, so more
people want to talk to him as well. All of
these things seem to be helping to open Jon up.
