CUIN 4361 Blog entry 1
Hi everyone! My name is Michelle Nguyen, senior at University of Houston, and I'm planning on becoming a teacher and being certified for 4-8 Mathematics. Here's the link to the video to learn more about myself. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm0oz623q24&t=15s
Hi, Michelle! Thank you for sharing your blog with us. I would say after watching your video that both have similar histories regarding language learning experiences. Similar to you, my first language is also Vietnamese however, because I attended school in the U.S. after immigrating from Vietnam, I started learning English at a very young age. I believe this would make us both simultaneous bilinguals. According to Wright (2015), simultaneous bilingualism mostly applies to "newcomer ELLs who already speak the language or languages of their home country but start to learn English as a new language at school" (p. 5). I learned English in public school but my parents tried to reinforce my Vietnamese through Vietnamese classes my local church offered during Sunday school.
ReplyDeleteHi Thao. Thank you for commenting. I'm happy to know that there is someone else who experience a similar situation that I have. And that you mentioned it, I guess we both are simultaneous bilinguals. I also think it's important to consider on how to help out students who are like us because they are more likely to have a hard time adjusting to a new environment and new languages, and as teachers, we have to help them feel more welcome and more confident in their educations. What do you think would be a good way to help ELL students feel comfortable in their new classroom environment.
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ReplyDeleteMichelle, thank you for sharing your experience and teaching philosophy with us! In your video, I think you brought up many great points on how to set up a successful classroom environment! Your experience is quite similar to mine because although you went to school to practice Vietnamese, my parents placed me in a Mandarin Chinese school during the weekend. As I began speaking English more, my Chinese fluency has slowly diminished. Nonetheless, according to Wright (2015), we both would be considered to know our heritage language. Heritage language refers to students from home where a language other than English is spoken and who speak or at least understand some of that language (p.5).
ReplyDeleteHi Emerald. I agree with you on how we would know our heritage language. We grew up in a place and/or family where a language other than English is spoken to us, and we grew to at least understand some of the language. Our native language shapes us. I may not be fluent in Vietnamese, but I still understand to the point where I can speak some of it to my family. Our native languages are what shapes us. I want my students to understand that no matter who we are, what we speak, and where we came from, they deserve the best education they can get and fulfilled their desired careers.
DeleteMichelle, I think that is a great teaching philosophy! I remember getting made fun of because I was Asian in elementary school. For a while, I was embarrassed and did not like it when other student's pointed it out. However, I think that when we point out our differences and embrace various cultures in our classroom, student's will feel more comfortable. All in all, creating a more comfortable learning environment!
DeleteHello Michelle. I became very intrigued when you mentioned the importance of teachers building positive relationships with their students, especially with English language learners. As you said, some of these students may be new to the country and new to a school where suddenly their language environment might be unfamiliar. According to our text, “Some students from immigrant and minority homes may find the culture of the school vastly different from the culture of their home, and the teacher may be their first contact with English” (Wright, 2015, p. 29). Therefore, teachers need to recognize that the transition ELLS make from their native language to their second language, specifically within the walls of their classroom, depends on how the teacher structures his/her instruction, and the accommodations they implement to move their ELLS to higher levels of English proficiency. In fact, you mention quite a few times that teachers must come up with different strategies to help their students such as having a word wall and using graphic organizers. What other strategies would you like to incorporate, so that your students not only acquire English but the math content?
ReplyDeleteReference:
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Hello Maggie,
DeleteYou make such a valid point on Michelle's video. There is a strong need for positive relationships between teachers and English language learners. As an ELL student I can tell you how much it meant to me that my teacher took the time to acknowledge each of our cultures. I remember having after school festivals that celebrated our different cultures and we were encouraged to take part in them. Having a positive relationship with students creates a strong foundation for teaching them. The teacher has a greater understanding on how to approach the student and can plan according to their needs. Great video and great point!
Hi Maggie. You are right that teachers need to make transitions and understand the ELL student's native language to English Language, specifically on how would teachers develop their strategies and teaching methods to help them out. And I also have to agree with Yerali's comments. Sometimes, teachers can create activities that can bring all cultures together.
DeleteAs for your questions on how would apply strategies for ELL students on math content, I do believe vocabularies are important. Some of the ELL students may struggle with it because they can be confused with the words together and/or they are unfamiliar with them. In that case, we have to make sure that our instructions and objectives are understandable to the students and use the words they are more familiar with. Wordwalls, visual models, and graphic organizers are good examples to use, but I do want to try out something more to improve the strategies.
Oh, there's another thing I forgot to ask you two, Maggie and Yerali. What do you two think would be a most effective strategies that would help ELL students adapt to not only the language skills, but to also content area? Doesn't matter which one, really. I ask this because I know certain strategies can differ depending on which content area you are teaching and it may also depend on the the student's proficiency skills. I know I already mentioned math, which we have wordwalls and models that builds vocabulary, but what about the other content areas? I'm curious to know.
DeleteHi Michelle!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your video because I’ve found similarities between the both of us! My first language was also Vietnamese because I grew up being surrounded by the language at home. Since I started to regularly go to school, I felt more comfortable and chose to speak English rather than Vietnamese. I also went to Vietnamese school to regain back my Vietnamese and also learn more about the Vietnamese culture. “Parents often have idealized notions of what their culture is and should be, and they become dismayed when their children who are growing up in the United States do not fully adopt it.” (pg. 20) I agree with you that teachers should be trained so they could diversely use different strategies to implement in their classroom. Maybe by adding more cultural events, parents would feel more comfortable for their kids to go to school and not be scared that they’re losing their connection with their culture.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Hey Taylor. I'm glad we have a lot of things in common in terms of our culture environment. We are shaped by our own culture as well as grew to adapt to new ones. And as a teacher, I want all my students to be comfortable in a classroom environment, and I do agree with you that adding more cultural events would help both students and parents feel more comfortable about the education district. It would be even more amazing if we can also have the student's peers to collaborate with each other to gain each other's trust and learn to accept each other's opinions.
DeleteGreat entry.
ReplyDeleteHello Michelle
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that you are working to further your language education. I agree with you that we should understand the structure of language first in our teaching, allowing us as teachers to create better lessons and small group instructions to better the education of our students. You mentioned that students can become nervous when faced with learning a new language, I feel that creating a welcoming environment where they feel safe. It is very important that we as teachers stay away from being "Teacher as Evaluators", as Wright puts it. This kind of teacher would only heighten a students nervousness in learning a new language and can lead to doubts. The teacher "... frequently makes judgments based on language behaviors of students that have consequences such as everyday judgments " (Wright, 2015, pg. 29).