Second Language Learning

Well we have just kicked off week 3 of Spanish class. We are only one class in but I can tell I’m going to like this teacher the best.  I say this because as soon as we were in the classroom she talked to us, just talked. We got to know each other and discussed our families, pets, school, jobs, friends, relationships- pretty much where ever the conversation lead us. It felt comfortable and we were having fun while learning instead of getting vocabulary word after vocabulary word thrown at us. That reminded me of many of our (MSU) class discussions about learning environment, relationships and how connections matter.

We have talked a lot in during reflection time as a group about Halliday’s 7 functions of language and language learning, as well as what a student needs to be successful. It is still difficult for me to pin point, which stage I am at, because I feel as if my skills are so situational and they depend on who I’m talking with. For example, at home when my mama tica speaks to me I have to break down what she says word by word and find a way to reply because she does not speak English (we’ve actually gotten pretty good at this), then in Spanish class I feel safe trying to use new vocabulary because I know she will help me with what I’m trying to say but once we leave class and its just MSU students I have zero desire to speak any Spanish because I know I don’t have to, and by the end of the day my brain is usually pretty wiped out.  With all of those things playing a part I would say that I’m some where in between Regulatory and Personal since my vocabulary and confidence is not high enough to rank myself as representational. This has really given me a first hand experience for working with my ESL students, during my internship in Springfield I had 6 students who were getting pulled out for language services. I had no training or idea really on how to help them aside from pictures, pointing, or pairing them with someone. One little boy, Seth, who was Asian and almost nonverbal in class, you could tell he wanted to answer and typically thought he knew the correct answer because he would try so hard to tell However we never knew what he was saying. Even with these language barriers he still managed to communicate and play with the other students and respond to what we wanted him to do. If I could go back to that classroom, I would try to learn at least a few common phrases in his first language so we could build a better connection and make him feel more comfortable. I tried really hard to not just repeat the same thing over Andover when talking to him because I’m aware that if he doesn’t understand the word or phrase the third time he is not going to understand it the sixth time. Some students in our group have had experiences when their teacher would just speak slower and louder at them and it was obvious that it only lead to frustration for both the student and the teacher. That saddens me because it just makes the whole learning process stop and then that dread sets in and no one even wants to go to class.

The amount of Spanish classes we have gone too over these past 2 weeks have been filled with a range of emotions but we have learned so much. For us the overwhelming feeling can end in 4 days, for my (future) ESL student they will have to deal with similar emotions month after month, or even year after year. Being immersed in another language will give me the memories and skills be to a better teacher for my students, for that I am thankful.

Practicing English (numbers) with Carlos and Melanie

A typical day in Spanish class.