Blog 4: CUIN 4361 Reflection
Blog 4
I have really enjoyed taking CUIN
4361. This class has taught be so much about working with ESL students in my
future career as an educator. First and
foremost, I have learned how important it is as educator to celebrate these student’s home
culture and native language in the classroom environment instead expecting your
students to blend in with the American culture and relinquish their native
language at school. According to Wright, if a school does not accept a
student’s home culture, language, and values the student is put at a
disadvantage (2015, p.19).
Some ways to incorporate the
diversity of your ELL students are to celebrate their cultural holidays,
allowing them to make connections between their first language and English
using bilingual dictionaries or translators, and having a general understanding
of your student’s diverse cultures such as their body language, behavior, and the similarities and differences between the student’s native language and
English structurally. In addition, it is also important to know about your ELL
student’s educational background and the circumstances of why they had to move
to the U.S. so you can plan your instruction accordingly based on where your
student are academically and to help you understand your ELL students to build
a strong relationship with them. According to Wright, a teacher should also
implement multicultural reading in the classroom to make it more interesting
and motivating for ELL students (2015, p.24).
This course has impacted my
philosophy as an educator by opening my eyes to how many different factors a
teacher needs to consider when creating a lesson plan to make sure to Ell students
get all the accommodation they need in the classroom to be successful. There
are multiple strategies and resources a teacher can implement in the classroom
to make sure their students are able to build their speaking, listening, and
language skills. As an educator, I would want to implement different strategies
like cooperative learning, classroom discussion, and think-pair-share in my
classroom. These strategies will help my
ESL students learn academic content from their peers and develop their proficiency
in oral language development through scaffolding ( Wright, 2015, p. 170). Cooperative learning, think-pair-share, and classroom discussions will
allow my students to learn from each other different ideas and opinions and
communicate in setting that are more relaxing and comfortable for my ELL students ( Wright, 2015, p. 170). Some other collaborative
activities I would want to incorporate in my class are concentric circles, act it out, numbered
heads together, and role-play to help students be active in their learning process.
In addition, I want to implement
technology in my classroom so my student can exercise their speaking skills in a
setting that is more comfortable than speaking in front of the whole class because
they do not feel as pressured. This is a great way that I can assess my student’s
oral language ability. According to Wright, these recording can be utilized to
make further instructional decisions ( 2015, p. 175).
We have discussed many important topics related to second language acquisition in this class.
However, I would have like to have learned more about incorporating ESL's native
language in the classroom especially for other languages beside Spanish. I feel
like they is such diversity of ELL students in schools because immigrants come
from many different countries. I would like to learn more about specific
examples or strategies to connect their first language to English. I also would
have liked to learn more about engaging students in the classroom environment. I
feel like we focused more on engagement in the first second language class.
Hello Nadia!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your awesome reflections! I really enjoyed reading this post. I just wanted to start off and say that I really appreciated what you said about the students culture being highlighted in the classroom. It is very important for students to know that they don't have to assimilate in America, knowing that diversity is the foundation of America. I think that what you were pointing out about students staying true to their home language but also adding a new language is an important idea. In regards to bilingual programs, Wright(2015) states, "The strongest forms are those that help ELLs-and in some instances, English speakers-become fully bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural. Monolingual forms of education, in contrast, are the weakest of all of these programs (p.114)". It is evident that programs who teach the children to become fluent in both their languages is the strongest format but I do understand it may not always be possible. Thank you for sharing!
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
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DeleteI am glad that you strongly believe in creating Bilingual program, where ESL students get to develop both their native language and English. It is important that they see that their native language is just as important as English and that they do not neglect their native language because they feel that learning English is more important to communicate with others.
DeleteAccording to Wright, "monolingual education programs make no use of ELL programs, they aim for social and cultural assimilation of students, and they frequently result in the loss of student's ability to speak in their first language ( 2015, p.114). Like you mentioned our country is a very diverse, rich with people who come from different backgrounds and speak different languages. Their native language is what connects them to their family and other's of the same culture. Therefore, we should aim to establish bilingual rather than monolingual programs in schools.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hey girl, I totally agree, teachers need to know that ELL students will learn the language better and faster when they use their first language in the class for educational purposes. "...schools value linguistic diversity, adopt a language-as-resource orientation, and engage in pluralist discourse by providing opportunities, for ELLs to use and develop their home language skills, alongside English, for academic purpose"(Wright 2015 pg. 22). I also believe that cooperative learning is a great way to go when teaching ELLs. Having them talk to their classmates and interact with others help the ELLs learn English through communication. "ELLs may feel more comfortable speaking with their peers in the small group...(Wright 2015 pg.170).
ReplyDeletereference
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
I have seen how important incorporating a student's native language in the classroom can be. When I observed a fourth grade teacher with a beginner ESL students from China. Her knew only 3 words in English when he started the school year. Now at the end of the school he has improved so much. This teacher made sure to connect the English vocabulary he learned to their Chinese translations. I was able to clearly see the connection he was making with the schemas he's built since he was little and that he was really able comprehend the words in English. In addition, I think this also helped him retain Chinese despite being exposed mostly to English throughout the school day. According to Wright, " harsh consequences befall students when English replaces their home language. Losing proficiency in their home language before attaining proficiency in English, leads to academic difficulties ( 2015, p. 22).
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Incorporating your students’ home culture and native language in the classroom environment is such a great teaching strategy to use. We as teachers can not neglect our students’ culture because that would prove to be very unbeneficial (Wright, 2015). A lot of times we can use students’’ native language to relate to new concepts in their 2nd language. I also really like to see that you plan to incorporate technology into your classroom. In today’s world, everything is moving towards technology, so I’m sure that your students will appreciate you incorporating that into your classroom.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that you support the use student's home culture and native language in the classroom environment. This is definitely a strategy that more teachers should take advantage of because it can be so beneficial to student's learning of their second language. Using their native language can help ESL students make connections to their schemas more readily. In addition, students need to need to understand that just because English is the official language of the school environment, their home language is not any less valuable or important. It is still apart of their identity. According to Wright, "When ESL and content instruction in English pressure students to replace or demote their home language, subtractive bilingualism may occur ( 2015, p. 22).
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Nadia, thank you for sharing your reflection on ELL education and this class with us! As an immigrant to the United States and a former ELL, I agree with your sentiment on getting to know your students and their background, especially ELLs. It is important to know your students cultural and linguistic background, their values, the circumstances in which they are under, etc. In school, I was always responsive to assignments that gave me the opportunity to talk about my culture and traditions. According to Wright (2010), teachers must "be aware of the linguistic diversity in their schools and surrounding communities" in order to "provide effective instruction" for their ELLs (p. 13).
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear from the perspective of an actual ESL student. I may not have been an ESL myself but I do come from a bilingual family whose religion is not considered the norm in the public school system. From my own experience, I feel like students from other cultures feel more apart of the classroom community and welcome if their differences are acknowledged and celebrated by the teacher and their classmates. In addition, I believe that it is important that schools provide bilingual programs that give students the opportunity to develop their native language as well so they can retain fluency in it. According to Wright, "For students ( younger ones in particular) to become highly bilingual and biliterate, they must have opportunities to further develop their home languages at school ( 2015, p. 22).
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi, Nadia! Thank you for your reply. Even though you stated that you were not an ESL student, I feel like your story still applies. I agree with you that all differences should be celebrated-- whether that is cultural differences, linguistic differences, etc. If we teachers allow our students to share their culture and their differences, we would create more tolerant and understanding members of society.
DeleteHi Nadia!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post, I enjoyed your blog post throughout the semester. I agree with the wright quote "Knowing a student’s ethnicity and country of origin, for example, allows the teacher to incorporate appropriate multicultural education strategies and techniques into the curriculum” (p. 17)" I feel that as a future teacher we have so much more duties than just to teach, and learning who , where , and why your student learns and acts the way they do is a big part of it. I enjoy learning about students who have been through their own ELL program and offering critics and information. I can't agree with you enough on the relationship between the students and the teachers , I love how that's one of the biggest thing students got out of this class.
Thank you for this , and I am wishing you the best in your future!
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
I think that it is wonderful that you feel that your job as a teacher is more than just to teach. It is so important to understand our students including how and why they learn or behave a certain way in your classroom. You have to build those strong relationship with your students and be aware of what is going in their lives to be able to provide them the specific accommodations that they need to succeed. " The more the teacher knows about a student's experiences, the more he or she can assume about the expertise that student is likely to have ( Wright, 2015. p. 17)."
DeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Hello Nadia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your reflection with the class. I am glad to know that you learned a lot in the class. I think that a lot of times we focus on solely teaching English that we forget to celebrate other languages and cultures. According to Wright (2015) “(ELLs” academic success depends in large part how the school and the wider society treats them, their language, their culture, their families, and the communities.” (p.19) As future educators we should not forget to celebrate diversity in the classroom and create a welcoming environment for all of our students and their families. It was a pleasure learning with you this semester.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Thank you! I also enjoyed learning with you this semester and reading your blogs. Celebrating our student's differences and cultures can build build respect for other cultures. If students are not allowed a chance to practice their native language while at school all day they can lose their native language. If children lose their native language they have difficulty communicating with parents, carrying their native language to their future generations, and have less job opportunities available to if they held on to their first language ( Wright, 2015).
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