Second Language Learning Essay

As our nation shifts towards a more culturally diverse population both educators and families have to find a common ground to ensure that English Language Learners are academically successful. All stakeholders must carefully consider the social cultural impact on an ELL education. The process of raising bilingual learners take more than a language a school and a language learned at home. The transition must have a purpose and a goal.

Often, immigrant parents will push for their children to learn the official language of the country they live in. These parents claim that their children will be more successful in life if they acquire that second language, because of the pressure of versatility in society. By quickly enforcing second language, the children find themselves taken over by this incoming force. Constant exposure is the most efficient method of learning, but requires an immense amount of time and effort. Due to frequent subjection of practice, the second dialect will outweigh the original, taking its place as the most proficient language a person uses. Most importantly, the learner must have the eagerness within themselves to truly acquire a second language. Non-native speakers can be uncomfortable with residing in a country whose official language is not their primary. Virginia Gonzalez’s and Ana Celia Zentella’s reports analyze Latinos’ standard of living and the possible outcomes of children of immigrant families in an English governed community. Other works such as Aria by Richard Rodriguez reveals advantages from learning English, such as being able to communicate confidently and feeling included. However, the risk of losing the first language outweighs the advantages. The negative effects are often overlooked and unexpected as shown through the scholarly works of Lily Wong Fillmore, Monique Bournot-Trites and Ulrike Tellowitz. As I will argue in the paper, the common notion that learning a

2.2 - Teachers will demonstrate a knowledge of the research and theories behind second language acquisition and how they apply to the

Many popular theories of second language acquisition have been analyzed throughout history. The socialization of L2 learners, their present emotional state that is present at time of acquisition, as well as the comprehensible input and output with the use of scaffolding play a major role in second language acquisition. Let us also not forget the importance of written expression as well as reading comprehension with these L2 learners. Each play a role in language development. However, I believe that in acquiring a language, one must use a variety of techniques that work together to create a balance within the learning environment. Furthermore, all L2 learners learn differently and so a variety of resources will need to be used based on the ability of each student. There are many theories that have been developed by highly qualified experts in the field on linguistics. However, I will address those areas that I agree with as I present my personal theories on second language acquisition.

The amount of young children who are acquiring English as a second or even third language in the early care and education (ECE) setting as well as K-12 public classrooms have amplified across the United States in recent years (Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). These young children that are acquiring two or more languages concurrently, or learning a second language along with refining their native language are considered dual language learners (DLLs) (Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). The number of DLLs has multiplied tremendously and now accounts for 25% of all children living in the United States (p. 40). The Office of Head Start (2011) state that fifty-nine percent of the children enrolled in the Head Start Programs were from racial or ethnic minority families, 37% were Hispanic/Latino and more than 30% were dual language learners (as cited in Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). Unfortunately, starting from the preschool stage and throughout high school, the educational achievements of DLLs tend to

Many popular theories of second language acquisition have been analyzed throughout history. The socialization of L2 learners, their present emotional state that is present at the time of acquisition, as well as the comprehensible input and output with the use of scaffolding play a major role in second language acquisition. Kirsten Hummel states, “The one most effective way to increase L2 competence was by exposure to ‘comprehensible input’.” (Hummel, 2014, p. 73) Let us also not forget the importance of written expression as well as reading comprehension with these L2 learners. Each plays a role in language development. However, I believe that to acquire language one must use a variety of techniques that work together to create a balance within the learning environment. Furthermore, all L2 learners acquire language differently and so using a variety of resources that are based on the ability of each student is neccesary. There are many theories that have been developed by highly qualified experts in the field of linguistics. However, I will address those areas that I agree with as I present my personal theories on second language acquisition.

One-point teachers should be aware of language acquisition is that the child ability to participate in a classroom may be affect because of the lack of communication, must of the time students that are second language learners tend to stay quite and demonstrate lack of understanding. It is important to identify these students to be able to approach and teach them adequately.

Within this paper we will take a brief look at the Language Acquisition Principles and how they work on the behalf of ELL students. We will see how these principles can be applied within our own learning environment. There is much information from Walqui article that gives a brief overview of ELL students and how things looked in the past for these students. Now that times has change we will see how educators can make the requirements for ELL students better and more effective for teacher and students. Hopefully, as we look at ways of changing learning for our ELL students we must remember that every student learns differently. Even if you follow the principles from

English is an international language which is used officially all around the world. Anybody who wants to make connections with the world we live in should learn English. I had English language classes in my secondary and high school years. I also took some private English learning courses throughout summers in my country, Turkey. However, I could not improve my English effectively as all Turkish students in Turkey. I fully agree that English will be learned most efficiently in the boundaries of an English-speaking country not in the home country because of some cases. Therefore, I came here, USA, to learn English better after graduation from my university.

For the purpose of this assignment I chose Feruza, an Eritrean high school graduate. She was born and raised in Eritrea and came to live in Jeddah only five years ago. She studied English in an elementary school in Eritrea and continued studying it in an Eritrean International High School. She is not happy at all with what she has learnt during those years. She explained that during her elementary school years her teachers heavily focused on writing while neglecting speaking. When she continued her learning process here in Jeddah, her high school teachers focused only on speaking but not at the level she was expecting.

“Language is the most pervasive and powerful cultural artefact that humans possess to mediate their connection to the world, to each other, and to themselves” [Lantolf & Thorne 2006:201]. The idea of mediation inherent in this notion of the language is a fundamental element of Sociocultural Theory [SCT], one of the most influential approach to learning and mental development since 1990s’, drawing on its origin from the work of soviet psychologist and semiotist Lev Vygotsky and many others.

* In the educational field, the teaching learning cycle is a model used in contemporary teaching in both school and adult educational settings. Rothery (1996 in Derewianka & Jones 2012, pg 43) who originally developed the model used this to aim at disadvantaged children for teaching literacy and writing in the KLA (Key learning areas) who were from socially disadvantaged areas. Over time the model has been phased across other areas of the English language such as listening, speaking, reading as well as writing. The key involvement of the teacher also known as ‘expert other’ in the teaching learning cycle is guiding the learner to understand key concepts in academic literacy through use of scaffolding strategies to transform students

This portion of the Play Project was done back at Wendell Johnson. We met with Jihan and the teacher aides to discuss what we thought was working well in their classroom, and our suggestions to further facilitate language development. Since the last reflection, our goal was to come up with strategies the teachers could use to continue to promote language development for their children. Me and my other group members tried to attain this goal by providing handouts and examples of strategies that we thought would be helpful for the teachers. We used the acronym FIGS (Fill in the blank, Interactive Play, Gestures, and Speak) to help them remember the strategy. They seemed to respond well to this and thought it was a good way to remember the strategies.

In our everyday lives, the origin of our ability to communicate is usually not often taken into consideration. One doesn't think about how every person has, or rather had at one time, an innate ability to learn a language to total fluency without a conscious effort – a feat that is seen by the scientific community "as one of the many utterly unexplainable mysteries that beset us in our daily lives" (3).. Other such mysteries include our body's ability to pump blood and take in oxygen constantly seemingly without thought, and a new mother's ability to unconsciously raise her body temperature when her infant is placed on her chest. But a child's first language acquisition is different from these

For me, learning a language is a complicated process. It is different from learning other subjects. It involves a lot of practices and follow up. When I talk about my personal experience, I would say that I have a rich experience in learning English as a second language. English was taught to me for ten years starting from grade seven till graduation from university. After graduation, I felt that I should improve my language skills. Therefore, I did a lot of efforts personally to increase my fluency. Until now I still learn the language. Indeed, learning a language takes a lifetime.