Reflection Paper On Second Language Learners

In most cases, some people think that it is not important for them that several languages die out every year because they believe that if there are fewer languages in the world that means they need not to learn so many languages at all and their life will be easier to have a communication with foreign people. While others do not think so, which sound reasonable but ironical based on the fickle situation in society and history. Because for me, despite the adventure of being entitled as ‘absolutist’, I will consistently support that it is significant to prevent the truth that several languages die out every year.

Many second language acquisition theories have been developed over the years. These theories examine the avenues in which second language is acquired and the avenues in which they are learned. The avenue of socialization is crucial in learning a second language. When natural conversations occur with native and non-native speakers, a natural

Speaking a second language can prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s. Being bilingual can improve someone’s skills and brain function. It can also increase your brain size and connectivity. If someone knows more than one language it can help protect their brain against aging and it can help if a second language is learned at a young age. Learning a second language can help people in many ways but the most important thing for people to learn a language is to better their health.

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

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

My seminar provided an overview of chapter 4- explaining second language learning. During my introduction, key points from each of the 5 perspectives were discussed. The cognitive perspective was given priority as it contained many subcategories within itself. This section also allowed my group mates to connect theory and practice of second language learning. My group mates were able to connect to the noticing hypothesis, processability theory and the three principles of practice through their own personal experiences while learning a second language. The first discussion question asked my group members to evaluate their own understanding of how language learning occurs and compare it with the perspectives we covered. The second discussion question provided them a chance to assess each perspective and think of one weakness and one strength for each. Overall if I were to re-do my seminar, I would like to provide more attention to the other perspectives. I would add more discussion questions in order to stimulate more in-depth discussions. Similarly, adding supplemental information from an outside source to further discussion and connect the theories to pedagogy. Additionally, I would create an activity that focused more on teaching of a second language and how these theories have influenced the current practices used.

For those languages which have no written form, when the language dies off, so does the accumulated knowledge and history of the culture. Sadly, indigenous languages around the world are dying off at an alarming rate. It is estimated that nearly half of the languages spoken today are likely to die off within the next century if steps are not taken to preserve those which still exist.

According to Paterson and Rentein ancient languages to mankind as it is the way history is trying to communicate with the future; also it grants us with the source of the origins from where languages embark on. There are various research carried out every year for the extinction of different languages from different part of the world which usually giving us a big number of extinct languages. The effect of this can be clearly seen on the academic clique which is a major topic of argument these days, but on the other hand some argues that it’s a natural thing is happening as we move forward in life. All individual are known for the language he or she speaks that represents individual from which region, which state or which country he belongs to therefore loss of a language will lead to identity crisis of the speaker. With the loss of academic knowledge there is also a loss of culture; different communities have different culture which is passed to the next generation majorly through their native languages so with the loss of languages there is loss of history, traditional songs and poetry. All kind of forms which are reliant on the language

Approximately 7,000 languages exist in the world today. Scientistsestimate that by the year 2100, only 200 languages will remain. Languagescan go extinct for a variety of reasons. In the modern world, lesser knownlanguages are often overtaken by more dominant languages. Other languagesare spoken by such few people, they simply go extinct once the remainingindividuals are no longer living. Languages can only survive if peopledocument them and continue to speak them. In a world where 85 of the global population speak one or more of only100 languages, it is often surprising to learn that thousands of languagesexist in the world. Many of these languages are found in indigenouspopulations. Approximately, 400 Native American languages existed beforethe

Introduction/background information: Susanna Chao is fourteen years old, of Asian ethnicity, English is her second language but she does not require any English Language Learners Programs. She did attend preschool at ages three and four. Susanna’s home life seems stable. However, it is not that of a typical living situation. She lives in an apartment with her mother and grandmother. She has two younger siblings, a sister and a brother. Susanna has attended several different schools in her life, primarily elementary schools. According to past teacher comments and grade reports, her grades have suffered due to tardiness, absences, and lack of engagement in subjects that don’t peak her interest. She has, however, improved her grades in reading, language arts, science, technology, and social science. Her teachers in extracurricular classes comment about her being a joy to their class, and being eager to learn from them.

Over the years, many schools have grown increasingly with diversity. As teachers, we must be aware of the many different students we will have in the classroom. This means that all our students will learn at different rates, take in new information differently, and overall have a different perspective on certain topics. With so much diversity in the school system, education policies for students who are English Language Learners (ELL) have greatly emerged. Many individuals move to the United States for better opportunities or to ensure their children obtain an education. With such a growing number of people entering the United States each day, emerging laws and cases must aim to support English Language Learners to ensure a fair and equal education for everyone.

A language is considered an endangered language when it is expected to become an extinct language in the very near future. When a language becomes extinct, it means that there are no more native speakers of the language, or there are no remaining people of whom it is their first language. According to recent studies there are approximately over five thousand existing languages in the world. It’s estimated by linguists that the number of languages in the world may decrease by more than fifty percent in the next hundred years (Woodbury). Many language communities make efforts to preserve and revitalize their languages that are on the brink of extinction.

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

Acquiring and learning a second language do not refer only to handling oral communication skills. It is more than that; it takes the students´ abilities in enhancing their lexicon, their management in syntax, and their perspective about words´ influences in people. Thus, summing this up, it is indispensable that ESL students have a grand deal about linguistic knowledge. In other words, ESL learners not only require speaking, but also reading, writing and thinking in English when they complete whatever English career.

Vocabulary plays a significant role in English as second language learning process. For the majority of English as Second Language(ESL) learners, the ultimate goal of learning the language is to understand (read and listen) and communicate (write and speak) with little difficulty and the lack of sufficient vocabulary may be the constraint of such goal (Folse, 2004). As the bedrock of English and as well as language, vocabulary also facilitates the development of other language skills: lexical richness leads to the progress in the use of language, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing skills (Nation, 1994). Reversely, The improvement in such skills may enhance learners vocabulary size as the exposure to more learning materials improves the capacity to acquire new vocabulary. (The importance of learning vocabulary/ why vocabulary?)