Disruption of English Learner & Context
I decided to report my linguistic case study on a coworker who is learning English. Since I teach at an immersion school with a bilingual elementary program, many of my coworkers are learning English as a second language. I work closely with the second and third grade Spanish teacher and it is my second year working with her. Janet is a female, adult, Columbian native Spanish speaker. She has lived in Georgia near the metro Atlanta area for almost two years. She has the equivalent of a Specialist degree in Education Administration with a degree in marketing. Furthermore, she teaches second and third grade at an immersion school. At home, she has three children from a previous marriage. Two are in …show more content…
79). One component of Lightbown and Spada’s (2013) research I evaluated in my case study was her motivation to learn English. According to Lightbown and Spada (2013) “if learners need to speak the second language in a wide range of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicate value of the second language and are therefore likely to be motivated to acquire proficiency in it” (p. 87). In my conversation with Janet, it was apparent in order for her to obtain opportunities in her career she believes it is essential to acquire proficiency in English. Therefore, Janet has already accomplished a plethora of language skills in …show more content…
It is important to realize the specific needs of Janet, than uses instructional approached and adjustments to target her needs. Janet already has knowledge subconsciously about the vowel correspondence of sounds between Spanish and English. In order to help Janet build phonological awareness, it is essential to fully teach her vowel correspondence first. Beginning Spanish instruction consist of Spanish readers learning their vowels first (Moats, 2008). Next, in Janet’s instruction she will need to recognize how Spanish and English relate and transfer. Due to a high level of correspondence of sounds in the Spanish and English language. For example, Janet’s instruction should include review of phonic elements with positive transfers from Spanish to English. A few of these phonic elements are /l/ spelled l, /g/ spelled g in ga, go, gu, /f/ spelld f and /m/ spelled m (Colorin Colorado, 2007). In addition, capitalizing on the differences between Spanish and English will also assist Janet in learning phonological difference (Colorin Colorado, 2007). The differences Janet would need to recognize consist of learning the Spanish phonic elements with a negative transfer, such as, h is a silent letter, ll is a consonant digraph and v is pronounced /b/. Moreover learning English phonic elements with zero transfer is just as important such as, long
I decided to report my linguistic case study on a coworker who is learning English. Since I teach at an immersion school with a bilingual elementary program, many of my coworkers are learning English as a second language. I work closely with the second and third grade Spanish teacher and it is my second year working with her. Janet is a female, adult, Columbian native Spanish speaker. She has lived in Georgia near the metro Atlanta area for almost two years. She has the equivalent of a Specialist degree in Education Administration with a degree in marketing. Furthermore, she teaches second and third grade at an immersion school. At home, she has three children from a previous marriage. Two are in …show more content…
79). One component of Lightbown and Spada’s (2013) research I evaluated in my case study was her motivation to learn English. According to Lightbown and Spada (2013) “if learners need to speak the second language in a wide range of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicate value of the second language and are therefore likely to be motivated to acquire proficiency in it” (p. 87). In my conversation with Janet, it was apparent in order for her to obtain opportunities in her career she believes it is essential to acquire proficiency in English. Therefore, Janet has already accomplished a plethora of language skills in …show more content…
It is important to realize the specific needs of Janet, than uses instructional approached and adjustments to target her needs. Janet already has knowledge subconsciously about the vowel correspondence of sounds between Spanish and English. In order to help Janet build phonological awareness, it is essential to fully teach her vowel correspondence first. Beginning Spanish instruction consist of Spanish readers learning their vowels first (Moats, 2008). Next, in Janet’s instruction she will need to recognize how Spanish and English relate and transfer. Due to a high level of correspondence of sounds in the Spanish and English language. For example, Janet’s instruction should include review of phonic elements with positive transfers from Spanish to English. A few of these phonic elements are /l/ spelled l, /g/ spelled g in ga, go, gu, /f/ spelld f and /m/ spelled m (Colorin Colorado, 2007). In addition, capitalizing on the differences between Spanish and English will also assist Janet in learning phonological difference (Colorin Colorado, 2007). The differences Janet would need to recognize consist of learning the Spanish phonic elements with a negative transfer, such as, h is a silent letter, ll is a consonant digraph and v is pronounced /b/. Moreover learning English phonic elements with zero transfer is just as important such as, long