Please read the required readings for this week. Then complete the following sections. Your discussion should be substantial, professional, and insightful.
Summary (5 points) Summarize the major ideas from the reading in a short paragraph (minimum of 200 words).
This week’s chapter discussed the different languages that contribute to the English language and the history of how those languages have influenced other cultures’ language development as well. Over 2000 years of different cultures and their language deposits as they visited different countries can be accounted for as contributing to the English language. Many of the words in the English language are made of parts of Anglo-Saxon, French, and Greek, …show more content…
There is more to the language that we speak than just words, there are meanings to those words, and sometimes multiple meanings to a single word. While I was not learning English as my second language as a child, English was a very complex language for me to learn, as I was plagued with Dyslexia. My vocabulary was stunted, my written expression suffered, and reading between the lines was and is a very difficult and complex task for me to complete. As I aged I learned more about words and their parts and I began to understand more about the English language and how I could use it to express myself and to read wonderful books to escape the everyday life I knew. After gaining more understanding of my first language, I also began to explore a second language, Spanish. I never did grasp much of Spanish, as I thought it was very confusing and the teaching of the language was mostly about the grammar and little about the actual language. In relating this to English language learners, I can imagine just how hard it could be to fully grasp English and communicate in English with others, rather than their native …show more content…
Students are either building on to their knowledge of their first language or, in many cases, learning a second language, such as English language learners. Thus, developing literacy and language in students will be a very important aspect in learning for students in my classroom. With preschool students, my target age group to teach, I will work on developing the ability to recognize words on sight, know the sounds that letters make in the common words, and building the vocabulary knowledge that will help them to communicate in simple to complex ways. This is a time when students learn the meaning of certain words, what they mean when used in specific sentences, and new words that will create a much more vivid vocabulary for students. They will be working hard to build the skills of decoding words and blending sounds so that they can begin reading. Thus, my understanding of the English language and having patience with students as they are learning a complex language will be important factors in their success. If I do not have a better understanding of the English language, I will be unable to teach my students effectively in this