VBlog 3
Hi Guys! Welcome to my Vblog 3!
For todays
interview, I had the honor of interviewing a longtime, childhood friend, Marko
Majdandzic (or Mr. Marko, as his students call him). Mr. Marko is 26 years old, and was born in
Croatia. He and his family migrated to the US when he was only four years old.
In the in the interview Marko talks about how he did not begin learning English
until he was placed in school, and even then he claims to have gotten away with
speaking zero English in pre-K. I found it incredibly strange that he was
allowed to go on for so long without learning to speak English whilst in
school, so I did ask if any of his teachers tried to encourage him to speak
English, to which he basically answered by saying that his teachers basically
allowed him to feel comfortable in the classroom setting without actually
forcing him to try and speak English with his peers. I found this to be
incredibly weird, as we have been learning that we should try to encourage our
ELLs to participate, and speak English.
When asking Mr.
Marko how he felt about motivating his English language learners, he said that
he feels like motivation is incredibly important and a must in order to
encourage his ELLs to learn English. He talks about how one way that he tries
to motivate his students, is by ensuring them that they are all in a safe
environment. Mr. Marko said that he has high standards for his students, and
they all know that they should be respectful to one another. Especially when it
comes to participation in the classroom. He says that every student in his
class knows that is unacceptable to laugh at students when they do not know how
to get a message across, or when they mispronounce certain words or phrases in
class. In fact, Mr. Marko says that it is incredibly encouraged for the Native
English speakers in his class to politely help the ELLs if they desire help. This
also reminded me of “social speech” Ortega (2013) describes social speech as a
positive way of learning an additional language. “In this case, social speech
will also occur (in addition to private speech) if the friends can support each
other and jointly cook the meal, as they other-regulate” (p.220)
I was glad to hear
that a positive classroom climate is encouraged in the classroom, because I
remember how I felt when I was first learning how to speak English, I was
incredibly shy and I never wanted to speak out in front of the students and/ or
teacher, for fear of being laughed at.
Ortega,
L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge
Hello, Holli!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching your interview with your ELA teacher! My ESL students also have difficult learning new vocabulary. Likewise, we also tried to help them with that by using pictures. Visual representations definitely aid with learning and provides students with schemas that they can refer back to. However, students have different learning modalities and it is important that we as educators are able to accommodate that. For example, my sister learned best through texts and structured worksheets. According to Ortega (2013), “most successful learners use a variety of modalities in learning. In this way they can accommodate to the various modes in which incoming information is processed” (p. 437). It’s so interesting that some of her ELLs are able to pick up algebra quick than monolingual students. This proves that we shouldn’t let language barrier limit the students. We should find students’ strengths and advocate it.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hi Minh! Thanks for taking the time to watch my VBlog. I am happy to hear that you and your mentor teacher incorporate visual representations in your classroom to try and help your students. Mr.Marko discussed how implementing visual representations really helps with time management because it allows his students to be able to refer back, and it avoids unnecessary questions that could otherwise be answered by referring back to visuals in the class (such as anchor charts with directions). Like you mentioned, this is also one way of accommodating for different learning modalities, as no one child learns the same. (Ortega, 2013, 207)
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hello, Joanna. I enjoyed watching your interview with Mr. Marko. I find it interesting how he went from Kindergarten to second grade without any exposure to English in regards to an instructional standpoint while in the United States. I would like to commend Mr. Marko for using his own experience as a second language learner as a platform to help others with a similar experience acquire a second language as an ELA teacher. A strategy that stood out to me while watching this interview was the implementation of visual representations in his classroom. This is important for English language learners because it helps them make real-world connections with the content of their language which makes their learning process less anxious (Ortega, 2013, p. 200).
ReplyDeleteHi Ayodele! Thank you for taking the time to watch my Vblog. I completely agree, the implementation of visual representations in Mr.Marko's classroom has deemed great success. In the interview he discussed how he tries to use visual representations as much as possible because he realizes that not only his ELLs benefit from them, but so do his native English speakers. He understands that his students not only differ in their cognitive abilities, but they also differ in the ways that they prefer to put their cognitive abilities to use (learning styles). (Ortega, 2013, p.205)
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hi Joanna! Thank you for sharing your video and the discussion with Mr. Marko. I found the talk you both had interesting. I found it moving how Mr. Marko strives to always have constant motivation in his classroom. I have seen it where that has been no motivation by the teacher in the classroom along with the students in a sense belittling one another. Motivation is what children need to learn. Without motivation, children may not see a point for continuing on trying. As Ortega (2013) states that motivation can explain the reason as to “how much effort people reportedly expand in learning”. (p.169) Often, children only put in a small amount of effort when they are not motivated to do more. That is why as future teachers, we need to make sure to push are students and motivate them in the best way possible.
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge
Hi Caroline! Thanks for taking the time to watch my Vblog. I completely agree, I think that it is amazing how much Mr.Marko cares for his students. He realizes that in order for his ELLs to be successful in their L2, they must be motivated. Ortega (2013) "These exceptional learners shared two features. They had all received considerable amounts of high quality L2 instruction and they all self reported high levels of motivation and concern to sound native-like" (p. 23) For this reason, Mr.Marko encourages a positive climate, where even his students can motivate their ELL peers by not laughing at them, but instead helping them out when they request the help, in return this causes everyone to continue to push themselves.
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hello! I enjoyed watching your interview. I believe that a positive and safe classroom increases students' self-esteem and motivation, especially when learning a second language. I like that Mr. Marko does not accept mocking and ridicule from students and instead encourages an environment of support from all students in the class because as Ortega states, "Support from parents, siblings, peers and teachers creates rewards and reinforcements that may be important in boosting motivation." (Ortega, 2013, Pg. 172.)
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hi JVilleda! Thanks for taking the time to watch my VBlog. I definitely agree with you, I was incredibly pleased to hear from my interview with Marko how he does not tolerate mocking or ridicule from students in his class. I believe that by promoting a safe environment, he allows for a feeling of "enjoyment" that pertains to learning, on the behalf of his ELLs in class, as well as a sense of support from his peers. (Ortega, 2013, p. 170)
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hey Joanna, I agree with Mr. Marko that some bilinguals are shy and that at times they might not grasp as well as their monolingual peers. I like that Mr. Mark gives bilingual students more time and works with them so that they feel included. I also like that he tries to pick up words and phrase so that his students are more comfortable as he was when he was an English Language Learner. I agree with Mr. Marko that it is important to implement visuals to help with the lessons that he is administering, because according to Gass & Selinker, to have differentiation, especially visuals, hands-on activities and saying, it will potentially help guide the lesson and allow it to be more successful (Gass & Selinker, 2008). I also agree with his reason for motivation, because according to Ortega, motivation is important for ELL to grasp the English language (Ortega, 2013). I like that he encourages a safe environment for all his students so that no one gets laughed at. I like how Mr. Marko said that he encourages ELL student to help each other ELL’s if they do not understand a phrase or word that he said.
ReplyDeleteGass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Mona! Thanks for taking the time to watch my VBlog. I agree, I was incredibly interested to hear from my friend Mr.Marko, that he likes to try and pick up some words and phrases from his students in order to make his students feel more comfortable. Not only does this allow for his ELLs to feel more comfortable, but I believe that it also shows a general interest in the "foreign" language, and favorable attitudes. (Ortega, 2013, p. 171)
DeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hello, Mona!
DeleteTo add onto the list of strategies that you’ve mentioned, I want to add cooperative learning. This is where students get to learn and socialize at the same time (especially for those who like to talk). This roundtable activity forces students to cooperate and work on assignment together. For students who are not understanding the lesson, they can gain help from their peers. They get to express different ideals and bond with each other. This is especially beneficial for ELLs because they might feel more comfortable speaking with their peers in small group rather than being called out in front the class (Ortega, 2013). However, it can get chaotic and some students talk a lot more than the other. Teachers should definitely be circulating and monitoring students.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hello, Joanna!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your interview with your teacher! I also found it so strange that he was not forced to speak English when he was little, and the teacher didn’t encourage him to! I understand that the teacher might want him to feel comfortable, but I’m a big believer of taking risks and step out of comfort zone because that is when we learn. When I first came to the United States, I attended an all-white school, so I didn’t have any friends that spoke my language. I was forced to speak English, and it what helped me learn the language. I believe that social interaction is key in helping students learn English. I’m glad that he also believes in creating a safe and positive environment to aid in this process. According to researches, however, “positive positive attitudes and plentiful input and interaction, while important, were not sufficient to guarantee successful grammatical acquisition (Ortega, 2013, p. 62). I think students also need that structured learning with explicit instructions and visual aid.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hey Joanna! I really enjoyed your interview with Mr. Marko. I found value in Mr. Marko’s high standards for his students when it comes to participation in the classroom. In regards to describing social speech as a positive way of learning, Ortega too, references, self- regulated (operations); they are capable of carrying out an activity largely independently. Through social activity, newcomers gain not only language knowledge but also acceptability in a given community/classroom. (pp. 220).
ReplyDelete