Second Language Acquisition

I decided to interview one of the teachers from my school that I am student teaching at: Diane Winborn ES in Katy ISD. Mrs. Guevara received her ESL certification last year, and she is currently teaching third grade ESL students. Like my last interviewee, she is very adverse to video and did not want her face shown. Therefore, I respectfully obliged. Please click here  to watch to the interview. REFLECTION Mrs. Guevara and I touched on two key components of Second Language Methodology in the interview: SLA learning process and SLA teaching. In regards to SLA learning process, it is clear that Mrs. Guevara understands where her students are in their English language learning. In her circumstance, her students are advanced. Therefore, they are able to say things in English correctly including formulating questions. Ortega discusses the stages of English questioning that SLA learners go through. Mrs. Guevara’s students are able to question at the “inversion stage,” which ...

I interviewed my friend, James. He learned English later in life after living in Germany for the first few years of his life. He is extremely adverse to being videoed, so his face is not shown. Please click the link below to watch the interview. Interview Reflection             After interviewing James, it is clear that his linguistic journey is unique. Listening to his journey made me think of what Ortega said: “Sometimes, however, the individuals learning an additional language are still young children when they start acquiring the L2, maybe as young as three or four years old (remember by this age most of the essential pieces of their mother tongue may already be in place)” (Ortega, 2011). James said that he spoke German for his first four years of life. However, I wonder if the “essential pieces of [his] mother tongue” were in place or not. Ortega also says this about early second language acquisition, “Thus, ...

Kaela Bailey Click the link below to learn more about me!  Blog Entry 1