Entry 2: Interview with Nicole and Reflection
Video Link: https://youtu.be/rYs-ei_d-1g
For this video
blog, I had the privilege of interviewing a family friend, Nicole LeClaire. She
is a bilingual from El Paso, first learning English, then learning Spanish in
grade school. I think Nicole’s story is very interesting, as she is the only
bilingual in her family. It was due to her parents constant moving from being
in the military, that prevented any of her siblings from being schooled in a
dual language community that Nicole had the benefit of experiencing.
While interviewing
Nicole, I asked if the age she was taught Spanish, she thought affected how
well she learned, and retained the information. She believed that due to
learning this second language at an early age, she was able to grasp that
language the same way she was able to learn English. Something that she said
that stuck with me was, “It is easier to be bilingual, rather than becoming
bilingual”. Ortega also stated that it is much easier to learn, or start
learning a language in early childhood, because after the age of nine the brain
loses its plasticity (Ortega 2013, pg.12) This means our brains are no longer
like sponges that can absorb and retain information easily.
I also asked
Nicole if she felt uncomfortably, or did not use specific words or phrases in Spanish.
While she did not say there were any words in particular, but that she was just
uncomfortable speaking the language in general. She said that because she does
not use the language every day like she use to back home in El Paso, it is
harder for her to follow in a conversation, and is not as quick with her responses.
According to Gass and Selinker, this would qualify Nicole as a “recessive
bilingual” (Gass and Selinker 2013, pg.28). Due to her lack of use, she is no
longer comfortable speaking in her second language. That just proves the life-long
lesson of, “use it or lose it”.
References:
Gass, S., Selinker, L. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Haylee! I am wondering if maybe Nicole thinks in English and that is part of why it is difficult for her to follow conversations and struggles to respond quickly in Spanish? According to Ortega it is called thinking for speaking “The fact that languages offer specific sets of resources to frame meaning, or to schematize experience, and speakers are known to be constrained by such language specific ways when they are putting their thoughts into motion” (Ortega, pg.47, 2013). This basically means that it is easier to think in the first language, in this case English, as opposed to thinking in the second language.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Samantha, yes I do believe that this is the process Nicole does when speaking in Spanish. She hears the words in Spanish, and then mentally translates them into English. Like you mentioned, Ortega talks about this idea of “thinking of speaking”. He also states that this process of transferring information from L1 to L2 is very slow (Ortega 2013, pg. 47). I believe it is because of this, that makes Nicole hesitant to speak in Spanish. Compared to when she is reading and writing in Spanish where she can take her time, speaking is more fast paced and it is a little more difficult to keep up.
DeleteReference:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Haylee! Nicole's situation is very unique, and I think it's awesome that she was able to have to opportunity to learn a second language. I agree with your statement about Nicole being qualified as a "recessive" bilingual. But I can't help but think about how she could have retained the language better if it wasn't even being used at home. It's easy to say "I'll practice on my own", but I feel as though that is a much different experience than being able to converse with someone in the language. Nicole also mentioned that grammar tends to be most difficult when it comes to English and Spanish, because the two do not translate directly. The order of things isn't always the same, and she finds herself having to translate in her head when listening or being a part of conversations that are spoken in Spanish. Gass identifies this as syntax, or "...what is frequently known as grammar, referring primarily to the knowledge we have of the order of elements in a sentence" (Gass, 2013). I can concur with her statement, because I struggled with the same thing when I was taking Spanish in high school.
ReplyDeleteGass, S. M. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York, NY: Routledge.
Danielle, Nicole was actually able to retain the language very well. While she did not use the language at home, a large majority of her friends spoke Spanish. This caused her to speak Spanish in social settings, as well as at school. She did not start losing her ability to speak Spanish confidently until she moved from El Paso to Houston in her adult years. Ortega says that your environment is one of the major factors that plays into the retention of a language and fluency (Ortega 2013, pg.9). When Nicole was removed from her Spanish speaking environment, and she stopped using it every day, was when she started losing her fluency.
DeleteReference:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Haylee thank you for sharing your video. You provided some valuable information in your reflection. I too, interviewed an individual who learned a second language at a young age. As you stated, Nicole mentioned feeling uncomfortable speaking Spanish because she does not use that language as often (because she is no longer in El Paso). You stated that Nicole expressed difficulty keeping up with conversations and being able to be quick with her responses due to the lack of use. You are right, that would be considered "recessive bilingual," which is also known as "semi bilingual" (Gass & Selinker, 2013, p. 28). The person I interviewed is also considered a recessive bilingual. Although in my case, it is with her native language. Like Nicole, due to lack of use she has grown in the language in which she interacts with on a daily basis, English. According to Gass & Selinker, Nicole and my friend are now dominant bilinguals in English because they use that language significantly more than the other language they know (Gass and Selinker, 2013, p 27). In addition, in my case, my friend is considered an ascendant bilingual because her ability to function in her second language, English, has been developing due to an increase in exposure to the language. Therefore, I really agree with your "use it or lose it" comment, as it appears evident in both of the individuals we interviewed.
ReplyDeleteGass, S., & Selinker, L. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Amanda, thank you for your comment. I appreciate the connection you made between the person you interviewed and Nicole, my interviewee. Based on the information you have provided me, I would also agree with your conclusion that your interviewee is considered an ascendant bilingual. Gass and Selinker define this as someone whose proficiency in their second language develops due to increase use (Gass and Selinker 2013, pg.27). Because of their similar bilingual experiences, would you say that due to your interviewees decreased use in her foreign language, that she is not as comfortable using it like Nicole?
DeleteReferences:
Gass, S., Selinker, L. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Hi Haylee, I like your use of Ortega's definition of the critical period, as that is a widely accepted notion (2011). However, have you ever thought of the critical period being for of a once-each-major-stage type of development? As in, there is a point in each major section of development (around early childhood, then childhood, then pre-pubescent, pubescent, and post-pubescent)?
ReplyDeleteI also found Nicole's experience with discomfort interesting. It seems to be a common theme for students to feel uncomfortable with an unused, or not-often-used, language - whether that is their native or secondary language. What are your thoughts on how we can combat this negativity in our classrooms? Or is it simply something we must try to help our students overcome? Is there any way we can completely do away with these negative feelings, or are the inevitable?
Ila, thank you for your interest in my video. To answer your first question, Ortega states that the critical period is the period in a person’s life for which a person has the best chance of acquiring a language. He states that this critical period ends at the time a person’s brain loses its elasticity, around the age of nine (Ortega 2013, pg. 12). Therefore, I do not believe there is a “critical period for each stage of development.
DeleteAs far as preventing the uneasiness that goes with using an uncommon language in the classroom, I feel there are many things that can be done to help those students feel comfortable speaking in that language. First, we could encourage or students to have conversations in the language they feel uncomfortable speaking. Another thing we can do is provided books in all the languages present in our classrooms for our students to read. This way they can continue to use the language and retain what they know.
References:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Haylee! I think its amazing Nicole learned Spanish early in her life, through school specifically. Although it is harder for Nicole to follow a conversation she seems to understand Spanish better than she is able to speak Spanish. Ortega reveals "it is typically found that learners know more words receptively rather than productively," meaning they understand words they hear and read better than words they speak or write, which seems to be Nicole's case (Ortega, 2013).
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Veronica, thank you for your comment. This is very true about Nicole. When I interviewed her, she stated that she does understand the language more through reading and writing, rather than speaking. While she was a very fluent speaker of Spanish in her childhood and adolescent years, she is not as comfortable speaking the language now due to not using the skill every day like she did when she was younger. Ortega states that environment is an influence in language acquisition and retention (Ortega 2013, pg.9). Because Nicole is not in an environment anymore that requires her to speak Spanish every day, she has lost some of her ability to speak the language fluently and with ease.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Haylee, what your friend stated in your interview about how being bilingual is easier than becoming bilingual really stood out to me. It puts the term simultaneous bilingual into a different context and really connects with me. A simultaneous bilingual, "someone whose two languages are present from the onset of speech", is what I would consider myself, and your friend Nicole as well (Gass and Selinker, p.27). Your friend has a unique situation in which she learned her L2, or second language, Spanish in a structured setting rather than a naturalistic one. Most of our peers' interviewees learned first Spanish and then English as their L2 in a structured setting, and Spanish through the interactions of family members etc.
ReplyDeleteGass, Susan M., and Larry Selinker. Second Language Acquisition - Part 2. 2001.