Entry 3: Interview with Melissa
Video Link: https://youtu.be/hVrWdHfVrAU
For this interview, I interviewed
Melissa Risner. She is a Language Arts teacher for a middle school in Houston
independent school district. Due to the demographic of the area, Melissa often
has English language learners or English second language students in her class.
During this interview, I received a lot of information on what it is like to
have English language learners in a class, and the kind of attention and
challenges these students may face. From this interview, there were a couple
things that stuck out to me.
The first thing Melissa said that stuck
out to me was about how she figured out what motivated her students. She said
the first week of the year she gives her students assessments that determine
what type of learner each of her students were. I feel this is the best way to ensure
that each student is able to be as successful as possible in your class. It
helps you to accommodate you lessons to best suit each student individually,
and the class as a whole.
Another thing that stuck out to me
was what was most challenging for English language learners. Melissa said that vocabulary
was the most challenging thing to teach English second language students, as
well as it was most challenging for the students to learn. Ortega states that
teachers across the world are debating whether or not English language learners
need to be taught grammar directly (Ortega 2013, pg.8). From Melissa’s
perspective, because vocabulary is the most difficult thing for her students to
comprehend, it should be the most important. As the most challenging aspect to
understand, this needs to be the focus of lessons for her ELL students.
Reference:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language
acquisition. Routledge.
Something that Melissa mentioned during the interview that stood out to me was her comment about the differences in self-motivation between older students and younger students. From my experience in the classroom, I have also noticed that older students are more intrinsically motivated than younger students. They begin to think about the big picture and how language learning will impact their future and that it is a vital aspect of their growth. Ortega explains why this kind of motivation is important for students learning a second language. He states that, “this quality of motivation (intrinsic) is considered optimal because it has been experimentally shown to be consistently associated to higher levels of achievement” (2013, p.176). Students that genuinely take pride in learning a second language and have positive interactions with their peers will be more internally motivated. It is also known that success breeds confidence which leads to more success.
ReplyDeleteMelissa also mentioned that her students look for affirmation from their teachers, which also is linked to motivation. Praise is something that all students seek, and when their achievements are noticed, their efforts increase. Ortega mentions that students, “who expressed more satisfaction towards their teacher and curriculum tended to be those who also reported higher motivation” (2013, p.183). For those learning a second language, each small achievement is a milestone; it is important for teachers to recognize this because we have the power influence the motivation for our ELLs.
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hey Morgan. I agree with your statement about older students being more intrinsically motivated than younger students. I think that this is because of the older students integrativeness, which Ortega (2011) describes as a "genuine interest in learning the second languge..." (Ortega, pg. 170) When students get older they begin to see a bigger picture outside of thier narrow scope. In language developement, ELL students that have more of an understanding of the importance of learning English are usually more capable of learning the language.
DeleteReference:
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011
Thank you for your comment Morgan. I also agreed with Melissa’s statement on older students being more intrinsically motivated. While I have not worked with students older than fifth grade during my observations, I have still been able to see this inner motivation appear throughout the grade levels the higher you look. Ortega states that the benefits of students learning L2 are more abundant the higher the are motivated (Ortega 2011, pg.163). I believe this is what is happening for those students that are intrinsically motivated. They have that inner drive and motivation to learn, therefore being able to learn quicker and better.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Haylee. I think that your interviewee, Melissa has a great way to assess her students to see what types of learners they are. I would venture to even go a step further and maybe give them a questionnaire that asks about their motivation to learn English. Ortega (2011) states, “Orientation refers to reasons for learning the L2, because they contribute to the setting of goals that will propel and sustain motivation of varying intensities and qualities.” (Ortega, p.173) If Melissa were to figure out her student’s orientation or their motivation for learning English maybe she would be able to get them to want to learn vocabulary more.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011.
Jerome, thank you for your comment. I think this a great idea. I think asking the students what they believe is the best way to motivate them could provide a teacher with a good starting point. Ortega mentions Robinson and Skehan’s proposal about instruction and teaching to the strengths of the students will provide optimal learning (Ortega 2011, pg.163). Between Melissa’s learning style assessment, and the questionnaire to determine a student’s motivation that you suggested, I believe these will help teachers teach to a student’s strengths that Robinson and Skehan suggested.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Haylee,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your interview video. One of the things that Ms. Melissa mentioned during the interview that caught my attention the most is motivation. It is true that at older ages, students tend to have more self-motivation than students who are at younger ages. Especially the ESL students at older ages, they understand the important and value of learning a second language that can benefit a lot of things for them in the future. Moreover, it is also important for them to receive the support and encouragement from their teachers as well in their learning process. Similar to what Ortega said, “The most motivated individuals will develop high motivation (correlated to a self-reported strong intention to invest effort to learn the L2) and high levels of all motivational antecedents, including high instrumentality, positive attitudes towards the L2 speakers and culture, and general high interest in learning foreign languages. These motivated individuals exhibit this pattern because of a well-developed ideal L2 self. The highly motivated individual will be also instrumentally or more extrinsically motivated by anticipated pragmatic rewards and utility that we see in learning an L2 (2013, p. 187).”
As experiencing an ESL student myself, I was happy and appreciated for the help and support that I had from all my high school teachers when I first came to the USA. They were patient, kind, helpful, and always gave me positive encouragement to help me overcome my language barrier and difficulties in my learning process. With their support and positive encouragement, I was able to become more confident and feel more comfortable to express myself. I started to love learning the new language and open myself to make new friends. Learning and knowing English had given me opportunities to learn many new and different knowledge. And as I am learning and training to become a future teacher, I want to use the same motivation method that my teachers used to support me to help my ESL students to overcome their struggles and achieve their success in learning.
References:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hey Trinh. Great analysis. I agree that older students tend to be more self-motivated, though that is not always the case. Ortega (2011) describes motivation as "usually understood to refer to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort employed to sustain it." (Ortega, pg. 189) I have found that with older students they CAN be more self-motivated but the ones that are not are really hard to get them to become motivated. Especially as an ELL student who may feel that trying to perfect their L2 is unneccesary or "not worth it". These are the students we as educators really need to pay attention to.
DeleteReference:
Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011
Trinh, thank you for commenting. I agree with yours and Melissa’s statement that the older students tend to be more intrinsically motivated. It is that self-drive that pushes them to learn the second language they are being presented. I believe this is a very important and valuable quality to have, as you do not need someone coming over to praise you verbally or give you a prize for learning. Ortega also states, “This quality of motivation is considered optimal because it has been experimentally shown to be consistently associated to higher levels of achievement” (Ortega 2011, pg.176).
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Seeing as motivation is a recurring theme for this week in the course, I find Ortega's viewpoints on the success of students' tied directly to their personal motivations and values (2011). Perhaps it is this type of ideology that causes such a bias between teachers when it comes to HOW to motivate our students. I have seen many arguments occur over what method is most effective in cultivating internal motivation in students.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I value a blend of internal and external rewards to motivate students. This means providing words of affirmation or stickers/classroom-based rewards are useful to creating a stronger sense of motivation in my students.
What types of motivational practices would you use in your classroom, Haylee?
Ila, thank you for your comment. Ortega references Robinson and Skenah’s proposal on teaching to each student’s strengths (Ortega 2011, pg.163). I feel this is this most beneficial to all students. There is not a “One size fits all” theory or practice that can motivate every student in a class. All students are different, they learn in different ways, and they are all motivated by different means. This is why I feel like I cannot answer one specific theory or practice. As my students change and develop, their motivation will as well, along with the fact that each year I will have a whole new class with a different set of needs.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hello Haylee!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing your interview video with Melissa. In regards to English Second Language learning, when dealing with vocabulary, and grammar with an ESL student, “certain processes are deliberate, requiring a significant amount of time and working memory capacity” (Selinker, p. 345). Determining how students learn best by asking them what type of learners they are is a great strategy to do because it gives the students the opportunity to gain feedback. This also helps the teacher know on what certain local aspects would help to focus on. I think the goal is to study your students and their grammar-based use of language to begin understanding what type of help they need.
References
Selinker, S. M. (2008). Automaticity . In Second Language Acquisition An Introductory Course (p. 345). New York : Taylor & Francis .
Gabriela, thank you for commenting. Ortega mentions that Garner defines integrativeness as a genuine interest in learning a second language to become closer in the other languages community (Ortega 2011, pg.170). I believe that students need to have this integrativeness in order to succeed and flourish when learning their second language. I think the best way to help these students is to first determine what kind of learner they are, but then instead of giving them the feedback like you suggested, teach the lessons and provide options for each learning style you found in your class. That way each student has the opportunity to succeed, and want to learn the language and have that motivation.
DeleteReferences:
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.