Entry 4




This second language acquisition class has allowed me to understand that certain factors like cross linguistic influences, the environment, and age can impact and affect the overall process on how an individual acquires a second language or L2. This class has also allowed me to better prepare for my future career as a special needs teacher. It has given me an insight on certain second language acquisition topics, like anxiety and its effect on second language learners that will help me to better prepare for the future. Learning certain topics, like anxiety has also given me the ability to share these new topics with other educators in the future so that students can receive the proper help that they need and reach their fullest potential.  This class has also given me new experiences, like vlogging which I had never done prior.

      When discussing cross linguistic influences Ortega states, “knowledge of the L1 impacts… L2 acquisition subtly and selectively, sometimes resulting in… positive consequences for different learner L1 backgrounds, at different stages of development or proficiency and for different areas of the L2” (Ortega, 2013, p. 31). In terms of cross linguistic influences,I learned that in order for transfer to occur, the second language learner needs to make an interlingual identification.  Interlingual identification is a "judgment that something in the native language and something in the target language are similar” (Ortega, 2013, p. 33).  Cross-linguistic is an important factor in the second language acquisition process.                                                                                                           
      Other factors that I have learned to understand are the linguistic environment and age. In terms of environment, I have learned that it can make a significant impact to an individual’s learning when attempting to acquire a second.  “The more acculturated a learner can become…the more successful his or her eventual learning outcomes will be” (Ortega, 2013, p. 50).  If an L2 learner is surrounded by individuals who speak the target language he/she is wanting to learn how to speak, then it will help the learner to learn the language more effectively. Age can also assist a second language learner. It is evident, that individuals who are older tend to have an easier time acquiring a new language.       

         The topic that I found most interesting and important to know was anxiety. I found it interesting to learn that if a student is attempting to learn a new language and anxiety is present, it can hinder their academic success. According to Ortega, “High-anxiety foreign language students exhibit..symptoms…the most common are…freezing up when asked to say something in the L2 in front of the class, and blanking on the right answers during a language test despite having studied hard and even knowing the answers” (Ortega, 2013, p.59).  I thought it was an important topic to learn so that educators can help students with their anxiety and to reach academic success.

        This class has allowed me to better prepare for my future as a special needs educator. I feel this class has prepared me because there are some English language learner students who are misplaced into special education. I feel like I will be able to better assist those students by being an advocate for them and making sure they are in the right placement. Also, I feel like I can use my knowledge surrounding anxiety and how it can affect English language learner students to help those in need. I can discuss this topic with ESL teachers so that they can keep that in mind and help students who are struggling.

       In terms of vlogging, it was an interesting experience because it was something that I had never done before. However, it did not help me with learning the content. I feel like I learned more just by reading the textbook. I also don’t believe it helped me with my writing skills or with my motivation to learn about second language acquisition. I feel like the vlogs hindered my motivation and I think I would have had more motivation if the vlogs were not included and we were learning through reading the textbook only.  On a positive note, I did enjoy learning about my fellow classmates and to be able to interact with them.                                                                                              
      In conclusion, I have learned that cross-linguistic influences, environment, and age all coincide with the learning of a second language or an additional language. This class has allowed me to feel better prepared for my future career and has given me insight on some interesting topics like anxiety. It has also allowed me to try new things like vlogging.

References: Ortega, Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print. 
Gass,S.,& Selinker, L. (2013). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. New York: Routledge.
                                                 


Comments

  1. Nguyen TracyNovember 11, 2018 at 2:18 PM

    I agree that anxiety is one of the biggest obstacles to a student’s development as an L2 speaker, especially since it is something educators cannot just get rid of themselves and it is ultimately up to the student to overcome it. I speak from personal experience, and I can deeply empathize with students who are extremely anxious to try and even learn to communicate in the L2. Sometimes anxiety stems not knowing anyone or not being used to a new environment, and sometimes all it takes is for a student to acclimate. Other times, anxiety is stemmed from more negative experiences that can affect attitudes towards the L2, such as an “individual’s affective negative predispositions towards the target language and its members” (Ortega, 2013, pg. 59) and it contributes to a worse learning outcome for an ELL student. I’m glad that the textbook highlighted how anxiety is such a contributing factor because some educators can be very dismissive of how ELL learners feel.

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    Replies
    1. ThomTranNovember 13, 2018 at 8:29 PM

      Tracy,
      If not for foreign language anxiety theory I would not believe there was such a thing. "High-anxiety foreign language students exhibit many symptoms, but the most common ones are two: freezing up when asked to say something in the L2 in front of the class, and blanking on the right answers during a language test despite having studied hard and even knowing the answers" (Ortega, 2013, pg. 200) I think I can relate with this example when having to speak Spanish in front of my Spanish speaking friends. In the beginning of our learning blogs I did not want to say something wrong in case a friend laughed or made a mean joke about it. After a while I gave up caring what others thought and decided its my learning growth and I might be slower than a few others but thats ok.

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    2. RuthfraustoNovember 19, 2018 at 5:29 PM

      Hello Tracy,
      Yes, I think anxiety is an important topic for English as a second language teachers to familiarize themselves with. Anxiety can affect an individual's willingness to communicate. As stated by Ortega "Willingness to communicate (WTC) is defined as the self-reported
      likelihood for an L2 learner to want to initiate communication in the L2
      when given the choice to engage in or to avoid such action" (Ortega, 2013, p. 213). Therefore, it is crucial to find ways to lessen anxiety.

      Delete
    3. RuthfraustoNovember 19, 2018 at 5:35 PM

      Hello Thom,
      Anxiety does show in a numerous amount of symptoms and results in many consequences. It seems like in your experience, it affected your willingness to communicate. Here some other symptoms that can exhibit from anxiety " Foreign language anxiety is...is associated with a number of symptoms, including lower grades, lower proficiency performances, difficulty with processing and learning new L2
      material, reticence and L2 risk-avoiding behaviours" (Ortega, 2013, p. 213).

      Delete
    4. Nguyen TracyNovember 20, 2018 at 8:20 PM

      Hi Ruth,
      thank you for agreeing. There is not a lot of discussion around anxiety and how big of a detriment it is to student progress. Some people think that it is something they should just get over, but it is not, and telling students to "get over it" is not an efficient way to help students deal with the problem. Students need to be open to experience, which "is an important personality variable that may be auspicious for achieving high levels of success in L2 learning" (Ortega, 2013, p. 213)

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  2. UnknownNovember 20, 2018 at 5:29 PM

    Hello Ruth,

    I also do think cross linguistic influences is a big factor when learning a different language and in second language acquisition. What kind of language your mother language is and what the target language is can be a big defining factor because of how different or similar the two languages can be. For instance, Spanish and English are very similar when it comes down to syntax with Spanish being just a little more flexible than English. Spanish words and English words can be seen being the similar or even the exact same: the Spanish word for hotel is "hotel" and the Spanish word for cinema is "cine". These similarities can really help a learner, but just because there are similarities does not always mean that it can be helpful. Ortega states that "it soon became apparent that sometimes certain L1-L2 similarities do not seem to help." (Ortega, pg. 32)

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