Wong's Chapter Three:

            Wong’s chapter 3 is very interesting because it makes a valid point that is beneficial for every teacher and not just the ESL teacher. She explains that students cannot simply learn if they are not engaged. As future educators, we must move award from the traditional methods of teaching, and focus on strategies that engage our students. If our students are engaged then they will be learning without even knowing it. This is where the author brings in problem solving and the importance of it. Wong states, “When children are presented with manipulatives and a series of problems that involve grouping, they can, over time, figure out an abstract way to represent their actions. When they have figured out the process, they remember it and they can apply it to a new situations because they understand what they are doing” (87). Furthermore, Wong presents research where student teachers are asked to utilize problem solving through tool and mediation. In Charlie’s example, he wanted to teach his students “standard unit of measurement;” He did this by posing problem solving and engaging the students in a class activity. Through the activity, he asked the students further questions that got them thinking and helped them understand the concepts.

Alternative Assignment

Nesteruk, O. (2010). Heritage language maintenance and loss among the children of Eastern European   immigrants in the USA. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31(3), 271- 286.           

This article is interesting and can be very helpful to my research paper because it explores immigrants and their language in schools and professions. It does a little bit of comparing the immigrants in an ethnic community to an immigrant who migrates amongst the U.S. in search of a job. The author calls this “highly skilled immigrants.” Furthermore, this article focuses on Eastern European immigrants  in America, exploring their children and heritage loss, school age immigrants, and immigrants in their professions.

Jiang, M., Green, R.J., Henley, T.B., & Masten, W.G. (2009). Acculturation in relation to the acquisition of a second language. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 30(6), 481-492.

This article is beneficial to my paper because focuses on post-puberty Chinese immigrant students and the difference between L2 acquisition and acculturation. The authors state, “…the more positively identified with and the more psychologically integrated into the target language group, the more likely the learner is able to succeed in L2 acquisition (Jiang, Green, Henley, & Masten 2009). One of my main focuses is on the difference between language acquisition in an ethnic community versus an affluent area and this article does a whole lot of exploration in acculturation.

Devrim, D.Y., & Bayyurt, Y. (2010). Students' understandings and preferences of the role and place of 'culture' in english language teaching: a focus in an efl context. TESOL Journal, 2, 4-23.

In this article, the author explores the roles of culture within EFL classrooms. Furthermore, comparisons are made between native and non-native teachers. This article could have relevance to my paper because I am interested in specifically exploring the environmental differences and effects of those differences on l2 learners. Perhaps a native teacher could have a different influence on his/her students than a non-native teacher.

Crossley, S., Salsbury, T., & McNamara, D. (2010). The development of polysemy and frequency use in english second language speakers. Language Learning: A journal of Research in Language Studies, 573-605.

           This article points out a few aspects of second language acquisition in which I am interested in the frequency use in learning a language. In my research paper, I will be exploring both ethnic communities and non-ethnic communities; the frequency will be much higher in an environment where a non English speaker cannot communicate without having to attempt speaking English. I am interested in seeing the effects and influences of frequency use.

Communication in the Classroom

Dialogic Approaches to TESOL: Chapter 2

        While reading this chapter, a quote struck out to me and really got me thinking about my future career as a teacher. Wong writes, “Americans communicate ‘in order to assert independence, in the Chinese view one communicates in order to harmonize, silence often being a salient part of the process”’ (p. 46). This quote is so interesting because as I future educator I must be aware and conscious of the affect of one’s background on their speaking practice, class participation, and outlook on communication. What I mean by this is that I must be aware that if a student is more apprehensive to speaking up in class, it is not because they are not learning or paying attention, but that is the type of communication they are accustomed to.

Breaking Them Up, Taking Them Away”: ESL Student in Grade1

         I really enjoyed reading this article because I had never really considered the small details of a classroom such as seating and structure. While I find that Ms. Jones expected too much structure in her first grade classroom, I have to agree that structure is important especially with young students of varying English levels. However, there needs to be a balance, and it seems as if this classroom is lacking one. For example, the seating arrangement has all of the students with the same L1 separated, and has “normal” English L1 students in the back. While some of the other students probably require more attention in their school work, Ms. Jones is not only devaluing the importance of the education for the students in the back, having too much confidence that they will stay on task and pay attention. Secondly, completely separating students of the same L1 is too forceful. This disables them to talk with their friends, and enjoy their school environment; it may also add to discomfort.

        What struck me as shocking was the lack of communication and interaction amongst the students Ms. Jones’ classroom. ESL students should be interacting and talking as much as possible, especially at such a young age. This will build their confidence and give them practice using their L2. Additionally, these children are probably aged 6-7 years old, which according to Chomsky and other theorists is a significant age where L2 learners can acquire a language to a native level.