Entry II: ELL Interview
Hey Everyone! Thanks for coming back to check out my vlog post for this week. I had the honor of interviewing a good friend named Sagal D. for the "interview an ELL" assignment. Sagal is a UH student that moved to America with her family when she was just seven years old. Up until that point, her and her family were born and raised in Mogadishu, Somalia. Throughout the interview, I asked her questions about when and how she learned English in the United States and how her experiences were in public school. It was very interesting that Sagal mentioned that she was afraid of speaking English in her classroom as a child because she didn't feel comfortable or supported.
She mentioned that she felt like she had to catch up with the language on top of the content 7 year olds learn in 2nd grade. However, her teachers encouraged cooperative learning to occur in the classroom, which allowed for student collaboration in pairs or in small groups to complete specific tasks (Wright, 2015, p. 157). She mentions her experiences working with other students in the classroom. She only spoke Somali at home but she spent more time being in school so she felt she became Americanized pretty fast. This resulted in her feeling like English was the more dominant language in her life. When she visited Somalia, 5 years after being in the states, she said you just "get re familiar" with the language and immersed herself back into the culture and could speak the Somali language fluently.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hello Asmara! Thanks so much for sharing your interview with your friend, I found it very interesting. This is the first interview I have seen with someone whose first language was Somali so I was very interested to hear about her experiences and how if differed from the students who I have previously listened to which were both Spanish speakers before they learned English. In the interview when she states that she feels like once she was going to school and work speaking English only she went like she kind of lost touch with her Somali language, this is likely because as Wright 2015 states “we acquire language when we understand the things we hear or read” (Wright 2015. 51). Since she was immersed in the English language she felt this way since it was all she was reading and hearing! I thought it was nice that once she did return to her native country she felt like she was able to pick it right back up!
ReplyDeleteThank you for watching my vlog. I too agree that it was rare for me to have spoken to someone that spoke from Somali as well but ironically it didnt differ too much any other ELLs experiences with getting aclimated to the English language. Like you had mentioned, it does get tough when you are surrounded with nothing but english speakers all throughout the day then expected to still by fluent in your native language. However it is possible for students to master the art of additive bilingualism, which allows them to speak their native language and English, fluently. Luckily when she traveled back she was able to jump right back in and commnicate with her family and friends in her native language.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition