Throughout this course my understanding of second language acquisition has grown immensely. It has opened my eyes to all of the different factors that have an influence on someone acquiring a new language. I have learned that age, environment and even motivation have great effects on how successful someone will be at acquiring a new language. Ortega (2013) mentions “being motivated nurtures more successful L2 learning, but, conversely, experiencing L2 learning success also boosts motivation to even higher levels, in a reinforcing cycle” (p. 189). Throughout the interviews I had for this course and the ones I watched of my peers, I found it interesting that motivation was something that was continuously being mentioned. The pattern was definitely eye opening to see because it showed me how important this factor is when it comes to learning a new language. As an educator, I will use what I have learned from this course in my daily practice of teaching. Due to how diverse Hou...
I interviewed three of the NAC (New Arrival Center) teachers within the school that I student teach at. Something that is different for NAC teachers than for ESL teachers is that all of their students are at the beginning level of English learning. Some struggle even to know the alphabet. These students are usually only in the country for a short time when they are enrolled. The students are fully submerged in these classrooms for all of their studies besides math, which is taken by an ESL teacher within a regular classroom with the support from the NAC teachers. One of the questions that I asked was in regard to the struggles that the students might have when it comes to the different types of tenses. Students that are acquiring a second language can be seen negotiating the form of their sentences when it comes to the different tenses (Ortega, 2013, p. 69). This was something one of the NAC teachers men...