Welcome to my blog, below I have shared my first video. I hope you all enjoy my video and I cannot wait to watch the videos, you all have created it.
Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. My name is Karla Martinez, I am currently majoring in Teaching and Learning with a certification in 4th grade through 8th-grade Mathematics.
As I mentioned in my video, I was born in Mexico City, and according to Ortega "most kids grow up speaking only one language." (Ortega 2013 p.4), which that was my case until I was about eight years old and we migrated to the United States. Once I was in the United States I was introduced to my Language 2 (L2), English. Ever since I was able to speak my L2 fluently, I considered myself to be bilingual, but after reading the difference between Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition (SLA), I now find myself being part of the SLA group. Ortega states that those who are bilingual are those who learned more than one language at a very young age specifically before the age of four. I learned to speak English at the age of 8, for that, I am part of the third study SLA. (Ortega 2013 P.4). Learning English was not the easiest task, but it was accomplished. Ortega states that there are two different ways to learn second languages. One way it is the naturalistic way were it is learned by the interactions you have with others without “receiving any organized instructions.” Then, there is instructed learning, meaning that you take formal or private courses/classes to learn the language. (Ortega 2013 P.6) Although these are the two ways to learn another language, according to Ortega most people fall in a mixture of both. I agree with him because that is the way I learned English. My aunt tutored me privately, and there was a lot of learning through the interaction I had with my peers in school, and while the process of learning English it was not easy it was accomplished.
After completing Module 1, I have been introduced to different information about my L2. I enjoyed reading this chapter, and it is information I can share with my friends and help them discover whether they are in the Bilingualism or SLA group.
References:
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.
Hi Karla! Great video, I really enjoyed watching video and listening to how you started learning English. I am similar like you, Spanish was my first language and I learned English in school. I find it very interesting that you learned a mixture of both “ naturalistic and instructed experiences” (Ortega, 2013, 6), I think a lot people learned the second language that way too. When I was taking Spanish classes in high school I thought the language was very different and formal as compared to going to live in a country and learning it by a naturalistic approach. I want to see the difference between the mixture of both approaches and then the way people learn when it is instructed to them.
ReplyDeleteHello Karla, I watched your video, and I see that we have some things in common. I lived in Mexico and moved to the USA when I was a kid as well. The only difference is that I was 12 years old and I did not have any family members teaching English. Growing up "speaking only one language" (Ortega, 2013, 4) was also my case. When I moved to Houston, I did not know any English. I liked that you mentioned that you were held back a couple of years in school because you did not speak the language. I remember when we went to the school they told me I was lucky I did not get held back to 6th grade. I enjoyed watching your video and reading your blog!!
ReplyDeleteHey Karla! I really enjoyed watching your video. You have been through an amazing journey by starting off in Mexico then moving here at a young age. I really admire that you tried so hard and put so much effort into learning english and succeeding in everything you do. When you were talking about speaking spanish to your cousins and it made me think of Ortega's quote that says, " SLA researchers compared children and adults' L2 rate in second language environments, the findings unexpectedly were suggestive of an advantage for adults over children" (16). I think it is great that you try and keep them leaning two languages because they can become very useful to them later!
ReplyDeleteHello Ms. Karla Martinez Galarza! It’s wonderful to meet you! My family also comes from Mexico, but I am only able to speak English and not Spanish like my family. I understand how overwhelmed you must have been when you moved to the US without much knowledge of the English language. Whenever I have to visit my family in Mexico and I cannot communicate with them I feel frustrated and sad. Moving to an entirely new country where English is the main language forced you to become as fluent in English as you possibly could, just as Ortega said “many others will be forced by life circumstances to learn enough of the additional language to fend for themselves in selected matters of daily survival” (Ortega, 2013, p. 1). Your persistence in learning English is admirable, and I must say you are continuing to do an excellent job!
ReplyDeleteOrtega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. London and New York: Routledge.