Entry 2

 Here I interviewed an ESL learner. I knew this person through a close friend of mine and it was very interesting hearing their story and how their experiences shaped their opinions. It was so interesting, a five minute interview turned into a 16 min and I actually had to trim it to 15 mins, in order for it to fit YouTube. interview. I unfortunately could not interview in person due to illness and just logistics. So, I setup a Zoom call and recorded it. My ESL learner is now a successful Chiropractor and it was interesting discussing some of her family and clients who were also ESL. She starts out by telling me that she speaks Vietnamese and learned English at a young age. She also knows a little bit of Spanish, but primarily speaks English now and Vietnamese. Her family immigrated here from Vietnam in 1980. She was at a young age and they moved to a small town in Minnesota. Later we discuss how this small town and her complete immersion into a situation where everyone spoke English, helped form her language learning experience. She compares it to some other family in Port Arthur, where she said has a huge Vietnamese Community. Where she feels she has better knowledge in English, she feels that her family, because of that factor, has more knowledge in her home language, Vietnamese. I found that interesting and thought about our text where Wright discusses DBE programs where home language is viewed as a resource. She did not have that experience as a young child, so while her English development was strong, it was at the detriment to her home language, Vietnamese.

Entry 1

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Hello! Welcome to my introduction.

 My name is Bridget Donnell, I am a native English language speaker. I have good knowledge in Spanish and I am fluent in American Sign Language. When I was a small girl, I began to take interest in other languages like Spanish, and American Sign Language. I began listening to Spanish radio and watching Spanish speaking shows as a young girl. My mother can speak Spanish very well because she was a nurse and needed to communicate with all of her patients. She helped along the way. Now, I am able to understand Spanish pretty well but can speak it minimally. I am fluent in American Sign Language though and I would be able to communicate with a Deaf or Hard of hearing person with confidence. While ASL is an unspoken language I do feel it is an essential language. the syntax is also similar to Spanish.  In my video I discuss my language learning experience as well as my Language Philosophy. I do believe in order to promote a safe and healthy classroom environment you have to promote equity. And one of the ways we can do that is by acknowledging and respecting different cultures and their languages. Also, by trying to bridge the gaps for our English Language Learners, or ELL’s. Before I discuss strategies to help support our ELL’s,  I would like to make a connection to our text. Wright mentions how the label can be limiting with a focus on English. I love the alternative term “emergent bilingual” and how it is becoming more popular. I think it is more positive and focuses on the students strengths… which is knowing MULTIPLE languages. Now, there are many strategies that facilitate this and encourage ELL students while they journey through and work hard in our education system and classrooms. As our Common Core Standards and TEKS both do have specific and explicit expectations. I look forward to discussing those more in depth as we progress through the course.