Grover-Farris 1

Heather Grover-Farris
Foundations CIL-500
November 28, 2010

Final Project – Native language groups

I interviewed three women from three different native language groups,

Chinese, Greek and Polish. All three had different experiences learning their

second language. Some had positive experiences learning English and some

did not. The two things these women had in common is their idea of the best

way to learn a second language and why they or their family came to the United

States. They all thought to learn a second language you need to be immersed in

the language and culture. The second commonality was that the United States is

known for the land of the free and opportunities. These ladies of their families

risked everything to come to this country for a chance at these opportunities.

Two of the interviewees were born outside of the United States. Xiujuan

was born in Guangzhou, China. She learned English at school in China and

came to the United States at the age of twenty-six. Valerie came from Greece to

the United States when she was five years old. No one in Valerie’s family spoke

English when they came to America. The third interviewee was Amanda, who

speaks Polish, was born in the United States, but didn’t start learning English

until she was four years old.

Since all three of the interviewees are in their mid thirties or forties, they

do not remember much of their elementary education. They socioeconomic

status did play a part of the English learning. The ladies did have parents with an

extensive education background or parents that valued education and felt that it
Grover-Farris 2

was important part of being a citizen of America. Amanda and Valerie’s parents

made them study and read in the English language and had books at home or

visited the local library. It is proven that students with limited English proficiency

risk for failing high school. This includes first, second and even third generation

immigrants who have attended American schools. Some reasons are language

barriers, frustrating school experiences including test taking, economic pressures

and just adjusting to American life. All three ladies graduated high school. Both

Xiujuan and Amanda graduated college. Valerie dropped out of college after her

first year and started working full time.

Valerie had a hard time transitioning to American culture and to the

language at the young age of five. The affective filter was a huge factor in her

language acquisition of English. Students need to feel comfortable enough to

risk producing imperfect language, especially for older students. Valerie didn’t

like her younger years of kindergarten through about third grade Valerie said

that she was pulled out to see a “special teacher” when she was younger to learn

more English. Val didn’t like the teacher and said the teacher was frustrated

when Valerie didn’t understand the English translations and words. This

experience with education didn’t help Valerie’s language acquisition nor the

elementary school experience as a whole. Valerie was very quiet in class

because she didn’t want to say anything wrong. Valerie does feel that the

negative influences affected her learning the English language. She had a lot of

anxiety and lack of self-confidence in the beginning of being in America and

surrounded by people that didn’t speak Greek. Valerie’s Basic Interpersonal

Grover-Farris 3

Communication Skills (BICS) began to form in kindergarten where she

communicated to people about everyday subject matters. This level of language

has many clues to help with social interaction and comprehension. Facial

expressions, pictures and even real objects help the person understand the

conversation.

Valerie said it wasn’t until about end of elementary school years, about

five or six later immersed in the English language that she started to understand

school better. This is approximately when the cognitive academic language

proficiency (CALP) was starting to develop for Valerie. This is probably when

Valerie felt she was catching up academically with her peers in the English

language. This is when she started to understand the classroom for lectures and

discussion and understood the terminology for subjects like science and

mathematics. According to Cummin, it takes an average of five to seven years to

develop CALP and that is just at the 50th percentile on the achievement tests. To

have a positive experience and academic success in school both the BICS and

the CALP needs to be developed. Valerie said she struggled all through school

until she quit college her first semester. She didn’t like reading and what got her

reading again was when she had children. She reads to them every night and

has begun to like reading.

Xiujuan also experienced negativity as a second language learner of

English. Since Xiujuan came to the United States in her twenties to pursue a

college education. She realized that her English wasn’t as good as she thought

and struggled her first year in college with the English language. She feels that
Grover-Farris 4

her older age and her struggle with the English language played a part of the

negative experience in college. Xiujuan thanks her extended family who helped

her transition to the culture of the United States.

Amanda said that she didn’t have any negative experiences as a second

language learner. She attended and English preschool and remembers learning

English from her parents and watching Sesame Street. She has a outgoing

personality, which probably helped with being comfortable in school and willing to

take risks in making mistakes during her language acquisition in English. She

played with her neighborhood friends and felt she wasn’t every discriminated

against. Amanda also attended Polish school on Saturdays to learn about her

heritage and the language.

It seems that all three ladies had a good common underlying proficiency of

their native language and missed the critical period of language learning. If the

ladies missed the critical period, they could have gaps in both languages and

might even have limited bilingualism. They were literate in their language for

their age. Both Amanda and Valerie “read’ in their language when they were in

kindergarten (if you think a few words is reading, according to Amanda). Amanda

felt like she didn’t have problem learning English and felt that maybe it was

because she knew her Polish so well. The interdependence hypothesis says that

when a child is educated the fundamentals of reading and thinking in the first

language will perform well when learning a second language. Even though

Xiujuan took English classes in China, it was hard to learn American English.

She said that she caught on quickly a few months being in the United States.
Grover-Farris 5

She had the concepts and skills already in her primary language that helped form

the foundation of learning in English in China and again when she lived in

America. Xiujuan also has the advantage of her age and education to be able to

use strategies like comparing/contrasting, questioning and prior knowledge to

help her learning of English. She could transfer her knowledge and skills

acquired in Chinese and apply them to English, otherwise known as transfer of

skills.

Xiujuan did have some positive experiences that pushed her to English

proficiency. She said that her extended family and friends helped her transition

to the American culture and even taught her American English socially. Some

college students and professors helped her with her studies. English nothing like

what she learned in Chinese school and it was her extended family that helped

her through her culture shock.

Valarie had positive experiences learning English. Her parents made her

go to Greek school on Saturdays. She LOVED Greek school because she knew

the language and understood what the teacher was saying. She also found her

best friend (and other friends) who was willing to help Valerie learn some

English. Learning does occur through interaction with more knowledgeable or

experienced peers or teachers like Valerie experienced. Valerie also said that it

is because the low anxiety and self-confidence at Greek school that she learned

her English better.

When I asked if there were any strategies that their teachers or instructors

used that they felt were effective, all the ladies didn’t remember what their
Grover-Farris 6

teachers did. I asked mostly Amanda and Valerie because they attended

elementary schools in American (in Illinois). Amanda doesn’t remember being

pulled out of her class at all or even treated differently. Valerie, on the other

hand, was pulled out of her regular classroom for reading and writing in English.

The other language domains are listening and speaking. Those domains aren’t

as well remembered for Valerie 30 years ago, but she probably learned them

also.

Valerie is worried that her three-year-old son is going to have the same

experience as she did going to school. I assured her that English Language

Learner programs in the schools have changed a quite a bit since she went to

school 30 years ago. There is a lot more support and guidance that schools

provide for language development and the teachers must be certified in an

English Language Learner endorsement. (She questioned if the “special

teacher” was even certified.) The Language Experience Approach (LEA) is a

great way to support English Language Learners. Oral language occurs first, like

a discussion on a topic and then writing is second. This is effective strategy for

ELLs regardless of the child’s age.

Xiujuan is the only interviewee that still thinks in her native language.

Even though she has gotten a lot better thinking in English in the last 20 years,

she still code switches. Code switching is when you switch two languages either

within the sentence (intra-sentencial) or switch two languages between

sentences (inter-sentencial). Usually Xiujuan code switches intra-sentencial,

especially when she doesn’t know what the English word or can’t remember what
Grover-Farris 7

the Chinese word would be when talking to her Chinese friends. There are words

that universal now, that sometimes she has to stop and think if the word is the

same in Chinese and in English.

Amanda and Valerie said that they do talk in their native language when

they are with groups or family that speak that language but mostly think in

English. Amanda said it is hard to transition to Polish when she has been talking

and thinking in English all week. However, both Amanda and Valerie said that

they do code switch when they get frustrated and stressed, like yelling at their

husband. Since both Amanda and Valerie learned English before puberty, they

do not have an accent in English. Infants are born being capable of listening

and producing sounds in all human languages. The child begins to learn what

sounds are important in his or her language and disregard the rest. The older

you get the harder it is to learn sounds that are part of a different language. This

is might be why Amanda had an easier time learning English. Even though she

didn’t know English until preschool age, hearing it around the neighborhood and

being exposed to the American culture since she was born probably helped her

acquire the second language easier and faster. Valerie who moved to the United

States and had to learn the culture and language at the same time had a rougher

time at school. Two major events that are hard to adjust to. Xiujaun does have

an accent in English, since she didn’t take her English seriously until she came to

America.

Xiujaun doesn’t feel she is losing her native language of Chinese while

being in America. Having friends that speak Chinese helps and she talks to her
Grover-Farris 8

family weekly in Chinese. Valerie and Amanda feel that they “think” in English

more than their native language and Amanda does feel that she is losing the

“Polish” language. According to Alejandro Portes and Lingzin Hao, most second-

generation native speakers (forty-eight percent) are like Amanda where they are

proficient in English but don’t know their heritage language as well. This is also

called English monolinguals. English monolinguals often report conflicts with their

family because of estrangement from the culture and communication. She said

that the only family that she speaks Polish to is her family and they moved back

to Poland a few years ago. Fluent bilinguals, which twenty four percent of

second-generation native speakers, are proficient in both English and their native

language equally. Fluent bilingual speakers have higher self-esteem,

aspirations and even family harmony.

When I asked all three women if they wanted to add anything. All three

said that they know that speaking two languages proficiency is asset in the job

world. In this economy, they feel more secure with their job because they switch

to their native language when needed (for Amanda she has been a translator a

few times). The ladies don’t use their native language on the job often, but

enough that the company knows they speak another language besides English.

If there were any advice to give to someone learning another language

what would it be? All the ladies agreed that the best way to learn a second

language is to be submerged in the country, culture and language. Make sure

you listen to the language being spoken around you and partake in all cultural
Grover-Farris 9

customs. I think Xiujuan said it best: “live with the local people is the best

English classroom you could ever have”.

Resources:
Crawford, James. Education English Learners: Language Diversity in the
Classroom.
Hilliard, John F. PowerPoint and lectures
Rothernberg, Carol and Douglas Fisher. Teaching English Language Learners: A
Differentiated Approach.