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ELL Student Interview Paper

Jenna Fenstermaker

Dr. Nalee Moua

Washington State University

February 18, 2019

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The English language learner I chose to interview for this project is named Jennifer.

Jennifer is 21-years-old and was born in the United States. Her parents are both from Mexico,

and neither of them spoke any English when they moved to America. Due to this, Jennifer only

spoke Spanish with her family and did not know any English until she started elementary school.

Today, her father has picked up more English, but her mother still only speaks Spanish. The

interview took place at the WSU Spark building on February 7th, 2019 at around 1 pm. I met

Jennifer in another Elementary Education ELL endorsement class this semester. I chose to

interview her for this project because I think her linguistic background is fascinating, and she is

also getting an ELL endorsement so she has some background in knowing how to teach ELL

students. Learning about how a former ELL would teach their classroom seems very valuable to

learn about because she truly understands what it is like to be an ELL and how they prefer to

learn.

I believe that this interview is unique because Jennifer is also studying to become an ELL

teacher, so she already knows many concepts about teaching ELL students. Therefore, when

asking her questions about what she believes language is and how she would teach ELL students,

she could have known what I wanted to hear, or might have said what she thought the right

answer was (Appendix A). However, the interview was very authentic, and I do believe that

Jennifer answered questions based off her personal experiences and not what she thought the

right things to say were. When asked what she believes language is, Jennifer said that it is a way

of communication, and it includes aspects like structure, grammar, and pronunciation (Appendix

A). Jennifer also said that she believes knowing a language is knowing a form of

communication, and by “knowing” she means being proficient and/or being able to understand

the language (Appendix A).

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One notable theme that was discussed during the interview is culture. Because Jennifer’s

family is from Mexico, they did bring many aspects of their culture to the United States. One

might assume that since Jennifer has lived in the United States for her whole life that she

identifies more with American culture than Mexican culture, but Jennifer believes that learning

English in school and speaking English more often than Spanish has not affected her connection

to Mexican culture (Appendix A). According to Wright (2015), “culture involves much more

than the food, dress, art, music, and holidays of an ethnic group” (p. 17). There are many “below

the surface aspects” of culture that exist (Wright, 2015, p. 15). Jennifer believes that her sense of

Mexican culture has not been compromised because English is more of a method of

communication for her in everyday life, while Spanish is always going to be there for her at

home, which includes her culture (Appendix A). The ideas of Wright (2015) on culture relate to

what Jennifer said because, in her opinion, none of the under-the-surface aspects of her culture

have been compromised due to English.

Another theme that reoccurred during Jennifer’s interview was the idea of additive

bilingualism. According to Wright (2015), additive bilingualism is “when a student develops

proficiency in a new language without losing [their] home language,” whereas subtractive

bilingualism is when a student’s native language is replaced by the new language they are

learning or have learned (p. 21). Of course, additive bilingual is more beneficial for the student

because they are gaining knowledge instead of replacing it. Luckily, Jennifer has mostly

experienced additive bilingualism. She explained to me that while she believes she is proficient

in both English and Spanish, she feels like she does lose some vocabulary in both (Appendix A).

However, since she uses both languages so frequently, she doesn’t believe that learning aspects

one language replaced what she knew in the other (Appendix A). Additionally, Jennifer thinks
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that she does not know all of either language—rather, she knows most Spanish and most English

but still struggles in parts of both. For example, Jennifer has struggled when it comes to finding

the right words to say in standard academic English in school, because she does not believe that

she has an advanced academic vocabulary (Appendix A). On the other hand, Jennifer thinks that

she has lost some of her Spanish-speaking abilities due to speaking mostly English in everyday

life and primarily speaking Spanish with her family (Appendix A).

In the interview, another theme that was discussed was the theme of stereotyping. As an

English language learner, Jennifer has experienced stereotypes first hand, both in school and

outside of school. Jennifer recounted that sometimes people would assume that she didn’t know

English, and they even would sometimes ask her in professional settings if she needed a

translator. Additionally, sometimes people would assume that Jennifer was actually from Mexico

when she told them about her Mexican heritage, even though she was born and has always lived

in the United States. Wright (2015) states that “as teachers begin to understand their students’

cultural backgrounds, they must be careful to avoid stereotypes and generalizations” (p. 17). It is

important for all educators to keep this in mind, and to not make assumptions about their

students based on stereotypes.

In the interview, Jennifer also discussed her experiences learning English in school and

how she plans on using her experiences to teach future ELLs she might have. Jennifer believes

that the most helpful mechanism for her to use while learning English in elementary school was

using pictures that related to her life and providing the English word or words (Appendix A).

Since Jennifer prefers visuals while learning, this helped use her previous content area

knowledge and her funds of knowledge, so all there was to do was translate (Appendix A).

According to Wright (2015), using “ample visuals and realia” is one of many techniques that can
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be used to help ELLs learn English more effectively (p. 61). As previously mentioned, Jennifer

wishes that she could have learned more “academic sounding” vocabulary in school (Appendix

A). When I asked her how she thinks she could have gained more vocabulary, she said it

probably would have been helpful to read more books in elementary school and practice writing

more (Appendix A). Jennifer also wishes that her school would have offered more resources, like

an ELL specialist or a teacher who was bilingual and spoke Spanish (Appendix A). After hearing

this come from a former ELL, I know now how I can better prepare myself and the rest of my

school to teach ELL students effectively.

After conducting this interview with Jennifer, I feel like I am much better prepared to

teach ELL students in the future. It was helpful to hear about the elementary school experience

of a former ELL, and to hear what she thinks was effective in learning English and what she

would have improved if she could. I now believe that second language teaching is much more

than classroom instruction. It requires going above and beyond to get to know students and their

families, as well as their backgrounds and their personal interests. I will get to know my future

students well to “have a sense of what is comprehensible for [them], and what type of amount of

scaffolding is needed to help them succeed” (Wright, 2015, p. 65). Some very valuable advice

that Jennifer gave to me as a future teacher is to really get to know my students and make sure I

have adequate resources to help them succeed, like an ELL specialist—which hopefully I will be

by that time (Appendix A). Wright (2015) seconds this by stating “when teachers know their

students well and understand the sociocultural contexts of their classroom, school and

community, they can draw upon their knowledge of language teaching theories” to be able to

help their ELL students learn (p. 65). Learning a second language is no easy task, but now I can
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hopefully become more prepared to help my future ELL students and help them succeed not only

in school, but in life.

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References

Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory,

policy, and practice (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

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Appendix A

1. What is a language?

2. What components form a language?

3. What is teaching a language and how would you teach it?

4. What does it mean to know and use a language?

5. What strategies were helpful when learning English? Why?

6. Do you believe learning English in the classroom; or, learning English through conversations

and interactions is more beneficial? Why?

7. Was there a person who stood out to you and helped you learn English?

8. Do you feel like you’re still able to connect to your culture even though you have become

more proficient in English? Why or why not?

9. How long did it take you to grasp English? Why?

10. What part of the English language do you still struggle with?

11. Is translating between two languages hard? Why or why not?

12. Would you consider yourself more proficient in one language over the other? Why or why

not?

13. What were some stereotypes you faced while learning English?

14. How do you think your English learning experience could have been improved?

15. What advice would you give to me, a future teacher, on how I can better work with and
effectively teach ELLs, or culturally and linguistically diverse students?