Xavier Juarez

9/25/18

ELL Student Interview

TCH LRN 333

The person I interviewed was Jenny Park. She is a female and she is from South Korea,

she is bilingual, and she speaks English and Korean fluently. Her mom is full Korean, and her

step dad is Caucasian. Her mom is an English teacher in Spokane. At home, her mom speaks to

her in Korean, but when she was younger, her mom forced her to speak English to improve on

her language. Before her family settled in Spokane, they spent a couple of years living in

Canada. Jenny was enrolled in an international school in Canada and her mom taught at an

international school in Canada. Jenny has an older brother, he was a lot older, so his parents

were already too late at getting him enrolled in American schools. He hardly knows English, but

is proficient in Korean but for Jenny, she is proficient in English and her Korean is starting to

fade. Her mom re-married in Canada and when her parents moved together, Jenny would

speak English to her dad. Jenny is the only child in her family and she is heavily interested in

social interactions and being able to understand and respect different people’s culture. The

location of the interview took place in the Chicana/o and Latina/o Student Center in the CUB on

September 19th, 2019 at 1:10 pm. I didn’t know Jenny prior to this interview. I was scheduled to

interview someone that I talked to earlier in the week, but he didn’t show up and Jenny was

more than willing to participate. It was outstanding how much I was able to learn from her and

how much information she gave me about her life even though we were complete strangers.
 When I was asking my questions, I never once received a short answer, Jenny was

always willing to go more in depth with each and every question. She always put herself in

perspective of the question and she would always give a personal story that related to the

question that I asked. I wanted to have Jenny get as comfortable as possible, so I could gain

more information and have a better interview process. Jenny has been through so much and

she is the same age as me. A lot of her past experiences related to what we are talking about in

class or have already talked about. A lot of her past experiences and stories has motivated me

to become the best ELL teacher I can be, I enjoy taking on different challenges.

To start off the interview, I organized my questions to open up about language and what

it means to Jenny and my tougher/more serious questions were in the middle and the end of

the interview. Jenny’s mom stressed that she speaks English as much as she could, but once she

was old enough, they constantly spoke to each other in Korean, it was easier to discuss things

between each other. As of now, their native language isn’t used as often, and she states that

her native language is starting to get worse, but she is still able to speak Korean and understand

it. Another question I asked her was to explain what it means to know and use a language.

Jenny stated that it’s an essential part to someone’s identity, you’re losing a part of self-

expression if two people don’t know the same language. We also discussed how much of a

barrier language can be, you can’t hold a simple conversation because of the barrier. This part

in the interview, I wanted to get to know her setbacks and struggles she had with learning

English. She said that grammar was the toughest concept to understand. When she would write

papers and turn them in, she would always receive her paper with a ton of different red

markings. This tremendously hurt her self-esteem and she constantly felt left out. She often felt
insecure about speaking in public even though this was the best way for Jenny to practice her

English skills. Her teachers never reached out to her to help her with understanding grammar.

Jenny faced a number of different stereotypes that were often rude and provocative. She said

that over the years, Asians have this American stereotype where they are known as having

broken English and being smart. Instead of being stereotyped, she wants people to actually get

to know her and her heritage. As she has gotten older, the ridicule was a lot worse, a lot more

of rude questions were being asked, she said that she will never forget some of the mean

stereotypes she has dealt with. Jenny has become sort of immune to the different insults, which

is something you never want to experience. There is a lot of different aspects ELL students go

through without even learning the actual language, as a teacher you must take this into

consideration and understand the different backgrounds your students come from.

The next portion of the interview, I wanted to ask her what methods helped her learn

English and the teacher’s method that helped her or she wish that they could have done. Jenny

was involved in a reading class throughout middle school and elementary school, she would

read books and learning about the different sentence structures. At this point in her life, she

was rarely speaking Korean, her mom forced her to use English at home. Jenny was also

involved in after school programs and activities. I asked her how she was able to cope with

learning something new and struggling with understanding it while her peers were able to pick

up the concepts quickly. Her strategy was to ask a lot of questions, ask personal questions, and

slowly make personal connections. She also said you must have curiosity and initiate

conversation, this will only build confidence in the ELL student. Students have to try their best

because learning English is complex, but you can never give up. Jenny soon became interested
in learning about different cultures, she was able to relate to her friends because of the

experiences they have gone through, these friends became lifelong friends and taught her a lot

about society as a whole. Jenny will continue to use Korean words and English words together

when explaining something or reading a document. She said this happens naturally and she

doesn’t even realize it. This is called code-switching, this is pretty common for ELL students, it’s

a method into understanding the context. I asked Jenny what her motivation is for learning

English and to spread her knowledge. She stated that her Mom’s health is slowly getting worse

and she wants to be the exact person she is but even better. She wants to make her mom

proud, knowing the obstacles she has gone through. A lot of the ELL students are easily

motivated and want to make their family proud for the constant obstacles that their parents

have made. The most rewarding part of learning English in her opinion is being able to have

different opportunities in being Bilingual, she is also able to build relationships with other

cultures. The question I asked that I thought was the most important was her response on how

to make the language learning experience better for ELLs. Jenny said to make the classroom

environment comfortable and appropriate to learn, you must accept all different types of

backgrounds. The students must maintain confidence when learning English, there also must be

respect of the students. The environment is important for ELLS, they must be given the

opportunity and resources in order to be a proficient student for their education and to leave

no child behind.

All in all, each student in the United States of America deserves the equal opportunity of

receiving an education no matter their background. English language learners have the

opportunity to use their native language and English to become bilingual, this will open so many
opportunities for the learners. In order for the ELLs to be proficient in English, schools need

resources to have the required materials as well as the money to acquire the required teachers

to teach for their school. ELLs teachers must understand each of their students’ backgrounds,

make the classroom environment safe, and to constantly improve their ways of teaching. Some

strategies I would implement for my classroom would to build confidence in my students to be

able to have conversations with their classmates as well as outside of the classroom, this is the

best way to practice for the students. I would also create a safe environment for my students, I

want my classroom to be welcoming to all my students and I will need to get to know each and

every one of my students. My students as well as myself must maintain patience throughout

learning and teaching, because English will not come easy to my students, I must emphasize to

not get frustrated and each day will get better. I will constantly try different methods in order

to help my students understand grammar or the different structures of English. I can’t expect

perfection from my students right away, it will take time to be proficient, but once my students

become proficient and to see them engage with other students confidently, that’s what I’m

looking forward to witnessing. I can’t wait to have a classroom of my own with the end goal of

having each and every one of my students become proficient in English but also being able to

be comfortable with speaking their native language.

Appendix
 1. Name, country of origin, first language, and other information you asked in regards to
demographics.

Jenny Park, South Korea, Korean

b) Date/Time/Location where the interview took place.

9/19/19 1:10pm Chicana/o Latina/o Student Center

c) Describe your relationship with them. Did you know them prior to this activity, or did
you just meet? (How? & Why did you choose to interview them?)

Met at the center randomly

1. What language is the most commonly spoken at home? The native language or English?

Why? English with her dad and Korean with her mom when it is one on one. Her dad is
white. Her mom understands and is more comfortable speaking Korean

1) What is a language?

A part of a culture, a unique way of communicating with one another.

2) What components form a language?

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

Verbally, a type of communication between the student and teacher. Get to know the student’s
culture and make the connection there, and try to get some type of understanding there, and
create a stronger bond, build a type of comfortability, to be able to understand and get involved
in the culture

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

A mechanism in order to live, you need to be able to know a language to get around THE world,
it’s an essential part, you are losing a part of self-expression. It’s such a barrier to not know one.
You are able to understand their culture and language, you can connect the similarities of the
languages, love the diversity.

5.) Are you the only member in your family who is learning English or has learned English?

Why do you believe that is the case?

 No, all her family knows how to speak English, she happens to be the most proficient and
she is able to speak. Has been going to American schools, because her dad is white. Her
brother was already too old so he doesn’t know as much English but is more proficient in
speaking English. Setting, she was young enough she moved to Canada and she learned
English there, she went to an international church and her mom taught at an international
school. English started to improve as Korean faded.

6.) What teaching or learning methods did you use when you learned English? Did you feel

it was effective? Why or why not? *

She was a part of a reading class, a class was designated for helping English. She would
constantly get help with learning books and getting taught with sentence structure. She
rarely spoke Korean. Mom forced her to learn English at home and constantly use
English, after school programs, after school activities.

7.) How do you cope with learning something new that you may not understand while those

around have a good understanding? *

Ask a lot more questions instead of being basic, always ask personal question and then
slowly lean into making connections. Making yourself present and engaged. Not being
afraid, even if you are different, you must have curiosity and initiate conversation. Builds
confidence.

8.) What difficulties did you have when you started to learn English?

Grammar, didn’t really apply herself. Her papers would always be marked up and her
self-esteem went down and she constantly felt left out. Writing papers and not being able
to understand vocabulary and content that’s tougher to understand. Mean teachers helped
her

9.) While learning English, did you become friends with native English speakers? Why or

why not? How did these types of relationship help or hinder you during the language

learning process? *

Yes, her friends were apart of different cultures, how their values matched up, became interested
in learning about different cultures, and wanted to get involved with social interactions, she loves
the people and how they contribute to society. Growing up she was with a lot of international
students, was able to relate to others and being able to relate to other, staying in your comfort
zone.

10.) What was the hardest part about learning English? Why?
 a. Do you have any tips you can provide me to make the language learning experience
better for ELLs? *

Insecurity and low self of esteem, ells were feeling like. Make sure to open up and be
comfortable with the language and so they can reach out. The classroom must be
comfortable to accept and make the environment appropriate and to continue to try and
learn. Don’t make fun of people for not having perfect English, build a level of respect,
and the teachers to should implement.

11.) What do you wish your teacher had done differently when it came to teaching you
English? Why?

12.) What learning strategies worked best for you when learning English? Why?

Just being around others, applying yourself, one on one tutoring, a shock, but wanted to
learn more about her mistakes and having a sense of care. Do other things besides
academics, a lot of different aspects to help the learning process.

13.) When you are reading or thinking, what language do you use in your head? Do
you shift back from your native language to English and vice versa? *

Yes, when she talks to her mom she speaks to her in Korean, a lot of people within her
friend group code-switching, its all natural, sometimes the certain word she substitutes
for the other language to make sense of the sentence.

14.) Why did you learn English? What was your motivation? *

Her mom was an English teacher, she was promoting and supportive of her mom, her
mom wanted to set her up and wanted the best for her. When moving to Canada her mom
was struggling trying to learn English and that motivated her. Her mom’s health is
slowing down, she wants to be successful. Doesn’t want to seem like an outcast.

15.) How comfortable were you when you first began to speak English? Why?

Wasn’t really comfortable, when she made a mistake her friends would make fun of her and she
would feel bad. A lot to process in her brain, took a while for her to understand and often time
she felt tired.

16.) What was the most rewarding part about learning English? *

More opportunities, she was able to work at an interpreter, being able to build
relationships/strategies and the cultures. Can see the both sides to it and being able to
help others is something she loves. You have a greater capacity of understanding
different groups.
 17.) What were some of the stereotypes you faced while learning English?

a. How did it make you feel?

American society stereotype- Asians have broken English, bad to generalize the whole
community. Hates the typical questions, it’s a frustrating process, she wants to be asked about
her different heritages. She appreciates people that get to know her. Stereotypes were more often
when she was OLDER, a lot ruder questions were asked. Certain stories have really impacted her
and will stick to her. Sort of immune to the ridicule and sad that she has to reflect on these. The
ridicule made her feel so bad.