Alyssa Johnson

Interview With an Immigrant

EDUC 426.1
Final Project: Interview With an Immigrant
Background information:
I chose to interview a student from my third grade class from this previous year. He is originally
from Brazil and moved to the United States just before starting first grade. He is building upon
his language proficiency in Portuguese and English. He was born with a speech impairment and
did not speak his first word until age four. He is on an IEP for speech services. He is classified as
an English Language Learner, however he does not receive any official services to support his
language development.
Interview Questions:
Did your first language help or hinder you acquiring a second language? For example was
your first language phonetically different from your first?
To be quite honest, English is easier than Portuguese. Portuguese did not help me learn English
but it would have helped me learn Spanish. Because Brazil and Spain are sort of the same. Some
of the words are the same.
All of the portuguese sounds are different from those in English. Well, actually e is somewhat
the same but a is different. The letters look the same but the sounds are different. And in Brazil
we have different symbols. Like the infinity sign!
What was the single greatest problem you faced in adapting to American culture and how
did you overcome it?
The food is the same, we mainly eat rice and beans with some toppings. Minus there is not
something that I like a lot… they are little potatoes that are fried and put on top. I never had hard
tests in Brazil but when you get to third grade in Brazil, you get to read the book, bring it to your
house, then read it again and memorize it all the way to the test. I didn’t do as much math in
Brazil either. In Brazil, most math is done with pictures that it explains. Reading and writing in
Portuguese is not something you do in Brazil in kinder, 1st, or 2nd grade.
When I came to America, I missed my friends, my girlfriend, my activities. The hardest part was
learning the language and making friends. I overcame this by a friend coming up to me and
inviting me to play and he made me feel happy inside.
What were some amusing incidents that you faced in becoming Americanized, for example,
misunderstandings of the language or culture?
There was this time that I did not know when the teacher would be mad. I was using my pencil
as sort of like a catapult but I did not know that this would bother the teacher. And then I shot it
really far and hit someone and the teacher was pretty upset.
One time I went to my friend’s house, and his brother pushed me in the pool.
If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently?
No, I would do it the same except for probably stay in Brazil with my family and friends.
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What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of American culture?

Lots of weaknesses and little strengths. The weaks are leaving my school and leaving my friends.
Strengths- Hoping for friends, playing for friends, learning English, and hoping to do the best
What were the greatest problems that affected your learning of a second language?
Technically only one, but this is the big one. No friends. When no one speaks to you and you
have just completed a big accomplishment or a big thing at school and you just have to wait to
go home and tell your mom and dad. And still nobody at schools know anything about you.

But when you make friends, the problem comes out. When you have friends, it feels like you
have people that care for you and help keep you out of trouble. Then, my confidence goes up and
I could learn. It feels like you come out of the shadows and you just speak now.

Maybe you could share this with my next year teacher so they will get me more.

Reflection:

There are many affective and sociocultural factors that seem to have influenced G’s

experience in acquiring English as a second language such as: motivation, inhibition, attitudes,

levels of anxiety and self-esteem, family expectations, acculturation patterns, value systems,

prior educational experiences, and school culture. However, when interviewing G about his

language experience, I heard him articulating a language story that was significantly affected by

prior school experience, anxiety, and motivation.

G has minimal school experience before moving to the United States. He only received

formal instruction in Portuguese for one year before moving to America. Furthermore, it seems

his school experience was not heavily academic based as he mentions “there is not much reading

and writing in kinder, 1st, and 2nd” grade. When he started school in the United States, G was

not able to fully utilize his native language because he was still emerging in his Portuguese

language skills. This presented challenges for G while trying to acquire English, because “greater

proficiency in the first language (L1) helps students achieve in school” (Diaz-Rico, 2018, p. 7).
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G did not view his knowledge of Portuguese as beneficial because he was unable to draw any

connections between the two languages he was learning. However, I did find it intriguing that he

quickly matched Portuguese and Spanish as similar languages.

G expresses a great amount of anxiety around using language successfully with peers and

adults. G participated in the whole group more than any of my other students. He was eager to

share his thinking and show off his learning. However, if he made a mistake, he would quickly

follow up with a phrase that sounded like, “Guys, sometimes I say things a little differently

because in Brazil they talk differently.” He was hyper aware of what his peers think of him and

how they viewed him academically. Anxiety “can cause learners to feel defensive and block

effective learning” (Diaz-Rico, 2018, p. 12). Rather than simply focusing on learning, G is

dividing his “attentional resources into both learning and worrying about learning” (Diaz-Rico,

2018, p. 12). Fortunately, this barrier did not deter G from continuing to participate in daily

discussions and learning activities. On the other hand, I saw this anxiety and low self-esteem

seep into his independent work time. I often found G displaying work avoidance behaviors, such

as talking to friends and frequently getting out of his seat. Through private conversations with

him, I found that he was internalizing and becoming fixated on the opinions of others. This

presented a great challenge to his language learning, because he did not feel safe and supported

by the peers around him.

G’s language journey is centered around a desire to feel wanted, valued, and accepted. He

described the beginning of his language journey as being very sad and lonely due to not being

able to fully express himself. He would accomplish “great things in school and have to wait until

he got him to share with [his] mom and dad.” Not being able to instantly connect with his

classmates was frustrating, while also extremely motivating. G desperately wanted to “acquire
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language with the specific purpose” of being able to engage with his peers (Diaz-Rico, 2018, p.

11). He also displayed a sense of urgency to “become a member of the culture of [the English

language] group” (Diaz-Rico, 2018, p. 11). I think his motivation impacted his language

development positively, because it drove his desire to learn English. He wanted to be understood

and to be heard by his classmates and friends. He was longing to “replace” the things he had to

leave behind in Brazil, such as his friends and family. Conversely, I think some of the actions

that resulted from his motivations were unhealthy because they made him grow apart from his

native language. The best language experiences for students are where the students can grow

their native language and their second language simultaneously.

References

Díaz-Rico, L. T. (2018). The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook: A

complete K-12 reference guide. NY, NY: Pearson.