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Language Acquisition Autobiography

Alan Simon

Department of English, Los Angeles Pacific University

ENGL 420: Principals of Language

Professor Crystal Gentry

July 17th, 2022

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I can tell you that the first word I ever uttered was “Obo” which was the

name I gave my grandmother. I called her “Obo” for her entire life. My

grandmother was my primary caregiver so it is natural that the first word

was that. Even though my earliest memories are of my father, it was my

grandmother and mother that were the ones I clearly remember speaking

with at a very early age. I can safely say that there wasn’t much speaking

going on, at least nothing significant that I can remember.

Reading was a different matter. I have been told that I started reading at a

young age. I would pick up pieces of paper on the street and read what was

written on it. I would also read aloud all the signs on shop windows and

streets as I was being driven around in my father’s car. “For Let”, “Fish and

Chips”, “WH Smiths” etc. The reading led to me trying to consume every

written word I could and I became a book worm. My family actually

prioritized languages as my father spoke English, French, German, Spanish,

Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Assyrian and Arabic fluently. There were weekly

trips to the Public Library and when school assigned books to read I would

request two or three rather than one. My best friend in primary school (was

my best friend in secondary school and is still my best friend 40 plus years

later) also came from a family that stressed reading and we competed against
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each other at how many books we could read. The major difference was that

I preferred (and still do) non-fiction books and my best friend preferred

fiction. There were slight overlapping when both of us got into Tolkein and

HG Wells.

I can safely say my family and friends coupled with the environment was a

huge factor in my literacy. The schools I attended had big libraries and the

librarians were part of the day to day curriculum. We read for school and we

read for fun. Flashing forward to now I can safely say the teachers I had

going back 40 years ago were “doing” exactly what Common Core standards

are implementing today.

“The skills and knowledge captured in the ELA/literacy standards are

designed to prepare students for life outside the classroom. They include

critical-thinking skills and the ability to closely and attentively read texts in

a way that will help them understand and enjoy complex works of literature.

Students will learn to use cogent reasoning and evidence collection skills

that are essential for success in college, career, and life. The standards also

lay out a vision of what it means to be a literate person who is prepared for

success in the 21st century.” (Common Core)

My primary school laid the foundation for my literacy and my secondary

school took the baton from them. It was only when I showed up to a High
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School in the US is when the reading for fun aspect of literacy turned into a

chore.

My feelings toward ELA are irrelevant. The field of English Language Arts

has been studied and experimented with by people smarter than me and the

result is pretty much a standard way of teaching English. Whether it is

structural, literal or as second language. As far as I know, teachers don’t

select the books that students have to read. LAUSD has adopted the same set

of books for ELA to create uniformity. As a teacher, I probably won’t have a

say in what books I would like my class to read. In England, I read

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Kim by Rudyard Kipling. I also

remember reading A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines in class and taking

out The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ from the school library. I

just don’t think that happens anymore. Just a note- I worked for Arleta High

School for LAUSD and I didn’t know where the library even was.

It is vital that kids are exposed to Language as soon as possible.

studies have shown that if children have high-quality preschool experiences,

their learning and cognitive development will be promoted concurrently and

longitudinally (Shonkoff and Phillips, 2000; Reynolds et al., 2011; Campbell

et al., 2014; Yoshikawa et al., 2015). To date, these empirical studies have

been dominantly undertaken in the United States and a number of developed

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countries in Europe (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005;

Pianta et al., 2008; Curby et al., 2009; Sylva et al., 2011; Anders et al.,

2012). In addition, scholars (Hoff, 2006; Pianta, 2006; Dickinson and

Porche, 2011) believe that children spend the most time with teachers in

their classrooms, so teachers’ language interaction and communications

could become unique sources for language input in children’s daily lives.

(Frontiers in Psychology)

There is no doubt in my mind that because of my parents interactions and

the way they encouraged my literacy in my young age that…that was the

reason I gravitated towards books, reading and writing in my young adult

like…and because of that…I chose to read more, write, even tried my hand

at journalism at the local newspaper. I soak up information know and love

going down rabbit holes on the internet, going from one subject and reading

up on where it leads me. After going down multiple rabbit holes reading up

on various topic related to ELA I thought about the role I may play as a

teacher in the future. It took a family support group and some amazing

teachers to get me to the place I was with the English language. If a student

doesn’t have that support from home then it was even more vital that the

teacher becomes the champion for ELA. As a teacher, I would support the

development of communication and language in and outside of the

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classroom. Not only English but any and all languages that the student

communicates with. I would make sure that part of English Language

Acquisition is giving students a chance to communicate with their friends in

classroom setting and more importantly go beyond the standard reading and

writing that Common Core suggests. Books were an escape for me and also

a blueprint on how to succeed outside of school and in the future. One of my

teachers allowed me to form a comedy troupe in Elementary School with my

friends and perform skits on Friday afternoons. We wrote scripts and had

rehearsals. From there we joined school plays. Later we had book club

meetings and we would go to the public library together. The same group of

friends later got into programming on our Commodore 64’s. Through

English so many other positive academic pursuits happened. The Sky is the

limit.
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Reference:

English language arts standards. English Language Arts Standards | Common Core State Standards
Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2022, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/

High school textbook williams list - los angeles unified school district. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2022, from
https://achieve.lausd.net/cms/lib/CA01000043/Centricity/domain/125/textbooks/williams%20suffici
ency/adopted%20and%20approved%20instructional%20materials/High%20School%20Textbook%
20Williams%20List.pdf

Yang, N., Shi, J., Lu, J., & Huang, Y. (1AD, January 1). Language development in early childhood:
Quality of teacher-child interaction and children's receptive vocabulary competency. Frontiers.
Retrieved July 17, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.649680/full