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NNES Student Interview Paper

Emilee Rodriguez

TCH_LRN 333 – Introduction to English as a Second Language

Dr. Nalee Moua

02/23/2021
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NNES Student Interview Paper

One of the key aspects of being a good teacher to English Language Learners is to

understand situations from their perspective and understand how what you do affects your

students. A good way to gain this insight is to interview non-native English speakers to see what

experiences they had learning English. The person I decided to interview is my friend, Maria

Arambula. Maria's parents are from Mexico, however she spent most of her time growing up in

California. Her first language is Spanish and as she grew up, she learned English. This is good to

keep in mind as her experiences can differ wildly from those of other types of ELL students

(Wright, 2019).

Maria and I met in high school and were friends for a few years before I moved. We

remained friends through the internet, and that's how we communicate to this day. This interview

was conducted over Discord, which allowed us to voice chat. I conducted this interview on the

15th of February 2021. It took about thirty minutes. The questions asked can be found in the

Appendix.

Important Themes

Throughout Maria's responses in the interview, there are a few themes that repeatedly

come up. These themes can be applied to different situations and guide how I teach in my

classrooms in the future. It's important to note that these themes are summarized through Maria's

responses and are not entirely representative of her experiences, however these themes seem to

be woven into most, if not all, of her answers.

Community and Culture

Through many of Maria's answers, she mentions how lucky she is to have a community

of other non-native speakers to share her learning journey with. Growing up in Bakersfield,
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California, it's easy for her to connect with other people that share her language and culture. The

people in her community that don't speak Spanish don't berate her for being a non-native

speaker, because it's so common that in those areas most people don't think twice if you live in a

bilingual or non-English speaking household. Many of her non-Spanish speaking friends would

“ask [her] to teach them Spanish and [she] felt accepted” (Rodriguez & Arambula). Feeling safe

enough to engage with your culture and first language is a key element to learning a language

and Maria acknowledged this in multiple questions.

In “Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners”, the author discusses the

importance of integrating diverse cultures into the classroom and allowing ELL students to

engage with their cultures and first languages rather than forcing them to assimilate to American

culture and social norms (Wright, 2019). When a student can be themselves and fully embrace

their identity, it creates a welcoming learning environment that facilitates learning. Students can

also transfer their previous knowledge in other languages to solidify their learning in English

(Wright, 2019). This allows them to make tangible connections to past experiences which can

make their learning experience more meaningful.

Individualized Support

While learning English, Maria was in an ELL program at her elementary and middle

schools. Because she grew up in California, she was able to learn English at a younger age than

some other ELLs. One aspect of the ELL program that Maria cites as “the most educational part

of school” is the individualized tutoring that was provided for ELLs for other content areas

(Rodriguez & Arambula). If a student needed help understanding an essay prompt or were

unsure about what a word problem was asking them to do, they could simply ask for help at their

ELL program. Maria remembers struggling to answer a particularly confusing problem for her
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science homework in middle school and not being able to ask her parents for help because she

wasn't sure how to translate the assignment to ask them. So, all she had to do was bring it up to

her ELL teacher and they sat down and patiently worked it out together.

Individualized support like the support Maria got can be incredibly beneficial to help

ELL students not only reach proficiency in the English language but it also gives them

opportunities to have other areas of their English-centric education be adapted to their needs

while they build proficiency. Since the medium of education in America is often the English

language, English-language learning often overlaps with other content areas. This can lead to a

lot of learning, however unless ELL teachers are prepared to aid students in understanding the

context behind other content, students can easily slip through the cracks and not meet standards

(Wright, 2019). When given individualized tutoring like Maria received not only enabled her to

get help with learning English, but it also prevented her from falling behind or becoming

overwhelmed with her other content areas.

Stereotypes and Harassment

There weren't many instances that Maria could think of where she was bullied or harassed

for her NNES status at school; she believes it's largely because of her community. There are a

few instances in which she's been judged by strangers in other cities or called slurs by a handful

of students at school, however, according to Maria, the most harmful thing to her growing up

was seeing harmful stereotypes that prevailed in media (Rodriguez & Arambula). She

remembers growing up and having grown adults ask her if her and her parents were illegal

immigrants when they'd travel to L.A., which she now can't fathom happening. Again, Maria

emphasizes how lucky she is to have lived in a community where this behavior was rare. She
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wonders how differently people would have reacted to her and her family if she had moved to

another city.

If these harmful ideas are allowed to prevail in the classroom, it can have a catastrophic

effect on student engagement and learning (Wright, 2019). Harmful misconceptions and

stereotypes only serve to put ELLs in uncomfortable situations where they are prone to

withdrawing from the conversation. Not every ELL is the same, and educators will have more

success if they invest in their actual students rather than stereotypes or assumptions they've

made. In order to foster a welcoming learning environment, it's important to teach students to not

judge others based on stereotypes and instead get to know people for who they really are.

Reflection

Being able to interview Maria really opened my eyes to some of the experiences that

ELLs can have. The experience that stood out most to me was how much she appreciated her

ELL program and how they provided help for her whenever she needed it. According to Maria,

many times when she was growing up, her family couldn't help her with her schoolwork because

their help depended on Maria being able to accurately translate her work, which can be difficult

when you're learning a language (Rodriguez & Arambula). Being able to go to school and

knowing that any question you have will be met with understanding and a helping hand was

invaluable to Maria and her classmates. I knew that individualized instruction was important,

however I had never considered how having a tutoring program for ELL students to get help with

any content area would affect the students in such a positive way. Being able to not only provide

definitions for vocabulary but a place where students feel safe enough to ask for help no matter

how trivial the problem seems to non-ELLs is such a great resource for students to have.
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When I become a teacher, I think individualized instruction or tutoring for ELLs like the

kind Maria had would be the first thing I tried to implement. I understand that it can be difficult

to provide that kind of support to students, especially when class sizes are larger, however the

benefits that Maria described make it worth the effort. I would also do my best to give my ELLs

a safe environment to learn in and engage with their culture and language(s). I know that not

every student is living in a community that is accepting of their NNES status, and while I can't

build an accepting community on my own, I can create an accepting classroom that will

encourage students to continue to be themselves unapologetically without fear of harassment.

With the insight that Maria has given me, I feel like I have a better idea of how the actions that

teachers take affect their students. Using this knowledge, I can apply my ideas to the classroom

with a rough idea of how it may affect my students. While I know that Maria's experience is in

no way representative of ELLs, it helps to have her experiences guiding my decisions as an

educator. I hope to interview more non-native English speakers as I found Maria's responses to

be helpful in considering the perspective of an ELL student.

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References

Rodriguez, E., & Arambula, M. (2021, February 15). NNES Student Interview. personal.

Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory,

policy, and practice (3rd ed.). Caslon.

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Appendix

What language(s) do you speak at home and/or outside of your home? Why?

Does being a native speaker of a language have any correlation to the proficiency in that

language? Why or why not?

While in school, were you a part of an ESL/ELL education program? If yes, what was

the program, and did you find it beneficial to your learning?

When learning English, did you find yourself losing connections to your native

language?

Was speaking, writing, or reading the hardest part of learning English? Why?

Research has shown that people often congregate with those who share similar linguistic

knowledge, do you feel that your surround yourself with those who speak the same native

language as you? Why or why not?

Do you feel like you had to put more energy into school then people who spoke English

as their native language? If so, what did you have to do (tutoring sessions, extra homework, more

studying, extra classes for help, etc.)?

Do you ever feel judged for speaking your native language in public spaces where

English is normally spoken? Why or why not?

Did you experience any bullying, harassment, or anything of that matter because you are

different from the normal race, being whites?

Were there instances in the classroom where you felt singled out or “othered” by your

teacher? What advice would you provide to me, a future teacher, so that this does not happen?