Instruction
For this short paper, you will place yourself in an environment where people are not speaking English. This will help you to make connections to second language acquisition. You will also reflect on your experience and consider how this may change how you think about your own teaching and learning.
For this short paper you will first find a place (setting) where people are not speaking English. You will immerse yourself the environment for at least one hour. Before you start your immersion, remember to tell the people in this setting that you are conducting a school project on English as a second language. Ask them, if possible, not to speak to you in English for at least one hour. Remember to try to communicate in this setting without speaking English and to try to engage with the people in the setting and not just to observe.
As you think about where you will select to do your observation consider the following questions:
· Is there a restaurant or shop that you could visit where the owners/clients do not speak English and you could observe in the restaurant or shop?
· Are their sporting events where the participants or families do not speak English that you could attend and sit in the stands and observe?
· Is there a family that you know who you could visit for this project?
Setting and Participants: Describe the environment that you observed. Where were you? What language did you observe being spoken? Why did you select this place/this language? Who are the participants? What were they doing? How did they try to communicate with you? How did you try to communicate with them?
Connections to Second Language Acquisition: Explain the connections to second language acquisition that you experienced during your immersion. What did you experience that is similar to how people acquire a second language? Did you experience or observe an aspect of language acquisition that didn’t connect to anything that you have read so far? How does your experience relate to theories and teaching practices in Essential Linguistics: What Teachers Need to Know to Teach ESL, Reading, Spelling and Grammar?
Teaching Practice: As you think about your classroom (now or in the future), reflect on if this experience has changed how you think about instruction for second language learners. Why or why not? What might you do differently as you think about your teaching and learning because of this experience?