L&S Chapter 5&6

So, the thing I liked the best in this weeks reading was the Natural Acquisition Setting.  I think it would really be a comfortable class to learn in.  It seems that the NAS really allows the learner to take in the language rather than focusing on the errors they are making.  However, I think that there are some problems with it.  Students would be less likely to learn the more complex grammar of the language.

Personally, I think the structure based acquisition setting would not be very good for an ELL.  The drills would not really allow for student creativity and may dissuade the ELL from trying to use their knowledge in class.  This approach seemed the most 'old school' to me, erego, I immediately disliked it.

From chapter 6 I liked the "Teach what is teachable" section.  I mean, it just makes sense; if students are unable or unwilling to learn it is useless to try and teach that particular lesson.  It is kind of like the L+1 idea, teach them just beyond what they currently know and the teaching will likely be successful.

visitor from a far

So, I am attempting to catch up on my posts, so they will be a bit shorter, sorry Esther.

I new most of the stuff the librarian said, but the most helpful thing for me was the refworks website. It is pretty much the bomb, the ability to access the documents (mostly in whole) in friggen' phenomenal. I think this is something that all English majors should be taught on the first day. I love it!

Reading due for 9/22, danger 'bad' words inside

The key things in the readings for me was the Ebonics and the 17 things about ESL learning.

Dealing with ELL's everyday for work is really, REALLY helping me understand and use what I am learning/have learned at MnSU. I see examples of negation, deletion, cognition etc. and also get to see how people at different levels learn and make mistakes.

But, back to Ebonics... I think in this region academic learning is REALLY disrupted by Rap/Hip Hop culture. The students I teach are both Hispanic and African and they all have adopted slang and the general way of interaction that is portrayed in Hip Hop/Rap.

To be honest it is ridiculous, a few students can't read or write, but they are able to have small conversations as long as you use phrases that they are familiar with. It is kind of rewarding/frustrating to see a student using new words, but when it is not a very useful phrase or, something that SHOULD NOT be said in school it hurts a bit. Especially when they can't figure out how to spell Cat but they can insult someones mother in 5 different ways.

Maybe I am just ranting, but the idea that it is cool to live off the streets makes me irate. If I have to hear "I don't need this, I can just go hustle", I will punch Lil' Wayne 'teef'. It COMPLETELY destroys all motivation for many of the male students. Why should they try and learn to read and write when they can make huge money slinging rocks yo'!?!

Like the 4th rule said, the best predictor of success is motivation, the best indicator of failure is lack of motivation. Damnit.

That's all for now, sorry for the bad words Esther, but it is me expressing myself, which is what I think you were going for ;).

Reading due for 9/15

Well, although the material was dense, I really liked reading about all the different theories and ideas. I thought it was neat to see the progression of thoughts and arguments against previous theories. I think that however, that not one theory can possibly account for all that goes on in learning, or specifically language acquisition. Whether it be first or second, it is a difficult subject to comprehend, say nothing about explain.

Oh yeah, Thea, innatism is good stuff!

12) Adib says, "If the students are at the beginning level of their learning then sometimes it is needed for a teacher to... translate or explain things in the native language."
Mitch says, " I agree".

13)

14)

Homework for 9/16

Due for next week:
Answer the question on google docs
Blog about my learning
comment on others blogs