Interview
This interview between myself and one of my friends, Nathan, contains a discussion of Nate's experiences with being recessive bilingual. He moved down from Canada in elementary, and gained a fluency in English at the cost of his fluency in Canadian-French. From Nathan’s interview, we know he learned Canadian-French naturally, as that is is native language - despite not having a large proficiency in it any longer. Ortega discusses naturalistic learning as a learning style based on immersion that does not depend on instruction (2011). Comparatively, from Nathan’s accounts, he gained his English-speaking skills from school - an instruction learning style - that Ortega mentions as a common method of second-language acquisition (2011). This makes sense, as it was the language he learned predominantly in school, not at home.
Nathan moving here in his 2nd grade of school meant that he had far more opportunities to have a guided instruction than those who may have learned the language in high school. Like Gass discusses, Nathan’s experience is common in that his dominant language is the community language rather than his native language (2013). This is due to the near disproportionate amount of time spent speaking English compared to Canadian-French.
Another commonality for Nathan is that he comments that he often had trouble with using the appropriate phrasing for the corresponding language. Rowland mentions this as an experience many children face when learning a second language, or even after having learnt the language (2014). Despite the shift in dominance between his two languages, Nathan still feels a deep connection to his heritage and native tongue. He comments that he feels tied due to his family and relatives. This familial bond helps him to stay connected to his first language, and is a source of inner strength he uses to feel comfortable in his adult life.
Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Rowland, C. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. New York: Routledge.
Hi, Ila! I really enjoyed this creative way of sharing your interview with the class. I noticed that you started off by saying that Nathan is a recessive bilingual and wanted to know more about why you chose that label. From the interview alone, I would have considered him a dominant bilingual, per Gass’s (2013) definition, because he is more proficient in English but did not specifically state he had trouble understanding Canadian French, which is what would have qualified him as a recessive bilingual. Although he did say he does not use it as much, he also said that he still uses it at home conversationally, so I would like to know your thoughts or if there is any information missing that would qualify him as a recessive bilingual.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that your friend Nathan even drew some connections himself. He stated that his parents lived in Canada for about 90 percent of their life and that they have such a strong accent because of it. This is most similar to when Ortega stated that “the older people are when they begin learning an L2, the more settled they may be in their L1 perceptions” (2011, p. 23) and “that there is clear evidence that accents are likely to develop when the L2 is first learned later in life” (Ortega, 2011, p. 23).
References:
Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
Hey Yazmin! I should have been more clear in my reflection. Nate could be called a dominant bilingual if you look at his fluency in English. However, I based the classification on his mostly conversational skills in Canadian-French, as he cannot read or write in the language as he had before moving down here. I based this classification around the decrease in skills concerning Canadian-French, not his fluency in English - you are definitely right that his dominant language is English. This was an error on my part - I know so much about Nate and his experiences since we have known each other for so long, so I left key details out. He may have enough skills to understand most of the language, but he is nowhere near the proficiency level he was as a child. You are also right about the connection to Ortega concerning Nate's parents and their accents due to learning English after the critical period of development (2011). His parents are very sweet, and despite having accents, they do not seem as uncomfortable speaking English around me as they were in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThis ties into my idea that, with time and bonding, most second-language learners become more connected to the new language and feel less alienated. What are your thoughts?
To be fair, Nathan could be considered both a recessive bilingual and a dominant bilingual, because his fluency in English is increasing as his fluency in Canadian French decreases. He can even be classified as an ascendant bilingual, per Gass’s (2013) definition, because his fluency in English is increasing due to its abundance use. As for your question regarding second language learners becoming more connected to a new language, I believe that is the case with many people. Many anecdotes I have come across, such as the case with Nathan's family, contradict certain people’s beliefs that “newcomers to their societies allegedly refuse to learn the language of the majority and persist in settling for rudimentary survival language skills only, even after decades of living in their new country,” (Ortega, 2011, p. 8).
DeleteReferences:
Gass, S. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2011). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Routledge.
That is a really great observation. I hadn't thought of Ortega's points when it comes to the reluctance some people have to learning a new language (2011). And Nathan very well can be defined as an ascendant bilingual, I am glad that you mentioned Gass' definition (2013)! The idea completely alluded me. I guess I am used to interacting with him over the years, so I didn't think about his trying to reconnect to Canadian-French as an improvement of skills so much as reconnect with family. Though, in hindsight, this seems rather obvious.
DeleteI am glad that we both have seen more people trying to connect to their second-languages, since this can only improve our current educational environment.
Hello Ila! Great interview. One thing I found interesting about the interviewee and many of the other interviews we’ve conducted is that really no one is considered a “balanced bilingual” which refers to a person who is fluent in both languages (Rowland, 2013, p.176). This means that people as such can use either language for different situations but never as whole in its essence. In addition, Nathan mentions his trouble with writing at the beginning of his learning process, which is what I find almost every second language learner to have an issue with. Rowland mentions a study by Volterra and Taeschner who explain the learning process through stages in which the second stage is when students finally begin to distinguish the translations between vocabulary words and the rules that imply on the grammar (2014). With this being said, writing can be classified as the one subject that takes time to learn in form of learning stages.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Rowland, C. (2014). Understanding child language acquisition. New York: Routledge.
Hi Nancy! Yes, it does seem that many second-language learners who focus on English find the writing and reading to be the most frustrating or difficult part. I also like that you brought up the study, as that was part of the reading we have been doing that I found really interesting (2014).
DeleteWould you say that we should create more environments where our students can cultivate this writing and reading learning? As in, we make it more interactive rather than simply memorizing rules (that always seem to have exceptions) and practicing sentence stems (that only seem to have limited a number of uses).