Entry 2: Reflection
First of all, I enjoyed interviewing my mom! We were both a little nervous about how it would turn out, but we had fun. When I was thinking of how I wanted to interview her I thought about hearing her opinion. As I was reading Ortega's text specifically, I found myself thinking of my own opinion to some of the questions and thoughts brought up. I wanted to learn what my mom's thoughts were having grown up speaking Spanish in Mexico and then learning English later on in life. I asked my mom whether she thought it is easier for a child or an adult to learn a second language and her response was a child. Her reasoning was because children are impressionable, and they soak up knowledge were as adults can be more timid sometimes in their learning of a new language. Ortega mentioned some research that found adults to be better and other research that found children to better. One specific research Ortega mentioned was by Long in 1990, the research argued that after about a year the advantage for adults begins to fade and children catch up (Ortega, 2013, p. 17). I wonder if this may be due to lack of practice or shyness like my mom mentioned to try to speak it. Towards the end of the video I asked her if she thought someone who successfully learns a second language could be a native or near-native speaker. Growing up around other bilinguals we would sometimes talk about this and as I was reading this in the text it seems more like an opinion answer. Ortega mentioned Coppieters interpretation saying that being native is different from near-native and Birdsong said there are some exceptions (Ortega, 2013, p. 20). Reading what the researchers had to say and what my mom had to say showed me that there are different angles to think about this. The researchers looked at it in more of a grammatical way where as my mom looked at it as if there is an accent. I have always viewed a native speaker as someone who speaks the language from the country they are born in like my mom. A near-native speaker I would view as someone who can almost speak it as a native speaker but maybe has an accent like myself. Overall, I learned that in some areas of studying language it can be more opinion and interpretation based. Sometimes there may be no direct answer.
Hi Alessandra, it’s pretty awesome to hear the perspective of your mom with her English development. When your mother said children are better at learning second languages than adults, it made me think of my parents. My parents did not have much knowledge with English as a child, but they were the youngest of their siblings. They were able to quickly adapt to the English language, where as it took quite a few years longer for my aunts and uncles. According to Ortega, “older is better initially, but younger is better in the long run” (Ortega, 2009, p.16). In addition, I can see this applied to when comparing to my little cousins to how I was at their age- they are more advanced in their second language than I was.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle! Ortega (2013) also mentions how children eventually catch up to adults and older children. I think this is what may have happened to your parents. Your Aunts and Uncles had the cognitive ability and strategies to learn English but then their advantage like Ortega says slows down. I think this is why they say children absorb like a sponge because they are able to quickly soak up knowledge or in this case a language that may take more time for an adult. I saw this with some of my cousins who moved here from Mexico. The oldest is the smartest one of the three but it still took him some time to learn English whereas the other two had an easier time. Their accent when they speak English is even different. I don't know if you have noticed it in your family, but the youngest has a slight accent where as the oldest has more of an accent even though he was an older child when they moved here.
DeleteHi again, Alessandra! Just like you mentioned, I can actually see the difference of accent between my parents and relatives. My parents being the youngest do carry a less noticeable accent, while as their older siblings have a stronger accent. In regards to their way of conversing, my aunts and uncles display a language mixture of Chinese and English, just as children would mix their languages (Rowland, 2014, p. 180). It’s really unique to see my two-year old cousin be able to recognize the interchange of Chinese and English when her mom speaks to her.
DeleteHi Alessandra! I find it so interesting that you and your mother have conversations about the differences between native and near-native speakers of certain languages. I have never thought about asking my mom questions like these before this assignment but I am glad that I have now. To chime in on you and your mother’s conversation, Birdsong states, “15 participants performed on a grammatically judgment task within the native speaker range” (Ortega, p. 20, 2013). Using this research I have my own opinion, which is that a non-native speaker of the L2 language has the ability to learn the L2 language with enough proficiency to be thought of as a native speaker of the language.
ReplyDeleteHi Alessandra,
ReplyDeleteYour mother brings up a good point about accents. Ortega states that "foreign-
sounding accents are likely to develop when the L2 is first learned later in life" (Ortega, 2013, p.22). This shows that if adults, like your mother, are learning a second language, they are more likely to carry an accent. However, it's interesting because there are always exceptions. Personally, I believe that these exceptions come based on how similar the L1 and L2 are. Moreover, it's also interesting when you consider dialects as well because these will also distinguish ESL's.
Hi Chelsea! Ortega mentioned how "foreign accents are so conspicuous that they can often be detected by the untrained ear" (2013, p.22). While I agree with her I also agree with you. I think that there are some people who have such a thick accent that it is immediately noticeable. There are other who have a slight accent that not everyone may pick up on. I agree with you though on that there are exceptions. I have heard people who speak Italian or Portuguese speak Spanish and the accent is not as noticeable unless you speak that language. I think there are also exceptions to those who are born with a gift for languages. My mom has an Aunt who speaks several languages and she speaks with no accent. Her native language is Spanish but when you hear her speak French she speaks as if she were born and raised in France.
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