Blog 2: Interview with Sandra J.
My interview with Sandra Jeremiah broadened my perspective on what its like to grow up bilingual. I had certain expectations of what it would be like having to navigate between two different languages and after my interview I gained more insight into the mind of a bilingual person. I definitely could understand what Sandra meant when she said that English was the dominant language and that she was always prepared and practiced her English even while living in America.
I think that its interesting that many bilinguals may have this looming thought or worry about knowing English in order to be best prepared for their future. I find it interesting that in other countries, the school curriculum is structure with English in mind. In primary school in Nigeria, Sandra had mentioned that she had very few lessons in her second language, but several lessons in English. Its almost as if English is treated as a vital tool for future success. I also want to point how Sandra was very aware and cognizant of the fact that she would not be able to speak her language at the same level of a native. Although I cannot to relate to a bilingual person, I can somewhat understand the idea of just not understanding specific elements of a language the same way a native speaker would. There are certain complexities in language that requires a person to be fully immersed in the culture to pick up on said complexities. I had expected Sandra not to take the stand and be a little bit more hopeful when it comes to eventually speaking at the same level as natives.
When I become an educator I think that I will have to keep myself aware of the actual goals of the bilingual students that I'm working with. According to Sandra's situation, she was constantly taught English, and she knew shed need English later on in her life. Her eduction on her second language was stifled due to that, and she had to not focus as much on her second language. However that may not be the case for most bilingual students, they may not have such a heavy emphasis on English, and they may want to preserve the level of proficiency the have in their home or native language, Sandra helped me come to this realization and understand it more. Overall, this interview was very insightful and gave me a better understanding of what its like to be bilingual in the US.
Good afternoon, Lola! I found your interview with Sandra to be very interesting. Her second language was Yoruba and her first language was English. In addition to her unique language history, Sandra included that she was not Yoruba and her area was only heavily populated with people who spoke Yoruba at one time. According to Ortega, there is an occurrence of teaching English in countries like India and Nigeria in formal schooling. However, in more larger cities and countries (China, United States, Spain, etc.), there is an occurrence of teaching foreign languages like Spanish or French (2013). From my observations, this was the case for Sandra because she can recall rigorous English classes in grammar and phonetics. I wanted to ask you, Lola, do you believe it is right for the native language to be learned second after English? Sandra mentions that this may have been because of how universal English is and that English is the language of the “dominant” peoples. Now, I’m sure this topic is controversial to some but I personally believe that the native language should be kept before all. This is my opinion and I wanted to know what yours is on this subject! Great video! I definitely learned a lot about Sandra and Nigeria’s relation to language in your video.
ReplyDeleteHey Jordyn! To answer your question, I don't believe that it is right to teach the native language after teaching English, but I do understand the logic and the necessity behind doing so. In Nigeria, the major language of the country is English, even though tribal languages are spoke the majority of time, even in major cities such as Lagos. I think many Nigerians have this understanding that English will be needed when they travel abroad for business or school in pursuit of "better opportunities." I personally believe that cultural ties should be supported and that should be continued through teaching that native language, however the need to make sure students are ready to pursue outside opportunities is extremely important.
DeleteHey Lola, I think it’s super interesting that your friend Sandra speaks the Yoruba language but is not of the Yoruba people. I think she is definitely a naturalistic learner of the Yoruba language, She mentioned that she picked it up outside of the house and at her mother’s job. I think she and her family had to learn it out of necessity, because they lived in an area where it was widely spoken. I loved your question about whether she would be able to pick up the language like someone who learned is when they were substantially younger. We tend to think that children pick up languages faster than older children or adults, according to Ortega being older when learning a second language is better initially but learning the second language younger is better in the long run (Ortega, 2013, pg. 16). I believe this means that older children learn the language faster but younger children retain more of the language. How do you think this relates to Sandra?
ReplyDeleteHello Devin. In relation to Sandra and her age when it came to Learning Yoruba, I definitely agree with Ortega. Sandra was still young enough to pick up the language pretty quickly, but she definitely didn't retain the language in the same way as someone who's L1 was Yoruba. Because she was learning English in school, and then she eventually came to America, she didn't have a reason to retain the majority of the language. However, also due to her age, she was never able to pick up Yoruba in the way an L1 speaker of Yoruba could, which I think contributed to the her retention rate.
DeleteLola, thank you for sharing your video of second language acquisition with your friend, Sandra! Her experiences with English are very remarkable! Although she learned and practiced English while living in Nigeria, the English spoken there is yet so different than the English spoken in the United States. The slang, phrases, spellings, and inflections or intonations may be similar to American English, but slightly different at the same time. I find it really cool that she had exposure to both types of English and can find the similarities and differences of the two!
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DeleteHey Alora. I also think it's really cool that Sandra is able to navigate through two different types of English and compare and contrast the tow. I definitely believe that exposure to both type helped her become more fluent because that exposure eventually led up to more practice with English in general. I believe that she almost has an upper hand in regard to proficiency in the English language due to her learning British and American English. She has a more thorough understanding of the structure and grammar than most native English speakers do.
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