Madison Monaghan
LRC 416
Language Acquisition Autobiography
Originally, I am from Nebraska in a town called Omaha. I lived in Omaha from the time
I was born until I was 18 years old when I moved to Arizona for college. The language spoken
in my household as well as at my school was English. We did not have any English Language
Learner classrooms in my elementary school, middle or high school. My town was
predominantly white English speakers. That isn’t to say I had no experience of outside
languages. From a young age I was introduced to sign language and Spanish.
The elementary school I attended taught sign language to kindergarteners only. The sign
language was intertwined into our regular class day curriculum rather than being a special we
attended for certain periods of time during the week. Sign language was usually practiced during
our morning circle time after discussing the calendar. However, that stopped after kindergarten
and we no longer focused on sign language. I quickly forgot much that I learned about sign
language and still do not know hardly any. My elementary school also taught Spanish. Spanish
was considered a special and a teacher came in a couple times a week to teach us. We learned
Spanish from kindergarten until sixth grade when we moved to middle school. In middle school
we had the option between continuing with Spanish or moving on to German. I chose to stay
with Spanish for my two years in middle school and then one year in high school where I
fulfilled my requirement of a second language for both high school and college entrance. I went
on to take two more years of Spanish in college for graduation requirements.
It wasn’t until I moved to Arizona and started pursuing a teaching career that I even heard
of English Language Learners (ELL) in classrooms and specific ELL classrooms. My first
experience in an ELL classroom was just this year in my placement. I have spent a total of 10
hours in my classroom and have come to realize that I have a lot more to learn about ELLs and
how they should be taught. What I have witnessed in my placement classrooms is that the
students speak more English than I expected them to. They are able to interact with the teacher,
each other and myself in English. However, I can tell that they hold back slightly because they
are not fully able to explain themselves.
From what I have observed ELLs are taught in a very formal way. Their lessons are
organized, to the point and plain. They have a strict schedule that consists of reading, flashcards
and videos. They have to look at flashcards but rather than them being hard copies they are on a
computer. The lessons do not leave much room or time for ingenuity. Art is not something
emphasized in the curriculum used by my placement site. The reading in the curriculum is much
like it is for most children learning to read. It focuses on children being read to, sounding out
words together and alone. The language spoken is entirely English and so far I have only heard
one word in Spanish. For example, my mentor teacher was asking children what animals would
not be good pets. One child responded, “el toro.” My mentor teacher responded, “Yes. That
means bull. A bull would not be a good pet.” Other than that there isn’t Spanish spoken in my
placement classroom.
Although I was never an ELL student I know what it is like to struggle in learning a
foreign language. After spending a total of 12 years trying to learn Spanish and failing miserably
I feel like I could add a good amount of insight into teaching second languages. The major thing
I would change about our current ELL classrooms is the lack of creativity in the curriculum. We
preach about making learning fun and exciting so that children enjoy what they are learning
however, we do the exact opposite for ELLs. Why aren’t the ELL students experiencing that
same amount of excitement in their classrooms as other students’ experience?
In my opinion, the ELL curriculum is what squashes creativity and excitement. It does
this by not being flexible and the reason it lacks flexibility is because we are trying to make it
easier for any teacher to teach ELLs. However, that isn’t the approach we take towards general
education. In order to become a teacher you must learn how to teach and go through a
certification process. Once you learn how to teach you can become a teacher and maneuver
around a flexible curriculum. We should be taking the same approach towards our ELL teachers.
They should become certified ELL teachers so that the curriculum can also be flexible. When
we have a flexible curriculum that teachers can easily shift to their students needs and interests
the creativity in learning comes back. There would be more room for project and student-based
activities and invitations. The ELLs would be able to enjoy what they are learning and hopefully
learn it faster because they are interested. Not to mention it will only help their attitudes towards
learning.
The other very important thing that needs to change in our ELL classrooms is the
attitudes towards our students’ native languages. Acquiring multiple languages is a positive
thing in most places other than the United States and it puzzles me. The public school system
tries to focus on the negatives of having ELLs. Society focuses on the fact that these people
don’t speak English rather than focusing on the fact that these children have the opportunity to
hold on to their culture as well as gain another. I wish that there had been a stronger emphasis
on learning multiple languages when I was growing up. I would love to be able to communicate
with people using sign language and communicate with others in Spanish. I started out with the
opportunity to potentially do that however, I didn’t stick with it. It wasn’t something that
seemed important to me at the time and no one acted as though it was important. As I have
grown up I have realized that it is important. Being able to communicate in so many ways is
only helpful for my life as a teacher as well as an individual.
The way English is taught to English Language Learners in classrooms is not something
that will change in one day. It is also not something that will change because of one person’s
voice. I do hope that I will be able to make the changes I see necessary in my class if not in
other classrooms. I believe that ELLs need advocates just like any other student and I hope to be
that for my students.