Roxanne Fuentes, Brandi Rowles, Yury Pieczynski
TSL4081 – Online
Dell-Jones
10 April 2011
CASE STUDY #3
Background Information: Alicia is from Nicaragua. She is married and a mother. She comes from a large family and has some siblings that live here in the United States while the rest of her family is back in Nicaragua. She works as a maid and has a home based business. She is not shy when speaking in English and is always willing to improve her English skills. She has shared with me that if she doesn’t understand something in English, she seeks out someone who can help explain it to her. Usually it is her son, boss, or friends who are bilingual.
Interview Questions: “Me” is Roxanne Fuentes:
Me: Ok good. When you were growing up in Nicaragua did you learn English over there?
ELLL: Yes.
Me: Ok. Was it in the school?
ELL: Yes.
Me: Ok. How old, what grade were you in?
ELL: I studied for six year. From first to six. The six year of High school.
Me: So do you mean from the sixth grade?
ELL: No, no. Twelve, the twelve to. What is high school here?
Me: High school is
ELL: 10 to , from 9th to 12th, right?
Me: right.
ELL: That’s what I mean.
Me: So four years?
ELL: yes
Me: nine, ten, eleven, and twelfth? Ok. good. So when you moved here you already knew some English?
(the ELL is speaking in Spanish)
ELL: yea
Me: But not enough to have a conversation?
ELL: No, not enough to have a conversation.
Me: Where you able to understand other people?
(inaudible)
Me: So you basically knew a few words to get by and to have a conversation with anyone.
ELL: No.
(inaudible)
Me: Ok, good. When you first arrived here, did you feel comfortable speaking in English to others since you knew a little bit of English?
ELL: I did not know too much English, but I feel comfortable.
(inaudible)
ELL: the way that I can learn doesn’t bother me. The way the country is with the eh language, because I want to learn. I’m very happy to be here to learn.
Me: That’s good. Now let me ask you this. How long did it take you before you felt comfortable speaking in English? Like how long before you were here that you said ‘ok I can have a conversation and feel comfortable with my language skills?’
ELL: maybe in two years I was ah already talking with people having a conversation, maybe a short conversation but uh.
(speaking Spanish)
ME: what are some of the ways you learned English? You said you learned English when you were a child in Nicaragua, but when you moved here did you take English classes? Did you watch tv in English? What did you when you arrived here?
ELL: when I arrived here, I went to school, but it doesn’t work for me because every day it was the same thing. (Inaudiable) they did the same thing, ‘hi’ ‘how are you’ ‘good afternoon’ or whatever, that’s it. So I feel uncomfortable because every day I learn the same thing. Sometimes the new people come in to me that I don’t know English but they come in to me to ask me for help because they see me like ah maybe more ah that I know some more than them. So I, I quit. I quit ah from the school and then ah I work a lot and uh American ah factories. Over there, they just speak English so that helped me to learn. People to people, you know. Person to person understanding is because my boss just speak English so I have to understand him in speak English. And ah, the work I have right now they just (someone walked and spoke) they very beautiful people. Always English.
Me: Where are you working now? What do you do now for a living?
ELL: I um work for ah like I told you an American family. Im ah, a maid of the house. Uh, the housekeeper. That’s what I do for ah a living for 15 years and I do Mary Kay.
Me: oh, good. Good for you.
ELL: That’s ah, beauty products. I talk to a lot of people in English or Spanish.
Me: so it has been to your benefit, because you’re now able to have a side business where you sell Mary Kay products being bilingual. So English has helped you?
ELL: Oh yes, its helped me a lot.
Me: Oh that’s good. You get more customers.
ELL: I have customers in English and Spanish, even other countries that they don’t speak Spanish but they speak English with me so I have many many I have from china, from japan, from ah ah even eurpoe. You know? But I don’t speak Italian or French or whatever, they speak English so I can communicate it.
Me: So it has helped your further your success here in the United States because your able to not only work in a home, but your also having your own home-based business by selling Mary Kay.
ELL: Yes.
Me: oh that’s good. What advice do you give to someone who wants to learn to speak English?
ELL: well my advice would be ah, to study from the ABC’s.
Me: the alphabet?
ELL: yeah. You said to teach? Or to learn?
Me: well I’m asking you what advice do you give to someone who wants to learn to speak English? Someone that comes here and doesn’t speak English.
ELL: oh I did it from the ABC’S is the best for anyone. I didn’t do it but I guess it’s the best.
Me: what about for someone that’s teaching a person who doesn’t speak English? What approach do you think they should take.
ELL: Oh no. You know what? I guess my advice to the people to only learn English it would be ah from person to person. Ya know? How do you say ah? Learn from whatever you are-is speak English, ya know? Even if you didn’t do it good, try to do it. Always do it. Uh, but for people that wanna teach good, they starting from the ABC’s
Me: so for a person who wants to learn they should surround themselves with people who speak English?
ELL: yes.
Me: so they can practice speaking it.
ELL: yes. Person to person, you know? Speaking practicing every day. Every moment.
Me: ok, now what about if they want to learn how to read and write. How do you suggest they learn to read and write?
ELL: read a book!
Me: Read a book?
ELL: yeah! Read a book and copy. Copy that book. Even if you don’t understand or whatever copy from a book to write it down in that way is very good.
Me: ok, that’s good advice. Now is there anything that you yourself can do to improve your English skills?
ELL: going to the school. That’s the best, that I, that can be ah improve my because I already know something but some words are difficult so it’s good to learn at school. The teacher has the best way to teach you how learn English or any kind of uh, learn.
Me: have you ever had a moment where you felt confused by the meaning of a word, because the word in English is different from the word in Spanish?
ELL: yes.
Me: can you give me an example?
ELL: Well when I read boo- ah, letters from the cards I got some kinda problem because I don’t understand it and I go to the dictionary in English and ah I can’t even understand it. So what I do is call people for my son or somebody else-friend and ask them, and they can explain what it, what it means. But it is very difficult when it from a, type of ah, very ah, difficult, very ah different then what we use in everyday language.
Me: do you ever feel that maybe learning English is a challenge as an adult because you’re older? Or do you think it’s more of a challenge for a child?
ELL: for me it’s a challenge for any age.
Me: well Alicia, I truly appreciate all of your help. I have learned a lot with you today in this interview, and I wish you the most luck in continuing to learn English and I wish you the best of success in your home-based business. Thank you.
ELL: thank you.
Reading Sample:
talian Meals Types of Food: -meat, seafood, pasta, tomato sauce -vegetables, olive oil, cheese Flavours: -spicy hot, mild and tangy Serving Style: -one dish at a time -eaten with knife, fork, spoon Where Canadians eat it: -at home -in restaurants Conclusion: -many other foods -reflect cultures -Canadians have choice | “Italian food includes many types of meat, seafood, pasta noodles, tomato sauce, vegetables, olive oil, bread and cheese. The taste of the food ranges from spicy hot to mild and tangy. Dishes are usually served one at a time, and the food is eaten with a knife, fork, and spoon. Canadians like to order Italian food -- especially pizza -- for takeout or delivery to their homes. Many Canadians also enjoy Italian restaurants. There are many other types of food available in Canada, each reflecting the multicultural heritage of the country.” |
Reading Analysis:
Alicia read the sample very well and seemed to understand the vocabulary and content of the passage. She did mispronounce some words and not self-correct. She has a very accent to her flow of reading can be choppy. I think she felt the pressure of being recorded while reading. The words she mispronounced were word with an “s” at the end. She said the word in singular form not plural form. Alicia said “range” instead of “ranges” and also said “dish” instead of “dishes”. Her reading did not flow. She also mispronounced “tangy” by saying “tan-gey”. She also said “eat-ing” instead of eaten. She pronounced “Canadians” as “Ca-nen-dians” Alicia speaks very well and takes her time as she reads the short passage. I am assuming this how Alicia reads to herself while she is reading English translated text.
Overall, Alicia reads and speaks very well. According to the SOLOM her total score is a 22. She can comprehend the material well. Her fluency is very good for someone who learned English through a dictionary. Alicia’s pronunciation is good for the most part. During the reading she mis-pronounced only a couple of words.
Writing Sample:
Alicia’s written response to a picture she took looks like this:
Brandi Roweles Editing
Transcribed:
I was thinking the american people ate a lots of peanuts butter -allways, and is part of them. I larn to eat peanut butter by my self and with fruit and bread. and Ilike it. I know is delicios and good for you.
Writing Analysis
From the written response, one can notice that her level of English ability is lacking in particular areas. Alicia needs help with fluency, vocabulary, and grammar. She could also practice more with her pronunciation when reading the writing sample because some words are mistaken and it interrupts comprehension for the listener. Alicia attempts to stay on topic by relating her personal experiences to the picture. Alicia has typical misspelling issues which can be simply corrected if taught specific strategies and makes use of a site-word-book. At her age, it might seem silly to create a ‘word wall’ but I do think that if she kept something like a journal of common words (or misspelled words) her vocabulary would enhance.
Alicia’s written sample shows errors in grammar with the first sentence by placing the word ‘always’ at the end and with her run-on sentences. Her run-on sentences prove the attempt of fluently staying on topic. In her interview, Alicia mentions that one way she learned how to write in English was by copying English words out of books. I found this very important and smart for an ELL to try and do on their own.
As a group, we decided to correct the written sample as if we were the teachers grading a writing assignment.
Problem:
The only problem that we can tell with Alicia’s fluency of the English language is how inconsistent she is. During the interview, she seemed very confident in what she was saying. Her writing needs some work. When Alicia reads, she reads as she speaks. Overall, we feel that Alicia needs to practice speaking, reading, and writing on an everyday basis. It is important to note that Alicia is an older woman and is not attending any form of formal education.
Solution:
Because Alicia is not in school anymore, we recommend Alicia to find classes that are offered for free to help with reading and writing in English. Sometimes churches will hold classes for English language learners. One way Alicia practices her English skills is through her Mary Kay Business. One suggestion could be that Alicia could write Thank You notes to all of her customers when they place a order. This can help Alicia’s writing since she will be constantly writing. Through her Mary Kay business she speaks daily with native speakers and non-native speakers. She can practice her English by speaking English at all timesPictures:
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