Reflection
For this assignment, I have chosen to conduct my interview with my mother, Angelita Lopez. She was born in a dual-language household consisting of both Spanish and English speakers. Her father made sure that she was learning English so she will be able to do well in school, unlike her older brother who failed Kindergarten because he knew very little English.
My initial thoughts on my mother’s first language were that it was going to be Spanish. However, I have found out during the span of this interview that instead she grew up speaking both English and Spanish as a first language. From what I learned in her household, she spoke English to her father and Spanish to her mother. My mother would be considered simultaneous multilingual because she began speaking both languages since birth. Rowland (2014), mentions that “Many of these children are from migrant families who have settled in a country where most people speak a different language” (p. 175). My mother’s father was a naturalized citizen while her mother was from Monterrey, Mexico which would make sense as to why she spoke English mostly to her father and Spanish to her mother. Rowland (2014), even touched onto this phenomenon by stating that, “sometimes, both languages are provided by the parents, so the child will be exposed to both languages in the home in roughly equal proportions” (Rowland, 2014, p.175). This would mean that my mother grew up to be bilingual.
According to Ortega (2013), my mother was bilingual in which she was able to, “switch and alternate between two (or more) languages, depending on a range of communicative needs and desires” (p. 4). Moreover, she mentioned that at her workplace she has the ability to switch languages when her patients feel more comfortable speaking in Spanish rather than in English. I have found that she has no difficulty in switching her languages and that she has not faced any imminent struggles to where she would mix the two languages together unintentionally. Whenever she speaks to my siblings and I at home she ends up switching between Spanish and English words with ease. I imagine her doing this at her hospital as well with the babies’ parents.
My mother is a mixture of both naturalistic and instructed learner because she learned both languages through her parents and from studying Spanish I and II in High School. She learned naturalistically through verbally speaking Spanish and not writing it until much later once she began studying the language later in High School (Ortega, 2013, p. 6). Because she already had an aforementioned background of Spanish knowledge, she was able to pair her verbal Spanish vocabulary she knew along with the writing portion with little to no difficulty.
All things considered, compared to how much Spanish and English she knows now she said her proficiency in English would be fluent and her Spanish would be at most top tier but not exemplary. I find this considerably so because my mom usually speaks English in a majority of conversations than in Spanish. I learned so much more about my mother during this interview and am surprised that she ended up growing up as a dual language learner in her household. Interviewing my mother even answered some questions I had and she really knows a lot more about second language acquisition than I realized!
This is a fascinating interview and there are many questions that I have. First of all, I wonder if you speak Spanish or since you are third generation, and according to research, you do not speak the heritage language because parents think that learning the dominant language is the important part about language learning relegating the heritage language. I really enjoyed how confident your mom is to ask you what you meant when using constructs such as naturalistic v instructed learner. Is your mom proficient in Spanish as she is in English? Does she read and write at the same level she does in English? If not, why? What happened during her life that limited her Spanish proficiency. What about identity? Does she consider herself Hispanic, Hispanic-American, or just American?
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting on my blog entry, Professor Avellaneda. At the moment, I only speak English as my dominant language. I am in the process of learning Spanish but it is at the beginner/intermediate level. I still have trouble making complete sentences in Spanish so I’m hardly proficient in it at all. My mom explained that she herself is somewhat proficient in conversational Spanish. When it comes to her reading and writing, she can read the Spanish language but there are some words that she is not familiar with. She does not write in Spanish as much as she does in English because she finds it more difficult than speaking Spanish. She usually has to check herself to see if it was written correctly. And to answer the question about what happened during her life, since the people who surrounded her were primarily English speakers; there was no need to speak much Spanish. She also mentioned that she was a stay at home mom for fifteen years and that greatly impacted her Spanish proficiency as well. She agreed that she was Hispanic American and that it is because she is a native born American and her heritage is Hispanic. I am glad you enjoyed learning about my mom’s background and I hope I answered all of your questions thoroughly.
DeleteJessica, thank you so much for sharing such valuable information about your mother's background. The questions that you used where great. It is interesting to hear that your mother was born in a dual-language household that consisted of her mother speaking Spanish and her father speaking English. Your mother in my opinion would be considered simultaneous multilingual since she began speaking both languages since birth. According to Rowland (2014), "some children learn two languages in the home from birth (simultaneous multilingualism)" (p.175). In a way, his definition seems to be almost the same as the bilingual definition. But it explains your mother very well especially since your mother settled here in the United States where people speak different languages. It great to hear that your mother has the capability to speak both languages at the hospital as a nurse, when it is convenient for her to do so. I agree with your mother when she says that learning a second language is better as a child because I feel that if I try to learn another language I will not be able to retain it fluently. I really enjoyed your interview!
ReplyDeleteClaudia, thank you for leaving me a wonderful comment. I am glad that we both agree that my mother is simultaneous multilingual since she began learning both English and Spanish at home when she was very young. And yes, she has told me many stories of talking to her patients in Spanish when they realized she also spoke it. Even though she rarely speaks Spanish to me and my family, she still remembers most of what she acquired all those years she spent growing up speaking the language. I also feel the same about learning another language, as much as I am practicing my Spanish, I still struggle with my conjugations and sentences. I am glad you enjoyed!
DeleteJessica, I think that the situation your mother was in when learning English and Spanish how she learned them simultaneously in her home is so interesting. I believe that she had more input in English because she was not only speaking it partly at home but also getting all English exposure at school and I believe this had a big impact on her development of both languages. This can also apply to her today since she is still exposed to Spanish at work mainly, but most of her input in her daily life is still English. This is probably why she does not feel like she is top tier in Spanish. Rowland (2014) discusses how there are 3 important influences on bilingualism, and your mother seemed to have influence from at least two of them which were age of acquisition and amount and type of input (pg. 190).
ReplyDeleteOne other thing to point out that I noticed is that I believe both of your grandparents were aware, unknowing that it is an actual term, of the impact belief. When they realized that it would be beneficial for your mother to know both English and Spanish, they were demonstrating this belief. Ortega describes the impact belief as “the belief that they as a parent can have an impact on their children’s language development. Those parents who realized the impact of their own language behavior on their children’s language learning were most likely to have children who learnt both languages” and it turns out this was the exact case with your mother (pg. 196)!
Ashlyn, I appreciate you commenting on my blog entry. I agree with your statement that my mom was gaining more input of English than Spanish. She did learn English more so at school so it could have also limited her Spanish proficiency to be able to write in Spanish later on in life. And yes, indeed her primary language at home today is only English so her Spanish is not a great but she can still speak it conversationally. Your comment was very insightful, thanks again and glad you found it interesting!
DeleteThis is a really insightful video, Jessica! I very much enjoyed learning about your mother’s multilingual acquisition. I am noticing a common trend with my interviewee and the interviews I have been watching, including yours. That is that most bilingual or multilingual people feel more confident speaking in one language about formal or academic topics and feel confident speaking in normal, casual conversation in the other language. This formal language is typically their L2, or in these cases English, and their conversational language is typically their L1. I’ve notice this with myself as well. Rowland (2014) explains that this is quite common for bilingual (or multilingual) people (p. 176). Again, it just shocked me how common this actually is as I am watching these interviews. This was the same case with my interviewee and myself. It’s a bit refreshing in a sense that I am not the only one that feel confident in academic topics in English! Once again, thank you for sharing your video with us, it was very insightful!
ReplyDeleteJessica, glad you liked my video! Thank you for your comment. Interesting subject you brought up about how bilinguals/multilinguals speak conversationally with their L1’s and more formally with their English. My mom says she feels comfortable speaking casual Spanish but overall would rather speak English if she could. I did not realize this phenomenon before! You are right that it is common and now that I am aware I want to go back and rewatch those interviews with your comment in mind. Once again, thank you for the amazing comment it was also insightful as well.
DeleteHello Jessica, thank you for sharing your mother’s interview with us. I thought her background was fascinating, especially when she talked about how her oldest brother failed kindergarten because he didn’t know English which is why her father made sure she knew English. According to Rowald, some children learn two languages in the home from birth which is known as simultaneous multilingualism (Rowald 2014). This describes your mothers experience of learning both English and Spanish at the same time growing up. I also thought it was interesting how your mother spoke mostly Spanish with her mother and English with her father and is now able to mix the two languages when she wants. Ortega mentions, “bilingual speakers switch and alternate between their two (or more) languages, depending on a range of communicative needs and desires.” (Ortega, 2013, p.4). I think it is great that because of your mother's learning experience she is able to switch and mix the languages at her connivence. It is clear that this has been both beneficial to her as a nurse and her patients family's!
ReplyDeleteDaijah, thank you for your wonderful comment. Her story surprised me too because all this time I thought she grew up primarily in a Spanish speaking household. Turns out she was a dual language learner and that really amazed me a lot! I am glad we can agree that my mom is a simultaneous multilingual and her Spanish has definitely been beneficial to her workplace. Thanks again and glad you found my mom’s background fascinating.
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ReplyDeleteThank you, Jessica, for sharing your interview with your mother with us. I found it interesting to hear that your mother was raised in a dual language household, with her mother speaking primarily Spanish and her father speaking primarily English. From your mother’s experience she has achieved multilingual acquisition. According to Ortega (2013, p. 4) “‘multilingual acquisition’ to refer to the process of learning two or more languages relatively simultaneously during early childhood.” Your mother being bilingual must help her a lot at work. Being able to speak with diverse patients makes her job much easier and more comfortable too. I remember from your first interview you saying you do not speak any Spanish, and that you are trying to relearn it with the help of your parents. Is your mother the one that inspired you to learn Spanish? What motivates you to continue this practice? Do you wish you were taught Spanish at an early age like your mother?
Stephen, thank you for your comment! To answer your first question, yes it was my mother who inspired me to learn Spanish. But most of all, I want to embrace my Hispanic heritage and learn the language that my grandparents on both my mom and dad’s side spoke. Also, I want to learn it to benefit me at my district I want to teach in. And yes, I do wish I was taught Spanish at an early age like my mother was. I think it would have been more easier to learn the language because at this moment I’m struggling forming complete sentences when speaking Spanish. Also, I know how you used to speak Vietnamese when you were younger. Do you still have that motivation to relearn it again now? Why or why not?
DeleteJessica, I do want to relearn Vietnamese again. I want to know more about my culture and understand where I come from. It will also help me communicate with friends, family, students, and parents at school. I do not feel like it is something I have to do, more like something I must do. I am sure you feel similar in that regard.
DeleteIt’s interesting to see that your mother’s brother failed kindergarten because of his little knowledge of the English language. Was this because there were no bilingual classes, or was he purposely placed in an all English class?
ReplyDeleteYour mother tends to speak more English than Spanish now, but that’s because English is the community language and most do the same thing (Rowland, 2014). Considering that her father spoke English at home, your mom had a lot more exposure to English and that probably helped her throughout school. If she would have gone into school with no prior exposure to English, do you think things would have been different?
Hi Angelica, thank you for leaving me a comment on my blog entry. From what I know, the school at the time did not have any bilingual classes so her brother had a hard time learning since he primarily spoke Spanish as his first language. Yes, I agree that her learning English at home and school gave her more exposure than the Spanish she spoke at home as well. And interesting question, I am sure she would have failed Kindergarten as well if she was thrown into an English-speaking classroom. I remember her telling me that if it wasn’t for her brother failing, then she would not have been learning English at home. Her L1 would have definitely been Spanish and not both Spanish and English. I am glad you found my interview interesting and thank you again!
DeleteJessica, thank you for your very interesting interview! I loved the questions that you asked and found them to be very interesting and well thought out! It was interesting to see that your mom grew up learning both English and Spanish! Your mom grew up bilingual according to Ortega (2013), who said that “bilingual acquisition refers to the process of learning two languages relatively simultaneously in childhood (pg. 4)” I thought it was so interesting that your mother spoke to her mother in Spanish and spoke to her father in English. That is an interesting way to learn to speak two different languages. It was also interesting that she mostly learned the language in a naturalistic way but also had some instructional experiences when she was in high school when she was taking Spanish 1 and 2 (Ortega, 2013, pg. 6). I loved that you were able to interview your mother and learn more about her and her past!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa, thank you for your amazing comment! I am happy you found my interview interesting. And yes, the fact my mom spoke Spanish to her mother and English to my father was quite an fascinating thing indeed. It surprised me too because I never knew about that. I loved learning more about her past experiences with language. Thank you again.
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