ELNG 200 Field Experience
For my ELNG 200 field experience I had the privilege to be a Grant Road Community School. Grant Road School is located in the south part of Regina on Grant Road. My cooperating teacher Ms. Rempel and the staff at Grant Road made me feel so welcomed and made my EAL classroom experience enjoyable. Throughout this unique school, it contains over 400 students that come from a variety of nationalities. Among this diverse school it makes this community so connected as all students, teachers and staff are very accepting everyone within the school. The EAL classroom contains two teachers the spilt that focuses on specific grades. My teacher, Ms. Rempel focuses on students in grades 5-8 and teaches a variety of subjects, especially math and E.L.A. She has a variety of students that she gets to teach everyday that need extra assistants for English as an additional language. Most of these bilingual students have immigrated from places all around the world, with a large amount of students from Syria, Sudan and China.
For my placement at Grant Road I went for four mornings until lunchtime. Each morning, the day started with grade eight students coming in for reading. During this time, Ms. Rempel assign a specific short story or article to each of the students that were at their reading level. While the students are reading, they get five minutes to practice and then they are asserted by the teacher. While I was there I was able to assess the students as well. While assessing the students it was my job to listen to how the students pronounced the words and circle any words that were wrong. After reading was done; each day Ms. Rempel would assign me specific students to pull from class to do some extra reading with me. So everyday around 9:00 am I started reading with individual students in the hall or library each for a half an hour. The majority of children that I read with were in grade eights and each student would vary each day depending on who she wanted me to read with what and classes that they had that during that day. Each time I read with the EAL students it was very interesting because lots of the things that we have discussed in ELNG 200 I was able to relate with the students.
Each day when assessing the students with their assigned readings it was interesting to observe. Although these readings were assigned to them, they would have to read the same reading for a spam of a few weeks. Each time assessed they had one minute to read the reading out loud. My job was to mark on speech mistakes, comprehension and keep track of their word count. Ms. Rempel said she likes to do this activity with her EAL students because it creates competition in the class and makes the students want to improve each time they read their readings. With the students becoming confident with their readings it was very interesting to hear how they pronounce their words. In class we have talked about the difference between pronouncing a word wrong verses speaking with an accent. For me personally, when hearing the students pronouncing words I found myself thinking about some of the words were wrong. Although the students needed some help, I realized it was just their accents pronouncing the words differently. From the textbook Exploring Language by Gary Goshgarian it states “Consonants and vowels are the building blocks of linguistic meaning, and slight change in their quality inherently carry large differences in meaning, which we detect immediately (Goshgarian, 2015, p. 192)”. From this it made me realize that the students that I was working with all spoke English as their second language and hearing them communicate with me made think that these students language background shapes who they are as a person.
Spending my time at Grand Road school this environment was very welcoming and the students coming from all different types of cultural backgrounds was very heartwarming to see how all the students were with one another. For example, during the time I was at school it was Ramadan in which many students were fasting. Ramadan can be a tough time for students because they can not eat or drink all day which it makes it difficult for students to learn. However the support from the teachers and other students made all Ramadon students feel sustained during this time. Every student can relate with each other because of the variety of nationalities that are brought to the classroom whether it is traditions or beliefs. Ms. Rempel said she believes that the EAL classroom is a support environment for many of the students because many of the students experience culture shock or are having issues within their classrooms.
The main thing that I did for the four mornings was individuals reading with students. All the students I read with were mainly in grade eight and varied in readings levels. When I first started I tried to make the readers feel welcome because they were nervous to read with me. Many of the students that I read with were mostly from Sudan, Syria and China. Although many of the students varied at different reading levels I noticed that most of the students were reading graphic novels. When the students would struggle reading a something they would occasionally make up words that would go with picture. I made this observation because I think the pictures would help the students comprehend the story better, but most of them would get confused about the dialogue that would happen within the novel especially graphic novels. Lots of the time graphic novels use slang and onomatopoeia so many of the students got confused with these little things. However, reading with the students I also noticed that when a student did not know a word I would help them sound it out or I would help them find compound words. Most of the time this worked, but if it did not I would just tell them the word and describe what it means within the context of the story. Reading with the students that were from Syria and Sudan that spoke Arabic as their first language I noticed that they struggle with pronouncing the “th” sound. In most situations the students would pronounce the word “T”. I thought this was interesting because the student would be able to pronounce the word once I said what it was, but reading it they did not know.“Accents defines and communicate who we are” (Goshgarian, 2015, p. 190).
With all the students I worked with, English was their second language. The variety of languages that the students spoke for their first language was Arabic, Tigrinya and Mandarin. The students learning English as an additional language and being bilingual learners is cogent with them in school. “There’s nothing that accelerates the acquisition of that kind of awareness like the realization that even the very words you use to label the things in your world...are not the same ones everyone uses” (Goshgarian, 2015, p. 126). The ability for students to learn English as their L2 language is important within the environment of the school. A students language acquisition is very important within the school because it gives the ability for students to learn and adapt to a new language. In my field placement many students all EAL students spoke a different first language other than English. My cooperating teacher provided me with some example she has around her class that help with language acquisition. She provided me with books, lesson plans and online tools.
Spending my field experience at Grant Road School has taught me so much in becoming a teacher. Being only in my first year I have learned so much in the fundamentals of teaching and the inclusive needs of being a teacher. Throughout my experience in the EAL classroom I have learned the importance of providing extra support and understanding towards EAL students. For English as a second language, EAL students are sometimes overwhelmed in learning. Providing extra support within an EAL classroom can give the students extra help in understanding the content they are learning and develop their English in speaking, reading and writing. After my experience it has taught me that all students learn at a different rate and comprehend things differently, so checking on students individually is important when teaching the classroom. Other factors that I learned from my experience is that all students come from different backgrounds. All EAL students are influenced by factors that are contributing at home; when students come to school students may feel confused about their home life and school life. This means when students are at home they are influenced by their families L1 language, beliefs and traditions. When students come to school and are factored towards using English and “Canadians Normal” they are sometimes unsure. Being a teacher it is important to make sure that all students feel safe in the environment they are learning from. For EAL students this is very important because many experience culture shock so it needs to provide the extra support and desire to change to make the students feel safe. For example, during my experience my cooperating teacher was explaining to me that some of EAL grade eights were nervous going on their year end outdoor Ed. experience. These students were nervous and did not want to go because they did not feel comfortable eating ‘Canadian Food’. My cooperating teacher said the teachers made adjustments to the food plans to provide these students will foods they are comfortable with. With this, as a teacher it is important to make adjustments to all students needs for them to feel comfortable and create a positive learning environment. An EAL classroom is important to a school because it provides extra support and help for students that have immigrated from all over the world. Providing this extra class helps these students succeed in school and for their futures.
Resource:
Goshgarian, G. (2015). Exploring language. Boston: Pearson.
For my placement at Grant Road I went for four mornings until lunchtime. Each morning, the day started with grade eight students coming in for reading. During this time, Ms. Rempel assign a specific short story or article to each of the students that were at their reading level. While the students are reading, they get five minutes to practice and then they are asserted by the teacher. While I was there I was able to assess the students as well. While assessing the students it was my job to listen to how the students pronounced the words and circle any words that were wrong. After reading was done; each day Ms. Rempel would assign me specific students to pull from class to do some extra reading with me. So everyday around 9:00 am I started reading with individual students in the hall or library each for a half an hour. The majority of children that I read with were in grade eights and each student would vary each day depending on who she wanted me to read with what and classes that they had that during that day. Each time I read with the EAL students it was very interesting because lots of the things that we have discussed in ELNG 200 I was able to relate with the students.
Each day when assessing the students with their assigned readings it was interesting to observe. Although these readings were assigned to them, they would have to read the same reading for a spam of a few weeks. Each time assessed they had one minute to read the reading out loud. My job was to mark on speech mistakes, comprehension and keep track of their word count. Ms. Rempel said she likes to do this activity with her EAL students because it creates competition in the class and makes the students want to improve each time they read their readings. With the students becoming confident with their readings it was very interesting to hear how they pronounce their words. In class we have talked about the difference between pronouncing a word wrong verses speaking with an accent. For me personally, when hearing the students pronouncing words I found myself thinking about some of the words were wrong. Although the students needed some help, I realized it was just their accents pronouncing the words differently. From the textbook Exploring Language by Gary Goshgarian it states “Consonants and vowels are the building blocks of linguistic meaning, and slight change in their quality inherently carry large differences in meaning, which we detect immediately (Goshgarian, 2015, p. 192)”. From this it made me realize that the students that I was working with all spoke English as their second language and hearing them communicate with me made think that these students language background shapes who they are as a person.
Spending my time at Grand Road school this environment was very welcoming and the students coming from all different types of cultural backgrounds was very heartwarming to see how all the students were with one another. For example, during the time I was at school it was Ramadan in which many students were fasting. Ramadan can be a tough time for students because they can not eat or drink all day which it makes it difficult for students to learn. However the support from the teachers and other students made all Ramadon students feel sustained during this time. Every student can relate with each other because of the variety of nationalities that are brought to the classroom whether it is traditions or beliefs. Ms. Rempel said she believes that the EAL classroom is a support environment for many of the students because many of the students experience culture shock or are having issues within their classrooms.
The main thing that I did for the four mornings was individuals reading with students. All the students I read with were mainly in grade eight and varied in readings levels. When I first started I tried to make the readers feel welcome because they were nervous to read with me. Many of the students that I read with were mostly from Sudan, Syria and China. Although many of the students varied at different reading levels I noticed that most of the students were reading graphic novels. When the students would struggle reading a something they would occasionally make up words that would go with picture. I made this observation because I think the pictures would help the students comprehend the story better, but most of them would get confused about the dialogue that would happen within the novel especially graphic novels. Lots of the time graphic novels use slang and onomatopoeia so many of the students got confused with these little things. However, reading with the students I also noticed that when a student did not know a word I would help them sound it out or I would help them find compound words. Most of the time this worked, but if it did not I would just tell them the word and describe what it means within the context of the story. Reading with the students that were from Syria and Sudan that spoke Arabic as their first language I noticed that they struggle with pronouncing the “th” sound. In most situations the students would pronounce the word “T”. I thought this was interesting because the student would be able to pronounce the word once I said what it was, but reading it they did not know.“Accents defines and communicate who we are” (Goshgarian, 2015, p. 190).
With all the students I worked with, English was their second language. The variety of languages that the students spoke for their first language was Arabic, Tigrinya and Mandarin. The students learning English as an additional language and being bilingual learners is cogent with them in school. “There’s nothing that accelerates the acquisition of that kind of awareness like the realization that even the very words you use to label the things in your world...are not the same ones everyone uses” (Goshgarian, 2015, p. 126). The ability for students to learn English as their L2 language is important within the environment of the school. A students language acquisition is very important within the school because it gives the ability for students to learn and adapt to a new language. In my field placement many students all EAL students spoke a different first language other than English. My cooperating teacher provided me with some example she has around her class that help with language acquisition. She provided me with books, lesson plans and online tools.
Spending my field experience at Grant Road School has taught me so much in becoming a teacher. Being only in my first year I have learned so much in the fundamentals of teaching and the inclusive needs of being a teacher. Throughout my experience in the EAL classroom I have learned the importance of providing extra support and understanding towards EAL students. For English as a second language, EAL students are sometimes overwhelmed in learning. Providing extra support within an EAL classroom can give the students extra help in understanding the content they are learning and develop their English in speaking, reading and writing. After my experience it has taught me that all students learn at a different rate and comprehend things differently, so checking on students individually is important when teaching the classroom. Other factors that I learned from my experience is that all students come from different backgrounds. All EAL students are influenced by factors that are contributing at home; when students come to school students may feel confused about their home life and school life. This means when students are at home they are influenced by their families L1 language, beliefs and traditions. When students come to school and are factored towards using English and “Canadians Normal” they are sometimes unsure. Being a teacher it is important to make sure that all students feel safe in the environment they are learning from. For EAL students this is very important because many experience culture shock so it needs to provide the extra support and desire to change to make the students feel safe. For example, during my experience my cooperating teacher was explaining to me that some of EAL grade eights were nervous going on their year end outdoor Ed. experience. These students were nervous and did not want to go because they did not feel comfortable eating ‘Canadian Food’. My cooperating teacher said the teachers made adjustments to the food plans to provide these students will foods they are comfortable with. With this, as a teacher it is important to make adjustments to all students needs for them to feel comfortable and create a positive learning environment. An EAL classroom is important to a school because it provides extra support and help for students that have immigrated from all over the world. Providing this extra class helps these students succeed in school and for their futures.
Resource:
Goshgarian, G. (2015). Exploring language. Boston: Pearson.