When making this interview, I wanted to make sure that I let my friend Jeanie know her label as a bilingual speaker. She is a dominant bilingual, which Gass and Selinker defined as someone who is more proficient in one of their languages (2008). There are multiple types of bilingualism. I think that my friend also falls under the label of early childhood bilingual, because she learned both languages as a young child, but I think she best falls under the category of dominant bilingual. Ortega states that “similarities between the L1 and L2 are at the root of attested learning difficulties,” (2013) and this might be the reason why she says that she would find a more difficult time trying to learn how to read and write in Korean.  I think a dominant bilingual would be very difficult to teach, especially if they speak a language other than the teaching language at home because they won’t practice the language that much. When a student doesn’t practice the language they are trying to learn, they won’t learn that easily. Gas and Selinker say that for a student to learn an L2, they need instruction and to be submerged in the target language to truly learn (2008).

SLA Introduction Vlog!

In this video, you will get to know a little bit about me. I wanted to tell you about my experience with acquiring a second language thus far in my academic career. I am monolingual, and I grew up with no second language understanding. I have lived in Texas my entire life, so I did know that some letter combinations that usually sounded one way in English, didn't always sound that way due to a large Spanish culture in my communities.
I have lived in Texas my entire life, so I did know that some letter combinations that usually sounded one way in English, didn't always sound that way due to a large Spanish culture in my communities.

When I was in high school, I tried to learn Spanish as a second language. I took a class in high school for three years, although I did not learn much because I just tried to pass my tests. I did not practice the language either, and that made me forget most of the information that I learned.

I look forward to learning a second language in this class, because it will give me a chance to try to understand what English language learners feel like in a normal American classroom. I did get a chance to feel what this felt like once in my life, when I traveled to Africa. I went without any understanding of the National language. I went weeks trying to follow along to what everyone around me was saying and it was very overwhelming. I had to become confident enough to speak up and ask for clarification on something when I was unsure of what anyone was saying!

I look forward to learning with the rest of you!

Amasaganalo! (thank you- Amharic)

(please click on the above link to view my video!)