Sunday, March 4, 2018
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Mendoza. She teaches fourth grade ELA. I learned so much about her, what she went through to learn a second language, and how here experiences affect students in her class. One thing that really stood out to me was her motivation for learning a second language. She was already ten years old and had been living in Mexico her entire, therefore I can only imagine how hard it was for her to learn a second language. While we were discussing motivation she told me she was intrinsically motivated to learn. There are several reasons why a person is intrinsically motivated to learn a new language. According to Ortega, those reasons are "stimulation, where a student feels a high when hearing or speaking a foreign language, self-accomplishment to surpass one's self and grasp a difficult concept, or for the sheer satisfaction of more knowledge" (Ortega, 2009, p. 176). I believe Mrs. Mendoza's intrinsic motivation is due to self accomplishment and more knowledge. She told me she had to learn to understand therefor she wanted to understand.
After going into more detail about what motivates a student, I asked Mrs. Mendoza how aptitude, intelligence and ability affect her students' learning and lesson planning. I really liked her explanation when she used her bilingual class as an example.. She clearly stated "I have high expectations for my students." This could be do to the fact that she may have experienced or felt some of the things her students feel now. She may also think, if I can do it so can you. According to Ortega, "context and life experiences can contribute to shaping and even changing such abilities, motivations and predispositions" (Ortega, 2009, p. 145). I believe her previous experiences in acquiring a second language have given her the power of empathy. She is able to see what motivates her students and how to teach them grow in learning.
Here is the link to my interview: Interview with Mrs. Mendoza
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Hello Anna
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your interview with Mrs. Mendoza. Mrs. Mendoza’s story about learning English is quite interesting. She has a very similar story to a lot of Hispanic people I know who learned both languages. Mrs. Mendoza faced such fears in learning a new language such as many other people do. It can be quite a scary thing to learn a new language. Mrs. Mendoza’s self- confidence like many others, was not at its highest when first learning English. It is understandable. Ortega states that Self-confidence when using the language, it includes communicative anxiety and self-perception of communicative competence (2013, pg. 172). There needs to be a social support for the students. Mrs. Mendoza is right that there are a lot of different avenues now for exposure to children. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Desiree and thank you for responding to my post. After interviewing Mrs. Mendoza, I realized what a struggle it must have been for her to be placed in that situation. I do know she has a strong desire to learn and be successful. I believe she probably had a lot of anxiety at first. However, I know she wanted people to view her as competent therefore she worked extremely hard to communicate in English.
DeleteHello Anna,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your interview with Miss Mendoza. I found it interesting that she began to learn English when she was ten years old. She is the first interviewee that I have heard talk about learning through an immersion program. Miss Mendoza was highly motivated to learn her second language. Ortega states that the benefits may be reaped more easily by individuals that are highly motivated to see every encounter in L2 as an opportunity for learning (Ortega, p. 163, 2009). Furthermore, because she showed a desire to learn English for herself and her own advancement without the use of external rewards she is considered to be intrinsically motivated (Ortega, p. 176, 2009). I also liked her comment about learning a second language being a life-long process.
Hi Tracy and thank you for responding. You are right she was extremely motivated to learn because she new she had to if she wanted to learn. After our interview, I realized she is a highly motivated person in general. She truly has the desire to be successful. I wish students were intrinsically motivated but most students care about the external rewards.
ReplyDeleteHey Anna, I enjoyed watching your interview with Mrs. Mendoza! (-: I found it interesting that she mentioned that learning English has been a lifelong process. She has learned something new everyday ever since she started to learn English when she was ten. I also liked that Mrs. Mendoza mentions that she was self-motivated whereas her students are motivated by extrinsic rewards, such as food or candy. Ortega (2009) mentions that it is less ideal for a second language learner to be extrinsically motivated, such as adults who are only learning to get a better job or children who are only learning to get rewards (p. 176). But, every learner is different and there are many young intrinsically motivated learners out there.
ReplyDeleteHi Haley, and thank you for responding. I liked that you noticed Mrs. Mendoza is self-motivated. My school is an open concept, therefore, our classrooms are right beside each other and I see her all the time. She is a highly motivated individual. She truly strives to be the best and works hard at her profession. That in it itself is motivating. Some of the students I have observed are intrinsically motivated and I notice when they feel accomplished and successful. The students that need external motivation are only successful for a brief period. When they achieve or master a new concept or score well on a test, the feeling is short lived and the rewards do not last. This is sad. Distributing rewards for good behavior and success need to be placed under careful consideration.
DeleteI agree with your points Anna! I think that extrinsic motivation is important for students because not all have that intrinsic motivation. It is important to use extrinsic motivation while also simultaneously teaching them how to turn that into intrinsic motivation. It is our ultimate goal to grow that intrinsic motivation in our students.
DeleteThank you Anna and Alyssa for your replies to my comment! I definitely agree with you both about how it is our job as teachers to help our students become intrinsically motivated, instead of extrinsically. If we know our students just can't find the desire to learn their second language and to be successful at speaking it, then we must help them to instill their own motivation within themselves! It is our job to help our students and to be there when their lives get rough.
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