JAIME BARNETT
The individual I chose to interview is Jaime Barnett. Jaime is ESL certified and has been teaching kindergarten through first grade for over 16 years! Jaime is my mentor teacher. I am very blessed and thankful that she is so, very willing to assist me with my journey in school!
CLICK HERE to learn more about her experiences!
REFLECTION:
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caston, Second Edition.
REFLECTION:
Interviewing
Jaime was an amazing opportunity! As a certified ESL teacher and an individual
with experience in teaching English Language Learners for over 16 years, Jaime
offered some valuable insight. Jaime shared her experiences of what it is like
to work with ELL's within the classroom.
The
school in which Jaime teaches, implements the "Mainstream" Program
Model. In this model, ELLs are taught content in the English language. The
societal aim for this model is 'assimilation' and the aim in language outcome
is English monolingualism. Wright states that monolingual forms of education
are the weakest of all of the programs because they make little to no use of
ELLs' home languages. Instead, they aim for cultural and social assimilation of
students, and "frequently result in the loss of students' ability to speak
their first language, that is, they result in subtractive bilingualism"
(Wright, 2015, p.114). These students do not have the opportunity to learn and
excel in their home language.
After
speaking more in depth (off video) with Jaime regarding the demographics at the
school in which she teacher, it became clear that the ELLs population is very
low, compared to some neighboring schools. Thus, Bilingual Education is not as
high of a priority as it may be in the surrounding schools. Jaime stated that
in her 16 years of teaching at the same school, she has never met a student who
has entered the school only knowing their home language. Jaime stated that when
students have qualified for ESL, that it is predominantly because at home the
parents speak another language. Thus, Jaime’s' experience is mostly
working with ELLs who speak/write in two languages, but in school, they only
use English as the language of instruction.
Assimilation
is the ideology behind the melting pot. Assimilation leads to immigrants
abandoning their language and culture to become Americans (Wright, 2015, p.19).
This is an outdated, flawed, way of thinking. This makes my heart sad. Our
society should be encouraging acculturation. This allows immigrant and their
children to adapt to the new language and culture without having to sacrifice
their own (Wright, 2015, p.20). We should strive to promote our students in
growing in their home language, as well as, the dominant language of our
society (English). Growing in both languages allows our students to maintain an
intact social and cultural identity, while still learning the target language.
We are unique and offer a variety of characteristics and qualities. Finding
ways to have everyone contribute those in their own way creates a much more well-rounded
world. Thus instead of assimilation, our schools should be focusing on
acculturation.
In
conclusion, I really appreciated a perspective of what it is like to work with
ELLs inside the classroom. I look forward to gaining insight and utilizing the
knowledge within my classroom to better assist my ELLs.
I
want to personally thank Jaime Barnett for not only sharing her experiences
with me, but also allowing me to share her experiences with others! Hearing
first hand has helped me gain a better perspective outside my limited personal
experience in second language methodology!
REFERENCES:
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caston, Second Edition.
