Endurance was the name of the game. Working twenty hours a
week (tutoring, mostly second language learners… a joy), daily waking at 4:30am
to study Chinese (something I was taking for credit/no credit) and trying to
maintain somewhat of a social life required more endurance than ever before.
Here are things learned on the personal side:
1. What time you have, you have. Very similar thought to the
Italian phrase “Che sera, sera” in other words, what will be, will be. Of the
many friends I gained in this program this semester, I realized I was working
the most of anyone I know. When tests and papers rolled around, I had very
little wiggle room as far as time went to get things done. There is no use
lamenting over things I don’t have (like time). What I have, I have. And what I
have I will use the best I can. That’s all there is to it.
2. Study groups are a total necessity. Absolutely. I’ve
never met so many people who are so similar to me as in this program. I suppose
grad school pigeon holes you in a way undergraduate education does not. There
are two classmates who have, over this semester, become dear friends of mine
who I trust completely with my academic life. Studying with them, bouncing
ideas off of them, having them read my papers- I trust them in all of this.
This is NOT a small thing. I’ve heard in law school the instructors purposely
give too much homework, so students are forced to work together to gather all
the information necessary for class. The pressure must be dreadful, but your
contribution must become so much more to you and your classmates than it would
otherwise. It also enables you to learn more in less time, which time, as you
know, we don’t have much of.
3. Everyone has something different to offer- I love this.
Working with people who have completely different life experience and
educational backgrounds than you is completely necessary and absolutely
wonderful. Where you lack, another is strong, and where you are strong, perhaps
another lacks. At this point, you can learn just as much from your colleagues
as your professors.
What has sparked academic interests:
1. How do students from different cultural backgrounds like
to learn? Are there patterns of learning styles within different cultures that
an instructor needs to be aware of? Or does it just vary person to person?
Would someone who has learned in fashion A all his/her life necessarily favor
it over more modern teaching methodology because they knew fashion A first?
2. How to incorporate literature into an ESL class. For one
class this semester, I had to write about an L2 English language learner I
know. Her interview made me want to study Spanish (her L1) more. It was very
inspiring to have her motivation verbalized and spoken to me. Her motivation
made its way into my being, definitely. In encouraging L2 learners of English
in their motivation, this could be big. Either having them write a paper about
someone learning their L1 or another student in their class learning the same
L2.
3. There is a dire need for SLA academics and educators to
get together to discuss strategy. There are MANY wonderful studies out there
that could have potentially great benefits in the classroom.
Ellis
found that every second language learner makes the same mistakes in an L2
regardless of their L1. So this means that a German L1 speaker will make the
same mistakes a Japanese L1 speaker will make when learning English. However,
the closer the L2 is to the L1 the less time a given mistake will be made. So
obviously, a German L1 speaker will work through difficulties in English faster
(theoretically) than a Japanese L1 speaker. What does this mean for the
classroom? Well, in group projects, partner projects and the like, putting
these two together might be very beneficial, because the break through the
German L1 speaker has can be taught to the Japanese speaker to help him/her
along in their language acquisition. I think we need more of this. This also
implies that even through something in an L2 and L1 can be identical, it still
needs to be addressed and learned. Language learning is systematic. An educator
must sequence their syllabus properly to enable all facets of a language to be
touched upon, no matter who the L2 audience is.
More thoughts to come!
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