Week 8

The article, "How Do I Support A Student's First Language When I Don't Speak the Language?", discusses the issues that arise when language teachers are not able to speak the language of their ELL students. How do we teach these students when we are unable to communicate through their native language? The activities and strategies that Dolores used in her classroom were great examples of how to still involve all students even if the teacher and other students do not speak the same language. When Nyuget was the student language teacher, the teacher, Nyuget, and her peers were mutually involved in the lesson. In this situation, "Nyuget saw her home language sanctioned and thus honored" (138). Dolores created an activity that made her students feel like their language still matters in the classroom. Their native language isn't being banned from the classroom, but its use is encouraged. This activity empowers our students and gives them the motivation to succeed in learning the target language. Rather than prohibiting the students' native languages, promoting and encouraging native language use may give students more motivation to master the target language.
Chapter 5 in Kumar discusses three interactional activities: interpersonal, textual, and ideational. Students' involvement and success in the classroom may also be dependent on the amount of meaningful interaction and the opportunities that they are given to succeed in the classroom. Meaningful interaction in the class  is crucial for motivating students to learn. As seen in Dolores' classroom with Nyuget teaching her peers Vietnamese, Nyuget is engaging in an activity that she sees is valuable. She comes to school early to be prepared and she is excited to use her native language in school. She has more motivation and interest in learning by having an interaction with her peers and teacher that is more meaningful to her.
Not only does there need to be a meaningful interaction among students and teachers, teachers should also make the attempt to learn the language that their students speak. It may not be practical or even possible to learn every language, but I think making the effort and having a personal connection to students will help students to better learn the target language through using their native language.