Journal #8

Journal #8

    Carol's language development has come a very long way. As I discussed before, she was very quiet in her initial meeting because she was afraid to make mistakes. English is Carol's fourth language and she is bound to make errors. Over time, after I constantly reiterated that making mistakes is vital in the learning process, she went out of her comfort zone and started to speak more with me. For example, after sharing words with me in French, she asked me to teach her a few words in Spanish. It was amazing to see her new-found interest in unfamiliar languages. While it is important to meet the needs of the whole group, it is also important to meet the needs of the individual, especially when working in a classroom with English language learners. In order to benefit the language development of all learners, doing vocabulary cards on Quizlet is a fantastic option. A simpler vocabulary set should be made for the English language learners as well to help them learn the vocabulary more efficiently. In my blog post titled, “Journal #1”, I note towards the end about how beneficial it is to break down certain vocabulary into simpler terms for English language learners.

    I tagged this under Learners Growth and Development because she often learns from her mistakes, which is a huge step in the right direction. The fact that she speaks so much with me now is very rewarding because she is not afraid to make the mistakes that help her grow. Moving on from here, I would like her to teach me more words in French so she further takes pride in her culture.