Language Acquisition Autobiography 1

Language Acquisition Autobiography

ENG 420

Los Angeles Pacific University

Elizabeth Joliet Rebolledo

November 6, 2019
Language Acquisition Autobiography 2

Language Acquisition Autobiography

First Introduction to Language.

Learning a language is a natural process that starts at birth for all people. Babies explore

the sounds in their environment by showing curiosity about those sounds they hear and those

they make. Looking back, I find it a little hard to remember just how my journey of language

began. My parents had recently migrated to the United States from Mexico, shortly after I was

born. The only language spoken at home at the time was Spanish. Spanish was my home

language; My earliest memories of speaking words or sentences are of myself during my

preschool years.

Mother’s Influence

Growing up my mother was the adult that was significantly present in my life. She was

mostly a stay at home parent and when she did begin to working it took place at night so that

my father could care for us then. She was the adult doing most of the talking and my earliest

memories of speaking are during playtime with my mother and younger sister. Spanish was the

only language I was exposed to at home. She spoke to us often and took care of all our needs;

my first words initiated from the interaction of requesting my needs like food, sleep, and play.

Singing was a common activity during my early childhood; my mother often sang Spanish

nursery rhymes and played Spanish children’s music from “Cri-Cri”, “Topo Gigio”, and “Cepillin”.

Early Education.

English was first introduced during my preschool years. During my initial interaction with

English, I did a lot of listening. I was a shy child so speaking an unfamiliar language made me

nervous. Singing was the only time I felt comfortable joining in on the interaction because

everyone sang simultaneously. One of my favorite songs was introduced during Christmas time;

it was sung by Jose Feliciano called “Feliz Navidad” which was both in English and Spanish. I
Language Acquisition Autobiography 3

remember trying to sign it at home after learning it at school and it probably sounded like

gibberish as I attempted to figure out how to say the parts in English.

Parent Involvement. My mother played a major role in my education beginning from an

early age. She was always very involved in school committees, workshops, and even began

taking English classes herself because she wanted to be able to help her children more. In my

preschool years, she often attended workshops that provided her with information about ways to

engage in my learning activities from home. Reading was one of our favorite things to do

together; my favorite story was “El Gato con Botas”. Literacy was an important part of my home

routines. One of my favorite times of the day was my mother’s evening storytime. She often took

us to check out books at the mobile library and she always made it a point to find books in

Spanish so she could read to me herself.

Grade School Education. In elementary school, my mother made the choice to place

me in a bilingual program. This was my first introduction to formal learning both Spanish and

English in a school setting. The process of learning written Spanish was easier; this consisted of

sounds I was familiar with and vowels played a huge role in building word composition in

Spanish. At home, my mother was able to help with my Spanish homework; the difficulty came

when there was no additional help for the English portions. My earliest memories of learning

English were not always pleasant; I initially struggled. My shyness played a role in my early

development of both spoken and written English; my self-consciousness caused me to fear that

I would make constant mistakes. I often relied on Spanish for comfort because the thought of

speaking English to others made me nervous. Looking back, I can attest that positive social

interactions were crucial in building my confidence in English.

Social Interactions. Social interactions that take place in a child’s environment are

beneficial to the development of language and literacy. Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist

believed that the adults in the child’s Zone of Proximate Development were significantly

important in providing guidance through the child’s stages of learning and acquisition. (McLeod,
Language Acquisition Autobiography 4

2019) Caregivers that provide a safe, nurturing, interactive and educational surroundings help

the child strive in their learning. These important interactions begin from birth and infants are

very perceptive of these social connections. According to Weitzman (2016), “Any time an adult

responds to a child’s message, either verbally or non-verbally, and the child responds back, an

interaction has started. And it’s within these early back-and-forth interactions that the foundation

for all of a child’s future conversations is built.” (para. 4).

Social Benefits. Social interactions help strengthen cognitive and social skills that will aid

in the development of language and literacy. Children can develop strengths that may include

becoming competent communicators, adequately verbalizing their thoughts, strong planning

skills, following directions, understand the perspectives of others which leads to empathetic

social responses to others and paying attention to context social clues. Social interactions that

are an excellent source of language and literacy development include reading, engagement in

conversations, and a literacy-rich environment. Learning involves building connections through

engaging activities and conversations. Children benefit from the interaction with a socially rich

environment that provides them with opportunities to engage in language and literacy activities

that will expand on their existing knowledge.

Scaffolding Tool. Scaffolding is a teaching technique introduced by Lev Vygotsky that

aids in maximizing student’s learning. Instructional scaffolding is the idea that through social

collaboration with a knowledgeable adult the student can expand on their existing knowledge

and learn new skills. English language acquisition benefits from the use of instructional

scaffolding which provides a system that supports children through the different stages of their

learning. Scaffolding allows teachers opportunity to implement different teaching tools that

provide support in their student’s learning such as modeling, connecting to prior knowledge,

visual aids, and open-ended communication. Teacher Modeling is a great example of “think out

loud” instruction; according to Bennett (2019), “Thinking aloud requires talking aloud through the

details, decisions, and the reasoning behind those decisions. This strategy also models how
Language Acquisition Autobiography 5

good readers use context clues to understand what they are reading.” (para. 18). Using

personal experiences and prior learning is a great way to build a connection, strengthen

learning, and concept understanding.

Positive Learning Experiences. Reminiscing on my early childhood experiences of

language and literature provided fond memories that allowed me to see the importance of

educators and caregivers in the life of children. This influenced the career choices I made as an

adult; being in the classroom with children brought me so much joy. Children enjoy learning;

educators find resourceful ways to engage children in different ways to their education. As an

English Language Learner, myself my best memories derive from those moments in which I felt

great happiness during my learning. Having these positive learning experiences are crucial to

the learning of an individual. According to Yule (2017), “if we are stressed, uncomfortable, self-

conscious or unmotivated, we are unlikely to learn very much. In contrast, learners who have

other personality traits, such as self-confidence, low anxiety, and positive self-image, seem

better able to overcome difficulties in their learning space.” (pg. 211)

Role of Caregivers. Looking back on my earliest years of language and literacy exposure

helped in my discovery of the importance of caregivers in the acquisition of the two. It is

observed that humans are born with the disposition to adapt to the acquisition of language by

our genes, brain function, physical attributes, and reflection processes. These are great factors

that aid to our learning of a language but interaction with others plays a key role; Yule (2017),

states “a child requires interaction with other language-users in order to bring the general

language capacity into contact with a particular language such as English.” (pg. 191) Educators

that are aware of each child’s educational needs such as a second language learner; can

provide a caring and supportive environment to optimize the children learning. The awareness

of educators on the needs of their students provides for the most influential learning

environment because they can develop strategies that meet the child at the stage in which they

are in and guide them into the next phase. An example of this is when children learn their
Language Acquisition Autobiography 6

alphabet letters, followed by the phonemes of each letter, then the decoding of simple words

and memorizing of sight words; and so on. This allows for the implementation of goals that

guide students through the stages of their language and literacy acquisition. The goal is to

provide age-appropriate, academically specific, and achievable goals that increase each child’s

literacy and language abilities.

References

Weitzman, E. (2016) Why Interaction Must Come Before Language. Retrieved from

http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/Why-Interaction-Must-Come-Before-

Language.aspx

Bennett, C. (2019) How Scaffolding Instruction Can Improve Comprehension. Retrieved from

https://www.thoughtco.com/ways-to-scaffold-instruction-in-grades-7-12-4147435

Yule, G. (2017) The Study of Language. 6th edition. Cambridge University Press.

McLead, S. (2019) What Is the Zone of Proximal Development?. Retrieved from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html
Language Acquisition Autobiography 7