Education linguistic

Drawin" rel="nofollow">ing upon one of the four Case Studies provided below, explore how the followin" rel="nofollow">ing factors in" rel="nofollow">influence the learner's L2 development: i. similarities and differences between L1 and L2 ii. psychological factors iii. social factors. Then consider implications for language teachin" rel="nofollow">ing/learnin" rel="nofollow">ing. You must draw upon (a) the set textbook (Lightbown & Spada) and (b) at least 4 readin" rel="nofollow">ings from the required weekly readin" rel="nofollow">ings of the subject. You may use further references as well, particularly in" rel="nofollow">in order to undertake the lin" rel="nofollow">inguistic analysis of the case, but close and critical readin" rel="nofollow">ing of (a) and (b) is essential. (This is an in" rel="nofollow">individual, written task.) Case study A. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina immigrated to Australia from the Philippin" rel="nofollow">ines with her parents when she was 2 years old. She and her family came from a town outside Manila where most people spoke Tagalog in" rel="nofollow">in their everyday work and other social activities. However, as both Filipin" rel="nofollow">ino (which evolved from Tagalog) and English are the official languages in" rel="nofollow">in the Philippin" rel="nofollow">ines, Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina had exposure to English in" rel="nofollow">in her environment, most notably through television. Even after migratin" rel="nofollow">ing to Australia and settlin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in the western suburbs of Sydney, Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina’s family members contin" rel="nofollow">inue to converse in" rel="nofollow">in Tagalog at home, and most members of her parents’ social networks are from the Tagalog - speakin" rel="nofollow">ing community who in" rel="nofollow">interact largely in" rel="nofollow">in Tagalog. Initially, Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina’s friends were children of her parents’ social networks who also spoke Tagalog. However, through in" rel="nofollow">interactions with children from other language backgrounds and through schoolin" rel="nofollow">ing, some of the older children in" rel="nofollow">in the community have developed fluency in" rel="nofollow">in spoken English. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina could hear English spoken by some of these older children. Occasionally, one of them would read a children’s book to the younger children in" rel="nofollow">in English, and teach them some of the English words. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina’s parents started work almost as soon as they arrived in" rel="nofollow">in Australia. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina’s mother is a qualified nurse who works various shifts in" rel="nofollow">in a large hospital. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina’s father had a builder’s certificate from the Philippin" rel="nofollow">ines, but has had difficulties gettin" rel="nofollow">ing it recognised in" rel="nofollow">in Australia, and has been doin" rel="nofollow">ing labourin" rel="nofollow">ing work with other Filipin" rel="nofollow">ino workers. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina is now three and a half. Sin" rel="nofollow">ince arrivin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in Australia, Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina has been dropped off each weekday mornin" rel="nofollow">ing at her aunt’s home to be looked after by the mother-in" rel="nofollow">in-law of Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina’s aunt while her parents go to work. ‘Aunty Cecilia’ has two other Filipin" rel="nofollow">ino children, aged two and three, who she looks after durin" rel="nofollow">ing the day. The children are in" rel="nofollow">indulged by Aunty Cecilia and allowed to 013105 Language Development 2 play with their toys and watch as much television as they like. Aunty Cecilia does not read to them because her eyesight has been steadily deterioratin" rel="nofollow">ing over the last few years. However, she enjoys tellin" rel="nofollow">ing Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina and the other two children Filipin" rel="nofollow">ino folk stories and teachin" rel="nofollow">ing them children’s songs in" rel="nofollow">in Tagalog. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina is able to start pre-school in" rel="nofollow">in six months time. Her mother is keen to see Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina in" rel="nofollow">in an environment that would accelerate her English language development, and is concerned that the nearest pre-school has a high population of Filipin" rel="nofollow">ino children, many of whom do not seem to be able to communicate very much in" rel="nofollow">in English yet. Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina’s mother is wonderin" rel="nofollow">ing whether she should fin" rel="nofollow">ind a different pre-school where Josefin" rel="nofollow">ina will have no choice but to in" rel="nofollow">interact in" rel="nofollow">in English, even if this means longer travel. Case study B. Carlos is 25 years old, and has been livin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in Sydney for about 14 years sin" rel="nofollow">ince migratin" rel="nofollow">ing here with his family from Chile. Members of his extended family had already been livin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in Sydney for some time, and Carlos’s family found accommodation and a welcomin" rel="nofollow">ing community of Spanishspeakin" rel="nofollow">ing migrants very quickly. Both parents found jobs in" rel="nofollow">in a factory soon after arrival, and Carlos and his older brother Luis were enrolled in" rel="nofollow">in the Intensive English Centre at a high school in" rel="nofollow">in western Sydney. Carlos used to idolise his bother Luis, who is four years older than him, and who was always popular among young women and always the ‘leader’ among his male friends. When they both started at the IEC, Luis, who had always found academic study difficult, could not bear sittin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in IEC classes, unlike Carolos who was quite keen. But Luis quickly made friends with other young Spanish-speakin" rel="nofollow">ing young men, all of whom shared his dislike of school. Soon Luis was skippin" rel="nofollow">ing classes with his newly found friends, and gettin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">into trouble with the school authorities, their parents and occasionally with the police. Carlos, on the other hand, had always liked school, especially maths and science. At the IEC, he was most switched on when the teacher was teachin" rel="nofollow">ing the science and maths curricula, but he managed to do well in" rel="nofollow">in all of his subjects, and was transferred to the main" rel="nofollow">instream class after 12 months when he was 12. In the main" rel="nofollow">instream classes, Carlos’s hard work in" rel="nofollow">initially helped him to keep up. But within" rel="nofollow">in six months, his studies became in" rel="nofollow">increasin" rel="nofollow">ingly disrupted by his older brother, who by that stage had not only been thrown out of school, but thrown out of his home by his parents. Carlos who still idolised his older brother would be asked to run errands for Luis when he should have been doin" rel="nofollow">ing homework. Soon Carlos found it difficult to keep up with his school work, and was seen by his teachers as a ‘dis-engaged’ student who wasn’t ‘academically-in" rel="nofollow">inclin" rel="nofollow">ined’. In his last years of high school, Carlos was advised to pick up vocational courses, and did so in" rel="nofollow">in TAFE. Over time, he completed an apprenticeship and then a Certificate 4 in" rel="nofollow">in Electrical Trades, and after workin" rel="nofollow">ing for a year, he decided that he wanted to go to university and obtain" rel="nofollow">in a degree in" rel="nofollow">in science. From his apprenticeship years and his year of full-time work, he has saved enough money to study part-time while workin" rel="nofollow">ing part-time (and his brother is no longer placin" rel="nofollow">ing demands on his time, as he went back to Chile three years ago). Although Carlos had felt very confident about startin" rel="nofollow">ing university, given his success in" rel="nofollow">in his TAFE courses, he is begin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing to wonder about the emphasis made on a number of university websites about the academic English and literacy demands of university study, and what implications this has for his readin" rel="nofollow">iness to enrol in" rel="nofollow">in a university course. Case study C. An is origin" rel="nofollow">inally from Myanmar. Her family is from one of the Karen min" rel="nofollow">inority ethnic groups who were in" rel="nofollow">in conflict with the military government over many decades sin" rel="nofollow">ince the end of the Second World War. Many Karen villages were burnt down durin" rel="nofollow">ing the conflict, and many people fled their homes. When An was only one year old, she and her family fled their home to hide and live in" rel="nofollow">in the forests close to the Thai border for eight years. Durin" rel="nofollow">ing that time, An and her siblin" rel="nofollow">ings (a sister two years younger and a brother five years younger) learned survival skills but received no formal education. Their social contacts were limited to only a few other families who had also fled from their village. Although An’s father would leave the forest from time to time to try to get some provisions and in" rel="nofollow">information, An and the other children were never allowed to leave the forest. Both of her parents had never been to school, and while the children were told stories and learnt some oral histories about the Karen people, An never learned to read or write in" rel="nofollow">in any language until the family arrived in" rel="nofollow">in a refugee camp in" rel="nofollow">in Thailand, close to the Thai – Burmese border. At nin" rel="nofollow">ine years of age, An was first in" rel="nofollow">introduced to schoolin" rel="nofollow">ing and literacy. She began to learn the Roman/English alphabet and some English words and expression. After nin" rel="nofollow">ine months in" rel="nofollow">in the refugee camp, the family was accepted as refugees in" rel="nofollow">in Australia. This was six months ago, and An is now ten years old, and is about to start school in" rel="nofollow">in an Intensive English Centre. Although the IEC class that An is join" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing has several other children from refugee backgrounds, most are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq; there are no other children from Myanmar. An is very curious and enthusiastic about contin" rel="nofollow">inuin" rel="nofollow">ing the schoolin" rel="nofollow">ing of which she had a short taste in" rel="nofollow">in the camp in" rel="nofollow">in Thailand, but at the same time, she and her family members are overwhelmed by the change in" rel="nofollow">in material and socio-cultural environment in" rel="nofollow">in which they are now livin" rel="nofollow">ing. An’s father has found work in" rel="nofollow">in a factory, and her mother is bein" rel="nofollow">ing encouraged to attend the Adult Migrant English Program classes, but has not started yet. A local church group is helpin" rel="nofollow">ing the family with some of their settlement needs, and the family has met a few other people who arrived as refugees from Myanmar. Case study D. John is a 27- year old Australian primary school teacher. He was born and grew up in" rel="nofollow">in Sydney. Both of his parents are second generation Greek – Australians. Although John’s parents had both gone to ‘Greek-school’ on weekends to learn the Greek language when they were children, they never encouraged John or his siblin" rel="nofollow">ings to do the same. Nevertheless, John hears quite a lot of Greek bein" rel="nofollow">ing spoken in" rel="nofollow">in the home and in" rel="nofollow">in his community, especially among older members of the community, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing some of his relatives. John had cousin" rel="nofollow">ins and some friends who attended weekend Greek school, but he never felt he was missin" rel="nofollow">ing out on anythin" rel="nofollow">ing because there were many other children of Greek ancestry who did not do anythin" rel="nofollow">ing to main" rel="nofollow">intain" rel="nofollow">in the use of the Greek language in" rel="nofollow">in their homes. John did well in" rel="nofollow">in school, and found all of his schoolin" rel="nofollow">ing to be a very positive experience. This in" rel="nofollow">influenced his decision to become a teacher. When he was younger, many members of his extended family would comment on how John was very skilful in" rel="nofollow">in entertain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing and lookin" rel="nofollow">ing after his much younger cousin" rel="nofollow">ins. John thin" rel="nofollow">inks these experiences may have in" rel="nofollow">influenced his decision to choose primary school teachin" rel="nofollow">ing as his career. 013105 Language Development 4 After spendin" rel="nofollow">ing his first five years of teachin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in a school on the northern beaches of Sydney, where most of the children were from Anglo-Australian backgrounds, John recently transferred to a position where there is a large population of children with Greek ancestry. On different occasions he found that children would brin" rel="nofollow">ing a variety of Greek cultural artefacts or foods to school when there were cultural events. Some children were dropped off or picked up by their grandparents who were in" rel="nofollow">interested to know that John also had Greek ancestry. Some of them would start talkin" rel="nofollow">ing to John in" rel="nofollow">in Greek until they realised he did not understand. Gradually John developed an in" rel="nofollow">interest in" rel="nofollow">in in" rel="nofollow">investigatin" rel="nofollow">ing his Greek heritage, and tracin" rel="nofollow">ing his family history. There are still some elderly relatives back in" rel="nofollow">in Greece who would have in" rel="nofollow">interestin" rel="nofollow">ing stories to tell, but they don’t speak English. John wants to travel to meet and hear their stories. John did not study languages durin" rel="nofollow">ing his schoolin" rel="nofollow">ing. He attended a six-week begin" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">ing Japanese language course before travellin" rel="nofollow">ing to Japan with his university friends, but this is the extent of his experience of learnin" rel="nofollow">ing a second language. He is wonderin" rel="nofollow">ing if it is possible for him to develop enough proficiency in" rel="nofollow">in Greek to be able to listen to and record the family histories from his elderly relatives in" rel="nofollow">in Greece. He is also wonderin" rel="nofollow">ing if he could learn enough to teach Greek in" rel="nofollow">in his school, as teachin" rel="nofollow">ing of languages other than English is bein" rel="nofollow">ing prioritised in" rel="nofollow">in the primary school