Reflection
In this interview, I interviewed Agustina Arena who learned
her second language, English, when her family moved to the United States. Growing up in Argentina, Agustina spoke her
native language, Spanish, in school and at home. Personally, I learned my second language,
English, at the same time I was learning Mandarin Chinese. I think because I learned both languages at such
a young age, I don’t have any accents when I speak either languages. I think it is amazing that Agustina can
communicate in both languages without any sort of accent as well. According to Ortega (2012), accents are
likely to develop in L2 languages if the language is learned later in life. This leads me to believe that at the age
Agustina learned English, it was still relatively early (p. 18).
Although Agustina did mention that she did have ESL classes
that helped her build her English, she did say that television, friends, and
the classroom itself helped her practice.
These strategies of learning language are naturalistic, meaning informal
opportunities that did not require organized instruction (Ortega, 2012, p. 6). Also, according to Rowland (2014), students
second language growth is impacted significantly depending on how much exposure
they get. “The more language a child
hears, the quicker they will develop language (p. 193).
I think that Agustina could keep her Spanish relevant
because she still spoke Spanish to her family at home. This gave her the chance to retain her L1
language and strengthen her L2 during school settings and at home when she was
watching TV.
During her learning process, Agustina expressed that she was
frustrated and unable to communicate.
According to Ortega (2012), learning a new language can be harmful to
ego, especially until higher levels of proficiency have been reached. This is because learners do not have good
control over what they say in the L2 language (p. 192). As Agustina learned more English, she became prouder
to know the language. This also made her
more comfortable and easier for her to communicate to others. I think L2
speakers that are thrown in an environment where they feel like they cannot
communicate flowingly with others often feel this way because it is hard to get
their point across sometimes. After more
vocabulary is built, students may feel like they fit in more and are more
comfortable with speaking the language because they can now communicate with
everyone else.
One thing that really stood out to me is how Agustina
mentioned how her Spanish vocabulary is now slowly diminishing because she
finds herself more comfortable speaking English. I can relate to the same situation because
now that most of my communication made to my friends, classmates, and
professors are in English. The only time
I get a chance to practice my Mandarin is when I speak to my parents or see my
extended family. I do think it is
important to hold onto my L1 language because it is a big part of my culture
and is what keeps me connected so closely to my family.
