This paper reflects observations made when interacting with two children, one in kindergarten and the other in third grade. The interaction was with a native English speaker in kindergarten and an English language learner in third grade. Each of the students had limitations in their English language, but showed efforts in mastering the art of learning the language. The purpose of this observation was to interact with children and monitor second language acquisition, oral language development, and power of observation.
Native English Speaker in Kindergarten
In the first part of my observation, I interacted with a six-year-old kindergarten student known as Ronbie, who was a native English speaker. She was enrolled in a kindergarten program with several other students and a helper teacher. I observed the student in her interaction with classmates as well as when she interacted with her helper teacher during instructions. At the same time, I observed Ronbie during free events after classes when she was with her friends and classmates.
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Listening
Ronbie's listening skills can be ranked between the average and above average for her age, considering she understood most of the things said and followed instructions to the core. She had been working diligently on letter sounds to help her learn some complex words and was able to match objects to notes based on teacher instruction quickly. Furthermore, Ronbie understood direction words and rhyming words and could differentiate between terms such as big and little (Ramos, 2016).
The student follows the directions given to her, but somehow gets distracted by her surroundings. For example, when instructed to clean up and put the crayons away, Ronbie would do so without any problems because of being a good listener. In the classroom, the student appeared attentive and could do what her teacher required of her. She was able to complete any given task according to the requirements, which shows the traits of a good listener. However, the student could be easily distracted by her surroundings that could affect her listening. For example, when the teacher was reading, she could be distracted with any sounds made by her peers. The student could also be easily amused by what others were doing as opposed to focusing on her work. Therefore, I gave her a rating between the average and above average for following directions but being distracted.
Speaking
I considered Ronbie's speaking skills to be above average, as shown by her interaction with other students. She proved to be a good speaker who could speak clearly, enough for any stranger to understand. Her ability to construct complete sentences allowed her to score above average in the speaking category. She was knowledgeable enough to know the names of people and pronounce them aloud when asked.
However, she had a problem saying consonant sounds and could replace sounds' th' with ‘d’, and often struggled with the sound ‘r’ when speaking to her peers. This is normal for all children in kindergarten when learning to speak ( Cunningham, 2017) . Therefore, while she struggled to pronounce some words, the student was intelligent and could hold conversations well with others. At the same time, interaction with Ronbie showed that she used correct verb tenses and the use of pronouns when communicating. It is healthy for children at this age to struggle with some sounds before they are perfect as they grow.
Language and Conversation
Ronbie's language skills were average with a score of 3 on the SOLOM sheet but with signs of improvement. Her one-on-one interactions with classmates and teachers were accompanied by the correct use of body language and eye contact, which is impressive for a child her age. However, she showed shyness when presenting in class and could show some nervousness. Yet, she has exceptional social skills seen during her interaction with classmates and an ability to maintain eye contact while holding conversations. Ronbie is a talkative person who could quickly initiate a conversation with her classmates. Her expression of feelings was average for her age, where she could tattle on others unintentionally (Ramos, 2016). Her ability to understand humor was also impressive, and she could use proper social greeting cues such as 'sorry' 'please' and 'thank you.' When in class, Ronbie could raise a hand to ask a question whenever she appeared unsure of the problem.
Reflection
My observation and interaction with Ronbie as my student was fruitful since she was an expressive and outgoing child. Her ease of initiating conversations made it easy to interact with other students and hold talks. I believe her listening, speaking, and conversion traits show someone who has been spending time with her parents working on early language acquisition and literacy skills before joining kindergarten ( Cunningham, 2017) . She seemed to be engaged in shared book learning with an adult, which improved her language and literacy development. I observed Ronbie on different occasions and in different settings to get her natural reaction and behavior with different people. However, I need to follow her more often, especially when at home interacting with her family members to get a broader outlook of her listening, speaking, and conversation skills. Having a closer look at her behavior at home would make it possible to compare her interaction with classmates and when she is with her parents.
Part 2: English Language Learner 3rd Grade
I also observed a 3rd-grade student named Adam, who was an English Language Learner student at Valentine Elementary School. Adam spoke two languages and was fluent in his native Spanish. The student is an eight-year-old boy and the only ELL learner in a class of 20 students. His hometown is Mexico City, and her native language since birth has been Spanish. As such, he has limited capabilities in English but is working with a teacher to learn English the language. His English has developed dramatically, and he does not need extra assistance to speak with his peers.
Comprehension
Adam showed signs of difficulties comprehending the English language from the very beginning of my observation. I first observed him in class during an English grammar lesson as the only ELL student among the native English speakers. This was interesting to see since Adam blended in well and could comprehend the lesson on nouns, articles, prepositions, and verbs, though with difficulties. The student could state the correct answer for the grammar questions and could work independently on the grammar assignment. However, while the student was fluent in written comprehension, his spoken language was not at the part as he could struggle with identifying pronouns. The student would act like he understood what was being spoken, but could show a confused face that showed a different reaction (Sousa, 2011). I gave him a score of 3 incomprehension on the SOLOM sheet due to his abilities to know the right and wrong answer on the English test.
Vocabulary and Fluency
Adam scored a 3 in vocabulary and a 2 in fluency based on my observation and interaction with him. He did not speak much and appeared to keep much of the words to himself, but when he did, he was soft-spoken and sometimes challenging to hear. I first observed the student when he was working on a structured assignment that required his use of the vocabulary. Whenever asked questions, Adam appeared unsettled as she searched for the right words to use when responding to the problem. His lack of fluency in the English language meant he spent most of the class time drawing as opposed to communicating. However, the lack of fluency was reflective of someone learning a second language as opposed to being a native speaker (Sousa, 2011).
I tried speaking to him to gauge his ability in vocabulary and fluency and was able to hold a fruitful conversation in English despite struggling to speak some words. He said his family speaks Spanish at home, though they can communicate in English when speaking with a non-Spanish individual. His use of the English language was limited by the native Spanish language, as seen when he used it informally and playful (Sousa, 2011). However, Adam appeared to be better in reading and writing as opposed to speaking the language. He could not easily understand the language when spoken to but will know once the instructions are illustrated or put in writing.
Pronunciation and Grammar
Adam's most substantial aspect of learning the English language was his pronunciation and grammar, including the ability to correctly pronounce the words and sentences he knew. The diction was admirable and reflected someone quick at learning new words. Adam had clear pronunciation on some words, including Basic English phrases (Sousa, 2011). I gave him a score of 3 in pronunciation, especially in terms that were familiar to him. For example, he appeared clear and without an accent when pronouncing the word teacher, classroom, or bathroom. However, an emphasis could appear on words that were unfamiliar to the student.
On the grammar score, I gave Adam a rating of 4 based on how he completed the grammar assignment with ease. He quickly and successfully identifies nouns, articles, and adjectives from a story given in class. His mastery of the English words showed substantial improvement, with the student most likely to be fluent in the language by the time he becomes a teenager. However, the student's pronunciation of unfamiliar English words was a problem. He could not speak any other English word except the basic phrases
Reflection
Acquiring a new language at the age as young as eight years can be difficult based on how the human brain learns (Sousa, 2011). This was reminiscent in the student who showed difficulties in communicating with the new language. However, Adam showed signs of a good student, who is also a fast learner and could pronounce English phrases well if he is familiar with the words. There are some aspects of the English language that come naturally to anyone who is a native speaker but confusing to those learning English as a second language. Such words can hinder any child learning English as a second language because they will struggle with words which native speakers learn naturally through years of observation. Adam also struggled to learn English from the reading materials since they did not have many elements ( Cunningham, 2017) . However, the student's ability to speak English and be at the top of his class was admirable and showed traits of a good student.
References
Cunningham, P. M. (2017). Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing (Making Words Series). 7th ed. Boston: Pearson. Retrieved from https://nu.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134255231/
Ramos, L. (2016, April 13). Supporting Oral Language Development in a Language-Rich Environment. EarlyChildhoodVideos. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=lRw9tSQRpQU
Sousa, D. (2011). How the ELL Brain Learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Retrieved from https://nu.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781452237169/
