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Final Course Reflection

            As I reflect on what I have learned this semester about Second Language Acquisition, I realize that there are many aspects that are involved in how successful a learner may be in learning their second language or an additional language. One aspect that was not quite as unexpected was the characteristic of motivation. However, I was particularly surprised to learn that the role of motivation was not as simple as I presumed. Ortega (2013, p. 189) acknowledges that “being motivated nurtures more successful L2 learning, but, conversely, experiencing L2 learning success also boosts motivation to even higher levels, in a reinforcing cycle.” Therefore, when a learner is motivated to learn their L2, they become more successful in their learning, and when they are successful in their learning, they feel more motivated to learn their L2. In addition to motivation, I learned that the learner’s age, their first language, the env...
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Interview with a Bilingual Teacher

             For this entry, I decided to interview Ms. Muskus, a bilingual kindergarten teacher at Franz Elementary in Katy ISD. Ms. Muskus has been teaching in a bilingual classroom for sixteen years, at first in a preschool class and later in a kindergarten class.             Ms. Muskus ensures that her students are receiving comprehensible input from her so that they are successful in the acquisition of their L2. She does this by having visuals in her classroom and helping students understand the connection from movement to words. Gass & Selinker (2008, p. 484) note that “comprehensible input is controlled by the person providing input…whereas comprehended input is learner-controlled.” Thus, Ms. Muskus aids her students by teaching her students in a way that they can relate their language learning to pictures and actions. Additionally, Ms. Muskus believes that...
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Entry 2: Interview with a Bilingual Speaker

For this entry, I decided to interview my friend, Suzette Balderas, a recent graduate from the University of Houston. She was born in Houston, but her parents were born in Mexico, so this influenced her language learning. Her native language is Spanish, but she began learning English, her L2, when she was about four or five years old while she was in preschool. She states that since she started learning her L2 at such a young age, it helped to build her proficiency because it is easier to learn things as a child than when you are older. According to Ortega, “the hypothesis of a critical period for L1 acquisition, and as a corollary for L2 acquisition…continues to be considered plausible today” (2013, p. 12). One of the methods that helped Suzette learn her L2 was through cartoon shows on television. In her interview, she mentions that in the Dora the Explorer cartoon in the American version, the viewers are taught Spanish vocabulary words; however, in the Spanish version, the view...
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