Week #13

Chana is an adorable, energetic 2nd grade student, living in Lakewood, New Jersey. I learned a lot from observing Chana, and writing down my observations and recommendations. Firstly, I saw how important it is for a ELL to be fluent and competent with his/her mother tongue, before moving on to becoming fluent and on par with her English studies. In Chana’s case, she’s a fluent Yiddish reader & writer, and I believe this greatly aids with her English studies. Secondly, it was interesting to note how many times she translated word for word from Yiddish to English, which sounded funny and was grammatically incorrect. But I’ve seen this many times with ELLs, and I see how it makes sense in the learner’s mind, but sounds off to us native English learners. Next, I noticed how personality and attitude make such a difference in a child’s life! The reason why Chana was hardly made fun of or ridiculed for her interesting sounding accent was because her peers really liked her for who she was, and they were happy to be her friend! Little children are not always so sensitive, and unfortunately, making fun can come natural to some kids. However, in this case, this hardly happened since Chana is a beloved, charming young girl. Lastly, I learned how ELLs do not all lag behind their classmates, as per the misconception many people have of them. Yes, they do start at a great disadvantage, being that their English skills are usually not up to par, and not holding where they’re supposed to be according to their grade level. However, with the right people helping and supporting them, they can get very far and reach the levels that they are supposed to be at within a certain framework.

This case study has helped me a lot. It’s one thing to learn many new skills and strategies to use to help learners, specifically ELLs. However, it’s a whole different picture when applying these newly acquired skills to an actual student, seeing where she goes wrong, and which tools will help her reach her learning goals. When putting things into reality, everything takes on a new picture. I now know and see clearly how different strategies work for different students, and it’s always good to be on the lookout to learn new things, and apply them to different learners. As the famous adage says “always walk through life as if you have something new to learn, and you will.”

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