Jacqueline Martin Blog 1

I originally become interested in teaching English as a second language when I entered college.  I had no idea the field existed before hand.  I began majoring in English and minoring in French, and TESOL just seemed to be a good fit to go along with it.  I had never had educational interactions with ELL student before though, so I didn’t really understand what I was getting myself into.  Throughout my college experiences thus far I have had awesome opportunities to become more aware of the field and have personal experiences with ELL learners.  My first experience was last year when I had a Chinese language partner.  The goal was for her to make a personal and meaningful connection with an American student, as well as practice her English.  Not only was it cool to get to know her on a personal level, but I was also able to help with her English language learning.  I remember teaching her new vocabulary and was able to watch her try and implement those words into the conversation.  That was really rewarding to see.  My second experience was working with ELL learners in a local high school.  That was challenging for me because I wasn’t able to make personal relationships with the students and they were not as focused on their English ability as they were the subject we were trying to cover for the day.  It made me realize how crucial it is for ELL students to have a base knowledge of English because they will have to use it in all of their subjects, not just English class.

I’m really looking forward to this year and my future as an ELL teacher because I know that there are so many students who have the potential to be fluent language learners if they are given the right guidance.  I am really excited to try and be that guider.  This semester I have a tutoring placement in a 6^th grade classroom at a local middle school.  Along with reading, vocab, spelling and writing with native English speakers, I will be working with a few students who are ELL learners.  I will learn firsthand what it is like for a younger age group to deal with the barriers of learning a new language.  I am really looking forward to seeing what strategies we have learned in class actually work in the classroom, and see which ones don’t.