Reflection 2 - Noelle Reardon

Reflection 2 – Noelle Reardon The video that we watched last week in class was somewhat of a shock to me. I had never heard of a school that had ELL students completely separated from the rest of the student population for each class period. I don’t recall where this video took place at, but I thought by Michigan law ELL students were not to be separated from their peers for every class period. I know that it may be more expensive for schools to make accommodations for students in the classroom, but I feel that it is something that should be done. I recall a student from the video mentioning how they feel excluded from the rest of their peers do to the complete separation. I also remember a student mentioning how people look at them as if they aren’t as smart. Another challenge that a student had was feeling confident to speak English in front of people because she did not feel confident in her language ability. I think the ability to speak a second language is absolutely amazing. I think it is critical the second language learners feel comfortable and to know that they won’t be judged just because they may need things repeated or explained in a different way. I think as a society it is our job to make everyone feel comfortable so that no one feels excluded because they may speak a little differently. I had a roommate from Japan my sophomore year. She expressed to me how she did not feel comfortable talking to other people in English because she was not confident in her English ability. As my roommate and I grew closer she began to talk more and we eventually became close friends. At first I had to make her feel comfortable and for her to know that I was not judging her. I think it is amazing that she had the courage to go to a completely different country and then be fully immersed in a different language environment. At first when we would have conversation I could tell that she may not understand what I was saying and would pretend she did. When I asked her about this she explained how she felt like a hassle if she had to have me repeat myself. I told her that I do not want to have a conversation with myself and that I want her to ask question. As she became more comfortable with me she would ask for me to repeat myself. If she did not understand after I repeated myself I would write it out or show her pictures so she would understand. It was less of a challenge for her to understand English when it was written out for her. The reason for this was because most of her English practice came from writing, instead of speaking. I truly believe that the more opportunities a second language learner has to practice speaking their second language the more fluent their speech will become. I truly believe that there is something to be learned from everyone and if we continue to judge others than we will miss out on making great relationships and learning about other cultures. That school year I learned so much more than I could even imagine about my roommate. We continue to be close friends because we broke past the language barrier that was once between us.