Various Factors Surrounding Acquisition of Second Language in Children - Case Study Example

ELL Student Case Study Abstract During these changing economic times, many parents have felt the need to invest more on their children in terms of education. Parents have realized that education is an important tool for their children hence they are willing to go an extra mile to ensure that their children get education. According to them, basic education offered my many government education programs is not sufficient. This has driven many parents to getting additional quality education for their children in private institutions. Here they are sure their children will acquire world class education through learning diverse languages. This case study will be focusing on language learning outcomes for a young Korean girl, Dong Hee Kim. Emphasis will be made on her acquisition of English as her second language for both educational and social purposes. Analysis will be made on the relevance of her sociocultural and economic background to her education. Introduction This paper seeks to research into the various factors surrounding acquisition of second language in children and the effectiveness of teaching methods with relevance to child development. Various approaches have been used to ensure Kim acquires education, more so, English as her second language. Some of these have succeeded while others have failed. Via this case study, we will be capable of comprehending the different factors which have contributed to success and failure of these teaching techniques employed by Kim’s teachers. Emphasis will also be made on her social and cultural interaction within school and out of school as these two also affect her learning outcomes. Why Dong Hee Kim The elementary school where Kim is enrolled is one of the best international schools in Korean. Most of its students are Korean. The school has a population of 199 Korean students and two multicultural students. She is one of the lucky students in the elementary level as she comes from a wealthy family that has dedicated its resources to ensuring that she acquired the best education. Dong Hee Kim is a thirteen year old Korean girl attending English lessons in Elementary School in Korea. This research chose Kim due to various factors that favor her in her acquisition of English as her second language. Apart from the above mentioned factor, Kim has a rich cultural background; both Korean and America. She has been to America, where English is spoken as the national language. She had the privilege of interacting with English speakers. Back in Korea, she is attending one of the best Global schools in the country. This means that she has had the best chances to master English. Lastly this study chose Kim in the case study since she is a top student in her school. Kim speaks a little bit better English than most of the students and also performs well in English lessons and examinations. Thus, she will be capable of helping us understand how she has successfully mastered English, unlike her fellow students. Background The elementary school where Kim is enrolled is one of the best international schools in Korean. Most of its students are Korean. The school has a population of 199 Korean students and two multicultural students. As mentioned earlier, she is a thirteen year old student who has just started learning English as her second language. She is two years into the program and she is already making progress, although it is slow according to her home teacher. She comes from a wealthy Korean family which is willing to spend to limits to get her everything they deem necessary in terms of education. She has been schooled in America for year where she acquired more English knowledge. Kim started attending Elementary school for English classes. She is top in her class in terms of spoken and written English. Her classmates also come from the same social economic background but Kim has a richer English background due to her interaction with native English speakers. These were the factors which have created a barrier between Kim and the other students. As observed during the study, the students in Kim’s class are afraid of competing with her due to the perceived superiority. Instructional program Kim has been enrolled Elementary School to study English as her second language. She is in upper elementary class where they study English three times a week for forty minutes. The three English lessons are taught by three different instructors: there is a Korean English teacher, a Korean English conversation instructor and an instructor who is a native English speaker. The school puts more emphasis and regard to the native English instructors due to their important role in the school. The school takes a global approach to learning hence seeks to become global leader in education. Apart from the normal class work, Kim’s parents have also sought the services of some private instructor. This is an English teacher who does additional coaching on Kim’s English language skills. The home teacher concentrates on teaching Kim on conversation skill, interview skills, critical thinking and other grammatical requirements. Kim also takes part in English speaking contests. The home tutor coaches her and guides her before she can participate in the contests. Her parents also enroll her in various English conversation, talks and other activities to enhance her learnt language skills. Limitations of this study Most of the information obtained from the study environment was from observations and interviews. Time was a constraint; there was little time for me to observe all the required traits. The out of school information depended on the accuracy of Kim to remember all she does with regards to learning English. There is a likelihood that she might have omitted some important information or mislead me in her narrations. As a fact, some of the students do not like Kim; since the study relied on them to provide more information regarding Kim’s progress in school. Some might have presented false information. Methodology Before this study could begin, I had to inform both of Kim’s parents of my intention to monitor their child in her progress in English. They agreed to my proposal although Kim’s mother was worried if Kim’s performance was dropping. The school administration was also made aware of the study as it is a requirement from management. Information was majorly obtained through participant observation. During the class lessons where I was an instructor, I could take note of Kim’s participation. Distant non-participant observations were also employed during Kim’s interaction with other students out of class. Interviews were also used to obtain relevant information for this study. The home teacher was interviewed as well as Kim’s parents. The classmates of Kim were also sampled and interviewed regarding their interaction and perceptions about Kim. Analysis From the sociocultural perspective, Kim has had a good English interactional learning which should make her excellent in the language. Although she is best in her class, this doesn’t necessarily mean she is good. Her home teacher is disappointed with her since she cannot apply her learnt skill well. She cannot think critically and construct meaningful sentences. The fact that she has interacted with Americans and learnt in an American school should make her better than she is now. She also gets additional classes at home but still cannot do as her home teacher requires of her. However, she is motivated to learn more although she does not have the required competition. From observations, it was evident that Kim was motivated to learn regardless of the hard educational environment in school. The students disliked her due to her higher skill in English. They feared competing with her in any class activity leaving her out in many activities. This does not demoralize Kim in her endeavors to learn English. It has been noted that the class interaction and the class environment in general should be a motivating factor to those learning second languages (Ana, 2003). This is contrary to Kim’s learning environment. She has experienced a negative attitude from her classmates until she cannot tell who her true friends are. Has not there been such impediments in her learning environment, Kim could have improves tremendously I her spoken and written English skills. The ability to learn a second language depends on the learner’s ability to identify what she has learnt and how much she needs to learn. This is what is called the “notice gap principle” according to Kumaravadivelu (2003). From the themes identified during observation, the teacher and parent challenges did not help the Kim notice the gap. So much is expected of her until she does not recognize what she wants for herself. She performs well in class but her home teacher is not satisfied. This teacher claims that passing exams is not everything. Such high expectations have hindered Kim from identifying the gap, which according to Kumaravadivelu, is very crucial to learners of a second langauge. The teaching methods employed in second language classes also provided a challenge to Kim’s learning ability. It has been indicated that the classroom questions are always display question, that is, they only apply to the classroom context and not normal conversations that occur outside class (Kumaravadivelu,2003). This is the main reason why Kim’s homer teacher is disappointed with her conversation and language skills. She has been training Kim based on display examples and questions and forgets to coach her on daily out of class conversations where Kim experiences difficulties. When learning a second language, instructors and learners are required to engage more in oral work that any other instructional modalities. This gives the learners language applications skills according to Claude Goldenberg (2008). The peer challenge to Kim as identified during the study is that her peers dislike her because she is better than them. It is for this reason that most of them do not want to take part in class activities because they feel she is a mockery to them. As much as Kim is better, she still has to learn more through class interactional activities. This was identified as a challenge to her learning as she is not able to gain educationally from her classmates. Ana (2003) also notes the importance of group activities in learning a second language. She indicates that group activities provide a forum for learners to engage in discussions, practices and other forms of interaction that enhance comprehension of the second language. This kind of forum is not effective in Kim’s learning environment. Her peers do not provide such a forum to Kim and this has been a hindrance to her development in English acquisition. Summary of Conclusions This study identified three themes that represent the challenges in second language acquisition for Kim. These were sociocultural impediments that hindered her language development. Kim can do well in her English acquisition if these challenges were eliminated. Learning second language requires a good learning environment that presents lesser challenges (Goldenberg, 2008). As mentioned earlier, Kim is a bright student who needs various approaches to her language acquisition, a matter that has limited all-round development of English. Language proficiency has been described as the ability to apply language skills appropriately throughout the daily life (Peregoy & Boyle, 2013). Kim’s parents and teachers recognized this aspect but have failed, to some extent, in helping her develop language proficiency. Recommendation Kim needs another learning approach from her home teacher because the approaches used by this teacher have not been successful as intended by the home teacher. The learning approaches employed determine the effectiveness of second language acquisition, if some methods don’t bear the required results, they should be substituted (Goldenberg, 2008). Her Elementary School teachers should also change some of the approaches that have been identified unfruitful. For instance, Kim has not been a beneficiary of the class activities due to the hate she received from her peer. Her instructors should either talk down her peer into liking her and not excluding her in the class activities. Learning second languages requires concentration and focus. More time should be allowed for practice of the learnt skill than learning the skills (Peregoy & Boyle, 2013). Kim is allowed little time to practice by her own because most of her time she is into learning activities. Some of the learning activities should be scrubbed to allow her personal time. Personal reflection The case study provided me an insight into the challenges students face in access to learning English as a second language. As an instructor, sometime I tend to think that my teaching methods are most effective and try to force them on the students. Also, I tend to think that in-class performance is my ultimate goal. I was able to know that teaching the second language entails more than the in-class performance. Language proficiency should be the outcome of my lessons. I also learnt that students need an approach that best suits them and not the one the teacher feels is best for them. References Cummins, j., Brown, K., & Sayers, D. (2007). Literacy, Technology, and Diversity Teaching for Success in Changing Times. New York: Pearson Education, Inc. Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English Language Learners. AMERIC AN EDUCATOR |. Huerta-Macías, A. G. (n.d.). Meeting the Challenge of Adult Education: A Bilingual Approach to Literacy and Career. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). Beyond M e t h o d s : Macrostrategies for Language Teaching. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Liddicoat, A. J. (2009, June 23). Sexual Identity as Linguistic Failure: Trajectories of Interaction in the Heteronormative Language Classroom. Retrieved from Journal of Language, Identity & Education : http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hlie20 Peregoy, S., & Boyle, O. (2013) Reading, writing, and learning in ESL: A resource book for teaching K-12 English learners. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Peregoy, S., & Boyle, O. (2013) Language Acquisition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. 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