Peer Response 2

· What information surprises you? What is new information? What is something you had not considered before? Respond your peer and provide recommendations to extend their thinking. For distinguished peer responses, respond with a minimum of five sentences that add to the conversation, and refrain from evaluative posts (i.e., You did a good job.).

PEERS POST:

There are many challenges to learning a second language especially when that second language is English. English is not a phonetic language which means that sometimes a word is spelled differently than it is said. For example, produce and produce are both spelled the same but produce means to create something and produce are fruits and vegetables. This can be extremely confusing for an English language learner. There is also a lot of slang used in the English language. In the south, we use the term “y’all” for you all. This casual language is not often taught in the classroom so the student would need to rely on inflection or body language to interpret the word's meaning.

Culture shock is a major challenge for anyone experiencing a new and foreign environment. Not only is the language different but so are the beliefs, perceptions, and structure of everyday life.  The pressure from this change can bring confusion and anger to the person while they adjust to their new surroundings. To counteract this stress, it is important for educators to be made aware of culture shock and trained on how to handle these situations. Understanding how ELLs learn and creating a safe space for them will make learning much easier.

I knew coming into this class that learning a second language, especially English, is not an easy endeavor. What I did not take into consideration before was just how much learning a new language relies on understanding a person’s culture. Language is structured around beliefs, ideas, and conversational demands. Appreciation of another culture allows the person to understand the words in the right context and how to express their thoughts and feelings correctly.  (Piper, 2015)

-Tarah Risher

 

Piper, T. (2015). Language, learning, and culture: English language learning in today’s schools. Bridgepoint Education.