Robinson, 1

Julia Robinson
November 14, 2015
Dr. Thomas Griggs
ECLD 592
Language Learner Profile #2
For this second language profile, I decided to focus on Marcos. Unlike David, Marcos is
almost out of the CLD program and has high second language acquisition. Marcos is in my sixth
grade, second period language arts class at Franklin Middle School in Greeley, Colorado. Marcos
was born in the United Sates. However, his family is from Chihuahua, Mexico. Marcos lives
with his grandmother, Juanita. He has never met his dad, but he thinks his is somewhere in
Mexico because he was not a United States citizen. He has a restraining order out against his
mom, Lisa and his stepfather, John due to physical abuse and due to their drug use. His
grandmother no longer works because she stays at home with Marcos. However, Marcos states
that she sometimes picks up small jobs that allow her to get paid under the table. His
grandmother has her green card but is not a citizen and her English proficiency is extremely low.
She has never received a formal education; therefore, she cannot read or write in any language.
Also, since she has never received a formal education, she does not understand how the
education system works. She solely speaks Spanish at home and therefore Marcos grew up only
speaking Spanish. His grandmother is supportive of Marcos education, but she does not know
how to be involved and how to help him since she cannot read or write. She often answers phone
calls and asks teachers for advice with Marcos. She does not come to parent teacher conferences
or school functions because she does not have a means of transportation. Marcos also states that
his grandmother feels bad for Marcos situation with his parents and therefore she lets him do

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whatever he wants at home. With the little money she has, she tries to provide Marcos with
whatever he wants. As far as Marcos friends, he hangs out with predominately English speakers.
He hangs out with the kids in his neighborhood quite often, and the majority of them consider
English as their primary language, although they can speak Spanish as well. In fact, I have never
heard Marcos use his Spanish before. Even out of class, him and friends converse in English. He
considers English his primary language and pushes away from using Spanish. He also seeks to fit
with the popular kids at school. He tries to impress them and he tries to hang out with them as
much as possible. Although he wants to be a part of their group, they often try to avoid Marcos
because of his behavior. He also tries to follow mainstream media in the United States, unlike
David. He listens to rap music and follows American culture and traditions. He does not have
any desire to move to Mexico whatsoever.
As far as Marcos schooling, he has always attended school in Greeley, Colorado. Even
though he has attended school in the United States his entire life, his home life affects him vastly.
Since Marcos has difficulty in English, he often acts out when he does not understand something.
He often seeks attention at school because he does not receive it from his biological parents and
has feelings of abandonment. He gets into fights often, he often bosses other students around, he
often talks back to his teachers, and he often throws fits during class. He is also extremely selfconscious about his appearance. Since he lives in a high amount of poverty, his grandmother has
not been able to afford braces for Marcos teeth. He often gets teased for his teeth. Marcos has
been suspended four times this school year for fighting. Marcos is also not motivated in school.
He does not see the purpose of school except for the social aspect. He rarely completes his work
and he rarely participates in class in a positive manner. Many teachers have issues with his

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behavior and many do not know how to handle his irrational behavior. Many of his peers refuse
to work or sit near him because they do not know when he will lash out.
In addition, in the Greeley District 6 system he is classified as a FEP four. This means
that he has fluent English proficiency, however, to get out of the program he must be labeled as a
FEP 6. In Greeley District 6, CLD students are required to take a WIDA test each January; this
test determines a students English proficiency through multiple categories such as speaking,
listening, reading, and writing. This WIDA score determines if a student is a NEP, LEP, or FEP
and which level their proficiency falls under. They can get a proficiency score one to six. The
district has seen a pattern if students who never leave the 4 or 5 level in their proficiency. This is
because once students are labeled as FEPs their language needs are not as high, so they often get
pushed aside. This means that they usually get passed through the system since they are not the
highest need and Marcos is an example of this. On Marcos WIDA test from last year he scored
the following: his comprehension score is a 5.4, his listening score is 5.6, his oral score is 5.9, his
reading score is 5.3, his speaking score is 6, and his writing score is 4.2. This means that Marcos
has reached full proficiency in his English speaking. This is apparent through his peer interaction
and his ability to completely express his feelings and ask complete questions. He also knows
English slang and understand pragmatics. He has almost reached full proficiency in his reading
and comprehension. This means that he is able to pronunciate words and read fluently. He also
understands what he reads. This is often apparent in my class as well. We have done one-on-one
reading, and he able to pronounce nearly every word and he is able to read at a good pace. He is
also able to answer comprehension questions and he is able to make many connections with the
text. In addition, he has almost reached full proficiency in listening. This means that he is able to
understand what I instruct him to do and he understands my questions. This is apparent because

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Marcos often listens to my advice and he always understands the tasks at hand. He often times
doesnt choose to listen but he still comprehends what he is doing is wrong. Lastly, his writing
score is low. This is also apparent in my class. Usually when the class is given a writing task,
Marcos shuts down. He refuses to do the writing and he often starts to behave poorly. His main
issue with writing is that he doesnt fully understand writing structure and his spelling is
extremely poor.
Now that Marcos background information, schooling information, and behavioral
information have been presented, I will now attempt to analyze Marcos second language
acquisition. It is apparent that Marcos is an involuntary immigrant. This means that Marcos is not
from another country, yet other generations in his family are. Involuntary immigrants are highly
influenced by American pop culture, which reflects Marcos need to be popular, listen to rap
music and follow American traditions and culture. In addition, Freeman and Freeman state that,
involuntary minorities, then, so no see that education improves life conditions, and in fact, see
few, if any, examples of success resulting from education (33). This reflect Marcos poor
attitude towards education. He has not seen any of his family members go to school and he sees
his grandmothers lack of knowledge about the education system. Therefore, he does not see
education as a necessity. This therefore affects Marcos motivation. Marcos does not contain any
intrinsic motivation, which is, expending effort for which there is no apparent reward except
the activity itself (Brown 159). The only extrinsic motivation he has is when he receives candy.
Since he is impulsive and irrational, he is not able to see long-term benefits and is unable to see
the personal benefits of education. Since, he does not have a positive view on school and does
not find it beneficial, he finds little to no motivation to complete tasks and receive good grades.

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It is also clear that there are many affective factors that affect Marcos language. One of
the key factors that affect Marcos language is his self-esteem. Brown states that, it could easily
be claimed that no successful cognitive or affective activity can be carried out without some
degree of self-esteem, self-confidence, knowledge of yourself, and self-efficacybelief in your
own capabilities to successfully perform an activity (144). Since his father abandoned him, he
has a restraining order against his mother and stepfather, and his peers often tease him for his
appearance, he has little self-confidence. Since his self-esteem is extremely low, he does not
believe that he can be successful, which therefore affects his language acquisition in the way that
he does not think he can ever reach full proficiency and he is constantly concerned with how
others view him, so he is afraid to make mistakes. Since he is afraid to make mistakes, he will
never learn from them, and therefore it will be hard to improve his language.
In addition, community and family contexts affect Marcos language. According to
Freeman and Freeman community and family contexts, look at parent education, family
income, family structure, whether there is mobility or stability, and whether the family has social
and/or cultural capital in society. They also consider childrens developmental needs, including
physical care, mental health, nutrition, language and identity (43). With that being said, Marcos
family and community contexts are low and his needs are not being met. He lives in poverty, his
home life has been inconsistent because his guardian has changed, and his guardian has no
education. According to Maslows hierarchy of needs, he is not meeting his basic safety and
security needs. Since his family is poor and his grandmother is unemployed, and Marcos family
is not stable, his community and family needs are not being met. His love and belonging needs
are also not being met because of the sense of abandonment that he feels with his parents, which
explains why he constantly seeks attention in school, even if it is negative attention. His self-

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esteem needs are also not being met, which I discussed above. According to Maslow, when a
childs basic needs are not met, they cannot be successful in school.
I believe that once Marcos basic needs are met and once his self-esteem rises, he will be
successful. Since these needs still have not been met, Marcos has not improved this year with his
language acquisition. Marcos will need constant work and attention in order to make him
successful. In my opinion, it would be best to put him in a small class that does not contain many
of the popular students. This will allow him to get more attention and direct instruction, without
being distracted by his peers opinions. I believe that this will raise his self-esteem and it will
help him become more successful with his language acquisition.

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Works Cited
Brown, H. Douglas. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching: A Course in Second
Language Acquisition. Sixth ed. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, 2014. Print.
Freeman, David E., and Yvonne S. Freeman. Between Worlds: Access to Second Language
Acquisition. Third ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011. Print.