Addison Schmidt

Nalee Moua
Teaching and Learning 333
ELL and ESL Interview
 The ESL that I had the pleasure of interviewing was Ana Dacostas. I meet with her on the

28th of September for the interview at the Spark Building on campus around 4:00 pm. This was

my first-time meeting Ana; my friend went to high school with her and told me that she would be

more than welcome to let me interview her. I learned that Ana’s Mother was born and raised in

Mexico, her Father was born and raised in Uruguay and she was born and raised in Mexico. Her

family later moved to Pullman, Washington four years ago right before her sophomore year of

high school.

In talking with Ana, I have learned that she values being Bilingual but she has a great

appreciation for her Hispanic culture and origin. Ana sees language as more than a way to speak

to one another; she believes that language is a sense of home and culture. When she speaks to

another person who speaks Spanish, she feels a deep connection and understanding for that

person. Ana values that she learned English at a young age at a bilingual school in Mexico

because of the benefits of speaking English. She added to the fact that it was not the easiest thing

to do and that moving to America challenged her to put forth what she had learned into everyday

use. Overall, talking to an ESL opened my eyes to how I can help students to become successful

in their education.

When asked if her second language (English) is beneficial, Ana's immediate answer was

yes. Her first reason was that it will help her professionally. Ana is studying at Washington State

University to become an architect. In going to a United States' university, her classes are taught

in English and it is strongly recommended that a student understands English while attending

school in the States. Ana further stated that because of the career that she wants to pursue,

architecture, English will help her to have more job opportunities in her future. The second

reason she gave was that wherever she goes in the world, being able to speak English will help
her to communicate with more people. Ana’s parents knew the importance of learning English to

help benefit their daughters’ future and that is why Ana and her sister attended a bilingual school

in Mexico. Ana is very thankful for her parents and the decision that they made so long ago.

In learning English, Ana explained that English is a difficult language to learn. Ana

explained that Spanish is a phonetic language, meaning that the way it is written is the way it is

pronounced but English is not a phonetic language. Ana expressed that was the main difference

between Spanish and English, and what she mainly struggled with when learning English. In

other words, Ana struggled with the Phonology of English, which is “the study of sound

systems,” (Wright, 2015, pg. 31). This is a major component of English and can be hard for

ELLs; Wright explains in the book that it can be hard for an ELL because some English sounds

can tend to be none existent in other languages (2015, pg. 31). Ana also explained that she

struggles with how words can be structured. She stated that she mainly struggled with trying to

figure out if a word was pass-tense or present- tense. Ana struggled with the Morphology of

English. Lastly, Ana stated that the transition to America was very hard for her. She was

constantly speaking English and only speaking Spanish at home with her family. She found

herself in conversations being very slow to talk to. This is because she was constantly mentally

translating English to Spanish and then Spanish to English. It took Ana a long time to feel

confident in speaking English.

As an ESL, Ana knows the benefits and challenges of learning the English language

because of this I asked her how she would teach ELLs and ESLs. Ana believes that students

should learn a second language at a young age. Wright explains that there is no evidence to show

that children have an advantage over adults when learning a second language (2015). Ana did not

mean that children learn a language better than adults rather she meant that learning a second
language is hard and the younger you are the more teaching and practice you are exposed to.

Second, Ana explained that visual aids helped her to visualize and make connections between

languages; Ana believes that when teaching ELLs, visual aids are very important to use in the

classroom. Third, she explained that listening to readings helped her with word pronunciation.

She explained that group interaction helped her with communication. Finally, Ana stated that

teachers should focus first on teaching ELLs academic language and then later teach English

slang. What Ana is saying is that it is important to first teach ELLs Cognitive Academic

Language Proficiency (CALP) and then teach Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)

(Bardack, 2010). Ana believes that these teaching methods helped her to be a successful English

learner.

In interviewing Ana, I have learned a lot about what language learning is. Language

learning is learning a language that is not your native language. Language learning is learning all

aspects of a language: pronunciation, structure, rules, and meanings. Overall, in learning any

language, English or not, you are becoming more culturally aware of that culture. In being more

culturally aware, you are benefitting yourself by connecting to and understanding different

cultures. I believe that learning a second language should be something that you want to do to for

yourself and not something that you have to do. Sadly, when coming to the United States it is

understood that you must know English to be successful, even though America has no definitive

language as stated in the Constitution.

In interviewing Ana, I have learned beneficial strategies that she found to be very helpful

when learning English. When teaching ELLs English, both academic and everyday words are

very important for a student to learn. By learning BICS and CALP, an ELL can be successful in

and out of the classroom. Ana taught me that pronunciation and word tenses can be especially
difficult for ELLs; as a future teacher, I should focus on those two things strongly. Ana explained

to me that there are two very important learning strategies that helped her: Visual Learning and

Oral Learning. Overall, Ana explained that communication and group interaction helped her to

become confident in speaking English. In talking to Ana Dacostas, she has taught me how to

support ELLs to be successful in and out of the classroom.

 Recourses

Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory,

Policy, and Practice (Second ed., p. 31). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.

Bardack, S. (2010, April). Common ELL Terms and Definitions. In AIR: English Language

Learners. Retrieved September 29, 2017.