Competency 1.

A Reflection

Competency 1.A states: Candidates demonstrate knowledge and

application of concepts, theories, and research from applied linguistics, second
language acquisition, and literacy development. Through the jigsaw activity I am
able to demonstrate my knowledge and applications of theories I’ve learned in
previous courses as well. When working in my breakout rooms we examined and
talked about the iceberg theory and what Jim Cummins defined and described
the different levels of language acquisition. In our breakout room we also
discussed the universal grammar theory.
I was able to meet this competency through the ELL Jigsaw activity, which
has taught me to learn as well as different ways we can help support ELLS. This
activity allowed me to understand the different theories by engaging with this
activity. This assignment aligns with this competency because it allows for me to
demonstrate my knowledge and application of theories for literacy development
by further engaging as well as applying it to different approaches to teaching. In
my future classroom, I can now use the iceberg theory as well as the vocabulary
in order to identify literacy development of students. In order to develop student’s
English language proficiency, I will use this research and understanding ELL
students even further.
When reflecting on my jigsaw activity I noticed that I was able to gain
insight from my peers in understanding various theories. This also gave me
knowledge to help support my students to understand how language is acquired
and how each hypothesis can be helpful with my future teaching. In order to
apply Jim Cummins iceberg theory successfully in my classroom it’s important to
learn the terms as well as get live feedback from students when determining their
language acquisition and which “layer” they are in. since we were in breakout
rooms we only talked about the iceberg theory and touched on the universal
grammar theory. The universal grammar theory by Noah Chomsky talks about
that grammar is hard wired in the human brain is not taught. Although that’s all I
know from it, I could research more about the universal grammar theory and how
I can apply it to my future classroom.
I have learned about various theorists throughout being in the college of
education, such as Piaget, Vygotsky, skinner, as well as Bruner. The jigsaw
activity gave me an opportunity to engage with my peers as well as learn about
theorists who created second language acquisition. This will help me further
educate me as well as how I can further support my ELL students.