One student that really stands out in my mind was a two year old little boy from India that I taught three years ago in a daycare setting. He didn't speak any English at all when he came into my classroom, and was still mastering his native language at home. I found it very frustrating watching other teachers interact with this child because they wouldn't even try to speak to him and instead would silently interact with him while changing his diapers, putting food on his plate, or letting him play in the classroom. I made it my mission to provide a language rich environment for this child and immediately formed a close bond with him that will forever be dear to my heart.
During story time one day I noticed that this little boy really enjoyed the book Pete the Cat and he would repeat the words and sing along just like all the other children. Knowing he was interested in this particular story and character I began to bring in my iPad and put all the Pete the Cat read alouds on it as well as the songs. Using my iPad my little friend was able to learn many new words in English including colors, numbers, foods, and names. It also helped to establish a trusting relationship with this child that had been verbally ignored by previous teachers. Building off of my little friends interest in the interactivity of the iPad I was able to expand his vocabulary further by introducing him to other read aloud stories through a daily story app that I downloaded as well as other preschool games. While the iPad was a great tool for initially breaking through the walls put up by this child and establishing a good teacher/student relationship most of the progress I saw came as a result of our relationship through the interactions that I was then able to have with him in speaking throughout the day. He would come to me and ask me what the word for an object in the classroom would be, and he would constantly point and label things looking for approval. While fluency wasn't reached in my short time with this little guy, huge gains were made and trust was established.
In the first article about ESL students and technology that I read this week I agree that technology can play an important role in assisting language acquisition in ESL students by sparking interest, moving at their own personal pace, and tracking student growth. One piece of software mentioned was Rosetta Stone which I have had personal experience using. I found that for me computer software was not the way for me personally to learn a second language, I struggled with understanding and don't think I made any noticeable progress, however my uncle has used Rosetta Stone for his government job and is fluent in four languages because of the product. I personally learn better when I am submerged in an interactive environment using a language, which is why I would tend to agree more with Margaret Hawkins who argued for more immersive language learning activities such as playing interactive online games and other social experiences in another language using technology. For instance as a teen I was a huge fan of online MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role-play games.) Most of these games were in english, but I met so many players from different countries that spoke different languages that I began to learn Portuguese because it was the primary language in one of my favorite chat rooms. While I am in no way fluent in Portuguese, I learned more and with little effort simply by interacting socially with others over the internet than I ever did plopped in front of a computer doing rote memory games with language. Hawkins also argued that technology would be most effective if used in conjunction with real social projects such as getting students out into the community to speak with people and than use technology such as PowerPoint or Word to compile their project or presentation.
In my classroom I use, and will continue to use technology such as the SmartBoard, Youtube, iPads, audio recorders, etc. to encourage language acquisition for all of my young learners, but the most important thing to remember (in my opinion) is that acquisition of a language can be assisted with technology, but there is no substitute for real human interactions.