Introducing the King!

Yes, this is the king of the appaloosas! Is this bragging? No, let him tell you why!

Oh, you have a few questions?

Why Osiris?

" I was born on Halloween, and thus am king of both underworld and my pasture!"

Why are you an appaloosa without visible spots?

"I am called a "ghost" (get it?) or few spot appaloosa, my spots are on my skin, not my hair. When I sweat, they really pop out!"

What does this mean for a breeder?

"It means your babies, no matter what the breed of mare is, will produce appaloosa color!"

Contact ME at 210-632-3244 or at cacostello@sbcglobal.net. Vicky Rizzo, who has bred appies for many years is my owner. I am available for breeding and maybe, to a lucky individual, for sale.

Emotions and Language

Reflection # 9
Discuss the role of emotional language in your L1 and L2. Which language is emotionally richer.

Although Spanish, French and some Japanese are available to me as speech vehicles, since I lived in Germany for so many years, I would like to dwell on emotional expression in that language. Is it because English has such deep Germanic roots that I found no problem in finding an emotional voice in German? I spoke not only to the family friends, and clients / customers in German, but also to my horses, and also conversed with dogs and cats in that tongue. I rarely used English after a point, only for language lessons, or by special request. I still like to talk to the animals in German--they take to it better than Texans do!

In summary, I don't feel that there is any emotion that cannot be expressed in German fully well as I can express it in English.

As your learners acquire (participate?) in their new speech communities do you see a change in their emotional language behavior.

For the Japanese I worked with in Germany, some of the more extroverted seemed to enjoy finding that they could express "off-color" language in English. The Germans were always looking to pick up slang and swear words. In Gender Linguistics last year, I did a paper on the use of English in German-language blogs. The use of slang and swear words was the most frequent type of language used, probably derived from pop culture such as movies, songs, magazines. Also combos of German and English such as "drogenfreak," Elvisverruckt," and "Handy" meaning a cell phone, are quite common. I always felt that the students felt more liberated expressing these terms in English rather than in German.

Reflect on the notion of (re)construction of self in your own L2 or L3 learning experiences.

Since I never thought much about my identity when I was living overseas, this never seemed to be a problem. I just understood that my nationality and viewpoint were different, but that often gave me a springboard to get to know people and ask questions to find out how and why things in a particular country were different. Whether it was France, Spain or Japan, I just felt like I fit in. Frankly I feel most strange in the US, where I was faced with reverse culture shock in 2002, after many years in Europe. That is one of the reasons that I love ESL--it's international.

Application of Language Tools

Reflection # 8
Okay. What is it going to be form-focused or communicative or a combination of both.
Back up your thoughts with some of the studies in LS Ch. 6.

First, control for variables! I have worked mostly with adults in both individual and classroom settings. Whether the class is multi-national or all speak the same L1 is critical. Also, motivational factors. Once that is clear, set the objective or purpose; what do I want them to be able to do at the end of class? Do they understand why and how it benefits them?

The answer to the above is--natch--a combination of whatever it takes to touch everyone in class, using visual, auditory, tactile, approaches in talking, listening, reading, and writing. Ready? Go!

I would start off in a communicative mode, say a conversation promoting something already read (that takes care of the read/listen (using enhanced input or input flood), to be done as homework)--get everyone's opinion. Some will talk more than others, but everyone will be expected to say something. That also takes care of the two for one--talking about opinions (a la immersion programs) concerning the weather, or home life.
When I hear what the problems are, I pick out the most critical, and then teach what is teachable (readies, unreadies and recasts) considering what we have already covered in class. I don't expect anyone to get it right from the beginning, although short sentences and phrases can be learned (audiolingual pattern drill for difficult items to pronounce) to facilitate life in ESL and to build confidence in pronunciation. Let's talk,(pair or group work) but with some focus on form, to ensure that the class is getting value added from the lesson rather than random conversation, which could well happen without a teacher.

At the end of class we would review the objective again, and perhaps do an exercise in group work to get it right in the end (e.g. collaborative dialogue.) Then the next step (i+1) would be tied into today's work in order to give a logical progression to the language and motivation to complete the homework.

What's the greatest influence in language learning?

Reflection # 7
From your experience, what are some of the affective factors that you encounter in your classrooms? How do they interfere in learning?How do lower the affective filter?
In classrooms filled with business people from the same companies, I have encountered affective manifestations ranging to aggression in relation to peers, to fear of speaking up. It is often necessary to thank the former for their copious contributions, fulfilling their need to be, "the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral." Then to curtain them in the interests of sharing the conversation. Often it is necessary to take the shyer people to the side, and speak with them in their native tongue to better understand the origin of their reluctance to participate. These reasons run the gamut from learning an L2 or L3, to local prejudice (e.g., the Turks in Germany). I would often insure that they felt safe in giving answers or participating, and then ask them to do so in front of the class, to build confidence.
Lack of self-confidence or self-esteem comes in many forms, as discussed with Ana yesterday. My impression is that it blocks what is known or what can be remembered, leaving the person feeling empty, frozen, or unable to respond.
Many of you work with children. What are some of the issues concerning motivation with children? How do address motivation in the classroom? Can you motivate them or does motivation come from within?
Motivation is both intrinsic and extrinsic. It is possible to give a children a different picture of themselves, and often this inspires them to live up to it. Positive motivative given by teachers and parents can develop into intrinsic motivation, and is one of the factors, when wide-spread, can influence the development of national motivation--e.g., Martin Luther King's influence on the Civil Rights Movement.

Is this tree green?

Reflection # 6
Re the Whorfian hypothesis: Are there concepts or ways of saying things in one of the languages that you speak that can not be said or expressed or the meaning changes in another of your languages?

Whorf's hypothesis was extensively addressed in the undergrad Linguistics course offered by Dr. Drinka. Does language influence thought and perception, or vice-versa? The best example of the former (Whorf) that I came across are the words for green and blue in Japanese. In Bonjinsha's Japanese English Dictionary (1992), "ao" is translated as blue, green. "Let's cross the street when the light turns green. with a note, "Although it usually means 'blue,' ao is sometimes used for 'green' as in aosingo (a green light) and aoba (green leaves)."

Under "midori," the translation is given as green, with the example," The green of the trees and grass is pretty in May." If there is a difference, it is almost indistinguishable from these definitions, unless it means green with a tinge of yellow. Do the Japanese see colors differently because of these words? Wakanaiyo!

How do you address culture in your classrooms? Do you go beyond the "holiday" model of culture?

At Hitachi, we had a cultural consultant present a seminar. We looked at the values held in esteem in Japanese and German cultures; for example, group work in Japan, versus rugged individualism in Germany. We then shared why we felt these values were important, and learned to better understand the drivers behind the behaviors of the groups. By the way, our definition of culture was, "It's the way we do things around here." Cultural adaptation and respect is one of the keys to success in working with people.

Reflection # 5
What is CAH and what are the differences between it and CLI?

The Contastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) states that errors in L2 are assumed to be a result of transfer or blocking due to L1. However, this behaviorally based hypothesis came under fire as researchers looked for more positive ways to approach L2 learning. Error analysis, for example, was used to determine how progress was being made in an L2. A case in point, *he buyed shows that the early learner is developing an ability to form the past tense. Eventually, the term cross-linguistic influence (CLI) came into use, and coalesced in the the definition of "interlanguage," which is the intermediate form, between the bookends of L1 and L2 fluency and accuracy. The nature of the interlanguage depends on the distance or closeness of the language groups to each other. Researchers have determined that it is a system with its own rules, thus being systematic and dynamic.

How can some of the concepts talked about in the Chpater (Brown ch 9) be used in the classroom, e.g., error analysis, CLI, Stages of learner language development, fossilization.

In teaching language, it is helpful to understand that there may be a pre-ordained way in which language structures are learned, and to follow this in order to build up step-wise competence. The examples given are negation, questions, possessive determiners, and relative clauses.Errors are valuable in that they point to what needs to be done, and also indicate progress, as mentioned above. Fossilization appears when learners give up for any of a range of reasons, mostly related to beliefs about themselves, often projected on the society or culture in which they live.

Although vocabulary is mentioned, I do not understand why the authors do not mention the value of ETYMOLOGY in helping students to more quickly amass numbers of words and to help them more accurately guess the meaning of words.

Is There a Critical Age for Optimally Learning a Language?

Reflection #4
Why do you think that it is so difficult for researchers to agree on the CPH (Critical Age Hypothesis). Give explicit examples from the readings.

Like much of the research in the social sciences, results are not repeatable in evaluations of the hypothesis (read "guess") concerning the criticality of age which is optimal for learning languages. I hasten to add that the critical age is set at puberty; Piaget determined that the great dividing point in facility of L2 acquision is at the age of 11. Krashen, on the other hand, sets the age at 5! In the diversity of studies of language acquision, it appears that all researchers agree that native accent, which is not necessarily a vital measure of competence in a language, is acquired before puberty.

Some of the more important studies in examining the CAH are:

Lenneberg (1967) and Scovel (1969) did biological studies of the brain, looking at the plasticity of the neurons and synapses prior to and after puberty. More biological evidence was introduced by Genesee (1982) showing the participation of the right hemisphere in language processing especially in L2 learners post-puberty.

Sociological evidence for the ability of adults to learn language come from the Tukano, tribes in South America, who showed language ability after puberty, as they were expected to marry exogamously, Hill (1970).

Also give examples from your own experience.

Due to my father's assignment in France, I was able to have the experience of learning a language before puberty, at 10 years old. All I can recall is that it must have been mostly subconscious, and I still maintain some of it to this day. People have told me that my accent is excellent, like a native speaker, but I admit I have to concentrate and imitate (fun!) to pull it off. My other languages have been learned during the teen years, my twenties, and when I was fourty-five, I started learning German. At first, I had to wrap my tongue (Zunge) around some of the words (hoehe=high), but persistance paid off. Of course, German and English are in the same language group, which may help. I was always very flattered when people mistook me for Dutch or Swedish; rarely was I marked as an American because of my accent in German!