In my interview I decided to interview a close friend
her name is Monica. I have known her for several years. I thought she would be
a great person for my interview. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Her
parents are from El Salvador. She grew up speaking Spanish for the beginning of
her childhood. She was in a bilingual class during her early elementary years. She
was able to learn English quickly without struggling as much. Her siblings
would speak to her in English as it helped her learn the language quickly.
According to Wright (2015), Vygotsky’s theory people learn from interactions
and collaborations. This goes with the importance of communicating with peers. This
helped Monica as well as her teachers provided tons of hands-on-activities to
learn. Learning about the students’ background is important and it would hep
the students education as the teacher would have more information about the students
(Wright 2015).
I was able to learn so much from her story as we have different
background we were able to share our stories. We both learned English in a different
environment. As we talked we were able to point out some things that stood out
to both of us while learning English. Monica
and I both had similar views on how an education for ELL should be a priority
just like any other mainstream classroom. When the school system fails to
provide an education, the students are the ones who suffers. The No Child Left
Behind supports the bilingual and non-bilingual education, but the disadvantage
is that there are no strict rules. As far as how teaching goes in classroom teaching
the students native language is optional (Wright 2015).
