Chapter 3

Although markedness has many different fields and can be understood in many
ways, a simple way of understanding markedness is by looking at the FULL way of
pronouncing and forming words within a sentence. Certain letters or words sound
different or feel different within their pronunciation. Other words seem to fall silent
before others, while other words or letters are pronounced one way in one language but
are pronounced totally different in another. It is the subtle differences in understanding
how each word and letter sounds or is pronounced, that can be very challenging to hear
and, therefore, that make learning a new language hard or tricky. An example of this
would be English to Spanish and the letter V. In English the letter V has its own distinct
sound and pronunciation, but in Spanish the V sound becomes almost identical to the
sound a B makes in Spanish, making a B and V sound near impossible to hear a
difference for an English speaker listening and trying to pronounce Spanish words.

Chapter 4
In the article Boys and French as a Second Language: A Research Agenda for
Greater Understanding, Kissau and Turnbull suggest that change will only come about
when. . . boys themselves recognize that boys are responsible for their own success and
failures (165). Kissau and Turnbull are indicating that it is not the world that is
surrounding the boys or their biology, that makes boys have a disinterest or inability in
learning a second language, rather it is the boys own inner perception of the language
and their desire to learn the language. Boys need to take responsibility for their own
interest in the language. The quote What matters in the linguistic environment is not

simply whats out there physically or even socially surrounding learners, but rather what
learners make of it, how they process (or not) the linguistic data and how they live and
experience that environment, suggests a similar belief; it is not the environment
surrounding the learners that makes or breaks a learners ability but instead it is the
intrinsic interest and value that the learner places upon themselves and their experience of
the language to inspire themselves in learning the language.

Chapter 5
While learning Spanish, something that I noticed was that it was not easy for me
to just naturally pick up words. I really had to spend time intentionally reviewing and
memorizing the words, pronunciation and meaning. Although I was able to understand or
learn some new words with out intentionally trying, I quickly recognized the importance
of studying and pouring my attention into what I was trying to learn and understand in the
language. The more often I hear and use words and phrases, the words become second
nature to me, while other words I continually have to go back to and review because I do
not use or hear the words as often as other words. According to Ortega, what is taking
place in my learning is that I am able to recognize the importance of attention over
incidental learning while learning a second language. My ability to use words fluently
and without thinking about the word, means that I have established and strengthened the
word into a state of long-term memory, while other words are in a stage of working
memory. This means that I am using my old and new knowledge to work together to
present something that I can use and apply when speaking the language. What I take

away from all of this is the importance of high frequency use of words when teaching
students a second language.

Chapter 6
Interlanguage is the different levels of a language learners ability to navigate a
language. Through the use of the language learners environment and understanding of
the words, the language learner construct sentences accordingly to how they can
communicate to the world around them. An example of this in my own journey is when
my host family in Guatemala would ask how my day was. I understood the question, but
my answer was always in the present tense as I did not understand how to use the past
tense. So instead of saying, I had a good day, I would say I have a good day. I used
my knowledge and environment to navigate how to use the language to communicate
even though it was not always right.
Fossilization is when a language learner ingrains something in their mind so deeply
that it cannot change. Their belief in either the way the word is pronounced, or perhaps
the meaning, or the grammatical structure of a certain sentence is so engraved in the way
they have learned the language that they can rarely reverse or relearn the correct use of
that piece of the language.

Chapter 10
The reason that Ortega says that, each representation becomes false as soon as
the scenery changes is because each situation that one may find them-selves in, is

different than the last. Just as a chameleon needs to change so that it may blend into its
surroundings so must a language learner. Picture this: A woman walks into an interview.
The language she uses is very formal and polite. It is what is required of her in the
situation. When she walks out the door, she calls her best friend. The language they use
between them is very informal, colloquial and there is lots of slang. The language
changes to suit the situation, just as a chameleon changes to fit into its surroundings. It is
the same for language learners. Each situation requires a different way of using the
language and navigating the use of it with others.

Guest Speaker Reflection

Growth mindset ideas about this:
Growth mindset is about having an open mindset. When a teacher is teaching instead of
giving absolutes or believing in absolutes, they breed a more diverse, open-minded class.
Not only will they breed an open minded class, but they will hopefully be more open
minded, and diverse in the way that they teach and who they teach to as well.
Personal philosophy in regards to ELLs in the French classroom:
I believe that when teaching a second language, it is important to speak only in that
language as often as possible. I, therefore, feel that not too much should change by
having an ELL in my classroom, as both the ELL and the other students are starting off at
the same jumping off point, neither one will have more advantages than the other. If there
were any advantages it would most likely go to the ELL student as they are already
studying and using techniques they find helpful in learning another language.
Next steps or questions:

I feel that a duo-language dictionary is extremely helpful when learning a new language.
I would, therefore, want to make sure that my student would have a dictionary of their
language into French/Spanish so that they have that resourceful tool.
Pictures provide universal understanding and, therefore, can be key and super helpful for
students learning a new language. I would encourage my student to make a picture
dictionary. A picture dictionary has a picture in one column the word in their own
language in a column next to it and then the word in Spanish in the next, French in the
next, and English in the next.
I wonder what are some more helpful tools that can encourage the student (or all
students) in their language acquisition journey.

References
Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. London and New York:
Routledge.