My Second Language

Acquisition Experience

*CLASS : B CLASS 41th_TESOL_WK

*NAME : JENNY (SEO JEONG EUN)

*TEACHER : DAVID BAKER

*DATE : MAY 15, 2011

*WORD COUNT : 728 words

Contents

Ⅰ. Introduction

Ⅱ. Body

- Adult learner characteristics

- Teacher types

- Effective teaching

- Theories of 2nd language acquisition

Ⅲ. Conclusion

**references ; Class materials,

Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman

Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener

Ⅰ. Introduction

I only had been studying English as my second language before I learned French in high school. In those days, mostly korean students only studied English just to enter the university, and they thought English was more important than any other language. So they only studied English hard, not other foreign languages. I think English is important, too. But for me, French showed me a new another world. It was fun and very interesting. Wanting to study more, I decided to specialize in French in the university. I also wanted to know about France. I went to France to study french more for 6 months in 2003.

Ⅱ. Body

- Adult learner characteristics

It seems that I have three of five adult learner characteristics. Because I had life experiences & knowledge. Before I went to France, I had already taken French classes for 3 years. I had previous education and I needed to connect learning to my knowledge base. As I had experiences on learning French, I could understand basic grammar, vocabulary, their lives and cultures. But one of my friends from Japan, she didn't understand anything. Because she had never learned French before. When we took a class together, I could relate to the topic and concepts. And there were many words or expressions that I had learned in high school. But she had considerable difficulty in solving questions.

I was goal-oriented and autonomous. I enrolled in a french course for a reason by myself and I wanted to attain my goal. In high school, there were only basic expressions, so I wanted to learn more various expressions that people in France use. As I knew the reason why I went to France, I could concentrate on my courses. I was willing to participating in the class. I was enthusiastic every class.

- Teacher types

I studied with two teachers. One of my teachers named Marion Gauthier was explainer. Because she just explained while even she was sitting. I listened and took notes what she said. She and I both were passive. It was a little bit boring. Even some students dozed off and they didn't participate in her class. The other teacher was involver and enabler. Because Sebastian knew well what practice I needed more and what level I was. How I was thinking, too. In grammar class, he explained concept shortly, and then he had us make some examples. After that, we presented and explained them. He made us participate in the class actively. He also brought some pictures. we had to guess what pictures meant. We explained by speaking French. And he corrected confusing pronunciation, grammar forms etc.. we repeated after him. He also encouraged us by complementing. We had confidence and became autonomous learners.

- Effective teaching

With my enthusiastic and patient teacher, I could study more effectively. I could understand grammar part but I had a difficulty in speaking French and writing. So after a regular class, he mentored me again. It was really helpful to improve my skills.  Besides the courses, he gave useful information on France's cultures. So I could know about France's cultures more.

I think patience is also necessary. Because sometimes, we couldn't communicate correctly. I could neither use right vocabulary nor speak fluently. But he showed incredible patience. He listened until I finished speaking. He tried to understand what I said. So I could speak having confidence.

- Theories of 2nd language acquisition

Learning 2nd language takes a lot of time. Whenever I went to the stores or restaurants, I always had to think about the rules like grammar, words order I learned. So I couldn't speak fluently, and had no time to think consciously. I had to concentrate on what to say or how to say. So I think speaking french fluently as the 2nd language was difficult to me. I needed a lot of practice and more expressions. I want to speak like the French.

Ⅲ. Conclusion

Maybe if I hadn't been interested in French, I wouldn't have experienced like that.

It was the first time I went abroad in my life. So I was a little bit nervous. There were many good things and hard things. And I was satisfied to have a lot of chances to speak French with many good people there. I missed my france life. I did all my best to learn French as my second language. Now, although I don't have enough time to study, I still love to study French.