Name: Alice

Class Number: 213WK

Essay Topic: My experience of L2 Acquisition – a Success or Failure?

The acquisition is a way to learn a language. It is different from the traditional way that we used or still use in Korea. In acquisition, we try to learn language naturally like a way that a baby first learns to speak. It is fun and enjoyable. A language acquired cannot be forgotten and will remain as a long-term memory. So I believe that acquisition is much better way to learn a language. There was a time I experienced the success of 2nd language acquisition. I would like to talk about that time in my high school days in the U.S.A.

My successful experience of 2nd language acquisition all started with the rapport between one of my teachers and his students including me. Rapport is a good relationship between a teacher and students, which means they trust and try to understand each other. I think the rapport is very essential fact for a student to learn something, not just a language.

When I first went to the U.S.A. to study English, I had hard time adjusting to classes. Because English was the hardest subject for me, and actually I hated English class. However, everything was changed after I met my teacher who was very caring and attentive. He was the only teacher at school who respected and tried to understand foreign students and called our Korean names correctly. Later, I found out how he was able to do that. Every night, he prayed for all his students saying their names one by one. Once my classmates and I found out about that, our rapport got stronger and the class dynamics became more lively and active. When some students didn’t know the answer to a question, he  complimented for making an effort to try and we felt comfortable in his class. I believe it is what a modern class looks like.

The rapport wasn’t the only thing that helped me learn L2 at that time. The main language system he used to teach us was grammar. Most people might think that grammar requires a receptive skill, but his class required both the receptive skill and the productive skill. We did many activities in our class. For example, the way he explained grammar was different from any other teachers I had met. He didn’t focus on terms or rules of grammar. He just wrote a sentence and drew a long line on board. Above and below that line, he put all the words from the sentence in order of 5 sentence patterns and put modifiers underneath the line so that we could see the structure at once. He was using visual/spatial intelligence. Because I was able to see the structure, it was much easier to comprehend. He showed us how to do it first and made us choose one sentence from any books. With it, I had to try it on my notebook by myself and discuss it with my classmates. So we were able to interact with our classmates. At this point, we were using Interpersonal Intelligence. I believe that he was more like involver. We had strong rapport and good class dynamics, and he prepared many materials and used several different methods or techniques to help us understand grammar better.

Thanks to his teaching skills, I became better at grammar and still remember the method that he used in the class. We taught each other, discussed and were seen live demonstration by our teacher. All these three things happened in our class and it led me to have very long learner retention rate.

My point is that I had found interest in learning English after that time. So I want to say my L2 acquisition was a success. To speak more fluent English, of course, I should have tried harder, but I didn’t. It was my fault. But it was a turning point because before that, I would have never imagined enjoying English class or becoming an English teacher. Now, I look back my experience by writing this essay, I realized that I could apply some of the techniques my teacher used  in my class. Also, at the same time, I realized that I need to study more so that I can provide my students with acquisition way of learning English.

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