On Wednesday, February 24, we finally met with the Mexican students through zoom. Heading into this zoom lecture, I was nervous because I was unsure of what to expect. I was not too sure how strong these students were with the English language, which made it difficult to plan ahead. With this knowledge, I came to the zoom prepared with a range of questions to ask the students in order to get to know them. Despite any language barriers that might occur, I was excited to get to know these students.
The experience when all of the Mexican students first logged into the zoom was incredibly heartwarming. Hearing all of them repeatedly saying “good morning” or “hello” immediately put a smile on my face. Although these students might have been nervous to meet new people, this welcome demonstrated how excited they were to be here. Another thing that warmed my heart was how some of the Mexican students were using a Canadian flag as a background. While some students only used a Canadian flag as their background, others had both the Mexican and Canadian flags portrayed. While all of the students were saying good morning, I noticed that one little girl had her country’s flag and was waving it on her screen, which showed her appreciation for her country. There were also some Mexican students that attached the Canadian and Mexican flags to the wall behind them. In particular, one young girl had both of these flags on her wall along with coloured hearts surrounding these flags. These gestures by the Mexican students truly demonstrated how excited they were to be working with Canadian university students.
I began to get quite nervous when the breakout rooms were announced. Since I was unsure of how the student’s English speaking abilities would be, I was not sure if having a conversation would be easy or challenging. In the first breakout room, one of the young girls seemed very excited to speak. She said she was seven years old and really wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. While talking to the students, it seemed like this young girl had quite a strong understanding of the English language. This young girl also wanted to ask us a few questions about why we chose to become a teacher. I found this to be welcoming because it showed that the students wanted to get to know us as well. I noticed that one of the other little girls, who was in grade one, had her mom helping her speak. While the little girl was talking, she would tell her mom the answer to our question in Spanish. Then, the mom would translate this answer to English and the little girl would repeat the answer to us. Another young boy, who was twelve years old, also really enjoyed talking. His responses in English were quite long and detailed. I noticed that as he was responding to a question, he would mute in the middle of a sentence. I assume that this occurred so he could figure out how to continue his sentence in English. I believe this was occurring because he would eventually unmute and continue speaking right where he left off. There were also two other Mexican students in this breakout room with us. However, they did not want to respond very much even if we said their name. Given the fact that they did not respond when their name was called more than once, I did not want to further pressure them into speaking.
In the second breakout room, the groups were smaller. My group contained I believe three Mexican students and then three ELNG 200 students, including myself. In this breakout room, it seemed that one of the Mexican students understood what we were saying, but was unsure how to respond in English. Since this student was unsure how to respond in English and the other students were not responding at all, we made the decision to use Google Translate. For each English question asked, it would be translated into Spanish and then posted in the breakout room chat in both languages. While posting the question in Spanish, I would also say it out loud in English so that the Mexican students were able to see both languages and hear one of them. This way, the students would either unmute and give a short response back, or they would type their response in Spanish into the chat. After reading or hearing their responses, I would say something about it out loud to them. It was clear the students understood what was being said in English because they would respond to what I had said in the chat, except the response would be typed in Spanish. This way of communicating was incredibly useful and allowed me to get to know the students on a deeper level.
While doing this meeting with Mexican students over zoom, I noticed that some of the students were experiencing a silent period. As we learned in zoom on February 10, some students learning a new language experience a time of silence. The PowerPoint titled Silent Period by Rubina Khanam explains that “First, young children often attempt to use their home language, then, when they realize their home language is not working in this context, they tend to become silent. Children listen and observe, gaining an understanding of the classroom language” (Slide 4). I noticed this occurring specifically in the second breakout room with one of the young boys. Since they are currently learning English, this young boy would not speak. Even if his name was called, he would stay silent. I feel that since the boy heard others in the breakout room speaking English, he may have felt that Spanish was not welcome to be spoken. Even if we typed certain responses or questions into the chat in Spanish, he still remained silent. Perhaps, he was adjusting to hearing the English language spoken in this context and preferred to observe than participate. As mentioned in the PowerPoint titled Silent Period by Rubina Khanam, “Young children will begin to use their second language when they are ready” (Slide 9). Knowing this, I was aware of the importance to not pressure this young boy to speak too much because he would begin to speak when he felt comfortable doing so.
This first time meeting the Mexican students was a range of emotions. It was heartwarming, exciting, nerve-racking, and educational. Although I was both excited and nervous to communicate with these students for the first time, they showed how excited they were which made it easier to approach. I learned plenty from this first meeting with the Mexican students and some new methods to approach L2 learners. A goal of mine for the next meeting is to come with more techniques to use. Perhaps, I could bring some props or toys to explain what I am saying or create a PowerPoint with pictures on it to screen share while I speak. I feel that these physical examples will assist the Mexican students in understanding what is being said.
Reference
Khanam, R. (2021, February 10). Silent Period [PowerPoint Slides].