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8/18/2019 Written Assignment One CELTA
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Nicholas Russell
Language Link
September 17th, 2013
Written Assignment One !ocus on the Learner
"he stu#ent that $ chose to monitor an# pro%le &rom m'
teaching practice
class is Anh( )e is currentl' enrolle# in the $nterme#iate le*el
+nglish course at
Language Link an# has onl' starte# to stu#' +nglish intensel'
&or a little o*er to
months( )e is o& -ietnamese nationalit' an# is able to speak
the -ietnamese
language .uentl' ith ease( +*en though he has onl' stu#ie# the
+nglish language
seriousl' &or a &e months, he is a stu#ent ho is /uite
capable o& learning thematerial /uickl' an# absorbing a lot
o& in&ormation at once( )e is able to speak the
+nglish language /uite ell because he ha# to practice speaking
+nglish at ork(
)e is able to uggle man' tasks at once, starting &rom orking
in the morning at the
restaurant, then going to school in the a&ternoon, to %nall'
orking another ob as a
receptionist #uring the night( "his goes to sho ho #e#icate# an#
moti*ate# he is
&or learning the +nglish language( )e ants to impro*e his
+nglish skills so that he
can one #a' become a manager an# to potentiall' be able to stu#'
abroa#( )e
ants to impro*e on e*er' area, but oul# reall' like to enhance
his speaking an#
listening abilities( $& he can listen correctl', then he ill
be able to help his &oreign
customers hen the' nee# translation or ust assistance in
general( e&ore enrolling
in the +nglish course at Language Link, he simpl' taught
himsel& the +nglish
language( ail' con*ersations ith nati*e +nglish speaking
customers helpe# to
impro*e his speaking an# con*ersation skills( "o him, being able
to practice an#
con*ersing ith nati*e +nglish speakers has been *er' important
in honing his
+nglish skills(
"here are &our skill areas that he shos signs o&
both strengths an#
eaknesses( With regar#s to rea#ing, he seems to be *er' hesitant
to #o so
because o& his &ear o& reection b' his peers( an'
o& his peers ha*e been stu#'ing
the +nglish language &or a lot longer than he has, so the'
ha*e been able to
practice an# &ocus on the rea#ing skills longer than he has(
"he &ear o& pronouncing
something rong an# getting laughe# at b' his classmates or being
looke# #on
upon causes him to stumble on or#s or phrases that he oul#
t'picall' not ha*e
#i4cult' rea#ing( Another eakness ith his rea#ing skill is that
he ten#s to miss
punctuations, such as commas an# perio#s( )e ill rea# an# not
pause in the right
places, so then the sentence ill run on &or too long an# not
ha*e an' real .o to it(
"his is the skill area that he seems to ha*e ha# the least
amount o& e5posure to( $n
relations to his riting skills, he e5empli%es the t'pical
mistakes such as spelling
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8/18/2019 Written Assignment One CELTA
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errors, but his creati*it' in his riting pieces more than makes
up &or his minor
eaknesses( !or a certain riting task, he as aske# to rite #on
his thoughts
about his hometon( )e ma#e small errors in spelling here an#
there, but his abilit'
to con*e' an# e5press emotions that ent abo*e an# be'on# his
learning le*el
shoe# his creati*it' potential( "he skillset that he shos the
most promise in is his
speaking skills( "his is an area that he has ha# the most
practice ith, e*en be&orehe starte# to stu#' the +nglish
language at Language Link( )e is com&ortable
speaking in class an# *oicing his opinion or e5pressing his
i#eas because that is
hat ust comes to him naturall'( )e is not orrie# about making
mistakes ith
speaking because he knos that it can easil' be correcte# once
puts his *oice out
there to the au#ience( )e is *er' curious an# seems to be able
to a#ust *er' ell to
an' &ee#back that is gi*en(
"he to grammar areas that he seeme# to struggle ith the
most ere
articles an# tenses( Since the -ietnamese language has
classi%ers to signi&' i& an
e*ent happene# in the past, present, or &uture, this area is
a maor eakness &or
most -ietnamese stu#ents 1( $n the +nglish language, it6s not as
/uite
straight&orar# hen compare# to the -ietnamese e/ui*alent, so
that can be *er'
complicate# &or the learners( Anh makes these mistakes
because he literall'
translates hat is spoken in -ietnamese to +nglish( !or e5ample,
some o& the
phrases he uses is $ meeting 'ou a&ter school8 an# $ go to
slept at nine o6clock(8
)e #oesn6t /uite kno ho to #i9erentiate beteen the #i9erent *erb
tenses to
make it past tense, present tense, or &uture tense( $
belie*e the instructional
orksheet that is attache# ill help him clari&' an# ai# him
in ho to use *erbs in
the correct tenses( $t shos clear e5amples ith rules an#
structure &ormation that
he shoul# be able to un#erstan# since Anh is goo# &olloing
rules a&ter being
shoe# hat to #o(
Anh6s pronunciation o& or#s is actuall' /uite e5cellent
&or the &act that he
has ha# so much little time in the classroom( A certain mistake
that $ happene# to
notice is his pronunciation o& the number :8 ith the
incorrect pronunciation o&
sick(8 Anh is pronouncing ;6siks; incorrectl' as ;6sik;, he is
essentiall' lea*ing out
the s8 soun# at the en# o& the or#( "his happens to be true
&or most -ietnamese
stu#ents as the' ten# to lea*e out the s8 phoneme soun# in man'
or#s 2( Anh
probabl' hear# it pronounce# incorrectl' &rom another peer
an# took hat he hear#
to be the correct pronunciation &orm( "his lea#s to the main
issue o& not being able
to #i9erentiate beteen singular an# plural &orms( )e
o&ten lea*es out the
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8/18/2019 Written Assignment One CELTA
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an' &oreign customers, such as asking them /uestions ith
plural &orms an# ha*ing
them correct his speech i& it is not un#erstoo#( With
pronunciation, the best metho#
&or him is to practice ith his customers an# he seems to
learn ell ith repetition(
ibliograph'
-ietnamese Speakers Learner +nglish, ichael San
