Will

What are your strengths as a language learner?

I:  so you had extensive experiences in in learning Russian what do you think some of uh your strengths are as a Russian language learner

W: well um I’m not very good at conversation um perhaps because I’ve never really lived in Russia or in- immersed uh where I can’t you know kind of use English as a crutch uh my strengths most likely would be um gisting uh just because that’s the emphasis that the military puts on educating their soldiers um in foreign languages as a primary uh (.) focus because their first concern is uh can you (    ) you know basically understand information that you might hear on the radio or read in the newspaper uh so gathering information

Reflections – Are there certain strengths or weaknesses that you have observed as being characteristic of heritage or domestic language learners? If so, what were they and how did you adjust your teaching to meet their unique linguistic and or educational needs? What techniques do you use to evaluate your students strengths and weaknesses prior to formal assessments? What strategies do you use to capitalize on your students strengths? What strategies do you use to develop areas of weakness?

Several of the domestic learners in this section say they struggle with pronunciation and listening skills as a result of lack of input. On the other hand, not surprisingly, the heritage language learners identify these skills as strengths due to the authentic input of friends and family. To what extent do you incorporate authentic input into the course either in or outside of the classroom?

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