Remembers going on educational field trips such as the zoo, museum, and aquarium. He said that the prep school he went to in the U.S. had the same types of field trips as the other school did in Brazil. Antonio also said that there weren’t any athletic teams that could compete because he was in elementary school. He did play on the “soccer team,” but the team just played against each other. He remembers there being an art club and a book club that he remembers some of his friends joining. After-school clubs are also a huge part of elementary schools in the U.S. because they help kids make friends and learn important communication skills. Antonio said that clubs help students feel like they belong while also giving them responsibility. The goals of clubs and extra-curricular are the same in the U.S. and in Brazil, to have fun and be a part of something.
Discipline and Classroom Management
Antonio said that discipline in Brazil is the same as it is in the United States. Corporal punishment was not used, instead they scolded. They had time outs just like in the U.S.; he recalled a story of when him and his friends got in trouble. He they had to sit at their desks in class instead of going out for recess and had to watch everyone play outside. Antonio said that schools and teachers weren’t necessarily stricter than those in America, but they expected more. He felt like the teachers at his school in Brazil put more trust in their students than school in the U.S. He said that there was in school and out of school suspension at his school. When a student misbehaved, students could also get detention or suspension and a phone call to the parents. If it wasn’t anything serious, they wouldn’t call the parents, they would just be lectured and then sent back to class.
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Teacher-Student-Parent Relationship
Antonio said that at his school in Brazil, teachers are very much respected and praised by parents and students for their hard work, dedication, and sacrifices. He said that teachers were very open and friendly with students and concerned about their well-being. Students in the classroom always made sure they were on task and listening to the teacher. He said that parents are expected to enforce academics and teach their children ethics. Antonio remembers there being a PTA and that parents were always ready to help the school and their children succeed. He recalls his mother and teacher communicating frequently about his progress in school. He noticed that when he came to the U.S., the teachers don’t communicate with the parents unless their child is in trouble or gets a bad grade. He believes that both students and parents have a better relationship with the teachers in Brazil than in the U.S. In the United States, students don’t feel like they have a responsibility to learn or that they owe the teacher anything. In addition, teachers often aren’t seen as professionals. A known saying in the U.S. is, “those who can’t do, teach” which is inferring that teaching is an easy and worthless task. This belief that a lot of Americans have is the reason why they aren’t respected fully but parents and students.
Language
It is important to note that European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese are slightly different. The difference is mostly in the accent, Brazilian Portuguese people speak with exaggerated pronunciation of vowels while European Portuguese people don’t. There are also some words with the same meaning that are different, but other than that they are both quite similar. If a European Portuguese speaker and a Brazilian Portuguese speaker were trying to communicate with each other, they could easily do so. The English alphabet has 26 letters and the Portuguese alphabet has 23 letters. The three letters it doesn’t have is K, W, and Y (Shoebottom, N.A.). Portuguese, like English, is written from left to right. There are also accent marks used in order to pronounce words correctly in Portuguese, which English doesn’t have.
Phonology
Phonology is the study of the pattern of sounds in different languages. Portuguese has around 9 vowel sounds, and 19 consonant sounds and English has a lot less (Shoebottom, N.A.). This is what makes it difficult for Brazilians to pronounce certain words in English. A couple examples of this are cat and bat or take and steak. They have an issue distinguishing words from each other because they sound so similar. This is why a lot of Portuguese speakers continue to say certain words differently even if they’ve been in the United States and have been speaking English for a long time. Pronunciation in Portuguese is very straightforward, while in English it’s a lot more confusing. This is because letters have different pronunciations in different words. For example, chair and chord. The “ch” has a different sound in both words, so this would be confusing to learn as an ELL.
Morphology
Nouns in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine; this is completely different than English, in which words don’t have gender (Thomas, 1997). A similarity that Portuguese has with English is that they both have singular and plural words (Thomas, 1997). Another thing they have in common is that they both classify the majority of its language into verbs, adjectives, nouns, and adverbs (Thomas, 1997). In Portuguese, the subject isn’t stated in the sentences, the verb implies it (Thomas, 1997). For example, if the sentence in English is “I ate” you could omit the “I” and just say “ate” and it would be acceptable. In Portuguese, sentences are usually written in the passive voice while sentences are generally written in the active voice in English. In Portuguese there are also variable words and invariable words (Thomas, 1997). The variable words tend to change depending on the gender, number of people, the present or future, etc. (Thomas, 1997). On the other hand, invariable words are shown in only one form and include prepositions, adverbs, etc. (Thomas, 1997). There are less prepositions in Portuguese than in English, so they have trouble learning them. There is also only one possessive pronoun for gender so this could cause trouble with grammar. For example, she’s going to go to school with his friend. A big difference is that in English, an adjective generally come before the noun. On the other hand, in Portuguese, an adjective generally come after the noun.
Cognates
There is a numerous amount of words that are the same in English and Portuguese. A few examples are acidente and accident, controle and control, and humano and human. There are also words that are exactly the same, such as banana, piano, and natural. They are so similar that it would be hard to not recognize the words right when they’re seen. While some may have an “e” or an “o” at the end, they still have the same definition. This must have made it a lot easier for Antonio to understand vocabulary in English because a lot of the words he already knew in Portuguese are the same in English.
Syntax
The word order in Portuguese is SVO, which is subject, verb, object (Thomas, 1997). This is the same order of English words, but the difference between the two languages is the placement of the adjectives. In Portuguese, an adjective comes after the noun. While in English, the adjective comes before the noun. An example of this word order is “he plays football on Fridays.” In Portuguese it would be “ele joga futebol às sextas-feiras.” The subject would be “ele,” the verb would be “jog,” and the object would be “futebol.” Due to Portuguese and English having the same word order, it made it easier for Antonio to understand the syntax of the new language he was learning.
Semantics and Pragmatics
In Portuguese there are different forms of address for informal and formal greetings. For addressing someone formally an individual could use “senhor” or “senhora” (sir or lady) and it is used to greet someone older (Thomas, 1997). For addressing someone informally, they either use “você” or 'tú.” (Thomas, 1997). Greeting someone informally would be used in a situation when an individual is meeting up with a close friend. It is appropriate to use slang and informal language, just like it is in America. Although, it is only appropriate if it is with a person the individual has a close relationship to. Verbs are not conjugated according to the form of address, they stay the same whether formal or informal. Some examples of slang in Portuguese include “foi mal” which means “my bad” and “legal” which means “cool.” Just like in the Spanish example used on Canvas, Portuguese speakers say, “I have 21 years,” instead of “I am 21 years old.”
Difficulties in Learning English
Antonio had a hard time learning English. He didn’t learn any when he was back in Brazil, so he had a language barrier when he moved to the U.S. The school had no programs for foreign student, so he was mostly on his own learning an entirely new language. He had a really hard time with phonology because he couldn’t pronounce new sounds very well. Specifically, he had a hard time pronouncing the sound “th” and couldn’t do it with his tongue. This is because they don’t have that particular sound in Portuguese. He learned different sounds by listening to 90’s rap in English; he said that music taught him the language more than school did.
Summary
I learned that every ELL comes from a different background, some have a little knowledge of English and some not at all. For example, Antonio came to the United States with no knowledge of the English language. This is why it is important for teachers to understand the starting point of their ELL students and to go from there. I also realized that some ELL’s are being placed into schools without a foreign language program. Antonio told me that he struggled with feeling like he didn’t belong, homesickness, discrimination, culture shock, and a language barrier. Antonio was just thrown in to school with not much help. He said that his teachers didn’t assist him as much as they should’ve and that he learned English from listening to music. He said that one of the big things that got him through school was his mother. Antonio’s mother valued dedication in regard to education. His mother helped as much as she could, but she could only do so much because she couldn’t speak English either. She had a positive influence on his education, even putting his quizzes up on the refrigerator. He needed the teachers at the school to put more attention on teaching him the language rather than the curriculum, because he was already ahead in it. This is why it is important to test ELL’s before they come to the school on their language and knowledge, so educators know how to instruct them. Having a foreign language program would have helped Antonio thrive at his new prep school. A couple of things that might make it difficult for students to fit in coming from Brazil to a U.S. school would be culture shock and the language barrier. Antonio explained to me how rough it was to move to a completely different country without knowing how to communicate with people. Whether it is for social or educational reasons, students need to be able to express their opinions and thoughts.
Conclusion
When I become a teacher myself, I will make sure ELL’s find themselves a home at school. They often find themselves lost in the crowd and feeling like they don’t belong. I will learn their greetings and gestures, so they feel accepted. I will make an effort to get to know them and understand their background. I would make sure I understand how much knowledge they have about the English language so I could create my lesson plans from there. I will make everything a lot more visual, so the information is easier to understand. I will do this by writing instructions for classwork and homework on the board. I will also instruct them about what happens in the classroom and what the usual routine is, so they don’t feel confused when they walk into class every day. I want my ELL students to feel prepared when they walk into class, with all the right supplies and the right mindset. I’m planning on giving them extra help and always staying late after school to help those who need extra attention. I will also help them understand the culture in the United States, including telling them about the other student’s general interests and hobbies. I would also ask them about their interests and try to get them involved in some after-school activities, so they feel like they are part of the community. I would tell the student that they could come to me for anything, including if they’re being discriminated against or bullied. I would also introduce the student to the school counselor, so they could go to them when they’re not in a good place and need to talk to someone without being judged.
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