2. Data Analysis Journal
 ELL is a 4-year-old Pre-K
student
 Born in the United States
 Spanish-speaking parents
born in Uruguay, came to
US in 2005
 Student began daycare at
age of 2
 Data was collected through
classroom observation and
conversation

3. Spoken Language Errors
Number of spoken errors documented while observing
student:
Random Errors – 20
Article Errors – 12
Verb Omission – 6
Subject-verb Agreement – 5
Verb Tense Errors – 8

4. Uruguayan/Brazilian
“Fronterizo” Dialect
 Characteristics:
 Vowel /a/ may be articulated in unstressed syllables
 Mid vowels /e/ and /o/ are normally raised to [i] and [u]
in unstressed syllables
 The place of articulation of preconsonantal /s/ may be
retracted to the palato-alveolar position, yielding
voiceless [ʃ] or voiced [ʒ]

5. English and Spanish
Language Comparison
 English Language  Spanish Language
 Eight pure vowel  Uses Latin Alphabet
sounds  Vowels can take
 Twelve diphthongs acute accent
 Length of vowel  Additional letter ñ
sounds is important  Five pure vowel
 Stress-timed sounds
language  Five diphthongs
 Syllable-timed
language

6. Grammar Comparison
 Many aspects of verb grammar that are similar in both
languages.
 This can make the transition of learning an L2 much easier
for the ELL.
 Major problems for Spanish learners:
 No one-to-one correspondence in the use of the tenses.
 ELL may incorrectly use a simple tense instead of a future or
progressive tense.
 The formation of interrogatives or negatives in English—
The absence of an auxiliary in such structures in Spanish may
cause an ELL to say: “Why you say that?” or “Who he saw?”

7. Summary
 To be effective, teachers must comprehend
differences among their students in many individual
characteristics.
 Age is often mentioned as an influence on language
learning success.