IU L315 Service Learning:

Summary of Student Experience-1

September 28, 2017

To Bethany Turrentine and all of the VITAL tutors who have kindly opened their doors to us: Mary
Strow, Mary DePew, Jeanette Clausen, Hiromi Yoshida, Tom Bitters, and Collin Bjork

Here are some of the great things my students have shared in their reflections after visiting your
classes over the past few weeks:

1. How are you similar to the VITAL participants you observed today?
Like the VITAL participants, I am in a new place learning a new set of rules.
Im similar in the fact that I too learned a second language. [] Ive encountered the
stumbling block that my understanding of the language exceeds my ability to produce it
fluently.
From my own experiences in learning Spanish and Chinese, I saw the same frustrations and
triumphs over tricky grammatical patterns and complex pronunciations. It was very cool to
see that same process from the other end of the spectrum with English learners.
I found that comedy was pretty straight forward, and with such a diverse group it kind of
showed how universal it is.
The most striking similarity I found between the participants and I is that we all have a
shared interest in gaining knowledge from those around us.
The VITAL participants were all there to become productive members of society. Theyve
come to the United States for a variety of reasons, but they wish to be a part of the
community theyve found themselves in. I, too, am learning skills to become a productive
member of my community as well, so that I can lead a fulfilling life in my country.

4. What do the difficulties/mistakes/misunderstandings observed today tell you about

language that you may have been taking for granted as a (native) English speaker?
As a native English speaker, I dont think about the complexities of our grammar,
pronunciation, or word order. Although these are linguistic factors that I am aware of, I
wouldnt be able to tell someone the rules.
The orthography of English is more confusing than a lot of languages and it opened my eyes
to how difficult learning this language can be. English has borrowed a lot of words and it is
not structured very phonetically which made it harder for these participants to pronounce
words
the participants really excelled at keeping the mood light and exciting by encouraging one
another and finding appropriate ways to make very clever jokes about conversation topics
or, even, one another. There seemed to be a quite a bit of sociolinguistic mastery there.
Knowing how to build solidarity through jokes and entertainment is something that, likely,
is culturally relative, and I imagine that would be difficult to navigate in a target language.
Many of the simple grammar features in English, such as prepositions or articles, I learned
to use correctly before even starting school, because I picked it up from listening at a young
age. I definitely take these things for granted, while speakers new to the English language
are studying these aspects with an entirely blank state. They may not have had articles in
their language, or they made have had gendered articles that we dont have in English.
7. What was easy/difficult about participant observation today?
Everyone in attendance was very nice and considerate and they were all excited to share
their knowledge and to learn more about English.
The easiest part was feeling welcome and having a conversation with someone in the room.
Everyone was very welcoming and enthusiastic about being a part of the VITAL program!
Everyone was so engaged during class and fostered some really interesting conversations, to
the point that the hardest part was trying to navigate between all the different conversations
to get a sense for the background of everyone involved.
My participant observation was actually really enjoyable for me.
Understanding and listening to the participants and their perspectives was interesting, and
much easier and more laid back than I expected. I was worried that the participants would be
uncomfortable with me there, since I was not a learner or a teacher, but they were very
welcoming and kind. All in all, it was an incredibly supportive and welcoming environment
for everyone involved in class.

On behalf of all of my students, a huge thank you! We look forward to collaborating more with
those of you leading groups during the second fall session.

Best,

Valentyna Filimonova
valefili@indiana.edu
PhD Candidate and Associate Instructor
Depts. of Linguistics and Spanish & Portuguese
Indiana University, Bloomington