Dora Yang

Critical Incident Report

Dora Yang
20468055

Critical Incident Report

I. Context
I was born in the centre of a growing megacity located in Eastern China,
Hangzhou, just about 170 miles south of Shanghai. My mother was originally from
Xiaoshan District, formerly a city of its own, where she spoke both the local dialect
and her mothers mother tongue. My father moved to Hangzhou from his
hometown, Shanghai, for work upon university graduation. My mother is superb at
language learning, she switches between 4 dialects effortlessly depending on
different circumstances, and learned English and French at school; she was an
English professor back home. I was brought up speaking Mandarin, because of the
belief that Mandarin is the superior and more correct Chinese we should learn. It
was a tradition to visit both of my parents hometowns twice yearly, and all of my
relatives spoke the dialects to us. Though I could comprehend all of them
comfortably, I never learned to converse in any dialect fluently. Outside of school
in the streets, in the real world, people spoke the dialects much more frequently.
In my hometown English class was introduced in grade 3, age 9, and I
became the English class representative as the student with the best English. In
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Critical Incident Report

class, my teacher particularly focused on the pronunciation, though it was way

more common for teachers to focus on the syntax in China. Other than in school, I
often read English books that my mother brought home. Sometimes my mother
would teach me English words and phrases from story books, and have me create
flashcards with pictures. When I was a child I barely had actual contact with native
speakers of English, except for a few times when my mothers friends from the
United States visited. In those rare occasions, I did not feel any trouble
communicating. The foreigners were always very impressed by my English,
probably due to the little expectation they had for a child. I moved to Canada
when I was 11, and everything I thought I knew changed completely.

II. Critical incident

On March 1st, 2006, I first stepped into the cold breeze of Ottawa. I was 11; I
was young, nave, and perhaps arrogant. I was, after all, the best English speaker
of my age that I knew of at that point of my life. I vividly remember the first day I
entered my Canadian elementary school with the thought that I would have no big
deal with English whatsoever. I was not exactly right, of course.
I somehow did blend in with my classmates quickly and naturally, but at the
end of the term I was hit with the realization that I wasnt how good I thought I
was at English. In fact, I usually did not understand anything in several subjects,
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Critical Incident Report

such as the sciences. I was quite shocked in my first few weeks at school. I
suddenly found all the English I have learnt in China at no use. Though I was doing
well in my ESL class, I was very unpleased with my almost failing grades in
science and history. Science had been my favourite subject since I was a child,
and perhaps that was the actual reason why I became especially disappointed at
myself upon the incident.
Though for a while I felt really defeated initially, by seeing my actual level of
English in reality, I was able to have a much more successful learning process of
English in the long run. Because of this incident, I was able to see my mistakes
and gained new motivations to excel in the language.

III. Application
Before moving to Canada, I always had the motivations to learn English.
Though my motivation had been intrinsic as well, my desire to excel at the
language was part of my greater desire to receive good grades at the time.
Gardner and Lambert (1972) differentiated between an integrative orientation and
an instrumental orientation, and I would say my language learning orientation had
changed from an instrumental one to an integrative one as I discovered my
incapability of the English language. While attending elementary school in
Canada, I found a necessity to learn English in order to integrate with the cultural
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group. Part of the reason I found my English improving drastically is that my

motivation is intrinsic. Deci & Ryans research (1985) supported the role of selfdetermination in the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I
became determined to improve after receiving bad grades in grade 6, and as a
result of my determination to learn English well enough for better grades, science
became one of my best subjects in my middle school years.
Another aspect that influenced my critical incident was the age factor.
Because of the literary skills I have acquired already as a child in China, I was able
to learn my second language smoothly while maintaining my mother tongue.
According to Snow and Hoefnagel-Hohles research (1978), although adolescents
and adults may experience higher proficiency gains after short periods, over the
long term, children catch up. (7.3 Hummel) Though I was 11, not within the age
groups of both the adolescents (12-15 years old) and the young children (8-10
years old) for this study, I found the childrens speed of learning fitting my case.
During the first school term in my L2 environment, just a bit over 3 months for
me, I struggled to show progress. However by the end of the year, after 9 months
in Canada, I was able to initiate conversations with my peers and even actively
participate in debates in class.
I have used a large variety of learning strategies to help me learn
languages. I am currently learning Korean and French, and I still use these
strategies in my language learning process. My results on the Strategies Inventory
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for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford) suggest that I generally use my mental
processes and compensate for missing knowledge as I learn a language. I
increased my practice of English in a variety of authentic situations when I began
to not strive to understanding phrases in word-by-word way. When my language is
at a certain level, I often started using different strategies such as looking for
patterns in language use and creative expressions using the knowledge I already
possess.
One of my most enjoyable things to do is reading, and reading in my target
language has always been fruitful adventures. I noticed clear progress in my
language learning experience after reading books just a little beyond my current
level. The fourth hypothesis of Krashens model of Second Language Acquisition is
the Comprehensible Input Hypothesis. It stated that the one most effective way to
increase L2 competence was by exposure to comprehensible input, language at
an i + 1 level. (Hummel 4.4) When I read a book at my current level or below, I
often found it boring and too easy; on the hand when I decided to read John
Miltons Paradise Lost in grade 7, I was left baffled and simply unable to finish a
book. Whenever I pick the right book, I could learn many new words and
expressions as well as the cultural aspects reflected. Though there is no clear line
for what would be considered slightly beyond, with experience I learned how to
pick the right resources to aid language learning.

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IV. Analysis
I think an intrinsic motivation is a necessity to succeed in any language
learning process. One has to have the desire to excel to be able to achieve
proficiency. I think that both instrumental and integrative orientations could
achieve a gratifying learning process. Though there are exceptions indeed, a
young age still has to be in consideration for successful acquisition. Because of
the literary skills I have acquired already as a child in China, I was able to learn
my second language smoothly while maintaining my mother tongue.
Learning strategies are definitely essential to learning, not just any
language, but any subject. I think that the choice of strategies used at different
stages is crucial to enforcing knowledge. The right strategies at the right time
have the potential to boost language skills dramatically, and specific strategies
may or may not work for people depending on individual differences.

References
Hummel, Kirsten M. Introducing Second Language Acquisition Perspectives
and Practices. Hoboken: Wiley, 2013. Print.
Oxford, Rebecca L. Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher
Should Know. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1990. Print.

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