Statement of Purpose

My name is Glenish Rong. I was born in Canton, China and I moved to New York

nine years ago. I want to pursue my graduate study in Education when I finish my

bachelor’s degree in Childhood Education (QUEST) and English Language Arts. I have

loved being a student intern in three different public schools and being a student teacher

at P.S. 110 this semester. My experience in learning English as my second language and

in teaching fellow Chinese immigrants English has inspired me to study at XXXX

College for my Master’s Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

(TESOL Pre K-12 Program). As a learner of a new language, I have always wanted to

understand more about second language acquisition theory and methodology, and learn

more about how the minds of native and non-native speakers process information

differently. I want to study effective strategies in order to help people whom do not speak

English as their primary language to overcome the language barrier.

The study of the English language interests me. I have loved all the English

courses that have been incorporated into my English Language Arts major, especially

The Structure of Modern English and The History of The English Language. After taking

these challenging and engaging English courses, I have a better understanding of

phonetics, syntax, and basic linguistics.

I am so pleased that I have the opportunity to apply what I have learned in school

to my job. For the past two summers, I have taught Chinese immigrants the pronunciation

of the Roman alphabet, English words, and simple sentences at a private institute in

Brooklyn called Glenish English Center (An institute that helps ESL students master

English). The way my students have learned English is similar to the way I learned

English when I first came to the United States. Through this teaching experience, I have
found that Chinese students often translate phrases and sentences directly from Chinese

to English without consideration for syntax. For example, Chinese students have their

own way of expressing the idiom “Here you are.” They say, “Give you.” Another

common mistake that I have found is, “I every day go to school.” I explain to them that

the correct way to say that phrase is, “I go to school every day.” I have noticed that

second language learners have similar learning challenges when expressing themselves in

English. I hope to learn effective methods of and techniques for teaching English to

native speakers of other languages and to help them overcome the language barrier.

Stephen D. Krashen, the famous linguistics professor, explains why non-native

speakers of English express English in peculiar ways. He says, “First-language-

influenced errors exist in second language performance.” He also mentions that

“Syntactic errors made by adult second language students are common to them because

of their different linguistic backgrounds.” That is why students in my class speak English

in strange ways. I very much look forward to learning more about the psychological

aspects of second language acquisition and to acquiring a better understanding of how

non-native speakers learn.

Through my experience of teaching, I have learned that, in order for me to

disseminate my knowledge to my students effectively, I have to make my lessons more

creative and make them interested. As a future teacher, I hope to learn not only to

improve my knowledge of the field, but also to inspire students to learn with passion.

After finishing my Master’s Degree, I will seek a teaching position in a New York public

school where I can apply what I have learned in the TESOL program. I will dedicate my

time to helping young students master English.