Kerneil Melius
Molly A Mosher &
Language and Literacy
26 September 2021
Language Narrative Draft
What is a language narrative essay? Based on the knowledge I have gained. According to the course site a language narrative “allows you to reflect on and share important events that helped shape your literacy skills.” 3 moments in my past that I believe played a significant role in my speaking, reading and writing practices would have to be the moments preparing for read aloud exams in elementary school , my first time writing an essay and last but not least my experience learning Spanish during high school.
To begin with, the first and most interesting moment that contributed to my literacy skills is preparing for my read aloud exams. This moment is ranked as one of my most important moments because this was where I learned how to read. I remember practicing as much as I can the night before and the morning on the way to school, reading anything I could find or see on the way. The time leading up to the exams I would always feel nervous because I was worried about making mistakes which would prevent me from moving up a letter. This moment is significant because it improved my reading skills which includes reading aloud to others fluently, Also improving my vocabulary the more I read. This moment was immensely impacted by my mother and sister who encouraged me and guided me on the right path. In addition My teachers also played a big role in my journey of learning how to read by guiding me step by step through the entire process.
The second moment that contributed to my literacy development was my first time writing an essay. Based on what I can remember, this process was somewhat difficult for me, my first time writing because I struggled with starting the essay in general, for example coming up with a hook that grabs the reader’s attention. Also I had a tough time coming up with enough words to make my writing essay length. While facing these different challenges I remember being frustrated and stressed out by the fact of me being stuck. In order to overcome this obstacle I had to reach out to my teacher and let her know what I was having trouble with and together we came up with a solution. She advised me where I was going wrong and directed me the right way. This moment was significant because from this experience I learned different essay formats and most importantly to use my resources to my advantage. In addition, this moment was impacted by the English teacher that made it her priority to help me. Lastly from this experience I became a little more confident writing essays, although there is more room for improvement I felt a couple steps closer to writing a essay the right way.
The 3rd moment that shaped my literacy skills is learning Spanish. Towards the beginning this experience was pretty difficult because I had trouble memorizing the different ending of the words and most importantly the meaning of the key words in english. In order to succeed in this class I started finding comparisons between Spanish and english. I also started studying more with Spanish dictionary. Although I still can’t read fluently in Spanish I am pretty proud of my overall performance during that course. My experience was impacted by my spanish teaching because she was very helpful and took into consideration that this was many of the students’ first time learning a new language so she moved at an accelerated pace.
In conclusion I believe that these 3 experiences have shaped my literacy skills because of my improvements and most importantly the lessons I have learned. Learning how to read properly while having a st.Lucian accent pronouncing words “properly” was somewhat difficult and took many attempts. With that being said I believe my experiences with language and literacy connects to larger social realities because many students that attend school in the U.S from outside countries at a young age face obstacles and challenges of some sort throughout their journey achieving success in their literacy skills. Mainly because the school system is different. Some advice I would give to students that are currently going through this obstacle would be to stay strong, don’t give up and always remember to use your resources. Most importantly, communicate with your teachers if you are struggling or don’t understand something because they are always here to help you.
