According to the text of “Understanding the role of cognition in the learning process”, the process of cognition has to be with some important aspects in which it could work in a correct way: the most important one is that for them to happen is important taking into account that learning a 3rd (or 4th, so on) could be a lot way easier that the 2nd one each person acquires.

 Based on this very general affirmation, at first, we considered that our object of study, Angie, had gone through this process, mainly because many time later she studied English, she decided to start studying French. We made this affirmation because, as in the text was mentioned, the L2 or even L1 may be related anyway with any aspect of L3 (or L4), such as grammar, vocabulary and sounds inside each languages, taking into account that as a language learner, it is very important to not overgeneralize in any of those aspects.

 Also it is important to highlight that we realize that at the moment Angie was developing the interview with us, in her L2, she had some trouble with some strategies of using a language, such as:

-       She was not aware of the fact she was not using the grammar rules correctly.

-       Sometimes, she could not communicate or express herself in a correct manner, in order for her to understand what she was telling us and, for her to try to make us understand at the same time.

Later, we asked Angie if she had took any aspect she had already knew from English to make her process of learning French a little bit easier. Her answer was “Not much. Basically because each one of them are very different and I had troubles with that. Even if I didn’t use any word from one on the other one, sometimes I answered to my English teacher in French, or vice versa. I used to mix them.” This proved that this main aspect is not always accomplished by language learners, and that it is common to overgeneralize rules among languages, especially when they share a basic root.

 speak English +s

I have to manage 2 o more language +s

Was B2

(In) All the classes you have

 you have to talk with your professor and he give you a grade express.

They give you (gave)

I LEARN

Since I arrive to Colombia

The English you learn there, you can read texts but not to speak in a good level

I can (could) interact with people that are (were) english speakers

Most of the people in the world

I was shame

To make business (hacer negocios)

The student share that it was really hard for her to talk English out loud which made the process a little bit difficult. Her experience in Boston change, because while being immersed in the North American culture she was able to let that fear go and share her feelings and thoughts. Fortunately, thanks to this change of environment, the student was able to relax and capable of creating an emotionally secure atmosphere.

Extroversion- Introversion
Taking into account from the student’s perspective that she considers herself as an introvert person, it was commented that she was even more introvert once she finish her high school in Colombia.This take us to analyze the reason why this happened : being in Boston allowed her to start talking to people because she had no other choice but to talk in order to become friends with others or asking for food at restaurants. She explained that at first, she hang out only with her sister or spanish speakers and she felt secure but then she proposed to herself, to talk with people from all over the world and she realize that the fear was gone and she could do it without feeling that people was going to judge her accent because each one of her friends had difficulties with the language.

She has been aware of her academic process and we could perceive that when she told us which skills she thinks she manages in a better way. In her case, after high school she performed better in grammar and after her experience in Boston speaking was the skill that she managed the most. This showed us how aware was she of her learning process. In addition, she is also conscious of the difficulties she has had in her process of learning. For example, now that two years have passed since she was in Boston, she thinks that she has problems with her speaking skill due to the fact that she has not practice as much as she thinks she should. This is all evidence of process of metacognition. 

Motivation:

 

After speaking with her we realized that the motivation, underneath her decision to study english, was mostly instrumental and extrinsic. First, it is instrumental because it has to do with practical reasons: she wanted to be proficient in english in order to be successful in her major and professional life. She strongly believe that knowing one or two foreign languages is directly proportional to a successful career. Second, it is extrinsic because her desire to learn language is not produce mostly by the language itself, but by the possibility of achieving a better job that is related with her sense of successfulness.

In addition, when analyzing what was her motivation to study, we found that there is a relationship between the social structures that have had an effect on her and her decision to study english as a second language. For example, if we trace the roots of her notion that knowing english or another language (like french) is related with a more successful professional life, we could see that this idea was produced by the social imaginary which states that nowadays if you want to be successful, you must learn/know english. We could see that this imaginary is strongly tied with her motivation to study. 

CROSS CULTURAL: We asked her if the process of learning english changed her in anyway in order to explore the aspect of cross cultural experience. She told us that learning english had a huge impact in one aspect of her personality which was introversion. When she was faced to the challenge of learning english, she had to control this aspect of her character in order to be able to practice. She told us that after a while she was able to reduce the introversion and, therefore, she could practice more which was the objective of her trip to The United States.